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Hi Andrea,

I posted a response earlier but I think I didn't do it correctly and it got deleted. I really like your suggestion of giving choice to build self-awareness. I am so used to thinking of giving choices as a behaviour management strategy but it really is a useful strategy to build self-awareness.  The more our students get to make decisions about their own preferences, the more they will be able to know their own minds.  Thanks for the suggestion!

Alana

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Hi Tiffany,

One point that resonated with me is your suggestion of setting up a system in the classroom so students can help silently using visual cues.  I also recently read something to this effect where a student can put a certain colour sticky note on their desk for the teacher to notice when they need help.  I would definitely like to try this out in the classroom!

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Hi Tara, I believe goal-setting to be crucial in helping students advocate for themselves.  I really appreciate how you have emphasized on conferencing to set both short and long term goals with an action plan and monitoring progress.  I think when we focus on creating short term goals, they are more attainable and ‘in sight’ (small attainable steps).  In this way, students can build momentum and work their way in attaining their long term goals more easily.

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Peer Response to Andrea Randell from Owen Quenneville 

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Peer Response to Andrea Randell from Owen Quenneville 

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Andrea, I like that you focused on the barrier to advocacy of teacher and peer relationships. Students that do not feel comfortable with their teachers or peers with not share their needs and self-advocate. I think you have great suggestions for overcoming this barrier in suggesting an "open-door" policy and an environment where students feel comfortable taking risks. It is a risk to self-advocate after all, especially if our students are still learning to self-advocate or do not feel comfortable expressing their needs and difficulties. How do you do this in your classes? I try to model sharing my own learning and wellness needs so that students might feel comfortable sharing theirs as well.

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Peer Response to Alana Bobet from Andrea Randell

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Peer Response to Alana Bobet from Andrea Randell

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I like your idea of providing a sample of goal setting as a model for the student. Self-assessment is a very important skill that needs to explicitly be taught to students. By having students self-monitor their goals, they are becoming more autonomous learners. Another important strategy to consider would be co-creating goals with the student. This would increase engagement and ownership of learning.
-Andrea

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(Andrea Randell)

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I appreciate you including journalling as a strategy for self awareness. I also think it is important to teach the physical and emotional signs of stress to help students become more self aware and help them self-regulate.
Thanks Tara

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Overcoming Barriers to Self-Advocacy -Tara N.

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Overcoming Barriers to Self-Advocacy -Tara N.

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E-tivity #6 Overcoming Barriers to Self-Advocacy

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Barriers and Strategies to Self-Advocacy 

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Barriers and Strategies to Self-Advocacy 

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Alana Bobet

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Barriers & Strategies for Self-Advocacy (S.Alam)

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Barriers & Strategies for Student Self-Advocacy

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Barriers & Strategies for Student Self-Advocacy

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Owen Quenneville

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You have great strategies for assisting students with self awareness. Having students  relate problems to real life situations the student may encounter is a good strategy that they will will need in every day life in and outside of school. I also agree with teaching students to take ownership of their knowledge. Like our community Elders tell us, "once I've told you this story, it now belongs to you. You are responsible in sharing this information with our children and our youth."

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Aaron- I like your strategies to assist students when they feel their teachers are unapproachable. Yes some have developed learned helplessness along their educational paths, and others have not. I like your ideas of making it clear from the start as the teacher to engage your students in a positive way and letting them know you are there to help all students reach their learning goals! Providing that open line of communication for your students is beneficial for everyone.

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Heather - I find goal-setting to be such an effective skill. It can be specific to each student's needs and has a positive impact for life. Tracking and managing goals can be a bit onerous, but having students do some of that work is brilliant! Meg N

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Barriers & Strategies to Self-Advocacy Meg N

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Barriers & Strategies to Self-Advocacy Meg N

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Barriers/Challenges and Strategies By: Denise

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Barriers/Challenges and Strategies By: Denise

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Hi Heather, I like the way you included colour coding as an organizational strategy. In my previous job, we provided transitioning students with colour coded organizational binders. They were very effective.

Christine

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Christine

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I appreciated the fact that you suggested the co-creation of goals, as I think this is a very sound way to help build better self-advocacy skills!

