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Hearing impairment is a different ability that I was not expecting to encounter as much in my teaching experience and not one that was addressed in module as being very common.

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How Can I Best Support Students with Hearing Impairment in my Secondary English Classroom?

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How Can I Best Support Students with Hearing Impairment in my Secondary English Classroom?

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This is my over-arching research question for the inquiry project.

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Working with my students I found myself often thinking about how it would feel to be in their shoes. One of the students with the hearing impairment was confident and had spoken before to groups of student teachers about inclusive education and how to engage every child. This student also had an FM system so I got used to having it on my person when I taught (I kept forgetting it was on however, which can be tricky if you are having private conversations because the student can still hear). With my lessons, I had to be conscious of where I stood in the room so that the students could hear me as well as see me in case they missed anything. I also had to be careful to speak slowly enough to be heard and to ensure the level of background noise in the room was minimal.

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Many of the strategies we discussed was for students with learning or behavioral disabilities including ADHD, Dyslexia, and Autism Spectrum disorder as well as how to support English Language Learners. Hearing impairment was an area that raised a lot of questions for me; I had two hearing-impaired students in my mainstream hearing class.

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Implications for the whole class when there are hearing-impaired students

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Implications for the whole class when there are hearing-impaired students

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What is the impact of as a whole for everyone involved when hearing impairment is a factor for consideration

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What are some helpful multi-modal strategies and resources?

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What are some helpful multi-modal strategies and resources?

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In talking about Inclusive Education and SPED, we discussed a lot about multi-modal instruction and teaching from a place of empathy. I knew strategies around honoring the students and pacing lessons and adapting content to set students up for success based on their needs. We also had a lot of focus on being curious and non-judgmental- not making assumptions based on what we think we know of our students. Much of this came from our discussions after reading The Shortbus by Jonathan Mooney and having Dr. Robert Williamson do a workshop with the class.

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Borrowed online image from:
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/245235142187941347/

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What is and isn't helpful to the students involved?

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What is and isn't helpful to the students involved?

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What would be considered supportive and what would lead to further singling these students out?

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-Increased awareness of the noise levels of my classroom
-Modifying my teaching style from class-wide discussion based learning to small group discussions, using text of different kinds and producing things to show learning
-Well-developed classroom management and community building to encourage students to support each other
-Preparing extra materials so that hearing-impaired students have what they need to be included (photocopies of texts read out loud to the class, lyrics to songs played, visuals and subtitles to video clips)
-Making sure that they hearing-impaired students have the support that they need when guests or other teachers come into the class (for example when doing Indigenous oral story-telling)
-Repeating what is said in class-wide discussion louder or when wearing an FM system so that what is said is heard
-Having individual conversations wit the students to make sure they know what is expected of them and what they need to know
-Controlled class discussions so that adaptations can be made to ensure hearing-impaired students can hear and be understood with answers being repeated

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-I grew in my practice by trying new things to include my hearing-impaired students. i found myself using more visual texts and providing opportunities for kinesthetic learning or ways for students to visually represent their learning in groups (mind maps, posters) - this way hearing-impaired students can benefit from the others even if they do not hear what is said.
-I have also grown in my preparation and organization. When lesson and unit planning I had to think about what would be needed as an adaptation for my two students (subtitles, their own device, pre-exposure, photocopies)
-I grew to be more comfortable with approaching the needs of students in my classroom that need adaptations. I felt uncertain at the beginning of my practicum because I did not know how best to manage the classroom without losing any students. i grew in my confidence in this area but I am still left with questions at the end of my practicum

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What's Next? -                  Further Questions

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What's Next? -                  Further Questions

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What about students that do not understand/use ASL or have access to an interpreter?

Not all deaf or hard of hearing students speak sign language or have access to/use and interpreter as was the case in my classroom.

How can I help students with other factors that make learning challenging on top of  hearing impairment when I do not have the time to give them the amount of support they need?

The student I mentioned above is not alone as many students are in similar positions. You do not want to have a student give up in the face of adversity. How can their self-esteem and confidence be built despite all of the factors affecting their learning?

