Tips and ways to engage your students with special needs - part 1
Thomas Courtley
Education Specialist
'Special educational needs and disabilities', or SEND, is a legal definition and refers to children with learning problems or disabilities. They may have problems with schoolwork, communication, or behaviour. A school can usually provide help and sometimes employ specialists to support them. Yet, as their teacher, what can you do to support & engage them during your lessons?
How SEND can affect students’ ability to learn
Special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) sometimes affect young people’s ability to learn. Amongst other things, they can affect your students’:
- Behaviour
- Ability to socialise
There is no one solution for every student. People differ and shouldn’t be defined by their physical or mental needs and/or differences. Yet there might be some practical things that you could try out in the classroom, with or without the help of specialists, to support these students during the learning process. Although some disorders or limitations cannot be changed, you can try to make the classroom time as effective and engaging as possible for all your students.
How can you engage students with behaviour disorders?
First of all you might want to contact your school’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator (SENCO). Being specialised, this person will give you some great tips on how to deal with students who have behavioural issues. Together, you can dive into the specifics, and look for targeted solutions.
That said, LessonUp can be of support in order to engage students who might disrupt the learning process for themselves and/or others:
Offer fun quizzes as a reward
Offer fun quizzes as a reward for completing an assignment, or participating during a lesson. Most students love digital quizzes. They are playful, immediate ways to assess knowledge and engage them. If you have particularly introverted or disruptive students, try to offer them a quiz about something they are passionate about. It might turn them around.
Use imagery, videos, hotspots to connect with them
People are tendentially visual, and sometimes SEND students even more so. The great thing about LessonUp, is that you can upload images, YouTube videos, hotspots, and all kinds of interesting materials to build a more 'visual' connection between you and your students.
Depending on your students' needs you can keep your visual material clean and simple, or make it as rich as you want. There is a good chance that your students will enjoy working visually, in a digital environment, and might engage with you about what they have seen and learnt.
Use a poll to assess comprehension
After giving your students instructions, you can use a digital poll to assess their comprehension and encourage them to reflect on their learning. This can provide insights into specific difficulties a student might have. Based on the results, you can tailor your instructions to meet their needs, potentially leading to significantly better learning outcomes.
Track student progress in real-time
With LessonUp, you can track student progress digitally and in real-time. Simply go to your students' reports to see how they are performing during interactive exercises, formative assessments, and more. Based on this valuable information, you can rethink your teaching method and find targeted solutions to support each student.
Additionally, you can provide immediate feedback digitally through their lesson reports. Write comments next to their answers, and if an answer is missing, you can ask follow-up questions.
How can you engage students who have difficulty communicating?
Also in this case, it might be wise to contact your school’s Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Coordinator for support and advice.
Here are some tips on what you could try out with LessonUp:
Get to know your students well
Get to know your students as much as possible. The more you understand about their interests and preferences, the better you can engage them. Take time to ask about their passions and hobbies in person. If that doesn’t work, try reaching out digitally. Tools like mind maps or interactive spinners with prompts such as ‘I like’ or ‘My favourite football team is’ can be effective. For students who enjoy writing, open questions about their interests can be insightful. Digital methods might be especially useful for students who prefer not to be in the spotlight, offering them a sense of safety and privacy.
Give learners the opportunity to show off their knowledge
If verbal communication is challenging for some students, they might feel frustrated. Digital open questions, quiz questions, photo questions, and mind maps can provide them with the perfect platform to express their understanding without the pressure of speaking in front of the class. You might be surprised by the depth of their knowledge.
To further ensure a supportive learning atmosphere, consider offering options for student anonymity. With LessonUp, you can enhance engagement while keeping students' identities confidential. When using tools like mind maps or open questions, you can choose whether to display students' names or keep their responses anonymous, helping them feel more secure.
Help you students join the classroom group dynamics
Some students might need assistance finding their place within the classroom group dynamics. How can you support them?
You could use what you know about them to create learning moments on topics that interest them. Involve also the other students by promoting classroom conversations with the spinner or with a mind map. If conversation is not what you are looking for, you could try to engage them with one or more of the many interactive features available in LessonUp.
You could divide your students in groups to answer a question collectively, or check out a video together and discuss what they have learnt in smaller groups. In the LessonUp blog and community there are many articles with interesting learning techniques that you can apply straight away in your classroom.
SEN(D) learners play a significant role in addressing the attainment gap by highlighting the need for tailored educational strategies and inclusive practices.
