Jo M

About me, my expertise, qualifications and SEND experience

I am a qualified teacher with broad additional training in ADHD, ASD, PDA, SEMH, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia and behaviour management. I am a qualified Irlen Screener, I hold a Level 7 qualification in teaching and assessing students with specific learning difficulties and am a certified trainer for Assertive Discipline.

I have many years of teaching experience across all age phases of education from Nursery to Adult Education, both as a class teacher and a SENDCo; I have enjoyed working with every age group and have found that building positive relationships with the students is absolutely the key to success. Working as a SENDCo allowed me to train teachers to meet student needs as well as working with the students. 

I choose to focus on working with students with SEND as I have a passion for ensuring that their needs are met in the classroom as well as having a talent for connecting with these students, understanding their needs and devising ways to meet them.  I am committed to supporting all students to enjoy a positive academic experience and I firmly believe that it is the responsibility of the teacher to adapt to the needs of the student and not the other way round.  

How I teach students with Dyslexia, ASD, ADHD, PDA, SEMH

Relationships are everything.  I focus on getting to know the student, their likes and dislikes as well as their strengths and weaknesses. I break work down into interest based, manageable chunks, working to their strengths while supporting and developing their weaknesses.  Task length is adjusted according to the individual concentration span.  Games and real life applications are a part of all lessons, as well as offering hands-on opportunities where possible and reward activities.

How I teach Maths / English

I use a multi-sensory approach to teach Maths, including apparatus to offer hands-on experience for each new learning activity before moving on to more abstract paper based activities.  I use repetition and phased revisiting to ensure understanding and retention. Tasks are presented as small chunks to make them achievable and to offer regular opportunities to experience success and build confidence.  Real life applications are used to link maths to our daily lives.

English lessons are always based around the student’s interests.  My dyslexia training provides an excellent base from which to build basic reading and spelling skills to secure a solid foundation and build confidence.  Reading material is taken from everywhere, the environment,  items in the home, comics, magazines, websites, books, whatever holds our interest.  I want students to enjoy what they are reading and to want to read. Writing tasks incorporate a range of activities to offer the student a variety of methods for recording their thoughts and ideas and different ways to support structuring their writing.  Assistive technology such as voice recordings, speech-to-text, text-to-speech, reading pens, coloured overlays and videos are all investigated and employed to give the student experience of ‘real-world’ support strategies and to encourage and foster creativity without the need for writing.

How I help students communicate

I encourage use of a wide range of media and strategies for communicating including texts, voice recordings, singing, rapping, poetry, videos, puppets, assistive technology, Makaton. Being flexible and responsive to student behaviour often opens up opportunities for communication.

How I help students engage with learning

Being genuinely interested in the student; offering interest based, student centred tasks with a variety of activities;  including movement and breaks; having the flexibility and the willingness to stray from lesson plans; providing a safe space in which to try and either succeed or fail but to still be valued. All of these encourage the student to engage with learning.

How I make lessons fun

Lessons are made fun by listening to the students and building lessons around their interests, both in topics to study and ways to study.  Presenting work in chunks to allow the student an element of choice in what they are doing and frequent breaks; introducing movement and kinaesthetic activities.  Applying lesson content to the real world as much as possible.

How I help students with focus, attention and emotional regulation

I have many years of experience of living and working with students with these difficulties.  These issues can be supported through strategies such as interest based learning, lesson chunking, movement breaks, timers, rewards, offering choices, goal setting etc. At the same time they can be addressed directly through activities designed to look at these difficulties on an intellectual basis, to understand them in relation to themselves and to develop coping strategies. Self-awareness, self-understanding, self-love and self-esteem are crucial for students with these difficulties.