NOTE: Today's blog is published without pictures because of legalities. It is sad that our society is such that getting special services so you can learn your best is something to be hidden. I may not be able to include pictures of my special services students but they are very special to me.
I am not a core teacher but a computer teacher. This means most of my classes are hands on and are electives; not sure if that makes a difference or not but I enjoy these kids just as much as any other students. I will gladly take a hard working student any day. Most of these kids have an amazing work ethic because they have to work so hard for everything they learn. Unfortunately, a large group of them also come from poverty and / or rough home life leaving them with limited support from home. They all need modifications and many time that can be done with less stress then many assume, or maybe it is just easier with my curriculum. If we are learning to type business letters, they can learn all the formatting of a business letter even if I drop two paragraphs out of the body of the letter. They still learn every part of the letter and the formatting. A student that reads at a 3rd grade level is not going to be able to type 60 words a minute because they simply cannot read that fast so how can we have their typing speed the same as everyone else. Have them do a timed writing at the beginning of the semester and set them several goals for the semester for improvement; your goal for the rest of the class is improvement so everyone has the goal of improving. These students can also teach the rest of the students to appreciate what they were blessed with and also to do a bit of tutoring. I try to spot those non-sped, kind kids and sit them by the kids that need extra help. If I get busy with other students, many times those students will help the others out. It is also true that when you show someone else how to do something, you remember it longer so both students benefit.
I love my sped kids, they may be more work but many times I get to see students that struggle in all their other classes excel in the hands-on computer class and that is wonderful. And in reality these kids are just like every other kid, they want to know someone cares about them; they want to be accepted; they want to have friends; and they want to be happy.
