What did you do at school today?
I spent this morning at school. Not college, but observing Mstr A in his own environment as it were. I suggested it last term, as a way of me finding out exactly what they do all day & so offering more constructive advice on his behaviour management, and also so when I say "I'm sure you don't do that at school", I can know what I am talking about;-)
It was interesting to see him in class. Generally i don't see him in group situations, certainly not large groups, so I did get a better idea of the problems his teacher has - although apparently he was behaving comparitively well for me.
He is a terrible fidget, appearing unable to sit still, or even in one place for more than a few seconds. He also never put his hand up to answer questions, even when I know he knew the answer. A bit of an anathema to me, who likes to show off my meagre knowledge at any opportunity & actually have to restrain myself from going "ooo, oo, me sir, here sir, I know it sir, pick me, pick me sir!" to every question on some courses I attend:-) I know he can put his hand up, as he is happy to do so to ask a question, and he seemed delighted to talk to the whole class about his groups work, so it's not fear of being in front of his peers..... I can see why the teachers originally thought he couldn't do the work (rather than wouldn't), as he does occasionally not only not do it, but deliberately do it wrong!
However, other than a complete inability to line up at break time (they don't even bother trying to make him any more apparently - even though I did give them a few options on how to do so. I make him line up every morning before school!), he didn't seem to be unmanageble at all. Annoying at times, but he happily got on with his work most of the time, and didn't causse too much disruption with his fidgeting. He even managed to sit through the whole 10 minutes of service quietly & properly (I learned all about Pentecost LOL).
His awareness of physical space and appropriate physical behaviour is definitely off though. I think that is the thing we will really have to work on at home, as school are, understandably, more interested in his ability to follow commands & complete his tasks.
All in all, it was reassuring to see him intermingling with his peers, completing schoolwork and taking an active part in the school day. I thought his teacher did a good job of keeping 30 5 & 6 year olds occupied & educated & interested, although I was amazed at how many adults ther were to help: 1 teacher, two classroom assistants, one student, one learning support assistant (some of the time), plus me (I listened to some reading & such like while there)!
But I would still prefer him to go to the other school. Although now I am a bit more confident that he will settle in well:-)
It was interesting to see him in class. Generally i don't see him in group situations, certainly not large groups, so I did get a better idea of the problems his teacher has - although apparently he was behaving comparitively well for me.
He is a terrible fidget, appearing unable to sit still, or even in one place for more than a few seconds. He also never put his hand up to answer questions, even when I know he knew the answer. A bit of an anathema to me, who likes to show off my meagre knowledge at any opportunity & actually have to restrain myself from going "ooo, oo, me sir, here sir, I know it sir, pick me, pick me sir!" to every question on some courses I attend:-) I know he can put his hand up, as he is happy to do so to ask a question, and he seemed delighted to talk to the whole class about his groups work, so it's not fear of being in front of his peers..... I can see why the teachers originally thought he couldn't do the work (rather than wouldn't), as he does occasionally not only not do it, but deliberately do it wrong!
However, other than a complete inability to line up at break time (they don't even bother trying to make him any more apparently - even though I did give them a few options on how to do so. I make him line up every morning before school!), he didn't seem to be unmanageble at all. Annoying at times, but he happily got on with his work most of the time, and didn't causse too much disruption with his fidgeting. He even managed to sit through the whole 10 minutes of service quietly & properly (I learned all about Pentecost LOL).
His awareness of physical space and appropriate physical behaviour is definitely off though. I think that is the thing we will really have to work on at home, as school are, understandably, more interested in his ability to follow commands & complete his tasks.
All in all, it was reassuring to see him intermingling with his peers, completing schoolwork and taking an active part in the school day. I thought his teacher did a good job of keeping 30 5 & 6 year olds occupied & educated & interested, although I was amazed at how many adults ther were to help: 1 teacher, two classroom assistants, one student, one learning support assistant (some of the time), plus me (I listened to some reading & such like while there)!
But I would still prefer him to go to the other school. Although now I am a bit more confident that he will settle in well:-)
posted by Juggling Mother @ 2:29 pm
1 Comments:
At Friday, June 09, 2006 7:39:00 pm,
Fat Eric said…
I've never had that many adults in any class I've taught in. Last year there was me and one classroom assistant, who was only there because I had a statemented child. This year there's just me, except on Mondays when I have a trainee LSA for the day (who is not great). I've found it really hard this year after the luxury last year of having a full time assistant. Having said that, in our Year 1 class there are 4 adults because there are several statemented children in that class. It's very unusual for our school to have more than 2 adults in a class.
I find that children never behave "normally" if a parent is in the room, nor do they do so if an Ed.Psych. has come to observe them and you WANT them to play up so that the EP recognises there is a problem!
FE's mum.
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