TRAINING ON LD FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS-CURSOS PARA PROFESORES Y PADRES EN DIFICULTADES ESPECÍFICAS DE APRENDIZAJE

1. OBJECTIVES

1º- Develop a better empathy among teachers towards pupils with learning difficulties (LD) and their families.

2º- Show teachers other strategies that favor the learning in pupils with LD, trying to remove negative attitudes (and fear) towards innovative methodologies, for instance, the ICT strategies.

3º- Work with the Project products, specially, the tools organized in the portal.

4º- Contribute to the teacher´s scientific updating in compensative strategies that help to pupils with LD to learn better.

5º- Improve the teachers motivation in the introduction of digital strategies (E-learning) in the classroom.

 

2. CONTENTS

1º- Teacher´s scientific updating in LD.

• KA1 and KA2 projects presentation (Erasmus+).
• Pupils with LD features and needs: dyslexia, dysgraphia, dysortography, Dyscalculia, Attention disorder and hyperactivity (ADHD) and Nonverbal learning disease.

2º- Emotional Education working with pupils with LD and their families.

• Dynamics to help teachers to empathize with pupils with LD and their families needs.

3º- Practical resources to help pupils with LD to learn in a more effective way.

• Compensative strategies to help to this kind of pupils to learn better. (General strategies, for example, E-learning; and more specific strategies, into every kind of LD)
• Experiences with teachers who teach with E-learnig strategies on a daily basis.
• Work with the videogames and apps we recommend in the portal.

 

3. METHODOLOGY

• Group dynamics.
• Role-playing.
• Video projection (about situation related to the feelings of pupils with LD, for instance) and discussion about them.
• Power point presentations.
• Oral expositions.
• Practice with apps, webs, videogames, using computers, tablets or mobil phones.
• Little and big group reflections.

 

4. ACTIVITIES AND THE TIME TO DEVELOP THEM

4.1. EMOTIONAL APPROACH ACTIVITIES

1. Ask the group to do a brain storming activity saying aloud the “key words” that come to their minds when thinking about emotional education.

Note: quite often people say things that are not “emotions” or “emotion-related” they tend to say things that are “cognitive” or “behavioral” such as: cooperation; dealing with anger; consciousness. As it happened with us when we did this activity in the group in Lithuania. So is a good activity to make people realize that it is not easy to engage in “talking and working” about emotions because we are not used to it. Emotions have a language of their own and we usually speak with the “cognitive” or the “doing” mind, not the “feeling” one.

 

2. In pairs or small group ask them to write down emotions/feelings they know and then ask them:

• What are emotions? How many can you name?
• What are your daily emotions?
• Why is it important to know the name of feelings?
• Do you think children have this vocabulary if you don´t talk to them using this words? Where do you think they are going to learn to talk and identify emotions If you don´t use them in our family/classroom daily life?
• You try to make them reflect on the fact that if we don´t teach our children/pupils about emotions, in an explicit way, it is unlikely they are going to learn about it. And also, it is important to make them see that children quite often are confused about certain emotions, for example often they think they are angry when they are sad. So if we do not teach them about what basic emotions there are, how to identify them and how to recognize them in other people they are not likely to be able learn by themselves before they are adults.

 

3. You make a list of sentences about emotions like:

“I feel angry like a volcano”

“I feel sad like the blue see”

“I feel excited like a monkey”

“I feel shy like a delicate flower”

Etc.

• Then you can ask them to decide if any of these emotions are “positive or negative”. Usually untrained people do say that “anger” or “sadness” are “negative” emotions, and should be controlled or eliminated; and others like “happiness” or “surprise” are positive ones and should be encouraged or worked on. But the idea is to make them realize that “there is no negative/positive emotions” they are all equal and all necessary, and we all feel them although we behave differently sometimes when we feel them.
• Or you can ask them to actually talk about the metaphor in the sentences to get to the same issue: “negative/positive” and how this is not true in emotional-world. All emotions are right and necessary, is the way we handle them that we need to work on, but an emotion should never be repressed or denied.

 

4. Do a relaxation/visualization/mindfulness exercise for a few minutes. As soon as they finish ask them to write down in one word how they are feeling. Then ask them:

• Could you say how you usually feel when you are with your child/pupil?
• Blow a balloon and paint the face that represents you most of the time
• Have cut out pieces of different colour paper and ask them to pick the one that represents their main emotion/or the most usual when they are with their child/pupil with LD. Put it on a big tree you have painted in a big piece of paper and put on the wall as a mural. Then ask them what emotion it represent and why they think this is.
• Ask them to describe in a few lines (the shorter the better) a situation in which they acted in a certain way because of the way they were feeling, for example:

“I left home today without saying goodbye to my wife because I was worried about work”

“I shouted at my child/pupil today because I was tired and a lot of work to do”

“I didn´t say thank you to my friend/workmate because I felt hurt last week when she didn´t say it to me and I deserved it”

Then help them reflect on how mucho our emotions mediate and influence not only what we think and do but also how we make other people feel. And how this happens everyday with their child/pupil and for them it can be very hard to take.

