Group 2: Chapter 5 (Student Diversity-Development, Ability, and Exceptionalities)

The chapter focuses on the differences in development, ability, and exceptionalities your students may have.  Firstly, development depends upon a students experiences.  These experiences come from parents, teachers, other adults, and peers.  Development can be cognitive, moral, personal, or social.  The second area involves a students ability.  Intelligence is made up of three components: the capacity to acquire knowledge, the ability to think and reason in abstract, and the ability to problem solve.  Learning styles emphasize differences in the ways students prefer to learn in the classroom.  A student's ability to learn is different from one student to the next.  Effective teaching is sensitive to these differences and adapt their teaching accordingly.  Lastly, is the topic of students with exceptionalities.  IDEA has set standards on how we provide for those who have exceptionalities.  These students fall into four major categories: learning disabilities, communication disabilities, intellectual disabilities, and behavior disabilities.  Also, a majority of these students are also gifted and talented.  IEP's are a set of instructions to meet the learning needs of these students.  Effective teachers use different types of learning to give these students the highest level of education.  We must help all of our students reach their academic success.