After my class with the 3rd graders I went to 2nd grade with a teacher named Danny. There are 25 students in Danny's class. Danny used to teach high school in Torre del Mar and this is his first year working with the 2nd graders. There are no separate special education classes in this school although a specialist will come in periodically and pull kids out who need special attention. Integration is huge. Danny told me there is one student who came last week to his class from an orphanage. His parents are unreachable and his brother is in jail. The student does not know how to read and write so Danny mostly gives him coloring activities. No one knows how long he will be here for. There is a girl who sits in the back of the room at least 3 feet behind the last set of rows in the center. She is in my direct line of vision since I stand in the front center of the room. I observe her for a few minutes and pick up that she is very autistic. Danny tells me she is repeating 2nd grade. He says he doesn't know how to say what her disorder is in English. He explains it in Spanish and basically says she is "half a normal person" almost "deficient." If she fails this year she will have to go to 3rd grade next year even though she most definitely will not be prepared. I want to save her. My plan is to kidnap her and place her in one of the autistic programs my mom has helped to implement in Washington Heights, NY.
Today the students learned the different parts of the body in Spanish and next week I will need to prepare a lesson plan of the body parts in English. It is my job to make it extremely easy and simple for the students to learn and to also make it fun and enjoyable. We have been told to focus first on pronunciation because if we write the words down the students will focus too much on the way they are spelled and not how they are actually pronounced. I will most likely use a game like "simon says" or "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" to engage the students.
I felt like a celebrity again when at the end of class Danny told the students they could ask me some questions. "¿De dónde eres?" they ask. "I am from New York." Then there are two more questions which I had to look at Danny for clarification because I could have sworn they were the same as the first question. One was "¿dónde vives?"and the other Danny translated to me as "are you REALLY from New York? there is no way!"
Today the students learned the different parts of the body in Spanish and next week I will need to prepare a lesson plan of the body parts in English. It is my job to make it extremely easy and simple for the students to learn and to also make it fun and enjoyable. We have been told to focus first on pronunciation because if we write the words down the students will focus too much on the way they are spelled and not how they are actually pronounced. I will most likely use a game like "simon says" or "head, shoulders, knees, and toes" to engage the students.
I felt like a celebrity again when at the end of class Danny told the students they could ask me some questions. "¿De dónde eres?" they ask. "I am from New York." Then there are two more questions which I had to look at Danny for clarification because I could have sworn they were the same as the first question. One was "¿dónde vives?"and the other Danny translated to me as "are you REALLY from New York? there is no way!"
From all my colleagues that have taught abroad I hear we are one of the few countries with services for special needs children and especially autistic.
ReplyDeleteTry speaking in just one language with her and when possible give her a picture of what you are talking about. Do they read them picture-books? Don't force eye contact, that is no longer considered a positive way to reach these kids. It can be heartbreaking..xoxox