Aneesha
Educator: Tutor
With over 12 years classroom teaching experience (grades 1/2, 4/5, creative writing, art and British Literature for grades 9-12), I have a vast array of teaching skills to offer. I believe that each child learns differently and my students always participated in student-parent-teacher conferences with personal assessments and goals. With active engagement in the process from beginning to end, students participate in the responsibility for their learning. I have offered a variety of teach...
Aspergers
Working for over 12 years as a classroom teacher, I often had children with Aspergers Syndrome in my class. All children are individuals and learn within the parameter of their individual learning styles. Children with Aspergers Syndrome are no different. Some strategies might work with some students, and might not work at all with others. Sometimes a timer helped keep focus, sometimes soft music playing in a headset or ear plugs could help minimize extraneous noise interference. Transitions could be a challenge and so, a 3-5 minute verbal or musical indicator that a transition was coming up could help the student prepare with less stress during and after a transition. As a teacher, I needed to be aware of the overlap of academic, physical and interpersonal aspects of the child that were impacting his/her learning. How could I adjust the physical classroom environment to help the student? Giving a student a visual schedule of the day’s activities could provide a foundation for success for the day. Before a lesson, giving an explanation of the type and length of work expectations, helped with productivity. Visual instructions as well as verbal instructions helped minimize the stress for the student. Scaffolding these into a student’s day could often increase the self-esteem, minimize any depression and maximize a student’s strengths. Patience and dedicated communication is important for any student, for a child with Aspergers Syndrome it is vital for success in the classroom. By observing the child and gaining a better understanding of Aspergers Syndrome, I was better able to help my students gain success in academics. In this way I could investigate new learning strategies and implement ones that fit the child’s individual needs.