I have worked with children and young people as a SEN, English as an Additional Language (EAL), and classroom teacher (Reception to Year 9), as well as working with older teenagers. To support development of specific skills, I have worked with classes of children, in small groups, and one-to-one. Children have had a range of learning profiles, including ADHD and ADD, dyslexia, DCD/dyspraxia, dyscalculia, dysgraphia, and autism. Additionally, I have experience working with children with specific needs, including speech and language, social and emotional, and EAL children with SEN needs.
My experience working with children with social and emotional needs, including anxiety
Mental health is important to me. My first degree is in Psychology: Health and Development because I have always had an interest in better understanding people and why they do what they do. When teaching, the strong connection between mental health and learning is clear. I have worked with children who have experienced different levels of anxiety, depression, and loss. I have worked with children in groups, as well as in one-to-one situations, facilitating discussions and activities to give children and young people the opportunity to express themselves and to process their thoughts and feelings. I am mindful of what parents share, as they raise my awareness of potential triggers. I have used role play activities to help children practise such skills as being assertive and used stories and photographs to initiate reframing of a situation or to introduce different perspectives. The children I have worked with in this area have all been unique, and the importance of building a positive relationship with children and their parents is essential to informing my approach and planning.
My experience teaching English and Maths
I have taught Primary and Secondary English and Maths as a SEN, EAL, and classroom teacher (Reception to Year 9). I work hard to assess what children know and build from there.
When teaching English, I work hard to share my passion for reading and writing with children, basing skill development on children’s interests. Multisensory activities are used to help develop children’s skill for reading words and to show their understanding. Children practise being active readers and respond to what they have read through various activities, like discussion, role play, and writing.
When teaching Maths, I use activities, like stories and games, to encourage engagement with numbers and develop number concepts. I modify resources to ensure children feel comfortable using materials that build skills in fun ways and to help children link meaning to the various steps that are needed, as calculations grow in complexity. Children are encouraged to say what they are thinking to celebrate their knowledge and to address misconceptions, promptly.
My experience working with children with dyslexia
Working with children experiencing reading, writing, or spelling difficulties led me to take a course to gain specialised skills, like evaluating needs and designing support using evidence-based strategies. I create specialist reading, writing, and spelling lessons based on children’s specific learning goals and tailored to their interests to increase motivation and levels of engagement. Learning includes multi-sensory activities, for example combining visual, auditory, and movement responses within tasks to support letter-sound awareness and knowledge, as well as supporting auditory memory or processing challenges. Repetition fosters children’s independence and confidence with remembering skills and applying them beyond our lessons or tutoring sessions together.
My experience working with children with dysgraphia
I believe in breaking the writing process down to help children identify which aspects they are finding difficult. Then we practise strategies to address children’s specific challenges, while celebrating any areas that they find enjoyable or feel good about, which can help motivate them to persevere or push through the trickier parts of writing. For example, many children can find the feedback ‘write with greater detail’ unclear in directing them on how to improve. Looking at strong examples of writing and demonstrating ways students can elaborate sentence structure, like by adding descriptive words or phrases, can give children insight into how writing works and ways they can develop and increase the complexity of their own work.
My experience working with children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) or dyspraxia
I have worked with children with DCD in whole class settings as well as one-to-one. Once it is clear how DCD is influencing a child’s school experiences, various strategies can be tried. With a child whose speech was affected by DCD, we practised phrases that could be said to allow time to think before responding to questions. Those working with the child could be encouraged to provide sufficient think time before asking for a response. Also, friends could be encouraged to wait before jumping in to speak for the child. Other children have benefitted from building their touch-typing skills to develop their confidence and efficiency with tasks like notetaking. For children wanting to participate in sporting activities, additional practice with skills like throwing, catching, and hitting were done with parents or in after school clubs.
