Social Skills

Over my years of teaching, I have found teaching social skills to be a necessary component to teaching. Many students lack social skills because they have not been taught and some lack social skills and need them to be taught. We have been teaching social skills in two ways at Alexsander Academy. We have been teaching skills in a class format, using social stories based on the skill, some modeling, and discussions about the skill. However, that isn't all you can do to effectively teach social skills. We also integrate into every school day and reinforce it throughout the week. We find and create opportunities to work on these skills and take the time to review them. We also find it is important to send home the materials with the students and have the parents review it with them at home. Sometimes it can take time....and sometimes it takes longer than you would like it to, however, it takes patience and reiteration of the skill for the student to master it and they CAN do it!

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!