Let's talk about Ghost Girl.
What are some examples from the book Ghost Girl that demonstrate Torey Hayden's understanding of human development? Give some examples of how Torey is aware of the diversity of her students. What types of adaptations did Torey make for Jadie's situation and disability?
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To me, Torey is the perfect teacher for her job. She is very knowledgeable and understands human development, while respecting the diversity of her students. I finished the book, so my examples might not come from the chapters that were assigned for this week. (Just a warning for those who haven’t finished the book yet. :-) I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.) Torey allows her students to work on tasks that are appropriate for their stage in development, like the journal writing time in class. Brucie does not have control of pencils or crayons like the other students, so instead of having him write in his journal, Torey works individually with him doing things like practicing getting dressed. Torey made adaptations on Halloween by helping Jeremiah come up with a Halloween costume when he was so visibly upset that he forgot his at home.
ReplyDeleteTorey made adaptations for Jadie’s situation. She used dolls to help Jadie open up about the abuse she was experiencing. Torey was understanding when Jadie was upset about her sister turning six, since that was the age that Tashee died. When Jadie did not want to participate in the Halloween festivities, Torey did not force her. Instead, Jadie sat in the cloakroom coloring. Once Jadie came forward about the abuse, she would not speak to anyone other than Torey. When Jadie finally agreed to talk to Lindy, Torey allowed them to use the cloakroom since she knew that Jadie felt safe in that room. I think that Torey understood the importance of Jadie feeling comfortable and safe when she was telling Lindy everything.
Torey is a great example of how a teacher needs to be aware of the diversity of the students in her classroom. She easily makes adaptations for her students, whether the adaptations are for their disabilities or for their current situations.
I feel that Torey has a trememdous understanding of human development. To start off with, she makes Jadie comfortable right off the bat. She knows that Jadie is an elective mute, and doesn't pressure her to speak. She talks to Jadie in a normal tone as if she is carrying on a conversation with someone who speaks. She does this because she knows Jadie can speak and knows Jadie will speak when she feels comfortable. Another example is how Torey handles Jeremiah, which is shown through out the book. Jeremiah is loud and uses profanity, and Torey lets it go - to a point - because she knows that yelling at him will only make it worse and provoke him to do it more.
ReplyDeleteTorey is very aware of the diversity of her students. She knows that Jadie needs some special attention. She knows that Jeremiah is roughty, that Reuben was autistic, that Phillip needed help with his words, and that Brucie needed help with certain skills. She treats each of her students like they are able to do anything they want to do. She is not judgemental of them, and this is what makes her a good teacher.
Torey makes many adaptions for Jadie's situation. First of all, she allows Jadie to lock the cloakroom door so Jadie feels safe. She also allows Jadie to stay in the classroom after school so Jadie can play and feel comfortable doing so. Torey allows Jadie to do as she pleases, within reason, so that Jadie knows she has a place to go to and a person to talk to if she needed it, and Torey knew she needed it.
It is completely evident that Torey has an understanding of human development from the moment she walks into the classroom. As each student enters the classroom, she describes to us the reader, the overall development of each child which indicates that she understands each students developments. The file for Reuben diagnoses him with autism and after spending only a few moments with him she determines that this diagnosis is accurate. She ascertains that Reuben, functions well but only in the confines of his handicap. She lets the reader know that he can speak, use the toilet and perform a number of academic skills with considerable skill. Reuben is 9 and the fact that she mentions some of the tasks that a nine year old should be able to accomplish suggests that she recognizes his limitations. Throughout Chapter One, she describes in detail each student and their difficulties that have landed them in the class in order to allow the reader to connect with each student and understand their development and limitations. This suggests that Torey realizes that not everyone realizes the diversity in development from person to person. Torey allows each student to perform tasks and skills at their own stage of development. For example, later in the book another student is introduced, Brucie. In Chapter 12, the start of a new school year, she lets the reader know that she takes the first few weeks to establish control much like any other teacher. She tells the reader that Phillip and Reuben functioned at about the same level and that Jadie and Jeremiah on another but Brucie was a different story. He didn't talk, walk, eat or even use the bathroom by himself. Torey even said "my gut feeling about Brucie was that he had devoted so much effort to manipulating those around him that he'd had no time left over for normal development." This example also indicate Torey's understanding of human development. Instead of performing academic task such as journal writing like the other student's in the class,
ReplyDeleteTorey spends individual time with Brucie performing tasks such as dressing himself.
