In college, Renay would sometimes refer to this book by Rem Koohaus, an architect, S, M, L, XL. Koohause documented buildings that he designed based on scale of the project. Details and an overall examination of the buildings that were designed throughout the world.
There is a connection to education. Sometimes the small things matter. Sometimes the big things matter. And sometimes there are things so big, even adults grapple with them. But there is only one way: through.
ParaEducate
It feels like a mountain. In reality this is a divot. But don’t let others accuse you of a divot not being important, but don’t get locked at this divot either.
Small
It feels like a mountain. In reality this is a divot. But don’t let others accuse you of a divot not being important, but don’t get locked at this divot either.
Does it matter that the holes are on the left side of the paper?
Yes and No. Realistically, the teacher has to flip through dozens of students papers, that one that is backwards and upside down takes time away from the process. For students who desire jobs, filling out forms, even online forms, follow strict rules and patterns. The holes on the left side is one of those patterns to key in on. Yes, even if the student types everything. Some students do have unusual minds, but it’s a small expectation that a student can get on board
Did you miss the signs of a student’s anxiety? They are having problems after school at home.
There is an imperfect world with supporting a student with a disability. Even one when you are assigned to work 1:1. All students, get some space at some time from their staff. They can do little things without being handed every second. It will be all right. But this means it is all that much harder to spot signs of anxiety for some students. You never want to leave a student without support, and often those little extras during the day are hard to see.
Medium
These are the hills. They go up and they go down. You’re exhausted. Sometimes you’ve run the same hill over and over again.
The school library removed the lowest level books from being checked out. How are students who are struggling readers going to have a connection to the school library?
This could be an open conversation. Libraries have finite space. The lowest level books may also not necessarily have a broad appeal depending on the campus. But now there needs to be a new reason to visit the school libraries. There is a unique feature of a student wandering the books, even when they are ‘wasting time’. Encourage the library to consider the spectrum of readers that are enrolled at the campus.
How do you sift through a student’s barriers all day?
Is it refusal because it the task is too easy? Too confusing? Too hard? Did they eat at all today? Did they break up with a significant other? Is this anxiety? Do they need a break? Do you need a break? How many instructions have they heard in five minutes? In half an hour?
Large
You’re always climbing. You’re helping, you don’t know when this ends.
Students who have all this ability and no desire to demonstrate the ability they do have
This can bother some staff. The goal of being in school is to provide proof that progress is the core focus of school. But you hate to see the student selling themselves short. Social emotional learning can help some of this, but not all. Recognizing that students have to dig a little bit for themselves. Whether that is working on keeping a pencil to write with in class or
Extra Large
You can’t go back, and you can’t keep going.
The student you support has now started doing a series of actions that could be considered criminal.
Take a moment. Remember that the student can have the ability to make decisions. Many students, with disabilities are unable to think long term. Teaching the thought process to decide beyond the instant moment is key for all students. But the actions you may be hearing about or seeing indicate your student is in process of restorative justice or spending time with lawyers.
You have to decide professionally at some point how to continue on with a student who is displaying dangerous behaviors. Remember again, the student does not necessarily understand all the implications of the things that are happening. The student does need to know that there are limits to their behavior.
What do you do when it is the cliff and not the wall?
For some students, no matter how much they try, they do not know how to get to that next level of understanding. This is a time to help the student appreciate the work that they can and have done. It is time to look at the appropriateness of the work. Try to make the extra large maybe smaller and less cumbersome.
Why is this useful?
One of the problems faced daily by everyone in education of youth is just deciding what to respond. Thousands of decisions have been made on a daily basis. Trying to keep perspective there and being realistic that a student is learning and growing that it’s not always this lost direction.
Do you have any comments about this week’s blog? Do you have a question for us? Would you like to be a guest blogger? Would you like to have an opportunity to pilot some materials at your campus? Find ParaEducate online here, here, here, here,and on our website. Paraeducate is a company interested in providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published weekly during the academic school year on Thursdays, unless a holiday. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