My experience working with children with ADHD and ADD
Giving succinct directions and explaining or modelling activities clearly, support children with getting started and working through tasks. Whether presenting a class assignment or helping a child with a homework task, breaking activities into smaller parts also has been a useful and empowering way to support task initiation and completion. Some children find the use of physical barriers like post-its, a helpful way to break down tasks. Others find it helpful to break down a process, for example, thinking of writing in stages, such as plan, draft, revise, and edit. Using reflection to help children become more aware of themselves, including how they approach tasks, manage their time, or organise themselves, contribute to development of self-regulation. Children with ADHD or ADD, as is the case with all diagnoses, are unique and learning more about each child helps determine which strategies would be best to try. Additionally, creating learning activities that require movement are fun, great for remembering information, and provide breaks throughout a session.
My experience working with children with working memory and processing needs
I provide children sufficient time to understand what has been said and give them opportunities to show their understanding in various ways. Skills and concepts can be introduced in different ways, including through modelling or the use of visuals. Check-ins with children to assess their understanding can be done with verbal, written, or task-oriented responses. Allowing children to choose how they want to show what they know, is an important way to give them ownership of their learning while valuing that communication of understanding, knowledge, and information can take on many forms. As written or typed communication continues to be an important part of how we work and connect with people throughout society, this is a skill that I revisit and practise with children. However, writing does not have to be the first or only way children can share their skills, knowledge, and understanding.
My experience working with children with an autism spectrum condition (ASC), including pathological demand avoidance (PDA)
With all children and young people, I try to build positive relationships based on mutual respect. My experience working with children on the autism spectrum highlights the importance of recognising and appreciating unique perspectives and experiences. When challenging behaviours present themselves, I consider what is being communicated. Children I have worked with have responded in a way that sometimes has been interpreted as disrespectful or they have refused to do tasks for many reasons, including fear, anxiety, misunderstanding, feelings of being overwhelmed or not feeling a sense of control. I try to understand what is underlying a challenging behaviour and then give a child choices or strategies about ways to move forward. To help one child see value in an assignment they did not want to do, I found background information that related to history, an area that child enjoyed. For a child who refused to write an apology email to a teacher, it became clear that the format of the email was a stumbling block. Writing ‘dear’ felt too familiar to address a teacher and the suggestion of using a greeting like ‘hello’ or ‘good afternoon’ instead, seemed to free the child up to write and send the apology. Recognising that immense anxiety can underlie challenging behaviour, helps reframe children’s behaviour in class and develop possible ways forward, while minimising the temptation to take specific behaviours personally. Role play and discussion also have helped support children with becoming unstuck with a certain behaviour or response to being asked to do a task children may see as unimportant.
My experience developing executive function or study skills
As a classroom teacher, being clear with children and young people about how they can organise themselves can be very helpful. I am clear in talking with children about what materials they need for classes, and I assist students with making and using visual lists to help them navigate through their school day. We discuss different ways we can organise notebooks and children then choose and try a strategy. If it does not work for them, a different strategy is tried. I have helped children organise their notes in binders and their online files. Frequent organisation check-ins help develop effective habits while also assisting children with finding organisation strategies that work best for them while supporting maintenance of this organisation. Discussing how long an assignment is expected to take, supports children’s development of time management and prioritising of work. Sometimes timers can be helpful for children who find getting started on tasks challenging. For some children, timers cause anxiety and other strategies are tried. Use of a planner, physical or online, can be a great way to help children streamline lists and where they look to complete home and school tasks.
My experience working with children with EAL and SEN needs
When I began working with English as an Additional Language (EAL) children, I enrolled in a course to better support English language learners. I used songs, games and activities involving movement to engage children. Teaching EAL children who also exhibited academic challenges, it was important to determine whether knowledge gaps were due to language acquisition or a learning difficulty. Through discussion with learners, parents, and teachers, children’s strengths with literacy in their home languages were helpful in differentiating between learning and language acquisition challenges.
My experience working with children with speech and language needs
I have drawn from my experience teaching English as an Additional Language (EAL). For example, storytelling, reading aloud with clear articulation, movements, and references to photographs and illustrations help all to engage and understand more of what is being read about or discussed. Pictures, signs, and technology have been used to help students communicate their needs, wishes, interests, and questions. Games, songs, music, and poems also are used throughout lessons.
