respond to discussion 3 REA

Aleesia

Accommodations and modifications are terms frequently used in schooling and the workplace. Both phrases allude to adjustments made to promote the success of those with disabilities. One significant distinction is that while modifications change what students are taught or expected to learn, accommodations vary how students understand the subject. According to Bika (2021), accommodations are changes made to the environment, curriculum, or tools to enable a person with a disability to access the material and complete the assigned tasks. The accommodation allows students with disabilities to follow a regular academic program. Modification, conversely, refers to a shift in the curriculum or content. Therefore, modifications are made if a student with a disability cannot comprehend all of the material taught by the instructor.

I often incorporate modification and accommodation into my teaching. According to Amran and Majid (2019), totals remain the same content that is taught. Markedly, this enables me to use the same grading system for students with disabilities that I apply for students without disabilities. For instance, in the past, I enlisted the help of sign language interpreters for deaf students and accorded students with visual impairments, and limited fine motor skills extended task times. By ensuring that students with limitations are accorded the proper assistance, I seek to alter how they learn. Similarly, I frequently use modification techniques while teaching when I scale back the amount of homework given to primary school students with cognitive disabilities that limit their capacity to comprehend the material in the general education class in which they are enrolled.

Beverly

As a new educator, I quickly had to learn the difference between a modification and an accommodation to ensure that my students were properly taken care in my class. At the beginning of each semester, our Inclusion teachers will request a meeting with all of the teachers that have students that require specific modifications to learning in the classroom. The modifications could be modified or shorter assignments, less reading or writing or easier material based on grade level of the student.  The modifications are necessary in order for the student to learn or comprehend in the classroom. Often, it requires teachers to change their lesson to meet the specific need of each student that may be affected. A modification changes what a student learns. With many of my current inclusion students, I modify my lesson plan to include shorter assignments and less reading and writing, especially with vocabulary assignments. I normally only give them about half of the vocabulary words that I assign to the other students.

An accommodation, on the other hand, involves making sure that the student is an environment conducive to learning. An accommodation could include making sure the student is not sitting near a door or window where they could be easily disturbed, or moving the student to the front of the class to make sure they stay focused and are not distracted by others. Also, students with an accommodation may need extra time to complete an assignment or a test. An accommodation is meant to change how a student learns. For example, I had a student last year that could only use text-to-speech in the classroom. This student was very attentive and would always want to participate during class. Because the proper accommodations were made prior to them attending class, it was easy for this student to be included in class assignments. We have to be good judgements of what is needed for our students to succeed and make the proper adjustments. The Bible tells us in Titus 2:7, “ In everything set them an example by doing what is good. In your teaching show integrity, seriousness.”

Waudeen

Both accommodation and modification are changes made to help people, especially students with special needs. Accommodation refers to the changes made in the learning method to help students overcome difficulty learning new materials. Modification refers to the alterations in the curriculum to change what a student is taught or expected to do in school.

Accommodations change how a student learns; for example, for a student with a visual disability, teachers will accommodate the child with audiobooks, movies, videos, and digital media instead of reading print versions. Modification is less homework or more accessible assignments. Teachers usually use different strategies to change how student learns.

The experience with modifications and accommodations is not in a regular classroom setting but in classes at church designed for children with disabilities. We offer changes, such as alternative seating arrangements to support children with disabilities and rearranging furniture to help children with special needs move more easily around the classroom. Visual clutter on walls is limited to reduce distractions for children with autism or ADHD. Teachers also modified assignments such as creating alternate projects, teaching different material than the regular classroom, and giving students more time to complete a project. We excuse them from a particular task because of their disability.

The accommodations experiences include working with text in a larger print size or allowing students to record a lesson instead of taking notes. Some classes require designated readers, while others changed to illustration learning rather than reading. Most can better understand the subject or story through media learning, so we show movies and videos instead of reading books.