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In my
first blog post, I talked about how important it is to make a safe environment
for our students. Once the environment is established, what do you need to
think about next? Classroom management is always important. Procedures and rules are part of every
workshop. The difference with a class of students on the autism spectrum or any
students with learning disabilities, is managing their need for frequent
breaks. Your ADHD students need the
breaks to get the wiggles and pent up energy out. Your learning disabled and intellectually disabled
students need the brain break to rest. Your students on the Autism spectrum need the
sensory break. How you manage all of this is the key to allowing your classroom
management style shine.
If you
are in a mainstream class you may think this is impossible, but it is not. At
the end of the class, you should have a wrap up. You can use these few minutes for your
student’s individual needs. Put your
ADHD students in charge of putting things away, straightening desks or taking
notes to the office. If you have to make
up a note that says, ”Just needed to help him stretch his legs,” do it. As for your
LD and ID students, ask them to put their head down or draw a picture if they
are artistic. Your students on the
spectrum can have a fidget handed to them to quietly handle at their desk, a
small ball, thera-putty, or some blocks.
You might have a rocker in the back of the room for the student to sit
in for a few minutes or a small blanket the student can wrap around themselves
to help give themselves compressions. I
have even taught one student to pull her arms inside her sweatshirt to give
herself compressions in public. All
these things can be done while you are wrapping up the lesson with the rest of the
class, or anytime you see your student being over stimulated during a
particular assignment. Either quietly walk over and whisper directions to the
student or have a prearranged signal so the student knows they are allowed the
sensory break. Not only will these
breaks motivate your students to work more, but their next teacher will
appreciate that they are coming to them ready to work.
In my
self- contained class, it is very easy to facilitate these breaks. Each student has their own carrel supplied
with personal fidget or relaxation needs.
Some only have thera-putty, Some have quite a variety, from head phones
and chewlery to a weighted blanket depending on the sensory needs of the
student. Before each day starts the
students have access to their item while role is taken and my staff and I spend
a few minutes making sure everyone is ready to learn for the day. We have the time to address needs we see in
students as they come in before they may escalate later in the day. I will get
more into this in a later blog. The students
know the routine and the cues to put their items away when it is time to start
the day. They also know when they finish their work their items will be there
for them. This gives them a sense of security as well as motivation to finish
their work.
The key
is to have a good relationship with your Occupational Therapist in order to
make all of this work. I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with very
talented and caring OTs. I listened to
whatever they had to say and learned from them.
I made sure to let them know what I saw going on in the classroom with
the behavior of my students, so they could assist me in finding the best tools
to give each of my students to ease their sensory needs. They knew so much more about this area than I
ever could. AHA!!! I need to be a sponge
around my itinerant staff. I cannot hold an OT, PT, and speech degree, so I
have to be a sponge around them to be the best I can for my students.
So what was the
second aha moment? To have good classroom management, I would have to use the knowledge
of all the people and talent around me to understand the needs of my students.
I could not manage my class and would be setting my students up for failure
without giving them the tools and sensory breaks they needed to be able to handle
the input being given to them.
For more information on sensory breaks you may want to start
here:
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