Scott Nannen - #14

F.A.T. City Workshop: How Difficult Can This Be?

by Richard Lavoie

F.A.T. City
F__________Frustration________
A__________Anxiety________
T ________Tension__________

Processing:
Name 2 ways delayed processing affects a students performance
1. They spend so much time processing the question that they miss the answer and everyone else moves
on.
2. That slow processing causes anxiety which inhibits a students performance.

Risk Taking:
Name 2 ways you as a teacher can reduce the fear of academic risk-taking during class.
1. Dont create an environment of surprises. Give positive reinforcment to students when they answer
correctly.
2. Give positive reinforcement to students when they answer correctly.

Visual Perception:

What is the picture?

In the video? Its the face of a
cow.

A)What do teachers often do when a child cannot do academic task student say they cannot do?
1. Say look at it harder.
2. Bribe them -
3. Take things away - or else you lose recess
Scott Nannen - #14
4. Blame the victim - blame the kid - they arent motivated!

B) What is the difference between seeing & perceiving?

1. Seeing is looking at what is in front of you.

2. Perception is understanding beyond just looking at something.

Reading Comprehension:
What is necessary for children to be able to comprehend?
1. Background knowledge over vocabulary
2. Context to the words being read.

Effect of Visual Perception:

Write a title for the picture.

The Skull of Death

List 2 tasks that are difficult for children with learning / mild disabilities.
1. Following directions - especially using left and right terminology.
2. Visual motor integration

Cognitive Processing:
Explain the difference between an associative and a cognitive processing.
1. Associative Process/Activity is when can do two or more activities at a time. Driving and Talking,
2. Cognitive Process/Activity is when can do only one activity at a time. During storm, just driving. So,
for kids, they cant take notes and listen at the same time.
Scott Nannen - #14

What are the two lessons when the group is telling a story?
1. Easy to call on others mistakes - they want to convince others that hey arent only ones to make
mistakes.
2. Hard to do when cognitive activity - very difficult to talk when cognitive activity. Causes anxiety and
trouble communicating - especially when time is involved.

Auditory / Visual Learners:

List two examples of problems or struggles associated with auditory vs visual learners:
1. Reading directions instead of hearing them read for us. Makes sense to them
2. Visual words with out sound or meaning are difficult to understand.
Fairness:
What does fairness mean? Kids learn according to what they see, not what you say. Adults have a
context of fairness but class is run on kids concept of fairness. Fairness is every gets what he or she
needs, not that everyone gets the same thing.

Paragraph Reflection:
F.A.T. City Workshop
I found this video workshop fascinating and enlightening, and a little bit disconcerting. I have always
found videos or writings about what students on the Autism Spectrum, or those with sensory processing
challenges feel or experience very helpful but also a little bit lacking. This workshop was probably the
most helpful in terms of what it might actually be like to be a student with a learning disability. As the
facilitator would speak quickly, or speak in a sharp way with a student, it was helpful to see how that
might trip up a student with learning disability. The most helpful section to me was the section on
cognitive processing and associative processing. It was helpful for me to put a name to a student being
able to do two or more tasks at a time versus one and it caused me to think about what I am asking my
students to do that they may not be able to have the ability to process. Maybe having students take notes
and listen is not the best option for every student. Maybe an environment where they are writing and
listening to a video or another students presentation is not the best learning environment for each of my
students. This made me aware that I need to be thinking about this with all of my students, especially
those with learning challenges.