Ahh! What a challenging day! One of my students, who struggles with some undiagnosed behavior issues, was working with me today. Syntero, the psychology program, is observing her actions, so hopefully she will be diagnosed quickly so she can receive help in 4th grade. The unfortunate aspect is that it appears that she might struggle with a small amount of autism which can't be cured. But hopefully, they can give her some medicine or the extra academic support to help her thrive. Anyways, I got the responsibility to help her finish her work. At the beginning of the class, I asked her to listen to Mrs. Sutliff, but she refused and focused on the work she needed to make up. I asked her repeatedly to listen to what she was saying, but she refused to make eye contact or acknowledge what I was saying. It was tricky because I can only do so much to punish her and she knows that, so she wasn't too concerned about what I had to say. We then moved to the library to work on sentences, and she was very stubborn about where to sit and actually doing the work. She is very particular about what type of sentences she wants to writes, and she'll share ideas, but then she won't think they're good enough. There were several times in the library when she refused to learn, and preferred to just crawl up on the floor. But, the great thing was that Britton has a baby chick out right now, and I used that as a reward to encourage her to complete her work. Eventually, she finished five sentences, which was a practical amount for her. So, then we went downstairs to see the chicks. They were so cute, and it's obvious that this was a great reward for this girl! Unfortunately, not all classrooms have student helpers who can pull the students out of the classroom, and there aren't always cute chicks to see downstairs, so how would a teacher balance all that? Most teachers have the red/green prizes, but how can you do it creatively? That's what I'm planning to find out in the next few years. Tomorrow, I'll be headed to the zoo with Britton so stay tuned for a fun blog!!
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The Map of the Learning WorldAlong with me as your tour guide, you'll also find I've added my daily journal entries, or blogs, to help guide you through the learning world. Feel free to check them out! Archives
May 2016
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