Step 5: Teach Instructional Techniques
Training peers to teach students with disabilities effectively requires a good understanding of a teaching process known as the system of least prompts (Dunn, Morehouse, and Fredericks 1986). Basically, the goal is to allow individuals to perform skills as independently as possible. Thus, the least prompt would be a verbal cue, followed by a model or demonstration, followed by physical assistance. These skills are taught to the tutor through the use of scenarios. For example, if the tutor provides a verbal cue requesting the student to throw a ball, and the skill is executed incorrectly, the tutor should then model the skill appropriately to facilitate understanding before asking the student to do the skill again. Tutors should also be taught how to give feedback to their students about skill performance. Verbal feedback consists of positive general, positive specific, and corrective statements. Nonverbal feedback consists of such things as high fives, thumbs up, or a pat on the back. Positive feedback is given after the student executes a skill correctly, and corrective feedback is given after the student executes a skill incorrectly.
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