 

5. Try to get parents/teachers to “become a child with learning difficulties” and “see or experience” what they feel.

- Ask them to imagine their child or pupil is talking/writing a letter to them about how they feel. What would they say?. Give them a “formula” to start the letter: “Dear mum/dad/teacher

I feel….because….I would like…but…you never…I wish things were…I want to…it would be great if…etc.

They need to write down what the child/pupil would say, so it should be an individual activity. Then they can exchange the sheets of paper so that other member of the group can read them aloud and it will be anonymous.

It is important to explain to them that we are going to do it this way because it is very painful and embarrassing to “hear” what your child/pupil would say because usually “parents and teachers” are not doing things as right as they should and the child expresses a lot of sadness, distress or frustration when they answer this activity in an honest way.

- Also you can ask the parents/teachers to use analogies to describe their child/pupil. Things like:

• Use a colour to describe your child/pupil when he gets up/comes to school in the morning
• Use an animal to describe your child/pupil when he goes out to playground
• Use a transport to describe your child/pupil when he sets to work in the class/do homework

.etc

- Get them to answer this question: what/how would I feel if I was a fish that is asked to climb a tree? What would I feel if I was a millionaire in a desert island? What would I feel if I was a delicate flower inside a chimney?

Use this absurd/conflict questions to make them realize that often their children/pupils are asked to do things that are very difficult/nearly impossible for them (like the fish); or they have great things that are never seen/used because adults don´t create situations where they can show how good they are at it (like the millionaire); or their most beautiful things get shadow by all the negativeness/darkness around them (like the flower).

 

6. To help teachers connect with parents feelings:

- Ask the teacher to describe the pupil with words using brain storming technique, such as:

Tall   ugly   pretty   angry   selfish

Skillful   unbearable   nice   funny

Pleasant   stupid   clumsy   clever

Then asked them to score out with a red felt-pen all the bad/negative things they have written about the child.

Then asked them to draw a woman/man face representing the mother/father

Finally, asked them to draw a tear rolling down the mother/father face with the red felt-pen for each bad/negative thing they have written about the child.

Ask them to breath deeply, to really allow themselves to feel the sadness those parents feel when they are confronted with continuous complains, just let them be…emotions are very powerful when they are expressed and usually words are not needed.

Then finish the activity asking them to use a different colour felt-pen to write down “what they can do to dry out those tears”.

 

7. To help parents connect with teachers feelings:

Give them a blank sheet of paper and ask them to place it vertical. Then ask them to divide it in three sections and draw 25 balloons at the top section; then a brick wall in the middle one; then sharp teeth in the bottom section.

In the top section ask them to write different emotions on each balloon. It is not a problem if they repeat them several times. They represent the emotions pupils might feel in the classroom on a daily basis.

In the middle section ask them to write in each wall brick different tasks that they think have to be done in a classroom on a normal day. They are not to worry if they repeat them since many tasks are done several times in a classroom every day (like reading, listening, writing, etc.).

In the bottom section inside each sharp teeth they have to write different types of problems they think that happen in the classrooms/schools every day. It doesn´t matter if they repeat either.

Once is finished give them a bigger piece of paper and glue so they can glue the picture in the center of the new piece. Ask them to draw a circle around it and at the top to write the word “FUTURE” and outside the circle, around it, write things they can do to help the teacher cope better with all those “emotions, tasks, difficulties” they have to face up to, see to and solve everyday.

NOTE: the activities described here are only proposals to go through an emotional “journey” that starts from “talking about emotions in general” to “identifying their own emotions”, then “their child/pupil´s emotions” and finally connecting with the teacher/parent because they need to do this in order to become a team that works together with the child to try to improve things for them at school and at home.

 

4.2. GROUP DYNAMICS

DYNAMICS TO INTRODUCE THE PARTICIPANTS

- OBJECTIVE: To break the ice and to meet the participants.

