12 Ways To Respond To Students Needs While Making Progress Together

When students in your classroom are not progressing at the same rate as their peers or better, supplement their learning with researched based strategies that help to increase achievement. These are also Tier Two interventions for Response to Intervention. Use classroom adaptations that do not reduce the content, yet make the curriculum more easily accessible to all learners.

1. Check the readability level of all materials and make adjustments where it is appropriate.

2. Ask students to repeat instructions to ensure that they understand.

3. Use books on tape to allow students to keep up with the reading assignments even if they are slow readers.

4. Provide an outline or a copy of notes and teach students how to make notes that are memorable rather then taking class time to engage students in the mechanical act of copying information.

5. Encourage the use of word-processing software with auditory feedback so that students can use higher level cognitive skills without being hindered by writing difficulties.

6. Use proofing aids such as proofreader buddy, spell checker, and grammar checker.

7. Provide spacing guides such as graph paper, vertical lines, and darkened horizontal lines to assist students with visual organization.

8. Avoid confusing directions. Look for confusing directions in handouts, tests, and especially in project descriptions. Even when you provide clarification in class, students might miss it and possibly be confused later.

9. When possible, break instructions down into bullet points. Provide examples whenever possible.

10. Patterns are the keys to intelligence. Students will retain information better when patterns are used to connect and organize what is being learned. Patterns might include colored graphic organizers, grouping and classification charts, sequence charts (presenting timelines, story lines, etc.), storytelling instead of lecturing, and having students point out cause and effect, problem and solution, and similarities and differences. Patterns support long-term memory.

11. Use audio cassette tapes for feedback. Have students hand in a blank cassette tape with their subassignments or drafts. While reviewing the assignment, the teacher can record comments about the piece (grammar, content, etc.) on the tape. The teacher then hands back the assignment with the tape so the student can listen to the "audio coaching." Audio coaching gives students verbal feedback at different stages of their assignments, enabling them to improve over time.

12. Have students identify similarities and differences. Engage students in classification, creating metaphors or analogies, or categorizing information. This encourages students to connect to previous learning and feeds long term memory.


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