Every student that walks through the door has a unique past and perspective that they bring into the classroom, and it’s an instructors job to try their best to see and respond to those differences the best they can. Luckily for us, we’re not alone with helping to assess and address each child’s unique challenges and exceptionalities!
It’s been interesting to learn about different situations each child may be in and how we can learn more whether that is from a detailed Individualized Educational Plan with full guidelines and expectations between instructors and parents, a 504 plan that ensures certain accommodations for a given student, or even enrichment plans that ensure a child is being properly challenged – who can sometimes show behavioral issues when they aren’t sufficiently engaged.
In the elementary setting as a guest in the classroom I’m exposed to a lot of situations that are addressed with seating arrangements and how some students need extra space or time to recharge in another part of the classroom. As an extra body in the room, it’s been a privilege to be able to provide additional one-on-one time with students who need the direct support to complete goals and stay on task. It’s very rewarding to see a child who may be engaged in what looks like misbehavior or troublemaking open up and respond to positive attention and direct support. It’s unfortunate that in many schools there aren’t the special education teams or para educators in numbers to address the amount of learners that need these supports.
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