The students in my resource classroom bring so much happiness to our school. I currently service 3rd-7th grade students who have moderate to severe disabilities in a public school setting. Most of my students come from low-socioeconomic households. My students have cognitive, communication, sensory, and behavior deficits that hinder their ability to work independently. Our class paraeducators help to provide the students with the additional instructional support that they need to be successful in their general education classes. When in the special education resource setting, we work on functional life skills, social communication, and academic content presented at each student's ability level.
My Project
It seems like 2020 has been a difficult year for most everyone. In mid-March, the students and staff at our school were filled with excitement as we were preparing to move into our brand new school building. Before we could have our first school day in the new building, though, schools around our state were shut down in response to the pandemic. It was a strange time. My students were upset and confused. We finished out the year virtually and hoped to be back in person in the fall. We weren't....and then we were....and now we aren't again. It was so wonderful when we were able to have our halls and classrooms filled with students, and we are very eager for them to be back again in the upcoming weeks!
Our students with disabilities need additional support and resources to help them meet their sensory seeking needs and emotionally handle the increased anxieties that they are feeling in today's world.
Most of our students are handling the mask wearing and social distancing guidelines rather well. However, they still have difficulty understanding why things are different. A few have questioned why they are not able to come to school now when they aren't sick.
Many of our students seek deep pressure input but do not know how to communicate that need to others. Some of the students demonstrate aggressive, attention seeking behaviors as a way to try to obtain that input. We plan to teach the students that they can request a break--"Break, please"--and use the steamroller to get those sensory squeezes when that is needed. The tension on the springs can be adjusted by the supervising adults to help the student get his/her desired amount of pressure. The students will love crawling through the steamroller to get a squeeze!
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