Westmount Park School- Winter 2011
Teaching Students with Special Needs
In my final stage of my B.Ed. program, I was placed in an inner-city school in Montreal. The class consisted of only 16 students, but a quarter of the students had IEPs and another quarter other learning difficulties and/or language difficulties. It was a very different and not an easy assignment, but I was up for the challenge, and by the end of the 2 months, I couldn't imagine seeing them anymore!
The most important thing I learned through dealing with and teaching students with special needs was to really listen to the children for their feedback on what you are doing (or observe their response if they cannot communicate it to you), communicate and work together with parents and the childcare workers to provide consistency in the method being implemented, and at last, have high expectations. I quickly learned about each child when I came in, from asking different teachers and childcare workers, to catch up on their learning styles and personalities, and tried to incorporate it in my lessons right away.
Using visuals was a practical strategy I found effective to all students, but especially the students with special needs. Having an example of the product of an activity helped the children with special needs. Moreover, providing personalized visual schedules and phrases also helped the ESL students and the child with autism with the daily school activities.
Read my statement for differentiating instruction here!
The most important thing I learned through dealing with and teaching students with special needs was to really listen to the children for their feedback on what you are doing (or observe their response if they cannot communicate it to you), communicate and work together with parents and the childcare workers to provide consistency in the method being implemented, and at last, have high expectations. I quickly learned about each child when I came in, from asking different teachers and childcare workers, to catch up on their learning styles and personalities, and tried to incorporate it in my lessons right away.
Using visuals was a practical strategy I found effective to all students, but especially the students with special needs. Having an example of the product of an activity helped the children with special needs. Moreover, providing personalized visual schedules and phrases also helped the ESL students and the child with autism with the daily school activities.
Read my statement for differentiating instruction here!
Teaching All Subjects (Language Arts, Science, Math, Art and ERC)
It was an exciting and motivating experience to teach various subjects. I concentrated my lesson to be student centered- from the beginning (where students ask questions) until the end (where students reflect on their learning). Look and read about some of the lessons/units I did with the children during this stage with the slideshow below.
Yoga In the Classroom
During my final stage, I also learned about ways to incorporate relaxation, meditation and yoga into the classroom. My co-operating teacher taught yoga twice a week, and I saw children completely engaged and focused during this period. They also truly seemed to benefit from the relaxation.
Streaming Language Arts (Grades 1 and 2)
I also taught Cycle 1 students (grades 1 and 2) as the cycle at Westmount Park has divided students according to level to better accommodate and efficiently teach all children.
I was placed with the second group from the top, made up of mostly second graders but a few first graders as well. I learned how to effectively do guided reading, and also worked with students with strengthening their sight word recognition.
In writing, I did an activity based on Wendy Ewald's "The Best Part of Me", incorporating my love for photography and poetry. Students were very motivated after I read a few of the poems in the book to make their own poems and to be photographed. They did an amazing job and the other teachers came by to see their work on the wall (much like an art exhibit :) ) and thought they did a fantastic job as well!
I was placed with the second group from the top, made up of mostly second graders but a few first graders as well. I learned how to effectively do guided reading, and also worked with students with strengthening their sight word recognition.
In writing, I did an activity based on Wendy Ewald's "The Best Part of Me", incorporating my love for photography and poetry. Students were very motivated after I read a few of the poems in the book to make their own poems and to be photographed. They did an amazing job and the other teachers came by to see their work on the wall (much like an art exhibit :) ) and thought they did a fantastic job as well!