Strategies for Learning and Teaching

Provide support with additional recording mechanisms where appropriate (e.g. charts, diagrams, dictaphones, models, voice recognition software and word processors).
Minimise the amount of writing a student is required to do.
Encourage oral responses.
Use paper with lines that are raised; this will act as a sensory guide to help the student to stay within the lines.
Try different pens and pencils to find one that the student is most comfortable working with.
Explore concepts such as mindmapping®, spider diagrams and concept maps as a means of exploring topics or demonstrating learning.
Adapt written activities and worksheets (e.g. instead of expecting a student to write full sentence answers, either encourage the student to fill in the missing word or circle the correct response).
Use workbooks where appropriate to reduce the need to copy material from books.
When organising written work, particularly projects, create a list of keywords.
Use assistive technologies, such as voice-activated software, if the mechanical aspects of writing remain a major hurdle.
Experiment with a variety of writing utensils (e.g. thick/fine-tip marker, use of grips on pencils, etc).
Break tasks into small steps and allow adequate time for completion.
Select and highlight most important errors not all errors – focus on the nature of the errors (quality) rather than the number of errors (quantity).
Give regular constructive praise and encouragement and maintain high expectations.
Limit copying from the board.
Acknowledge that extra time is needed by students in order to complete written tasks.
Explicitly teach organisational skills, for example POWER for essay writing:
- PLANNING
- ORGANISING
- WRITING
- EDITING
- REVISING