"The World Is Your Oyster" a quote my mother has always said to me, and I now say to my students. As a special educator, I need my students to know that they can do anything and be anyone; that the world is theirs to conquer and nothing can hold them back. I not only have the privilege to teach my students reading, writing and arithmetic but I get to watch them grow, achieve their goals and feel that pride when they accomplish something.
I teach early childhood special education.
The students I work with have a variety of strengths, needs, and learning styles. They all have a developmental delay of some sort, so we are helping them grow in all areas; social emotional, gross motor, fine motor, academic, cognitive, and functional. This makes for a busy day, but it is just one reason, I love my job!
My Project
My classroom is full of wonderful kiddos with diverse needs and learning styles. In one day, we work on so many different skills that are vital to early development. One area I would like to improve upon is gross motor. My kids love playing outside, but I want to be able to give them options for more purposeful play. Options that will allow me to target specific goals for each student. That might include core strengthening, crossing the mid-line or developing arm and hand muscles. We need materials that will grow our gross motor materials. I have selected some scooter boards for the kids to push themselves around on. They can sit on their bottom and work their arms or lay on their bellies and work their core. Plus they think its really fun! I also selected a crawl through tunnel and parachute to help develop arm muscles. The "Let's Get Moving" activities are a great way to work on balance and stamina. Plus my TA can run this center with ease. Lastly, the bean bags are for tossing and catching, body awareness, and crossing the mid-line. All of these materials serve multiple purposes as well. It is easy to count while you toss or to work on turn taking in the tunnel.
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Ms. Crandell and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.