I have two boys in my class who have special needs compared to the rest of the pupils. I noticed during the language class that these two boys were very slow in writing and in completing their tasks. These boys were always last to finish their work.
This made me feel so bad and thought of formulating on what to do next. I used my free time to give these boys extra activities such as modeling using Plasticine, to do coloring and pattern writing which could help them develop their fine muscles so that they could improve on their writing speed. I went further and involved the boys in Tyre rolling to help improve their hands maneuverability.
Another thing that I was to reduce their workload. For example, when I gave the other students ten sums to solve I would give them 5. I also use negative reinforcements such as not going for free choice activities before finishing their work. I also went back to writing sounds using 2 letter words and finally to the three letters word. I also took them through counting 1 - 10 then 10 - 20 and then reading numbers in word. I did all these to try to establish the source of their weakness.
This incident made me realize that different learners have
different abilities and each child work on their own pace. I also realized that
that I need to be creative and always come up with new ideas that can help the
learners who are slow in writing.
The incident made me realize that I am patient since I was
able to accommodate the two boys in my class despite their challenges and
offering them different techniques to help them without giving up. I also
learnt that I was very accommodating and understanding since I was able to
relate well with the boys and this made them to have positive attitude towards
writing. It has been observed that a conducive learning environment help learners
to improve on their writing and generally learning skills. Positive reinforcement
increases the chances of good writing skills to be repeated. Towards this end I
ensured that I remained calm, reassured the boys and avoided labeling them.
It is my hope that in future I may have to use the services
of an assistant teacher or a shadow teacher who will help ease my workload,
both indoor and outdoor. This will allow me to have time to be able to cover
the school syllabus and allow me also to achieve the intended learning outcomes.
It will also allow me time to focus on children with learning difficulties. There
is also a need for the education system to recognize that children will
learning difficulties requires more time to attain the required outcomes. There
is also a need to acquire or generate special learning materials for these
children. This can work well in collaboration with the schools administration
plus the parents. Alternatively I become creative and generate my material with
the available resources.
Since I was able to handle the situation with the different
techniques, this made me to become proud of myself. The incident also made me
be able to come up with different ways if handling the situation. For example
preparation of special scheme of work for the two boys. The incident also eased
my future workload since the boys were now able to write at a good speed. The boys’
self-confidence and hence self-esteem improved since they were able to finish their
work early as the rest of the class. This made them have sufficient time to
interact well with their friends. The boys’ performance in both in and outdoor
activities improved. I also felt motivated when the head-teacher congratulated
me for the good improvement of the two boys.
The situation also made me to think positively in all
situations, since initially I thought the boys were just lazy and did not want
to do any activity. The incident made me to be keen and observant to my
learners and other situations in my class. It also made me not assume certain situations
or take things lightly like the unique behaviors and characters of my learners.
It also made me to be proactive and to be fast in reacting to situations so as
to rectify them before they get out of control or in a situation when it is too
late to rectify.
Finally I can say that the incident made me feel encouraged,
motivated, relieved, happy and proud of myself.
* Crisp, B.R, Lister, P.G. and Dutton, K(2005). Evaluation of an Innovative Method method of Assessment: Critical Incident Analysis. Retrieved from https://www.iriss.org.uk/sites/default/files/sieswe-nam-evaluation-critical-incident-analysis-2005-02.pdf on 24/4/2017
