During my practicum experience, I worked among students ranging in age from 6-12 years of age. One student in particular that I enjoyed working with was a boy in the 5th grade. He took a bit more encouragement to get working than the rest, and his attention was hard to keep at times. I needed to offer him constant reassurement that he was completing his tasks correctly and on top of this, needed to make sure that his peers were not making fun of his disability. He often made remarks that led me to believe that he thought of himself as a nuisance to work with. This was completely the opposite of the truth. I greatly enjoyed working with him. He did require more attention, but when he made remarks to me about being a nuisance, it made me realize that teachers need to have all the patience in the world with their students. The reality is that students are not all going to be "cookie cutter", nor would we want them to be. Each child requires some sort of different style of teaching, some extra attention in different content areas, some extra reassuring. This is our job. Students with disabilities should not be thought of as any different. Just as the rest of their peers, they may require a different style of teaching. In no way should a student with a disability be made to think of as a nuisance, nor should their disability be pin pointed as an outcast from how their fellow peers learn or work to complete tasks.
The artist that I am featuring in my blog is Thomas Nelson. He is featured on the National Arts and Disabilities Center website. He has ALS, but has adapted a way to create art by using digital art. My blog isn't letting me add the image that I'd hoped to display, but the piece is called The True Cost of War.
I completely agree with your statement that no student should be thought of different just as another required style of teaching. Very well put, I think each student does have their own style and even in some way disabilities. I also think you made a valid point that we shouldnt make students feel like they are a nuisance just because they need more help or more explaining. Did the boy you were helping begin to understand your patience and like of helping him?
ReplyDeleteThis is a great story. I think often the attitudes of teachers is transparent to students, they can easily tell what you are thinking. You are absolutely right when you write that every student needs to be catered to in a different way, disabled or not. Nice job. Sorry about the image post, thanks for sharing the name!
ReplyDeleteNice job