Read the Individual Education Plan, IEP, carefully to understand the findings of the learning team. The IEP will state the limitations of the student, their disability, what has and has not worked in the past and may offer suggestions on how the student learns best. Meet with the special education teacher and develop a plan for the first day of attendance in your class. Find out the special education teacher's goals, concerns and what level of assistance to expect. Express your expectations as well as concerns. Talk about any special procedures, especially for students with a history of being physical, running away from the classroom or speaking out.
Plan the layout of your classroom to accommodate the student. This almost always includes preferential seating in a location that will best serve the student, has the easiest access, will be closest to the teacher and considers the best-suited students to sit next to. Consider other classroom environment factors such as distracting classroom displays, proximity to items of interest like toys and seating away from high traffic areas.
Plan your teaching to reach all ability levels within your classroom. Known as differentiating, a teacher must provide instruction at the level a child is ready to receive. For whole group learning, the teacher directs the instruction to the top half of ability levels within her class, knowing that she will be reteaching in small groups to the bottom half later. The ability level of a student with a learning disability is usually in the lower half of the class ability levels, but not always. When this happens, make the child with the learning disability an expert, and ask him questions that he will be able to answer in the class.
Use gimmicks, props and dramatics to get through to all students. Many students do not learn just by listening or watching. These students want to touch, take apart and rebuild to learn. Other students cannot visualize and need pictures and drawings to learn. Provide pictures and drawings to help all children visualize. Provide manipulatives for kinesthetic learners. Changing your voice, varying your pitch and pausing mid-sentence are strategies that keep students interested in what you are saying. Moving around the room keeps students attentive also.
Like or at least pretend to like the student with the learning disability. Research has shown that students adopt many of the tastes of their teacher. If the teacher likes something, the students are more likely to like something as well. This holds true for a student with a learning disability. When the teacher goes out of her way to engage a learning disabled student, not only is that student more comfortable, but the rest of the class tends to accept the student and offer help.