In Jadie's case, Torey is familiar with elective mutism and has experience dealing with this disability but she still notices developmental issues that perplex her regarding Jadie. She can't seem to explain why Jadie's posture is so hunched over. She realizes that the cause of Jadie's mutism is the result of something much more complex and she does everthing in her ability to find ways to get to the root of the problem. When she first enters the classroom, she treats Jadie as if she has always spoken and gets her to talk. Realizes that there is some deep rooted issue, she finds ways to make Jadie feel safe and comforted. She uses dolls to try and get Jadie to open up. She discovers that Jadie is comfortable in the coat closet and uses this to gain more insight on what is causing Jadie's issue. Torey becomes the confidant that she knows Jadie needs. As Jadie becomes more comfortable with Torey she even thinks that perhaps Torey might be God.
Torey Hayden is an exceptional teacher. She has the strength and understanding that many of the other teachers at Pecking Elementary School do not. Torey tries to understand and have a full knowledge of what each child is capable of before they enter the classroom. Throughout her time spent with her class, she continually learns and adapts to more of each child's needs, wants, and capabilities.
ReplyDeleteTorey's students are all different, as most of us are, but with each child, there come different responsibilities as a teacher. Brucie for example, is a child who needs constant attention. He is incapable of doing many things that the other children can do and this keeps Torey away from giving as much attention as she would like to the other children.
Jadie has her comfort zone, which is the cloakroom. That is where she feels safest and where she can open up. So however bizarre this may seem, Torey lets Jadie play there and color there.
Torey also observes a little when each child interacts with each other. She watches as a child may take something from another child and before doing something she watches to see if the child will return it or reek havoc.
Torey Hayden has a great sense of what Human Development is; she does it everyday. Torey knows that children need to learn, they need to learn slowly and they need to be given time. It takes time to grow. Torey has researched about her children to try and get a better understanding. With Jadie, there doesn't seem to be a reason for why she acts the way she does, so Torey continues to watch her and try to come up with some way of describing Jadie's actions.
Jadie continues to surprise and confuse Torey. However Jadie speaks about her life through dolls which is one way that Torey discusses things with Jadie. Torey also discusses things with Jadie through Jadie's pictures. Mainly all discussions however come from being in the cloakroom for this is where Jadie feels safe. As long as the doors are locked and the keyholes are taped closed. Jadie feels that no one can hear her in the cloakroom and spiders can't get to her, because Jadie thinks that spiders can hear you and then they tell people who can get you into trouble.
Torey accepts behaviors that each child does. She lets them play and interact however they may please. It is their own way of coping and hopefully a way for Torey to help them.
Torey Hayden has a great understanding of human development. She really understands her students and watches for development, where some teachers might just avoid or looking over their students’ development. Torey saw that Jadie had a hunched back and she looked into it and questions Jadie about it. Torey knows that her students are not all developed in the same way and that some of them are ahead of ours. She does an awesome job will incorporating different activities and skill levels in her lesson plans.
ReplyDeleteTorey keeps in mind that her students have different interests, which I think is very good for a teacher know and remember. Torey knew that Jeremiah’s Halloween costume was extremely important to him, so she was willing to help him create a tail for him costume. Torey also knew that Jadie needed a place where she felt comfortable; so she gave up her alone time to create lesson plans, just to let Jadie sit and play in the cloakroom. When doing journals, Torey let Brucie draw and use crayons, instead of writing sentences with a pencil because she knew he was not developed enough to use the pencil or to write sentences.
