ARD is a special education way to say that the Admission, Review and Dismissal Committee has determined what is best for the child with special needs in your classroom. When the ARD committee sends a special needs child into the regular classroom, they will most likely send a list of modifications with him.
Teacher's often feel overwhelmed by the list and wonder how they will find time for this. Still, what the ARD committee decides is best for the special needs child is printed on a legal document and must be implemented. Not only is the school held liable, but the classroom teacher is too. You don't want to go into a court room and explain why you failed to modify, do you?
There's no getting around the need for modifying the way we teach to provide for the needs of each and every child in our classrooms. Even so, there will be no need to become overwhelmed when we look at that list of modifications with an open mind and through a student view with a new perspective.
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE NEED FOR MODIFYING:
The truth is that whatever modifications are listed in the legal document are most likely what teachers should do for each and every child in her classroom. As a special education teacher for many years, I've been amazed by the teachers who never complained or minded being asked to modify, because you see, that teacher already did all those things. To give you an example of what a modification list looks like, which arrives with the special needs child, I'll list a few modifications for you which every teacher should use. These are good ways to teach, whether or not you have a special needs child in your classroom.
A SAMPLE MODIFICATION LIST:
1. Student activities will be limited to 15 minute intervals.
Special needs children have a hard time sitting quietly and listening for any length of time, but then again, so does every child. When teachers comply to this special needs modification, they are using a technique for teaching that is wise, saves time and keeps the children focused on the task at hand.
2. The student will be given extra time to complete assignments.
Every teacher knows that each child works at their own pace and although we do need to give them a time limit, providing extra time only means that we are being realistic about what it means to teach. If any child in the classroom doesn't get it yet, the teacher should be happy to go over it again. Extra time might mean spending more time with a particular child after school, but what would a teacher refuse to do, no matter how long it takes to do?
3. The teacher will use a variety of tools to teach new concepts, including visual, auditory and tactile aides.
When a teacher uses a variety of teaching tools, it can only enhance the learning of every child in the classroom. Having centers designed for visual and auditory aides to teaching a concept is a great way to teach in the regular classroom too. It provides time for more one on one instruction when the children use stations in the room with the teacher constantly observing and guiding. It's not only the special needs child who needs a teacher with a unique teaching style that is geared to reach each and every child.
4. Modified Grades will reflect 50% as passing.
I've seen many a teacher become irate at having to pass the special needs child with only 50% accuracy, but it seems to me that if any child in the classroom only gets 50% of the test correct, it might mean that we are only teaching 50% effectively.
It could be that the special needs child might not understand your instructions, and if that's true, chances are others won't either. Teachers need to see that if any child in her care is unaware of what she is trying to teach, it means she needs to teach it better.
Don't waste time blaming the ARD. Just be the teacher you were hired to be, which is to teach every child according to his or her needs. Yes, it takes a lot of time to modify, but who ever said that being a teacher wouldn't be time consuming? In the time it takes to modify a grade, you should take that amount of time to re-teach the concept again.
5. The teacher will target skills as specified on the IEP or Individual Education Plan.
Each and every individual child within the special education arena will have an IEP which will be the teacher's guide as to what to teach that child. It might seem overwhelming to have one child in your classroom with a list of goals that you are responsible to teach. Even so, remember that good teachers do this for every child anyway. If not, we should. Keeping track of specific progress helps the teacher to see what is missing. Otherwise, the child might pass the test but miss the rest of what you intended to teach.
Keeping track of individual progress by following an individual instruction plan is the best way to serve every child, so use the special needs child's IEP as a guide to becoming a better teacher, with every child's individual needs in mind.
To Conclude:
The list could go on and on as modification lists always do, but remember this. That's what teachers do. We modify all the time, every moment of every day if we are teaching effectively. Any teacher who truly believes that she should be allowed to teach the same way she's always taught with no modifications at all, it means the teacher needs to be taught what learning is all about. Variety is the spice of life and the way to learn new concepts too.
It could be that if we modify happily for the special needs child, that we will become better teachers for each and every child.