Sally

My experience teaching students with autism

My approach to teaching children with autism is for the lessons to be structured in a fun and flexible way and be child-led as much as possible. I have tutored pupils with autism on a one-to- one basis and in a whole school setting. It is paramount that autistic children do not feel they are cognitively overloaded. I ensure this happens with personalised timetables and a “first, next and last” timetable as a visual aid. Creating a visual “first, next and last” timetable is an effective and widely used method. This involves placing images and simple words on a timetable, in chronological order, to describe the activities and transitions in the child’s day. Having this visual aid gives the child a sense of security, while also acting as a reminder for myself in supporting them. A calm and positive environment in the setting is essential so the children feel safe and not overly stimulated. Autism can impact a child’s ability to communicate and interpret meaning which may lead to misunderstanding. I give careful consideration to the words I use and how I structure my sentences. Idioms, metaphors and rhetorical questions should be avoided – messages need to be simple and direct.

My experience teaching students with anxiety

Teaching children on a 1:1 or in small groups can help to build individual’s confidence, self-belief and resilience by creating a positive learning environment. I do this by building a rapport with my pupils, giving positive praise and reinforcement (specific praise, stickers, reward time etc.)in addition, making them feel safe to air their emotions in a way that is less exposed and as a result, reducing pressure or feelings of embarrassment. I work hard on children’s self-regulation encouraging them to reflect on how they are feeling and why. Self-assessment is an important part of building children’s confidence encouraging children to recognise what they have done well and what they can improve on for next time and how.

My experience teaching Functional Skills Maths

I believe children need to have held maths in their hands before they can hold it in their heads. My approach to maths it to use concrete objects so children can manipulate these and build solid foundations. Only then can they move on to pictorial representations and eventually, the abstract. Maths needs to be memorable in order to stay in children’s long-term memory. I am always looking for fun ways to deliver maths and try and tailor the activities around the child’s interests whenever possible.

My experience teaching Functional Skills English

Writing should be purposeful so I always look for ways I can achieve this. This could be writing instructions on how to score a perfect goal for an avid footballer or persuading someone to buy kitten for a pet lover. Through tutoring, learning difficulties that could potentially destroy a student’s confidence can instead be turned into confidence boosters because the pupil will gain a deeper understanding of a topic they may once have struggled with, giving them a real sense of achievement and developing their confidence as a result. I use a variety of ways to support children with learning difficulties in English.

These include:

• Consistently revisiting previous learning
• I do, we do, you do approach to model to children first and gradually build up their independence
• A practical approach to spellings using kinesthetic methods – threading / magnetic letters, mnemonics, acting out, pictorial representations and the use of colour.
• Use of overlays for reading
• Unpicking unfamiliar vocabulary
• Use of oracy strategies (talking before writing, odd one out, etc.)
• Colour semantics
• Word banks
• Use of dictionaries and thesaursus’
• A writer’s “toolkit” – sentence stems, powerful word choices etc.
• Use of frames

My experience teaching students with focus and concentration difficulties

As a teacher of 12 years and a tutor of 9 years, I have excellent experience at working with students with focus and concentration. The individual attention and support a child receives through tutoring has many benefits – one of which is the chance to learn in a distraction-free environment. If a pupil is struggling with a particular subject or feeling low in confidence, a classroom setting provides many opportunities for avoidance. Tutoring removes this possibility, helping the pupil learn how to focus, develop concentration skills, and start to believe in their own abilities. I aids children’s focus and concentration by:

• planning short, sharp activities
• use simple language that is clear and specific when making requests
• show them what I want them to do, or a finished example
• use positive praise specifically aimed at how well they have been on task or for completing a task
• high expectations shared with the pupil
• Ensuring the pupil is fully focused before talking at them by saying their name, making eye contact and making clear your expectations

My experience teaching students with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)

Dual coding is an important tool for children with ADHD: I like to pair written instructions with oral guidance. Often children with ADHD respond better when the teacher gives clear, concise instructions. I like to use a timer to help with organisation as this helps the know how long they have to complete a task (if appropriate) and when to get ready for the next activity. Making eye contact and speaking when the child is paying attention is important It’s also important that there are clear rules of behaviour. Establishing a routine early on is useful so the child knows what to expect: a daily timetable – “first, next and last” and /or a checklist that can be posted visibly in the setting allows the child to see what has already been accomplished and what is left to do.

My experience working with students with speech and language needs

Children with speech and language difficulties may have problems with expressive language (spoken words, word-finding, vocabulary, articulation etc.) or with receptive language (understanding, recall etc.) or both. It is important to introduce new vocabulary to children in a dual coded way (visual and written) and they are given an opportunity to “have a go” at using the new vocabulary and that it is consistently reviewed. I like to use a “vocabulary jar” where new words and phrases are placed and revisited through oracy games such as “Taboo.” Recall can be an issue for pupils with speech and language issues so there should be plenty of opportunities to revisit previous learning to aid their memory.

Other strategies I use are:

• Simplifying general instructions
• Use of gestures alongside the spoken word
• Accept any form of communication – verbal, written etc.
• Ensuring the pupil is fully focused before talking at them by saying their name, making eye contact and making clear your expectations.
• Confirming the pupil has clarity of how to complete a task before attempting it
• Always speak clearly and at appropriate pace and rephrase if needed
• Use of specific praise to reinforce what the child had done well
• Plan for short activities so not to cognitively overload the child
• Use the “I do, we do, you do” model to explicitly show what you expect and to build up the pupils’ confidence to completing a task independently.