POWER OF GAMES

POWER OF GAMES

Course Duration: 5 days
Course Fee: 400€

Learning disabled students are those who demonstrate a significant discrepancy, which is not the result of some other handicap, between academic achievement and intellectual abilities in one or more of the areas of oral expression, listening comprehension, written expression, basic reading skills, reading comprehension, mathematical calculation, mathematics reasoning, or spelling.
Following is a list of some of the common indicators of learning-disabled students. These traits are usually not isolated ones; rather, they appear in varying degrees and amounts in most learning-disabled students.
A learning-disabled student:
- Has poor auditory memory—both short term and long term.
- Has a low tolerance level and a high frustration level.
- Has weak or poor self-esteem.
- Is easily distractible.
- Finds it difficult, if not impossible, to stay on task for extended periods of time.
- Is spontaneous in expression; often cannot control emotions.
- Is easily confused.
- Is verbally demanding.
- Has some difficulty in working with others in small or large group settings.
- Has difficulty in following complicated directions or remembering directions for extended periods of time.
- Has coordination problems with both large and small muscle groups.
- Has inflexibility of thought; is difficult to persuade otherwise.
- Has poor handwriting skills.
- Has a poor concept of time.

Teaching learning disabled youngsters will present you with some unique and distinctive challenges. Not only will these students demand more of your time and patience; so, too, will they require specialized instructional strategies in a structured environment that supports and
enhances their learning potential. It is important to remember that learning disabled students are not students who are incapacitated or unable to learn; rather, they need differentiated instruction tailored to their distinctive learning abilities.

Learning Outcomes
All the participants will
- Provide oral instruction for students with reading disabilities.
- Present tests and reading materials in an oral format so the assessment is not unduly influenced by lack of reading ability.
- Provide learning disabled students with frequent progress checks. Let them know how well they are progressing toward an individual or class goal.
- Give immediate feedback to learning disabled students. They need to see quickly the relationship between what was taught and what was learned.
- Make activities concise and short, whenever possible. Long, drawn-out projects are particularly frustrating for a learning-disabled child.
- Provide them with concrete objects and events—items they can touch, hear, smell, etc. because they have difficulty learning abstract terms and concepts.
- Praise them, instead of just saying, “You did well,” or “I like your work,” be sure you provide specific praising comments that link the activity directly with the recognition; for example, “I was particularly pleased by the way in which you organized the rock collection for Karin and Miranda.”
- When necessary, plan to repeat instructions or offer information in both written and verbal
formats. Again, it is vitally necessary that learning disabled children utilize as many of their
sensory modalities as possible.
- Encourage cooperative learning activities when possible.
- Invite students of varying abilities to work together on a specific project or toward a common goal.
- Create an atmosphere in which a true “community of learners” is facilitated and enhanced.

Objectives of the course
- Understanding the terms of teaching disabled students in schools in Europe
- Recognizing the needs of disabled students
- Getting aware of the problems they face in the educational process
- Identifying the emotional background in special needs
- Getting an awareness related to effective teaching and learning methods
- Developing a school policy plan on improving educational process in schools
- Introducing pedagogical approaches to deal with the special needs
- Developing positive attitudes towards disabled and special need students
- Visiting sample schools that provide education to the disabled and special need education
- Defining special education
- Discussing possible challenges one can face while teaching disabled students
- Getting aware of strategies for different learning-disabled students
- Understanding pedagogical approaches
- Improving educational process

Methodology
- Creating immediate feedbacks
- Performing music, arts, drama
- Visiting sample schools that provide education to the disabled students
- Creating indoor and outdoor spaces for disabled students
- Storytelling, singing, dancing
- Developing a school policy plan
- Brainstorming
- Working in group cooperatively
- Identifying the role of art, ICT and games


Target group
- Teachers, trainers, educators, school administrators, etc.

Preparation
Before the course,
- A detailed pre-course questionnaire to indicate their level of experience, teaching backgrounds, and training will be completed by participants.
- They will also prepare a presentation to reflect their own teaching method.

Validation
- A course participation certificate will be given to all participants.
- A Europass Mobility Certificate will be given if the participant demands it, as well.