Torey also adapted her summer for her students. She went back home on her summer vacation and went into work there to get information and advice about her students. Torey made a special trip to a bookstore, just to buy a book that would help her with Jadie. She was willing to buy a book to learn about abuse and Satanism for Jadie and her condition. I noticed that Torey is very resourceful; she rented a camera for her classroom just to watch her students and their different types of behaviors when she was teaching. Here again, Torey was willing to give up her time at home and watch a video of her classroom and her students. I believe that Torey is a great teacher, especially for students with many different needs, and really took her job seriously with these students.
Torey Hayden has a good understanding of human development because of the way she incorporates each student’s different abilities in the activities /lesson plans she conducts. She knows that each student has different learning abilities whether it is in their social development or how they develop cognitively/intellectually. For example, since Torey has had experience with children like Jadie, she knows how to act. She acts as if Jadie can talk and does not over react when Jadie begins to talk. She talks to her like she would a normal student.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, she does not know exactly why Jadie acts the way she does,( when she makes sexual remarks) she wants Jadie to be comfortable. This is why she allows Jadie to come after school and lock herself in the cloakroom, even though the principal does not like students being at school after hours. By allowing Jadie to feel comfortable, Torey is able to unravel the underlying secret of why Jadie behaves the way she does. This is expressed through Jadie’s bizarre pictures she draws and the way she communicates with the dolls.
Torey allows each student to explore on their own. She understands that each child has different interests and each child is at different stages of learning. When a new student, Brucie , is introduced he can’t talk nor can he eat. Instead of teaching him academic skills right away, she teaches him how to dress. She also allows him to color while other student’s write in their journal because he does not know how to write. When Jeremiah forgot his costume for the Halloween party, Torey helped him design a new one.
Lastly, Torey does not just work in the classroom but outside the classroom. She gets advice from other teachers of reasons why Jadie acts the way she does, she meets with Jadie’s parents to see if it has any relation to why Jadie acts the way she does, and she even brings in a videotape recorder to watch how her students behave in class while she teaches. She does not give up on her students and learns how to be patient and adapt to each child’s needs.
Torey is a loving, patient, enthusiastic educator. She took the time with each of her students and embraced their extreme diversity and character differences. Jeremiah, who was extremly hyper with a dirty mouth had a very little attention span. So she was able to organize her lesson with the thought of him and keeping his attention. She did this by painting or sometimes playing music, and games. Phillip, who had a hard start to life and is developmentally slow, enjoyed the painting and would try and recite the colors back to Torey. Torey also had the children included in the holiday traditions. They worked together as a team to make the special objects or food for their holiday parties. With Jadie, Torey developed a trusting relationship. She developed this relationship through conversation, gestures, and play. She would have Jadie draw pictures. When Jadie got possesion of the key, she allowed her to lock the doors, knowing she would feel safe. She allowed Jadie to be Jadie. She in the beginning, asked her questions and just expected her to answer them back without pushing to much. She also opened up comminication by talking about a painting with her. Torey had also brought in some dolls that Jadie enjoyed playing with. This also helped open up more communication with her. For example when Torey said one of the dolls were sad and how do we make her feel better. These play session were extremly great for her age and helping her communicate. I think everybody boys and girls can remember playing or acting out scenes with dolls or action figures.
ReplyDeleteWith each of her children vastly different with many different skills. Torey incorporated unique techniques for each. To help them succeed in their own diversial ways.
Torey proves that she has a great understanding of human development from the beginning. When she was preparing for her class she read through each of her students’ files so that she could have a better understanding of who they were and where they were as far as their individual development. She knew that her students would not all function the same ability nor at the same educational level. This also helped her prepare how she was going to treat each student, depending on each of their individual level of needs. She knew that Philip had a hard time speaking and that the beginning of his life had been hard. She knew that Reuben was autistic and she that he was functioning well for his handicap. Torey knew that Jeremiah had a rough life and a foul mouth and that Jadie was an elective mute. Knowing all of these things helped Torey develop a relationship in that classroom and helped her plan out her lessons and activities.
