Sign in or 
Location: ASSISTIVE TECH Home
Discussion: A child's perspective
Category:
Discussion Forum /
General Discussion
Share this
Showing 9 posts
jepike777 |
A child's perspective
Apr 26 2009, 3:06 AM EDT
"Grown-ups never understand anything for themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever be explaining things to them." ~Antoine De Saint-Exupery I find this quote helpful in reminding me that a child's perspective is so different than mine, and when teaching them, theirs is the one that is most important. I think Will Smith said it a little differently, but it did have a good beat, and I could dance to it! =}
Do you find this valuable?
Keyword tags:
None
|
|
Tari- |
1. RE: A child's perspective
Apr 26 2009, 4:10 AM EDT
I think you are absolutely correct. Along the same lines, what one believes to be the truth is the truth in their mind. If we want to change that truth for the person to something other than what they believe, we must develop a trusting relationship and understand where the person is coming from in his/her thought processes. One's perspective is theirs and we must try to understand it. It's ;late and I'm not sure that I am making any sense.
Do you find this valuable?
|
kathygerst |
2. RE: A child's perspective
Apr 26 2009, 10:42 AM EDT
Being able to put yourself into someone else's shoes is often lost in a classroom. However, when I see a child who truly is struggling between "right and wrong" I try to put myself in their shoes to see where they are coming from. Sometimes it is quite distorted-could have something to do with the "environment" from which they live in.
Do you find this valuable?
|
|
jepike777 |
3. RE: A child's perspective
Apr 26 2009, 11:23 AM EDT
Of course, as summer approaches, we always get a little antsy,and look forward to that much needed break. However, it saddens me as well, as I feel I have just gotten close enough to my students to understand their perspective, and as Kathy said, the impact that the environment has on that perspective. I am just now learning successful strategies for many of my kiddos, and while I can write notes on that, and pass them, I know that most of them will not ever be read or followed. That is one thing that I loved about teaching a multi-grade classroom - to keep my students for two years, and have that added benefit of them walking in the door on the first day of school, and them knowing exactly what to do, and you knowing exactly what to do for them to help them best learn and find success. I think this is important in working with students with disabilities, as they have so many more intense needs. With those needs come strategies, learning styles, equipment, medical procedures, and/or AT devices that the teacher needs to be familiar with implementation.
Do you find this valuable?
|
|
jepike777 |
4. RE: A child's perspective
Apr 26 2009, 12:28 PM EDT
By the way, who recommended Starfall to me? The kids LOVE IT!!!!! It is an amazing, FREE site! Next question. Does anyone know of a site or program, as cheap as possible or free, for young children, that you can see the keyboard on the monitor, and it vocalizes the name of the letter that the child taps? I would like to help them learn their letters and the keyboard at the same time. It would be great if the letters did something like the A popped out and did something cool like turned into an Alligator and chomped an Apple, then went back into its spot on the keyboard . . . but I am dreaming now!
Do you find this valuable?
|
|
Tari- |
5. RE: A child's perspective
Apr 26 2009, 12:34 PM EDT
| Post edited: Apr 26 2009, 12:35 PM EDT
You make some great points here, Ellie. Two that strike me are that you can pass notes on -- it seems that since I have started teaching again, I have noticed that teachers do not really share much from one grade to the next about students -- we did that a lot at the school I worked at in the Cajon Valley Union School District. I see little of that happening, especially in the middle and upper schools. My son has a severe metabolic condition and every semester for four years I have had to discuss everything with the teachers including the accommodations he needs. I have gotten NO support from anyone at the school. It is precisely for this reason that I home schooled him for seven years until he chose to go to a regular high school. It has been a frustrating battle. So, I imagine there are frustrated parents out there like me who wish teachers would collaborate more and KNOW what is going on with individual students-- what works well and what does not.You make agreat point about the importance of keeping meticulous records on students, even if they may never get read, you are covered should you need them. We may think we will remember everything, but you never know when you may need the records -- it could come years after you have had the child. I am looking forward to having a full-time teaching job in the fall, but one thing I will miss about my job pushing reading at the students (joke) is knowing students throughout the school at all grade levels. I make it a point to try to know all of the students' names in each of the classes I work in -- not just the students I work with -- and address them personally as often as possible -- they seem to do their best around me and I think it is because they believe that I really care about them. In the year that I have been at the school, I have become very popoular with the staff and the students and all it has really taken is a personal touch -- even though I am extremely strict. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
ElizabethReisman |
6. RE: A child's perspective
Apr 27 2009, 1:39 AM EDT
"what one believes to be the truth is the truth in their mind. If we want to change that truth for the person to something other than what they believe, we must develop a trusting relationship and understand where the person is coming from in his/her thought processes. One's perspective is theirs and we must try to understand it."knowing what one believes to be true and where they come from is very important. This is something that some teachers believe that it is the student's job to learn how to do things in their classroom rather than them trying to connect with their students. While this is something that is percieved to be ok because there are a lot more students than the teacher in the classroom. It is also important to remember that in this situation the teacher must take strides to meet the students half way. I understand that most of the time not all of the student's have an IEP where the teacher must put themselves second to their student in their teaching strategies/style. It is very important to get into the student's mindset to develop teaching strategies that will work for the entire class of students. 1 out of 1 found this valuable. Do you? |
|
jepike777 |
7. RE: A child's perspective
Apr 27 2009, 2:29 AM EDT
Well said Elizabeth.
Do you find this valuable?
|
|
Tari- |
8. RE: A child's perspective
Apr 27 2009, 8:06 AM EDT
You are right, Elizabeth, and with the new RtI model being implemented and followed, fewer students will be referred for special ed testing and therefore there will be fewer students with IEPs per se. Many teachers, especially those in gen ed, don't put themselves second to their students either way (IEP, or not). If there is an IEP, the expectations sort of drop and the student is not pushed to excel. I think that with RtI, teachers are forced to modify their teaching style to meet the needs of the students who are having difficulty and in this way may be forced to see things from the child's perspective.
Do you find this valuable?
|
