Chapter Summary And Analysis

This chapter is filled with excellent ideas for teachers and how to manage their classroom when their students have exceptionalities. The specific exceptionalities that the chapter focuses on are giftedness, learning disabilities, ADHD, and emotional and behavioural exceptionalities. Hutchinson goes through describing each exceptionality and how as a teacher you can help that student. In my opinion the strategies that will help students with exceptionalities function in the classroom will help all students gain skills that they will use for the rest of their lives. For example, when teaching students with ADHD it is beneficial to have an organized classroom, create a predictable and structured environment, teach cognition to control behaviour, and teach self-regulation strategies. Having an organized classroom will help all students learn independence because they know where materials are and can therefore do more, without assistance from the teacher. Similarly, having a structured and predictable environment helps students move from activity to activity without much instruction, which also helps teach independence. Additionally, teaching cognition to control behaviour helps all students learn how to use their thoughts to rethink their choices. For instance, if a student is getting angry, they can think of ways to divert their energy into doing something productive like going for a body break instead of hitting other students. Behaviour control and self-regulation are very similar. Teaching self-regulation can keep students

The students who need extra skills to function in the classroom tend to receive extra time from the teacher to help them function. How do you ensure students who already have good self-regulation receive their right to be taught the curriculum