Becky

study skills

Common Core

Homeschool

Aspergers

As a certified classroom teacher of 20 years and a tutor of 30 years, I have had extensive opportunities to work with students with Asperger's. Students with Asperger's have difficulty with attention in many situations. It is as though they don't have the filter most of us do to keep out the distractions. This can result in the student jumping from one idea to another with seemingly no relation. In some cases, it can even manifest itself in a variety of types of aggression. The trick to successfully working with students with Asperger's is to connect the content, as much as possible, to areas of interest. I have also used very tangible rewards for doing as asked. For example, I have used a stop watch and set a specific amount of time needed to work very hard and focus followed by another specific amount of time for the student to do as he/she wants. This encourages the student to do what's necessary to get the freedom to move as desired. There are many other possibilities which need to be determined by the individual student's needs. It's been my experience that students with Asperger's are in fact very intelligent but are simply not yet able to harness it.

general music

I attained a Bachelor's degree in Music Education. After graduation, I taught general music in the classroom for approximately 7 years.

phonics

elementary (k-6th)

elementary science

reading

music theory

writing

English

proofreading

spelling

elementary math

prealgebra

Microsoft Word

I teach the basics of Microsoft Word as part of a class I teach at Southwestern Illinois College. The basics include topics such as being able to create, edit, delete, rename, and save documents and using format options. I am currently studying to earn the Microsoft certification in Word. The knowledge gained from this studying has enabled me to create and maintain a newsletter using templates, create my own templates, write lesson plans, and use other less used options.

algebra 1

vocabulary

grammar

general computer

I am currently an Adjunct Instructor at Southwestern Illinois College where I teach computer basics. Some of the general topics in the course I teach include: Setting up a computer, Internet use, Care and Maintenance (including Virus protection), Using Windows, and the basics of popular Microsoft Office applications. I use the computer for both personal and work-related tasks. I use Microsoft Word to maintain a newsletter and to write lesson plans. I use Microsoft Excel to track lessons I give, expenses, and grades. I use Microsoft PowerPoint to create presentations for my class.