Funny Friendships

Lately my students have enjoyed telling jokes during lunch and it has encouraged friendships amongst them and a common ground for them to build a friendship. One of my students uses a Tango (communication device) for communication and today, one of his classmates asked him to tell him a joke. The child used his Tango to tell jokes and interact with his peer and all the students were laughing and enjoying themselves! It was funny to hear the student using the Tango ask the jokes that the kids laughed at several times to keep the kids laughing and to continue their interaction. I think I heard the joke, "What part of a fly hits the window first?" many times and I heard the punchlines, "the butt", ever more! Of course, when you have teenagers telling jokes and the punchline is "the butt" and it being said over and over again it is hilarious....I have to admit it was funny and I loved seeing the students having such a great time with each other!

A Successful Day...Finally!

It has been a little bit rough at Alexsander Academy the last few weeks because one of students has been having a tough time. This happens sometimes and it isn't always easy to deal with the change and be flexible, but it is part of working with our children. We have been patient and trying to help him get on a more positive track and today, for the first time in a couple of weeks, he has had a great day! With some adjustments to his schedule, lots of positive reinforcement, and several conversations with him, he was able to make today a positive one. I am hopeful that this will continue and make a great a week overall!

Flexibility within Structure

As every teacher knows, flexibility is necessary to run a classroom and to work with students. No matter how well you plan your day, plan a lesson, or organize your classroom, flexibility is a MUST. Children are not the same everyday and will not react the same way to things everyday. As a teacher, we have to adjust ourselves to our students and always do things with their best interest in mind. On the other hand, structure is also a key element to the success of our students. They thrive off of the consistency of structure, the ability to know what will happen and how others will react to them. It also teaches our students how to organize their own lives and the power that structure can bring to them. These two elements combined, flexibility and structure, allow for the greatest success of our students. They NEED both. I call this flexible structure. This model allows me, as a teacher, to give my students the structure that they need (and that I need!) and be flexible in those moments or on those days that flexibility is needed to make it through the day. On top of that, it helps children to learn that not everything is predictable and that sometimes they need to be flexible and "go with the flow". Isn't that an important part of life?