ReplyDeleteEven though Torey knew that Jadie did not talk, she had experience with elective mutes and knew that she needed to treat her as though she has always talked. She knew that she needed to push her into talking. If Torey did not know this about Jadie and about elective mutes, she would have run into the same trouble that all the other teachers in Jadie’s past had run into, she would have never opened up to Torey. She never treated Jadie as though she had a disability. She knew she was a very smart girl she just needed to get her to trust her and make her open up and talk.
I think every teacher should have the understanding of human development like Tory does. Tory is an amazing teacher when it comes to taking the time for kids with disabilities. Tory not only takes the time but she observes and is a guide for her student. For example, when she allows her students to work on tasks that are appropriate for their stage in development and she has them working in groups and independently. She takes the time to understand where they are at academically and how to help them better to achieve. Especially with Jeremiahs bad mouth, she never yells or really disciplines him for the way he talks but you can tell it irritated her sometimes but instead of yelling she simply tries other ways to help him. There were times she ignored him or commented back in a calm and caring way. It takes a lot of patients working with kids like that and I defiantly think that is something you have to have in the education field because you are going to run into many incidents like that. I also see the way she is with Jade and how she observes her. She uses a lot of prior knowledge to try and get Jade talking and opening up. She does it through pictures, toys, drawings, arts, journal time, and after class hours. Each student she closely observes. She took the time as a new teacher for the students to read about each one, there past , why they are in the class, and there disabilities, this helped her better prepare for the first days of school she even made sure she meet with their parents to get a feel of their home lives to. You can defiantly tell she is a caring teacher. Torey also accepts the behaviors of each child. She lets them play and interact however they may please. It is their own way of coping and hopefully a way for Torey to help them. Tory makes adjustments and works with the students like when Jade doesn’t want to participate in the Halloween party or letting Jade lock the cloakroom door, letting Jade leave for lunch to go home, and letting the students get up and wonder around without any rules. It defiantly takes a caring, calm, understanding person with patience to teach a class with these kinds of students.
ReplyDeleteTorey Hayden clearly understands human development. Physically, Torey understood that Jadie’s posture wasn’t normal for anyone. She further showed her knowledge by examining Jadie’s spine for scoliosis. After speaking with Jadie’s family, Torey reasoned that some of Jadie’s problems could be due to birth trauma; but, as the story unfolded, she realized the clarity with which she spoke ruled out being aphasic. Emotionally, Torey understood it was important to give the children a medium through which to express themselves, and allowed them to each create an emotional collage. In doing so, she also understood that their works of art didn’t need to be polished; rather, they were created according to each student’s personal developmental stage. Torey understood children with autism had their own developmental stages and would often self-stimulate. She pointed out the swimming and piano lessons that Reuben had taken indicating she felt those were important activities. Torey also pointed out that after three weeks of subs “it was only fair to expect the children to be disrupted and disruptive” (pg. 17).
ReplyDeleteTorey was aware of her students’ diversity. She pointed out that Jeremiah was of native-American descent and that his family made a living doing “God-knows-what.” She also knew he would benefit from structure that he lacked at home. Torey knew Reuben’s family was wealthy and influential and that his family sought many therapies to benefit his development. She also knew his parents were a professional couple with two nannies. Torey knew Philip was born drug-addicted and concluded his current foster home provided him with warmth and stability that he needed to thrive. She went out of her way to research Jadie. She didn’t stop with what Jadie’s file said; she actually went to her home to get a first-hand account of what Jadie’s life was like. When Torey became troubled over signs and symbols she didn’t recognize, she even researched at an occult bookstore to find answers about Jadie’s possible diverse background.
