Observing learners' strengths and struggles

Auditory or receptive abilities (the way students respond to directions):

• Do they interrupt or respond inappropriately?
• Do they continually ask for information to be repeated?
• Can they track and follow the conversation?
• Do they hesitate frequently before responding?

Oral expressive language abilities (the level of expressive language used):

• Watch for the tone, quality and comfort level.
• Observe the level of quality; is it higher or lower than presented by the learners' general academic functioning?

Visual abilities:

• How do learners track print in books, forms and tests?
• Compare their ability to process print versus verbal expression.
• When they read out loud do they skip partial or full lines of print?
• Are they frequently on the wrong number or column?

Memory abilities:

• Can they recall information, either personal or educational and in a logical and clear manner?
• Do they have difficulty remembering the names of their fellow learners, numbers, and/or math equations?