Learning+Space


 * __My Case Study__

Scenario** In a mainstream school in the UK, 5 children in a Year One class have been diagnosed with MLD (Moderate Learning DIfficulties). MLD refers to a delay in development of about three years and across all areas of the school curriculum.

Information taken from the 'Teaching Expertise' website descibes that these children often need a high level of support to be comfortably intergrated in their age-consistent environment. " Many children with moderate learning difficulties will also be suffering from low levels of self-esteem and motivation. They may become resentful and refuse to attempt new work as they perceive themselves to be likely to fail before they start. It is likely that they will become over-reliant on teaching assistants to help them with tasks and they will need much encouragement and praise to persuade them to attempt new challenges which are within their capability and develop greater independence" (last accessed: 11/08/09).

Other Key characteristics include:
 * immature listening/attention skills
 * immature social skills
 * rely on a teaching assistant to direct them within the class situation
 * have a poor auditory memory
 * have a poor visual memory
 * have difficulty acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills
 * have difficulties with comprehension skills
 * need a high level of support with investigation and problem-solving activities
 * have poor verbal and non-verbal reasoning skills
 * have difficulties with applying what they know to other situations
 * have some motor coordination difficulties (as listed by Teaching Expertise.com).

Many of these characteristics are typical to the 5 children in Year One, and the class teacher is beginning to run out of ideas to enhance their learning experience whilst providing the neccessary amounts of support. She is now looking for advice and tips from anyone in school (and outside of school) who has expertise in this area, who can help her understand more about MLD and how to approach it in the classroom setting.

The most impotant factor when trying to provide an effective learning environment for all, is reflected in the class teacher's willingness to be an active learner and to 'move with the times'. It takes a dedicated educator to research and understand what each child needs as an individual, and how to put this into practise for 25 children at class level. To even come close, you have to understand that 'typical development' is just a benchmark...one of many...and the amount of children actually working at that benchmark is likely to be miniscule. In an average classroom you are likely to meet an array of 'special requirements', which takes time to become familiar and comfortable with. For this particular teacher, she needs to be quick in realising that these children are as far as three year behind the rest of their peers. This gap is huge, especially when you expect them to work at, and interact at, a level three years beyond their natural ability/instict. This means, teacher needs to be aware of what a child is capable to do at that 'mental age' to get a feel for what to 'expect' from these pupils (just as a vague outline) and apply this where/when appropriate. Then comes the hard part...how to provide an environment that values these differences in abilities, and utilise your enviornment to achieve the best possible results:
 * Solution**

As listed above, children with MLD tend to have immaturities when it comes to listening, attention and social skills. In order to develop these skills (as neccessary with ALL children) teacher needs to model these behaviours and allow children to explore these appropriate behaviours in different situations. These experiences should be carefully planned for maximum effect (remembering that 5 children in the class are going to find it a lot more difficult as they are not at that same level of mental maturity yet) but natural occurances also make these experiences 'real-life'.

Using puppets and stories is a good way to introduce what is right and what is deemed as inappropriate types of behaviour in terms of the classroom, the school, and the wider community. Some children find it easier to decipher when a puppet is being 'naughty', than to imagine their own behaviours. Another good way to explore and enhance these skills is through role play and drama activities. To encorporate ICT into this learning curve, children could be encouraged to use 'Digital Blue' and plasticine models to explore appropriate social skills, as well as using attention and listening skills thorugh working in a team (also peer support is available here).

'Deskbot' is a downloadable genie that can turn 'text-to-speech' who sits on your desktop. This is useful for those children who are learning to read (or those who struggle with reading), in order for them to gain access to the neccessay text. Children with MLD are likely to be slower in developing literacy and numeracy skills, so the deskbot can be used as a form of support similar to a TA (who would probably read the text to the child anyway) but in this case the child has to select which information the Deskbot should read, and can see the text as it is being read. This will alse help visual memory and language acquisition. Go to: [] for free download.

Likewise 'Branching Stories' can be used to further empower children. Branching Story software such as Hotpotatoes, allow children to choose and write their own endings to stories. By using 'mixed pairs' or 'mixed ability' groupings you will be providing a ZPD for all children to develop and learn together (socially), which is an important element of Primary Education in general, but also very important for those 'under-developers'. To download 'Hotpotatoes' please click on the link: []

Poor visual memory is also a common characteristic with MLD. In order to help children remember what they have done, they need to understand how best they (as an individual) find it easy to remember. It may be by taking notes, or doing a mind map at the end of day, or inventing a mnumonic, or making it into a song; every child learns and remembers in a different way. One way to increase short term memory is to play memory games such as 'I went to the shops and I bought....'; another idea would be to play the 'cover, show and memorise' game-where teacher sets up a tray full of items, shows the children the items for a number of seconds, and then they have to remember as many objects as possible. 'Neuroscience for kids' provides a range of games/activities to enhance short term memory. See: []

Another great way to support children with poor visual memory is to put important tips/info up on the walls, or stick it into the cover of their books, anything to provide a hard copy to refer to when their memory fails them. This is an effective and easy way to support the child without having to personally recap or reiterate every detail continuously. Most importantly you are empowering those children to be active in their own learning (and not just depending on others i.e. a TA). Microsoft Word and Publisher allows you to create documents/posters/banners using ClipArt Images and Word Art etc...which makes the print-out much more child-friendly. The use of a Digital Camera could also be used to record and log information, images, speech, diagrams etc...as a point of reference for the child, in order to support their memory and maintain a running log of what the child has learned so far. A dichtophone could be used in the same way to support auditory memory.

In order to develop and refine motor skills children need physical experiences. Having children do handwriting or motor skill activities on the IWB (Interactive White Board) can help children to develop their ability to hold a pen, to form letters, and to develop control. This could also be enhanced through regular use of the PC & Mouse to practise hand-eye coordination. Brain Gym also came up with a few examples of fine motor skill activites to be used on a daily basis e.g. writing your name in the air, magic wands, figure of eights etc... Montessori schools are very dedicated to providing physical experiences and encorportating movement into all of their activities in and out of the classroom, in the belief that the brain is more receptive and remembers more when a child is more active. This is an approach to consider in all of our teaching strategies, in order to maximise our children's enjoyment and memory.

In summary, the teacher needs to be willing to research the SEN, evaluate how the research and charactersitics relate to your particular child(ren), and to explore a wide range of techniques and strategies until you find what works. Some of the time it may be approporite to ask the child or the parent what they need, beacuse they know better than anyone what helps and what hinders them, teacher should be active in investigating/experimenting and learning for themselves too. Keeping an open mind, being confident to try something new and being creative with Assistive technologies (which are the newest craze) will definitely help you along the way, and is the bast way (in my eyes) to equip yourself for meeting the needs of __every__ child you teach.

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