10-17-12
Please read about my experience on 10/17/12……. Yesterday during some of my time in a regular ed classroom at Model Lab in Richmond, I witnessed one of the most heart breaking and most inspiring incidents I have ever been apart of.
The teacher in the 4th grade classroom I was in asked all the students to get a partner for an activity. Every student seemed to be finding a partner until I noticed a student who I have worked with before who has been diagnosed with a form of Autism, standing in front of the classroom without a partner. You could see the distress in his face as he started to cry and swing his arm when it seemed to him that he was not going to have a partner. I was about to start crying myself until one of the children walked up to him and told him he would be his partner. The awful face that he was making was immediately replaced by a smile. And EVERYTHING was perfect in his world again.
I tell you this story to tell reinforce what I have ALWAYS told people when dealing with people that have a disability.. they just want a FRIEND.. that is all. EVERYONE wants to feel accepted and loved!
posted by Dave Wickstrom @ 1:19 PM
10 Comments
10 Comments:
How do we as teachers ensure students have someone with whom to work?
I think that is such a sweet story! I think as teachers we can have times where students meet each other so they they can get comfortable with each other.
I was actually thinking about that exact question Cathy. I was thinking maybe have assigned partners that get switched every week or few weeks so everyone has the opportunity to be partners with everyone. I know when I was in school, I was always a "buddy" to a student who had down syndrome.
I like the idea of having assigned partners that get switched every so often. This way the same students are not always working together.
I like the idea of having assigned partners that get switched every so often. This way the same students are not always working together.
One classroom technique that one of my teachers did in Elementary school was popsicle sticks. Each popsicle stick had a students name on it and they were placed in a bucket. Every activity we did relied on these popsicle sticks, whether she needed a volunteer or we were forming groups. I liked this method because it ensured no one was left out, made each student participate, made us work with people we may not like or get along with but still had to get along and respect them to get a task done, which I believe is one of life's most essential skills. Lastly, it made my class have a better overall bond because we had the chance to get to work with everyone and get to know them. Also, it made the class work as a team because if a student was not in class that day or did not know the answer, another student had to step up to help out, this really helped with avoiding singling out any one student.
That is so heart warming to hear that another child walked up to be his partner. I really like your idea Dave about the having a different buddy assigned each week. I think that's a great way for the children to be more interact with one another.
That is so heart warming to hear that another child walked up to be his partner. I really like your idea Dave about the having a different buddy assigned each week. I think that's a great way for the children to be more interact with one another.
Wow! Thanks for sharing this story, it defiantly is a great reminder. We as teachers need to remember this when we let our students (especially little children) choose their own partners. I think this is why I have always been a fan of the teacher assigning partners, that way no one is left out. (Although it may not be the students favorite thing, they'll soon learn why.)
I agree with the idea of having a different partner every week this way the student who always pair up with the same people just so they dont have to do any of the work wont be able to do that, and it gives the students a chance to make new friends.
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