During term 4 2012, I worked casually as a Support Teacher, of the IO (Intellectually Moderate) class at a local high school.
My goodness it was a big challenge but such a fantastic experience! Here are my 10 top tips for successfully teaching students with special needs:
1. Have clear expectations; As in any mainstream classroom, it is vital to have expectations for the students and for them to be aware of these. Students with special needs still need to learn what behaviour is appropriate and what behaviour is unacceptable.
2. Don't treat them differently; If you go in there and treat them as though they are porcelain, they will believe they can't do anything.
3. Technology; technology is a great interactive tool, and should be used daily. I personally use technology to display the daily timetable and utilise the SMART board to create interactive learning activities. It can also be used for classroom management and independent studies. With the continual development of technology it is vital to teach children how to use it effectively and appropriately.
4. Life Skills; This is a big one. These children won't need to learn trigonometry or how to analyse a novel. The focus needs to be on skills that they will need to integrate successfully into society. English is a must; reading, writing and talking and listening are all skills that are used daily. Maths should be taught by what they will need in life; money matters, number operations, measurement, map reading skills etc. As depicted in the image below, life skills cover many aspects of daily life, including social skills and health.
Image obtained from rosariohome.net
5. Welfare; Sadly the majority of students with special needs are not supported enough at home or have endured some hard times. Get to know the family situation and who you can contact for support, it is a lot easier to teach behaviours if they are modeled at home. Make sure the children have eaten and have had enough sleep before trying to bombard them with new information. As described in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, each level must be obtained before reaching the next one.
Image obtained from en.wikipedia.org
6. Praise and Rewards; sometimes students need a bit more motivation to participate appropriately in classroom experiences. This can be in the form of verbal praise, sticker charts, and free time. Positive feedback is far more effective than negative feedback. Children like to be praised, during their schooling years is when they develop their self-esteem/confidence. Negative feedback still has its place but should not be used as frequently as positive feedback.
7. Relevant; make the work relevant to them, identify their interests outside of school and incorporate these into the lessons. For example, I had a year 9 boy who loved Warcraft, so I created resources for English and Maths that were about his favourite game. He really enjoyed it and was more motivated to participate in the learning activities. Win-win.
8. Research; research the disorder or illness that the child has. This will give you a better understanding of what to expect and can help you identify behaviour triggers.
9. Creative Arts; integrate the creative arts into the other KLA's. MY students and I wrote a rap about telling the time. It makes it fun and exciting and most of all memorable. Drama and role play is a very effective way to teach life skills such as decision making, cooperation and social interactions.
10. Relax; this is a physically and mentally exhausting job. If you get through the day without a temper tantrum pat yourself on the back. It's not going to be easy, and sometimes its going to wear you down, but the satisfaction of improving these children's lives for the better is enough to keep you coming back. Get excited about the little things- after weeks of teaching time, my year 7 boy finally understood that if the big hand pointed to the 12, it was something o'clock, I smiled for the rest of the week.
Teaching really is the most rewarding job, you are preparing children for their lives as doctors, lawyers, and artists, even the Prime Minister was once a student!
To teach really is to touch lives forever.
Good Luck,
Miss Paff
Okay... So you've
finished all those time consuming assignments for uni, you've completed
your final practicum, and now you are in complete panic mode!
That's normal, so don't stress!
You may be thinking to yourself (or out loud to any poor sucker that will listen)
"Am I ready for this?", "Do I know enough?". Well the answer is
probably no. But as a teacher you will NEVER know enough, we will be
spending the rest of our careers learning new things. So don't worry too
much, there is a reason why you spent late nights completing
assignments and days on end reading texts; it was to give you the
capability to teach. The rest is up to us! We need to take this knowledge and transform it into skills and strategies.
First
things first, you made it through university! You have the foundation
to become a fantastic teacher. Yay! They don't just let 'anyone'
graduate, and the Department won't let just 'anyone' teach the future
generations. So take that as a big pat on the back. You have taken
resume's around to Principals and kept your fingers crossed and now your
phone has been ringing off the hook (maybe not, but you have been called
at least once; it takes a while for people to recognize your
brilliance; aka word of mouth)
Here are my top ten tips for preparing for the first day:
1.
Sleep; obviously this may be hard for those stress-heads out there, but
you cannot enter a classroom in a weary manner; the kids will take
advantage of you.
2.
Dress Appropriately; this should be common sense, but if you are
teaching Kindergarten, I would recommend NOT wearing a skirt with heels.
They may be small but they are fast runners!
3.
Research the School; do NOT show up at 9:00 when school starts at 8:45.
In actuality, you should show up about 30-40 minutes before school
starts, this will give you time for any morning duties and to prepare
for the day.
4.
Prepare something, just in case; you should always have a plan b (and
c, d, e etc), hopefully the teacher has left something for the class to
do, if they have great! But you might still have a spare 30 minutes, and
this is where children go wild; when there is not a structured activity
to keep their minds busy. If the teacher was sick, they might not have
had time to prepare anything, this is where a mini unit comes in handy! I
know I wrote several units for assignments at uni, use one of them, or
better yet have a theme! My "plan b" theme is Superheroes and Villains-
the children love it, and it can be incorporated into any KLA.
5.
Get to know the Staff; LEARN THE PRINCIPALS NAME! Show them the respect
they deserve, get in good with them and they will call you back. I know
it's been said before, but office ladies really are your best friend,
always smile for them- also they send off your pay.
6.
Browse the Staffroom; this room will, more than likely, have everything
you need to know about the school in it; bell times, behaviour
matrix's', school rules, executive staff, duties, etc.
7.
Enter the Classroom; Woah, scary stuff! Look around, there is most
likely reading groups and other important information hanging on a wall.
This will immediately tell you the abilities of the children. If there
is a smartboard, I found it very useful to create my own "Miss Paff-
This is your life" file. It takes about five minutes to run through with
the children and gives them an introduction into who I am, they love
it! Especially if you provide a photo of your pet, as this is relevant
to most children.
8. The Bell has Gone; This is where your heart rate picks up and your body is deciding between fight or flight. Go for it! I was once told "Go in tough and have high expectations to begin with" and I thought "No, I want them to like me!".
But seriously, what you want is their respect, and they will not give
you respect if they can walk all over you. Be strong, you can ease off
slightly as the day goes on but be consistent with your expectations.
9.
Uhoh; so there is one (or several) children that are being particularly
naughty. Catch it right away! Give them a warning, then if they do it
again BAM! Hit them with a consequence "Okay Freddy, you have been
warned, I am not stopping the lesson for you again, so you can speak to
me about your behaviour at lunch" Once in a while, you will come across a
child who will not be phased by this, Ta da! Buddy classes; send them
next door or to another teacher. If they are a constant problem in the
classroom the other teacher will understand, and if they are a first
time offender, they will be ashamed and hopefully return to class ready
to learn.
10.
Enjoy it! This is what you studied so hard for; you need to take the
time to smile at the little things. Kids really do say the funniest
things, laugh with them. If at the end of the day you have been given a
self-portrait, a "thank you", or even a smile, it was a good day!
I
hope my top ten tips help you to make the most of your first day! Some
days may be horrible and you will feel under paid and go home and drink a
bottle of wine, but other days will be wonderful and it will feel more
like a hobby than a job. :)
Good Luck,
Miss Paff
