Constructivism

My first year of teaching I was introduced to two students who were Autistic.  Working with them brought a whole new light to my eyes and made my teaching job a little harder.  As a small town girl I would always say funny little things like, "Let's go Joe".  This upset my student though because their names were not Joe and they didn't understand.  I had to learn to say what I had to say in a literal way.

Of course, I make some time during the day to introduce "Sarcasm" and "Cliche" because out in the "real world" my students will come upon these.  However, I do not see the need to confuse my students with these while I'm trying to teach them a new lesson/assignment.

Learning and Instruction

When Jane's having one of those "I want to go home days", it's always one of the most challenging days because she does not want to do her assignments.  It has turned into a game of what to try to get her to do her assignments.  Whats been successful has always been hands on learning.

Because Jane is so smart, she gets bored with the instruction.  When she's in the special education room, we always try to mix things up.  Jane loves being the "teacher" in the classroom.  I pretend I'm the student and she's the teacher.  Jane stands at the chalk board and talks me through all her math problems.  I write down the answers that she writes on the chalk board.  What Jane doesn't realize, is that she is really doing the assignment.  I think it's a great tool to use in the classroom.  I get to ask her questions like, "why did you borrow from that number?" and ect.

Not only has this worked for my second grader, Jane, this has also worked for the high schoolers that I student taught.  When they were having trouble sleeping during class, it helped them all stay awake when they say another student at the front of the class teaching!  Love it!!

Self Regulating

Through a schedule that Jane gets to carry with her during the day, help Jane know how she has been.  A star if she's had no problems, a smiley face if she had a problem but chose the right decision, a check mark if she had a problem and did not make the right decision.

Every time she finishes with a subject she puts down her mark that she earned.  Then she can see whats coming next and prepare herself for it.  At the end of each day she earns some iPad time if she has had a good day.

This schedule is also helpful for me to see what areas are not a problem for her and what are.  I collect each schedule that she fills out and put them in her file.  It helps me to see that her morning has not been an issue however her afternoons are sometimes.  Now that we are trying to give her some more space, I know that they best time to practice this is during the morning.

I know I say this every time, but I am so amazed at how much she has changed.  A year ago I would have never thought I would be talking with her aide about giving Jane space...

Evolution of Jane in the Classroom

Now trying to finish up Jane's second year of school, it's nice to sit back and think of how far she has come/evolved, to be in the classroom. 
She use to...   
get up and run
speak out
throw tools
always want her way
always want to be the one called on
no idea what to do once her assignment was finished
uncontrollable during specials and recess

Now we have learned to...
Raise our hand
Express our feelings in an appropriate way
Learn to give others a chance first
Find something productive to do after her assignment was done
Learn how to behave and what to do during specials/recess

It all sounds perfect, but we still have a ways to go.  There are days where she is like a "normal" student in the classroom, and days where she spend most of her time in my room because her behavior is back at square one.  Either way I am still so proud of her and her mother because Jane is still in school and she is awesome!

We had to help her evolve into a student but that's how we all learn, with a little bit of help!