F.A.T City ( ) - Movie Review Example

Running head: MOVIE REVIEW Movie Review: F.A.T. Workshop MOVIE REVIEW 2 Movie Review: F.A.T. Workshop “The F.A.T. City Workshop” (F.A.T. Mmaning frustration, anxiety, and tension) is Richard Lavoies special that presents an eye-opener regarding classroom life for students with learning disabilities. It contains fast-paced activities for education people, teachers, and parents to give them a first-hand experience of the frustrations encountered by children with learning disabilities. First, the speed of information delivery lacks consideration in the processing time that exceptional learners need.

Second, the common idea of “trying harder” is actually not helpful in making these students learn. Third, lack of positive reinforcement for good performance and ridicule and harassment for bad performance harm the childs motivation and self-esteem. Fourth, children with learning disabilities are not merely “unmotivated,” as the common notion goes. Lavoie presents some adaptations and accommodations possible for a better classroom experience. First, students with learning disabilities can be given special queue to give them time to be ready to answer the teachers questions.

This ensures that no additional anxiety is present every time they attend classroom lectures. Second, the teacher can ask for several answers to a specific question that will allow an exceptional learner to come up with a few answers themselves at the same time the rest of the regular learners come up with a complete list of answers. Third, ridicule should be avoided at all times. This ensures that children with learning disabilities do not feel less confident in attempting to answer questions since there is no risk of receiving negative remarks.

Lavoie also presents the idea that fairness does not mean that the same thing is given to each individual. Fairness in classroom education means providing students with information and MOVIE REVIEW 3support that is largely dependent on their needs and capabilities. For example, based on a first-hand observation, if a gifted child and a learning disabled child are in the same classroom, providing both children with the same information and support while expecting them to act according to the general standards applied to regular learners is not fair.

Upon deeper reflection, one would see that regular learners had no problems adapting to the expectations. The gifted child found the task too easy, yet got bored with it. Unfortunately, the learning disabled child had a hard time keeping up with the rest of the class. To top it off, the regular students got no positive remarks, while the gifted child got praises. Unfortunately again for the learning disabled child, the teacher made a slightly negative comment for the lack of good performance.

This could easily become a repeated pattern that would definitely affect both childs sense of self-worth and self-esteem. Based on personal experience, the lack of positive reinforcement for good performance and ridicule and harassment for bad performance is one of the difficulties in a classroom set-up. Despite the teachers efforts to maintain a positive atmosphere and embracing culture inside the classroom, the students may react differently to different situations. For example, if a student with learning disability answers a simple question incorrectly, the teacher might respond positively while attempting to correct the mistake, but the rest of the class might laugh at the child or react in a condescending manner.

In situations such as this, the teacher should be able to undo any possible harm this could give to the student with learning disability. The good thing about the teacher in that class is that she was able to address the situation nicely. She acknowledged the exceptional childs answer and reinforced it with encouraging words while avoiding sounding too patronizing. After that, she addressed the whole class and informed them MOVIE REVIEW 4why she likes and appreciates the exceptional learners answer (or attitude in answering for that matter) as she encouraged the rest of the class to have the same attitude as that particular child, making the exceptional child appear like a role model for that specific situation.

This experience is very much related to one part of the video regarding the four common difficulties encountered by mainstreamed exceptional learners. This is the one that impacted me most as a teacher. Obviously, the effect on the learning disabled child of this careless display of ridicule by the other students does not end inside the classroom or after the bell rings. The main implication here is that as a teacher, I realized that I have to keep in mind that we should watch out not only for our own reactions toward these students, but also for the reactions of their classmates.

If the teacher wants to maintain a positive and fair learning environment inside the classroom, behavior that promote this should be shown in every word uttered and every gesture made.MOVIEW REVIEW 5ReferencesRosen, P., Lavoie, R. D., Eagle Hill School Outreach., Peter Rosen Productions., & PBS Video. (2004). How difficult can this be?: Understanding learning disabilities : frustration, anxiety, tension, the F.A.T. city workshop. Alexandria, VA: Artwork PBS.