Christine

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Tiffany to Brieann

I loved the ideas of teaching self-reflection and gratitude journals. These are great strategies for all students in the classroom! This is something I will be considering for future use in my practice. I have also seen reflection journals based on quotes of the day/week that are positive encouraging quotes for students to respond to.

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Tiffany

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Heather to Navdeep

You had some great suggestions! I really like the strategy of teaching students to take risks & celebrating their attempts. This is a great way to develop growth mindset and self-advocacy skills. I also didn't include Positive Relationships as one of my barriers. However, this was one area that the students from the podcast mentioned a few times as something they struggled with in high school, both with peers and teachers. Thank you for sharing!
Heather

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Heather

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Aaron to Beth
I did not add family to the list of barriers. It is a consideration that is important but also one I overlooked. I believe family situations play a huge role in how we work with students. In one case, I was told a father hit the student with a stick when he got bad grades. As such, I did not seek out parental support like I usually would. Rather, I called child protective services. In the case of poverty as you mentioned, it would be highly beneficial to the family if we could connect them with community.

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Ashley to Rebecca
I really like how you included building positive relationships and some ways in which you could help with that. I think students often times feel safer and more confident if they have close friends they can count on.

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Navdeep to Beth

You had some great strategies! One that stuck out to me was how important it is to support student's
non- academic talents. I feel often times we get caught up on teaching the curriculum that we forget that our students have many hidden talents that we can help them find and become better at. Thanks for the reminder!

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Navdeep to Brieann

I really like the idea of a "Gratitude Journal" The idea of writing one trait they like about themselves everyday is something I never thought of and I think this is a great way to help build self-esteem.

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Navdeep

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Joslyn to Brieann

A Gratitude Journal ....something I had never thought of and could be a UDL for all...super idea!

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Joslyn to Aaron

I like your idea of posting the PROCESS for asking for help. This levels the task on the UDL playing field, thereby normalizing the process for all.

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Joslyn

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Beth

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Beth to Brieann

I think the most important support you can give a student with LDs is education about their disability. The more they understand about themselves, the more they can advocate.

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Beth to Aaron
I like how you mention many students have learned helplessness over the years. Dealing with the issue right away by making the student aware of your willingness to help them learn gives them accountability to seek help without excuses

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Rebecca.V responding to  Brieann. M

I found our posts to be similar and full of great ideas. One thing you included that I think was a great idea was having students reflect daily to build self-awareness. It really allows them to help plan for their next steps. Thanks for sharing!

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Rebecca. V responding to Elaine, J

I really like that you included "Promote a positive classroom atmosphere and educating others" as two strategies for helping to break the barrier of negative attitudes and stereotypes. I think the best way we break those attitudes and stereotypes is by educating students on the needs of their peers. It allows them to stop having misconceptions and provides and understanding of ways that they can support their peers.

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Aaron Ward

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I really like the use of a gratitude journal. This can be an effective mindfulness tool to shift focus from the negative towards what is positive now. This is a great mental well being strategy for everyone.
Thanks for sharing,
Tara

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Elaine Jeffery responding to Brieann Mulligan

I really like the idea of a gratitude journal to help promote low self-esteem. I think this would also be very beneficial for all students to acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses on a daily basis. Thank you for sharing that idea. I hope to be able to use that in the future.

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Elaine Jeffery

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LE4 E-tivity #6 - Advocacy - Student Voice

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Brieann Mulligan

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Brieann Mulligan responding to Rebecca Vijan
Thanks for all the great suggestions! I  really like the point of helping a student find some connections. I know for some of my students, we starting a cooking club and many of my grade 8 students with LDs joined in and connected with peers! It is so important!
Thanks!

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By: Rebecca Vijan

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By Ashley Coburn
1) May have difficulty describing their needs and the conditions that may help support their learning.
2)They may encounter people who do not understand learning disabilities or why people who have an LD may require accommodations/modifications to programming.
3) Limited confidence and/or low self-esteem. They may be embarrassed to ask for help.
4) Passive. Students may feel that there is nothing they can do, so why bother self-advocating.
5) Difficulty articulating strengths and needs because of difficulty with language.
References: https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/support/learn_disabilities/module7.pdf

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Hi. Here is one sample(see my video clip). S. Staios