As a Special Education teacher, I'm in a similar, yet different world than many regular education teachers, in that I teach students and support them in their learning, but often support all academic subjects, rather than focusing on one. Though my role has changed in the past couple of years, where I now primarily teach Resource Room math, I still have two separate study skills classes, in which I see students every other day.
One of the challenges with a "study skills" class is finding time to actually work on the students developing skills that will improve their ability to be academically successful, while becoming more independent. Though many students lack good academic skills, many students with special needs have mastered a "skill" which impedes their ability to be successful, known as work avoidance. Much of this is because they lack confidence, but also because they lack in many academic areas and avoidance has become a survival tactic of sorts.
My hope is to compose/construct a presentation which I'll be able to share with the students in my study skills class at the beginning of the school year. This presentation would likely be a PowerPoint or Keynote presentation, with reinforcement provided via a website for student review.
After presenting to the students, I would guide them to the site individually, where they could access various types of information, highlighting things that would be described as good study skills for different situations. One section may outline how to take notes while reading, while another may discuss ways to prepare for tests or various types of tests. That section may progress to good test-taking strategies. There may also be a section discussing how to choose a good partner to work with in class.
All of this may then be followed up by a Moodle quiz/review, to check/ensure the student(s) are grasping the skills that are intended to be learned. To add some student interaction to the mix, I'm strongly considering the incorporation of a blog, which would allow students to post skills they have used, which they have found success in using. Though my students may avoid work, they still love to be successful and once they find a way to do it, they love to talk about it! My hope is that by creating a blog for them to post on, I may develop a culture in which the students help each other become better learners and students. :)
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I really like your ideas for having a independent study skills sessions when the students can complete at their own pace and use when they’re finished with their work from other classes. I really believe that instilling study skills including time management skills will affect each student positively for the entirety of their life. It’s great that you’re trying to teach and reinforce this important knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering if you were thinking about mapping this out a bit more. It seems like you have a good idea of different ideas you want to include (and it sounds like you’re going to have your work cut out for you, but I think that’s the idea of this project in the first place) but I think that if you actually drew it out or planned it a bit better you will be in a better position when you start the creation of the project.
Are you planning on using a website for this, or Moodle? It sounds like you’re planning on a doing a variety of mini-StAIRs, and then using Moodle to complete an assessment of learning. Are your students given a grade in the study skills class? If yes, will you include this project in the final grade for the class?
Also – what is the most important part that you can implement now? Is there one in particular? Will you implement it now or at the beginning of the school year next year (this is what it sounds like but could you implement one portion on studying for a final exam for the end of this year?)
Have you come across any websites or models that you want to base this project off of? Do you know if any of your fellow educators might be interested in collaborating with you? You could even send out a survey (using Survey Monkey or Google Forms?) to see what skills other teachers think are most important for their students, or what they are lacking in their opinions.
I’m excited to see your project – it might even be something that you could market to use for other teachers. I know I’d hate to recreate the wheel but would love to share it with my 4th/5th graders or their teachers.
I think it is interesting that one of the challenges to a "study skills" class is having the time to actually develop good study skills. It seems to represent the increased challenges that students and educators have.
ReplyDeleteYour approach to your meet your student's needs seems sound. Having an initial introduction presentation for students in the beginning of the year sets a goal for your students. They will know that one of the reasons they come to you is the enhance their study skills in addition to academic support.
Having a website for your students to access seems like a terrific second step. Engaging students in their own learning will strengthen the lessons you are teaching. You would be able to address several strategies for study skills and may be able to incorporate different "How to study for.. " StAIRs for individual academic areas. Having a blog for your students to interact with and share their success seems like a great way to show student improvement.
Once you develop your project and work out any bugs, I can even see it expand to helping other students who are not in your class become better learners!