Torey showed her sensitivity to Jadie’s situation by allowing her to “open up” at her own pace. She also allowed Jadie ample time to finish her work. She assured Jadie, after learning of her fear of spiders, that the room was fumigated twice a year. She was careful to mislabel her, remarking that a label like hallucinatory psychosis could be a “life sentence.” She also introduced several methods for Jadie to express herself: dolls, a class pet, and different art projects. Torey was careful to never break Jadie’s trust.
In the book Ghost Girl, Torey shows a lot of examples on they way she understands human development. For example, the way she treats Jadie. She never gives up on Jadie when trying to get her to speak and when Jadie finally does speak, Torey acts like she's been speaking all along. Also, she treats each student differently, in the aspect of how they act. Each student in her class is different and each needs to be handled differently. When Torey teaches, she makes sure each student learns, even if the way they learn is all different from one another.
ReplyDeleteSome examples that Torey is aware of the diversity in her students is she knew a lot about her students backgrounds and where they grew up. She knew her students inside and out. Also, with her past experience, she has learned how to figure out children, especially mutes like Jadie. Torey knows Jadie is different from everyone else, but she still tries to treat her the same. With Torey's background in helping students, I am pretty sure that's enough for her to know the diversity and how she can understand human development alone.
Some of the adaptations Torey made for Jadie's situation and disability were giving her dolls to show how to explain things. Also, letting her use the cloakroom really showed the other side of Jadie, and that made Torey understand her even more. Another adaptation was, like I mentioned before, when Jadie talked for the first time, Torey acted like she had been talking along. Torey also started having Jadie stand up, even though she wouldn't do it in the classroom until the last day she was there. This shows improvement, and Torey is the reason Jadie improved. I think Torey is an amazing person and a great teacher and I really hope to change a child's life like how Torey changed Jadie's when I finally become a teacher.
Torey had a great understanding of human development. She had experience working with children in a psychological clinic, which was beneficial in a special education classroom. I think that getting to know each child individually helped her to know how to teach them. She observed them in the classroom and got to know their parents. It was important for Torey to know the backgrounds of the children and their home lives to determine what kind of care each child might need. She even went to Jadie's house to find out more about her and her family. When Jeremiah acted out, she did not punish him too much because she knew that severe discipline was not going to help him to learn. I think she wanted to make him as comfortable as possible so that he was in a productive learning environment. Also, with Jadie, Torey realized that the cloakroom was a place where Jadie felt comfortable communicating, so Torey allowed her to work in there. When it came to Jadie's posture, Torey checked to make sure she did not have Scoliosis, and finally gained enough trust in Jadie to realize that Jadie was hunched over by choice. She worked with Brucie at his level, and even had to change his diapers. Torey was well organized and had to plan out assignments and lessons that were all at different levels since each child was developing at a different rate. When Jadie painted, Torey went out of her way to research the different symbols and signs. She also allowed Jadie to keep a doll which resembled Torey because Torey knew that it would be helpful for Jadie to communicate.
ReplyDeleteOverall, Torey had a great understanding of human development and that is what helped her to teach the students who were all at different levels. She had a knowledgeable background of child psychology, and this was very benefical to her for teaching children with special needs. She got to know each student and their family, and never gave up on her students, especially Jadie.
Torey does an amazing job of recognizing her student’s diversity and allowing them the freedom to express themselves. I think that it is difficult as an adult not to make assumptions when dealing with children. We are the adult; we believe that we should know what children are thinking, what they are experiencing and how they feel. This statement could not be further from the truth. When Torey viewed the video footage of Jadie and her odd behavior and her pleas to be helped she did not react immediately, which would have been my first instinct, and address Jadie directly right after the incident. She allowed Jadie the time to further express herself through her art and creative play with the dolls.
