UKEdMag: 10 SEN strategies or just good practice for any classroom? by @eddiemconlon

SEN strategies or just good practice for any classroom? – This article originally appeared in Issue 48 of the UKEd Magazine. Click here to view.

Some people might think these are SEN strategies, but I think they are just good practice for most students. Why label students with a diagnosis or learning strategy, when it can make them uncomfortable by treating them differently. By building a toolkit of strategies that many students respond to, without the labels, I meet their needs as individuals and as a group.

Here are 10 –

1. Establish clear rules and expectations as a group. Joint ownership of rules, means students are more likely to live by them.
2. Be consistent.
3. Use SMART tasks and SMART learning outcomes.
4. Shorten tasks if students regularly lose interest during lessons.
5. Recap chunks of lessons regularly with what has been achieved, not what hasn’t?
6. Include more active learning and less academic activities and assessments.
7. Encourage movement, e.g. rearrange seats and classroom set up during the lesson. Do students need to be seated in a row?
8. Replace text in handouts with visuals, or use both to accommodate more students.
9. Recognise that not all incidents need intervention. Focus more on positive behaviour and effort.
10. Recognise that interventions do not need to be done in front of the class.

@eddiemconlon Numeracy and ICT Lecturer – Belfast

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