Visual Strategies for learning - Donna (CoL)

Donna's blog.

Why use visual aids?

improves understandings

encourages independence

helps with generalisation

reduces anxiety

minimises problem behaviour

provide support for communication

provide structure or predictability to help with thinking

act as a motivator to reinforce social meaning

lets the child know what is going to happen

shows the sequence of events

provides predicability

Visuals can be

words

photos

symbols - board making, writing with symbols

drawings

pictures

objects

checklist

lists

Timetable

indicates what needs to be done and in what otder

provide information about what is going to happen

this helps to provide predictability and to help students understand routines which is an extremely important part of reducing stress

Social stories

examples of social stories

Great website to use.

Rules and routines

using a visual to SHOW students what they should look like when they should be 'listening'

timers - "in 5 minutes"

Break Cards

a card that can be handed to an adult when they feel stressed

or the adult can hand it too the student when they feel a break is needed, especially to pre-empt an outburst

these are individualised, depending on the student

Visual aids for learning

Visual aids are the devices that help the teacher to clarify, establish, and correlate and co-ordinate precise conceptions understandings and appreciations and support him to make learning more actual, active, motivating, encouraging, significant and glowing. 

Proper use of visual aids helps to retain more concept permanently.

Students can study well when they are inspired properly through different visual aids.

Visual aids grow the accurate image when the students see and hear properly. 

Visual aids provide complete example for conceptual thinking.

Visual aids create the environment of interest for the students. 

Visual aids helps to increase the vocabulary of the students. 

Visual aids helps the teacher to get sometime and make learning permanent. 

Visual aids provide direct experience to the students. 

Self-evaluation

smiley face marking

Story planners

Building vocabulary

use pictures to support the vocabulary students are learning because they might know the meaning, but might have forgotten the word. It gives them access back into the word.

Time tables and labels

Regular activities in the classroom

Language starters

E.g. talk moves, reciprocal reading, sentence frames

Directions and learning goals