- DEVELOPMENT:

• To divide the group in two. The first subgroup will stand in a circle, with their backs facing, and the participants will look outwards. The second subgroup will stand in another circle that will surround the subgroup 1, they will stand face to face.
• Instructions: when the music starts, the outer subgroup will start moving around the inner subgroup, which will stand still. In the moment the music stops, each participant will have to introduce himself/herself to the person opposite him/her. They will have to maintain a dialogue (about any topic) until the music starts. In that moment, they will have to start moving again. The sequence will always be the same: with music, movement; without music, conversation.

- MATERIAL: music.

- LENGHT: about 15´.

 

- OBJECTIVE: To break the ice and to introduce the participants.

- DEVELOPMENT:

• Each participant receives a piece of paper where the following statements are written: “look for someone who…”: “has the hand as big as yours”; “has gone to England”; “his/her favourite colour is red”, etc. (the items can be adapted, depending on the group of participants, by adjusting them to their profile).
• The following instructions are given: stand up, carry on the paper and a pen, move around the room, talk to the participants and find a person that meets one of the items. Once you had found that person, you must write his/her name by the corresponding item. You must continue doing so until you cover all the items. You must take into account not to repeat any name (you must find a different person per each item). Once the sheet is completed, you can sit down.
• To end up, we will develop a pooling where some questions will be asked to the group: Which item has been the most difficult to be found? Which item has been the easiest? How many people (e.g. prefer red colour)?, etc.

- MATERIAL: sheet with ítems and pens.

- LENGHT: 10´ to give instructions and to search the people. 5’ to share the information.

 

- OBJECTIVE: To know the names of the participants and to establish a first emotional contact.

- DEVELOPMENT: Each participant introduces himself/herself to group by saying his/her name and by explaining the story of his/her name (where it comes from, who decided it, nicknames, how he/she feels about it, etc.).

- MATERIAL: none.

- LENGTH: it depends on the number of participants. About 1’ per participant, a maximum of 15’. If the group is larger, this activity won’t be appropriate, as it will take too much time.

- OBJECTIVE: To introduce the participants.

- DEVELOPMENT:

• To give a blank page to each participant and to place boxes with colouring pencils in the centre (in order to share).
• Instructions: each participant must create a portrait of himself/herself. The person by his/her side won’t be able to see it.
• Once the portraits had been completed, we should pick them up, shuffle them and distribute them randomly.
• Each participant must find the person on the portrait they had received. Once the person is found, they will have to talk for some minutes (name, why the person decided to draw himself/herself in that way, a characteristic feature, etc.). Later, each participant will have to show his/her portrait to the group.

- MATERIAL: pieces of paper and colouring pencils.

- LENGHT: 5´ to draw, 5’ to find the person and to talk to him/her, 10’ for the presentation to the group.

 

- OBJECTIVE: To introduce the participants.

- DEVELOPMENT:

• To organize pairs randomly (e.g. by assigning colours or numbers).
• Each participant draws a picture of his/her partner. In the meanwhile, they must ask some questions (what’s your name, why are you on this course, etc.).
• Later, each participant introduces his/her partner to the group and shows the picture.

- MATERIAL: pieces of paper and colouring pencils.

- LENGHT: 10’ to draw and to ask questions. 10’ for the presentation to the group.

- OBJECTIVE: To know the names of the participants and some qualities of them.

- DEVELOPMENT:

• The participants will stand up in a circle. The instructor will start the activity by saying his/her name and a quality of himself/herself, whose first letter must be the same than his name’s first letter. Later, the instructor will hold the end of thread skein and will throw the skein to another participant, who will have to repeat the name and the quality of the person who has thrown the skein to him/her, as well as to add his/her name and quality. This will be developed and so on, and so forth, until all the participants had taken the skein and had introduced themselves. At the end, a cobweb will be created with the thread skein.

- MATERIAL: one thread skein.

- LENGTH: about 15´.

 

- OBJECTIVE: To introduce the participants.

- DEVELOPMENT:

• To give to the participants a blank page where they must write down what they would like to be if they were: an animal…, a place…, a meal…, etc.
• To pick up the sheets, to shuffle and to distribute randomly, one sheet per participant.
• Each participant must look for the person who had written that information, talk to that person, guess his/her name, the reason he/she had chosen that option, etc.
• Later, each participant will introduce his/her partner to the group.

- MATERIAL: pieces of paper and pencils.

- LENGHT: 5´to write, 5’ to talk in pairs, 10’ for the presentation to the group.

 

4.3. DIFFERENT SESSIONS ACTIVITIES LIST

First session

• Projectss ERASMUS+ presentation, especially our KA201 project. Objectives, products.
• Group dynamic related to the course expectations and participants presentations.
• Power point about the pupils with LD features and needs.
• Group reflection.