ReplyDeleteTorey was very accepting of all of the children in her classroom and allowed them the time to adapt to having a new teacher while also letting them know that she was there for the duration and not going anywhere like their previous substitute teachers. Torey did not dwell on Jeremiah’s foul language; instead she redirected him into other activities and did not give much recognition to how he chose to express himself verbally. As a teacher we have to take into consideration the environment that the children come from, not using it as an excuse for behavior, but using it to understand the behavior. Throughout the book it is mentioned that Jerimiah would come to school dirty. In Chapter 17 Torey left school to drive to Jerimiah’s house to pick him up after being suspended from the bus that morning because of his behavior. The bus driver simply turned the bus around and took Jerimiah back home; this was common practice before Torey became Jerimiah’s teacher. Torey felt that school was where Jerimiah needed to be and by taking him home it was self defeating. Torey allowed Philip the time that he needed to adapt and allowed him the choice of participating initially. Torey did not preoccupy herself with Reuben’s flurry of activity and the fact that he disappeared regularly. While she did act as a professional and follow up she chose her battles based on the level of need at the time. This applies most to a teacher having to multi task and be able to successfully juggle several situations at one time.
On several different occasions Torey allowed her students the choice of not participating in certain class activities; she did not force participation on any of them. An example of this can be found in chapter seventeen when Jadie did not want to participate in the Halloween parade or attend the party. Jadie often chose not to do the same activities and would choose to draw instead. Her drawings allowed Torey to gain a lot of insight into Jadie’s life and enabled her to be observant enough to know what questions to ask Jadie. Torey seemed to have a great intuition in knowing when to pursue a matter and when to let it play itself out. I believe that this intuition, respect for diversity, and professionalism comes with experience, training, and other teacher’s experiences. I do not know that I would handle all of the situations the same way with Jadie, (Reuben in the bathroom and Jerimiah and the puppy) but in retrospect I can certainly appreciate the way she handled those tough situations.
I think that Torey is an amazing educator with a lot of experience. She took the time to understand each student as an individual. She began to know and understand each child. A lot of teachers treat each child the same and expect them all to learn the exact same. In Torey's classroom, all the children were free to express their feelings and emotions. The journals that the children kept are great tools to help kids express their feelings. Each student had strenths and weaknesses. In the beginning of the book, Torey describes each child's disability so the reader gets a great understanding of each child. Torey accommodates each child in her classroom. For example, Halloween came and Jeremiah forgot his costume. Torey helped him problem solve and they were able to make a tail out of materials from the classroom. She is also able to help Brucie do certain skills like getting dressed.
ReplyDeleteTorey had a lot of patience with Jadie, more patience than many teachers would have. She allows Jadie to play with the dolls to express herself and her feelings. She also allows Jadie to go into the cloakroom whenever she feels like it because Torey knows that that is where Jadie feels the safest. She allows Jadie to do what she needs to do in order to feel safe. Torey also doesn't force Jadie to speak, she treats her as if she'd been speaking the whole time. Also, I really liked the fact that Torey went above and beyond and decided to buy books on satanism. She wants to be able to understand Jadie. Last, I really liked that Torey set up a camera in her classroom to view the students and to observe herself at the end of the day. When she saw Jadie's cry for help at the end of the video, I was suprised that Torey didn't confront her right away.Instead, she allowed Jadie to take her time and talk about it when she was ready. Her immense patience and understanding of each child makes her such a great teacher.
When reading Ghost Girl, it is very easy to see that not only is Torey Hayden a wonderful teacher, but she is also very aware of human development. In her classroom, she has many diverse students, with a wide range of needs, and she manages to create activities that allow them all to participate. One example of this is when she gives the students time to write in their journals. During this time, some students will write and others will draw. It also allowed for Brucie, who was developmentally behind the others, to have time to practice things that were appropriate for him, like getting dressed.
ReplyDeleteTorey also makes many adaptations for Jadie. She allows her time to be alone when she needs it, like when she let Jadie work in the cloakroom. In addition, Torey was able to recognize that Jadie was not behind in her academic development, so much as physical development. She used this to set up standards that got Jadie to talk to her within Torey’s first few hours at the school.