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Ways of helping students understand:
-Visuals (video, pictures, etc.)
-Kinesthetic and tangible activities
-Using technology
-Interactive texts
-Place-Based Learning
-Incorporating art, music
-Using manipulatives
-Group projects/ work
-Providing options and choice

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Ways of Showing Learning         (Formative Assessment)

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Ways of Showing Learning         (Formative Assessment)

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-Written
-Aural
-Creative Visual Projects
-Group Discussion/ Projects
-Presentation
-Explaining with help of a scribe
-Using manipulatives
-Exit Sheets/ Activities
-Differentiated or Adapted assignments

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I was able to really support my student that was able to self-advocate and make sure she understood what was going on in the lesson. It was also easier to help her because she was a dedicated student. But what about when the student is not very good at self-advocating or has other factors that make school challenging on top of their hearing impairment? This was the case with another student of mine that struggled with written output, reading, and comprehension. The student also had difficulty setting himself up for success as he would sit with friends that would distract him and that he would actively distract. Attendance was also an area that provided challenges because he would miss several days  of school due to illness which would put him even further behind in class. I tried to build a relationship in him and foster some engagement but I just could not quite find the one thing that i could use as a starting point to engage him in English. This was not helped by the fact that he was doing poorly in other classes, had no EA support in the classroom to help him 1-on-1, and had seemingly given up on school so there was no motivation to do more than the bare minimum.

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Helpful:

-Multi-modal resources
-Reducing background noise
-Providing notes/ resources beforehand
- Controlling group discussion
-Checking for understanding

Not Helpful:

-Not encouraging positive self-esteem
-Singling students out as different
-Not communicating with the student, support staff, and parents

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Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in the Classroom
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwWAHyD0f4w

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Children with Minimal Hearing Loss: Interventions in the Classroom

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Children with Minimal Hearing Loss: Interventions in the Classroom

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Pakulski, Lori A., and Kaderavek, Joan N. "Children with Minimal Hearing Loss: Interventions in the Classroom." Intervention in School and Clinic 38.2 (2002): 96-103. Web.

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Self-Esteem and Hearing Impairment: An Investigation  of Hong Kong Secondary School Students

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Self-Esteem and Hearing Impairment: An Investigation  of Hong Kong Secondary School Students

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Yee, F., D. Watkins, and N. Crawford. "Self-esteem and Hearing Impairment: An Investigation of Hong Kong Secondary School Students." Social Behavior and Personality 25.4 (1997): 367-74. Web.

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Image from:
http://teachertomsblog.blogspot.ca/2015/11/the-three-little-pigs.html

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Processing Time: Hearing-impaired students need processing time of the information given in class as often not everything that is heard is completely clear or understood. They need the time to put together everything they are hearing to make sense of it, especially when parts are missing. The video below gives a good sense of this

Environmental Modification: Coming up with signals when you need the specific student's attention and adapting the environment to reduce distracting background noise such as carpeting on the floor or reducing chatter of other students when you need hearing-impaired student to be able to hear (Pakulski & Kaderavek)

"Background noise in a classroom affects the child's ability to perceive speech by masking the acoustic and
linguistic cues that are available in the teacher's spoken message" (Crandell & Smaldino, 3).
Not only does background noise affect student performance, it can affect teacher performance as well and that can impact student learning.

Self-Concept and Self-Esteem: Among other factors, the way the student views themself and their ability to self-advocate greatly affects their success in the classroom environment and can facilitate or complicate their performance in the classroom (Yee, Watkins &Crawford). Fostering a growth mindset and positive self-esteem can impact the way you can support the students

Awareness of Performance Context: Often we forget to take into consideration or realize how much external factors can impact child performance. Not only does this affect student self-esteem, it also miss-shows their ability.

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Deaf and Hard of Hearing Students in the Classroom

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Intervention for Children with Hearing Impairment in General Education Settings

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Intervention for Children with Hearing Impairment in General Education Settings

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Brackett, Diane. "Intervention for Children with Hearing Impairment in General Education Settings." Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 28.4 (1997): 355-61. Web.

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Crandell, Carl C., and Smaldino, Joseph J. "Classroom Acoustics for Children with Normal Hearing and with Hearing Impairment." Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools 31.4 (2000): 362-70. Web.