Second session

• Emotional Dynamics about the pupils with LD needs: how they feel, what happens to them (exercises where teachers could feel the problems by their own eyes).
• Video projection to favor teachers attitude about these LD and to connect them with the pupils and families needs.
• Power point about compensative strategies teachers must use to help pupils with LD to learn better (different strategies for every sort of LD).
• Reflection about how to apply these strategies in the classroom. Break barriers.
• Group work about the difficulties that teachers have on a daily basis to apply them in the school.
• Solution to these difficulties proposal.

Third session

• Teachers who work with ICT or E-learning methodologies experiences.
• Our Project products exposition: our portal and our videogame (in case we have a first versión/draft). If not, present the idea.
• Practice with apps, webs, software, videogames recommended in the portal…
• Course evaluation.
• Ending dynamic. Say goodbye with a smile.

 

5. RESOURCES

Scientific materials (into the portal) about the features of the pupils with the different LD.

Digital board or projector.

Laptop, mobil phones and tablets.

Wi-fi.

 

6. EVALUATION

The participants will do two kind of evaluation: 1- a group dynamic activity where teachers could express emotions and qualitative information; 2- and everyone will fill in a questionnaire about the course (level of satisfaction, if the contents are good for them…to have quantitative information).

This evaluation results will be included in a statistical research that allow us to reflect about teachers knowledge, needs, difficulties, etc. To compare them with the first questionnaire given to the teachers before the course development.

With all this information, we will do a self-evaluation to learn how to improve these courses in the future.

EVALUATION EXERCISES

- OBJECTIVE: To asses the expectations of the participants, the previous knowledge and what they have learnt.

- DEVELOPMENT:

• To give to each participant a sheet with three columns: what do I know, what do I want to learn, what have I learnt.
• At the beginning of the first session of the course, each participant will fulfil the two first columns.
• After the individual reflection, the group will develop a pooling where the expectations and the previous knowledge of all the participants are exposed. This information will be useful to adapt the course to the profile of the participants.
• At the end of the course, in the last session each participant will fulfil the third column. They will assess what they have learnt and which expectations have been covered. Later, a pooling of the group will be developed.

- MATERIAL: Sheets whit the table and pencils.

- LENGTH: 15’ in the first session and 15’ in the last session.

- OBJECTIVE: To value the emotions.

- DEVELOMENT:

• Each participant will receive a sheet with a draw of a bag.
• Instructions: to think about how we have felt along the course and to write down, inside the bag, the adjectives that describe those emotions.
• After the individual reflection, a pooling in small groups will be developed (4 or 5 participants randomly chosen). In the small groups, each participant must explain how he/she has felt and why. The group creates a new bag including the group emotions.
• At the end, a representative of each small group will show their emotions to the big group.

- MATERIAL: Sheets with the draw of a bag and pencils.

- LENGTH: 5´ for the individual reflection, 10’ for the pooling in small groups, 15’ for the pooling in the big group.

“ASSESSMENT QUESTIONNAIRE A”

- OBJECTIVE: End of term assessment.

- DEVELOPMENT:

• Each participant will receive a questionnaire to be fulfilled anonymously.
• The two first items assess “my initial knowledge” and “my current knowledge”. The assessment will be made from 0 to 10, where 0 is the minimum and 10 the maximum. The participant will place a cross where he/she considers appropriate.
• The three remaining items will asses the facilities, the materials and the teacher.

- MATERIAL: Assessment questionnaires and pencils.

- LENGTH: 10´

- OBJECTIVE: End of term assessment.

- DEVELOPMENT:

• Each participant will receive a questionnaire to be fulfilled anonymously.
• The first item assesses the usefulness of the course. The assessment will be made from 0 to 10, where 0 is the minimum and 10 the maximum. The participant will place a cross where he/she considers appropriate.
• The second item is: which aspects did you like the most and why?
• The third item is: which aspects would you change and why?

- MATERIAL: Assessment questionnaires and pencils.

- LENGHT: 10´

- OBJECTIVE: To check if the course has caused long-term changes in the participants.

- DEVELOPMENT:

• Each participant receives a piece of paper where they must write their names, surnames, post addresses and e-mail addresses. Besides, after an individual reflection, the participants will have to write down which changes will they introduce to their roles as teachers or parents, based on what they have learnt in the course.
• After a 3 months period, the sheets will be resend to the participants so as they can remember the improvement objectives that were set at the end of the course. Besides, they will have to check if they have met the objectives or they are pending.

- MATERIAL: Pieces of paper, pencils.

- LENGHT: 15’ for the individual reflection.