This was too cute not to share. This teacher gives her students “brownie points.” But the problem was that brownies look kind of weird up at the front of the room. brown squares weren’t as cute and motivating as sweet cupcakes. She uses a brownie pan as the “tracking sheet.” The cupcake papers are laminated and attached to magnets. Here’s a picture:
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 14 percent of American children aged three to 17 have some sort of developmental disability. Most teaching programs require at least one course on children with special needs (source). But dealing with students with developmental disorders is an ongoing and ever-changing task. Here are some tips to help educators deal with two common disabilities among American students.
The prevalence of autism in America increased by an astounding 290 percent from 1997 to 2008, according to the CDC. WebMD points out that public schools are required by law to provide individualized education programs (IEPs) for students with an ASD. But some parents would rather not tell the school that their child has a developmental disability for fear of being stigmatized. It is up to the individual teacher to recognize certain behaviors and effectively communicate them to the parents.
Once you’re aware of the special needs of your students, make small modifications to your classroom to accommodate them properly. National Autism Resources recommends seating students with ASDs away from hallways, pencil sharpeners or anything else that produces background noise. Autistic students have difficulty filtering out this noise. The area around you while teaching should be as plain as possible. Large posters, globes and other visuals can easily distract them. Autistic students also have difficulty comprehending the concept of personal space. Draw borders between desks with white or black tape, and make sure desks are adequately spaced. There should also be some sort of quiet room available for children with ASD to take breaks from class.
The CDC estimates 20 percent of high school boys and 11 percent of all U.S. school children have been diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. About 65 percent of those diagnosed with ADHD are taking Ritalin or Adderall to control the behavior. It is not the teacher’s job to judge how families and medical personnel choose to deal with their children’s health.
Communicate with both parents and the school nurse to develop a plan of action. ADD and ADHD kids hear the word “no” all the time. Try and use positive reinforcement as opposed to being negative. Incorporate physical activities, such as moving to different desks during lessons. Through all this, keep in mind that you are a teacher and not a psychologist. Know your limits, but do all you can to help make school the best possible experience for the child.
About the Author: Amanda enjoys helping children learn and achieve their dreams in elementary classrooms. In her free time, she loves learning about science, technology and taking her rescued dachshund to the park. Follow her on Twitter @AmandaRichter7
MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: Any medical information presented on this website is merely information – not advice. If you need medical advice, you should consult a doctor or other appropriate medical professional. Squarehead Teachers accepts no responsibility for actions of readers regarding medical information shared on this blog.
Here are some more of the coolest elementary education ideas I’ve seen so far lately. Enjoy!
Work boxes for each student. When they finish their work they can go to their work box and pull out things to work on that the teacher has placed in there. Lets the teacher assign different things for the student/if they need extra practice in an area–DIFFERENTIATION! This makes a great fast finisher system too. Click here for more fast finisher ideas.
Here’s an easy way to do number of the day. If you’d like a number of the day program that gets increasingly more difficult and is aligned with the common core, click here. (source)
Help students focus more by covering sections of the page with a cut file folder. This would be a great way to help students who get distracted easily or have a hard time completing work. After they finish a section, they can stand up, walk around the room once, etc. (source)
Sometimes kids make poor choices at school. When that happens, it’s often helpful to have them call home. Here’s what one teacher posted near her phone to help kids know what to say when calling their parents.
I thought it was such a smart Idea that I made one for you! Print it as a full sheet (or smaller if you prefer), laminate it and post it near your phone. You might want to also keep next to your phone a log where you can record details about each phone call you make/receive.
Dealing with “no name papers” has always been a test of patience for me. I mean, how hard is it to write your NAME on a paper!? (Ok, I’m off my soap box now.) Here’s one idea I saw that takes care of this problem. The teacher simply puts no name papers in this tray and empties it (into the recycle) after school on Friday. This way, kids have a few days to retrieve papers, but they don’t sit around forever in her room.
I think I would add this feature to the system: Make a stamp that says “return to sender” or something else distinct that would indicate that it was received without a name. Then when kids write their name on it and resubmit it, they get a small point deduction, but can still get some credit for it. I know stamping no-name papers is an extra step for the teacher, so just make the judgement call for your own classroom.
Here are some clever student of the week boards I’ve seen recently:
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