Today I learned a lot. Just like I was worried about I am still afraid I wont have enough patience to work with students with moderate to sever disabilities. I enjoyed the classes today but did not feel like I did as much as I could. I guess I am going to realize that not everything can be taught in one sitting. Today I worked with a girl named Mila, Mila is a student in the autism spectrum. We were trying to teacher her how to use scissors and every time she would go to cut she would either slide her fingers out, move her hand, or just give up. The teacher in the room was being less patient then I was, instead of letting her master one medium to cut, or using one set of scissors she was constantly bombarding us with new tools. First we were trying to cut play-doh, then it was paper, then it was bigger scissors, then smaller...I could only image what Mila was thinking.
I wish that I told the para what I was thinking and we could try one pair of scissors and one thing to cut for long enough to make a difference. I also wish that I could understand Mila's needs more. I could not tell if she was happy with her progress, or if she was even enjoying the activity. I have a lot to learn.
In the previous class we were talking about comprehension. It is hard for me because I am not skilled enough to assess if Mila is or is not comprehending anything we are teaching. I know she is not completing the task she is given, but is she at least getting something from it. I was trying to check for understanding like we learned in class, but how? The book for the course mentioned applying scaffolding, and with a task like that I was assuming it meant to help her move her hand in a way to do a cutting action. This just made Mila upset and she wanted to stop trying. The book also mentioned collaborative learning groups promote learning, maybe next week we will see if we can get a few students to practice cutting with her.
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