Chapter 5

What?
Chapter 5 is about Individual Differences and Students with Special Needs. The IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) protects the rights of those students with special needs or with disabilities. This act covers students from preschool age to the age of 21. IEPs, least restrictive environments, and inclusion are all covered under the IDEA. IEP or Individual Education Plans are individualized plans for students with disabilities that outlines how students can meet their goals and how they will be evaluated. The IEPs are drawn up in a meeting held by the special education teacher with teachers and parents invited to attend. The IEP should also include a transition plan for the student. Inclusion is teaching students with special needs in a traditional classroom along with the other students their age. A Least Restrictive Environment is the most typical and standard educational environment that can reasonably meet the needs of a student with a disability. Retarded is defined as impairment of cognitive processes and social aspects of a student, a slowing down in these areas. Gifted students are defined as having unusually high ability or aptitude in one or more areas.
Spearman's g - g=general intelligence (underlying). Student's performance on any given task depends on both the "g" and any specific factors that the task involves.
Catell's Fluid and Crystallized Intelligences - fluid intelligence is the adaptations and quick attainment of knowledge. Crystallized intelligence is the accumulated knowledge from experiences, schooling, and cultures.
Sternberg's Triarchic Theory- Based on three intelligence areas including 1)analytical- sense making, 2)creative- inventive, and 3)practical- "street smarts" that are influenced by three different factors: 1)environment, 2)prior knowledge, and 3)cognitive processes.
Distributed Intelligences- people are more likely to behave intelligently with assistance from physical, social, and cultural environments; anybody can be intelligent with the right tools.
Gardner's Multiple Intelligences- people who are quite skilled in one area and have seemingly average abilities in other areas. Every person learns best in one or two of the eight multiple intelligences: Linguistic, Logical-Mathematical, Spatial, Musical, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalist.
So What?
This chapter is very important to us as future teachers so that we understand the responsibilities that we have as teachers of special needs, disabled, and gifted students. It's very probable that we will have these types of students in our classrooms. We also need to be able to help them learn the material in a way that will be helpful to them. Every student in my class will not learn in the same manner. By knowing about the different intelligences that people can have, I as a teacher can plan lessons around those different students that will be more effective for them.
Now What?
Some examples of some activities that I could use in my math classes using Gardner's Multiple Intelligences are as follows: 1)Using the Spatial area- teach a geometry lesson of area and volume by bringing in physical objects such as blocks and have the kids fit pieces in them and see how the area can really be filled. 2) Using the Bodily-Kinesthetic area- have the students learn distances, positive and negative concepts by walking across a number line on the floor so as they move, they see how the concept is working. 3)Using the Naturalist area- plan a lesson that has application problems to the outside world, i.e, the slope of a hill of sliding rocks fits in a mathematical problem.