Torey is a wonderful teacher, who is very aware of each of her student’s stages of development. She takes time to think about what stage each student is at and tries to give them tasks that are appropriate.
Torey Hayden shows her talent in the understanding of human development in many ways. Her prior job experience and high interest in finding ways to truly help the children through life really brings great help to Pecking school. To start off, Torey was able to quickly diagnose some things that were happening with Jadie, and find ways to help Jadie with her being selectively mute. She may not have known exactly what was going on at first, but her talent led her to the answers that no one else had found. She was also able to help Torey to become more social, mainly with her, but also somewhat with the rest of the school. Her also having an open door after school for Jadie brought out trust and comfort. She was able to help and handle Jeremiah by not making huge deals out of some of the words that he chose to use. She knew that he had a constant defensive shield and a hard life, and that if she were to point things out constantly, it would just push Jeremiah to continue. She continually shows the different approaches and environments that her students need in order to do their best. This shows that she is aware of the diversity of her students. She has certain ways to handle each student, and certain tasks that will help them the best. Like Katie said, Torey knows that Jadie finds comfort in the cloakroom so that is something that Torey lets Jadie use to get out what she is really feeling. As I said before, she isn’t as strict with Jeremiah’s choice of words because trying to force him to constantly stop would just bring anger. She is gentle with Philip because she knows that he is very sensitive, and if things were to get in a frenzy, he could be curled up in a ball the rest of the day.
ReplyDeleteTorey made many adaptions for Jadie that helped Jadie to feel open and comfortable. She let Jadie come in after school, and lock classroom door. She let Jadie go into the coat room where Jadie would open up and let out her feelings. She brought dolls out for Jadie and let her take one home. The dolls helped her to bring out feelings through them.
Torey is a wonderful teacher, and looks for the specific needs of each student.
Torey has access to all children's records who are in her classroom. She is able to see what the problems are with each child and the kind of home they live in. Since she has some understanding of the who the children are before they even walk in her classroom, it helps her to identify each child without even asking their name. She has such an understanding of human development that when Jeremiah, Jadie, Philip, and Rueben come into her room one at a time she knows exactly who they are and how to treat them. She doesn't yell at Jeremiah for being rude, off the wall, and down righ inconsiderate nor does she get after any of the others for not speaking, or not having the ability to speak. She understands what sort of place they are in and she addresses each one with individualism so maybe she can help them at least a little bit in increasing their level of cognitive ability.
ReplyDeleteTorey is also strongly aware of the diversity among her students. Again, she has records of all the children that tell their background. She also has the first hand experience of working with them everyday. She allows Jeremiah to be disruptive to a certain point. She understands that is how he is and you can't just tame that in one day. She does get firm with him when the time calls for it but she realizes that if she lets him do his thing, he tends to be a little less disruptive and a little easier to deal with. She also tried to make activities that he can use his abilities and talents and that works sometimes and it keeps him calm and interested in his work. Rueben and Philip are a lot of like, I think. They are a bit shy and Philip especially gets picked on by Jeremiah quite a bit. However, Torey addresses that as well. She compliments their achievements and tried to encourage their speech and their actions to express their feelings and things they want to say but can't get the right words or sounds to say them. Then there is Jadie. Torey does not pay as much attention to her during the day as she does to the others. She does think this is a problem but I could understand that is would be easy to not pay attention to someone who is doing their work and not disturbing the class. Torey understands the Jadie doesn't like to talk during school but as she does more and more group activities Jadie begins to talk some in class. Torey also, does not make Jadie walk upright even though she knows she can. She also Jadie to walk in whatever way makes her feel comfortable. Even though she allows all these things to happen with each student, she still encourgaes them to do the right thing. She encourages Jeremiah to be calm and use kind words. She encourages Philip and Rueben to speak with words and sentences if possible. She also encourages Jadie to speak to the other children and to stand and walk upright.
Torey made a few adapatations for Jadie's situation and disability. One thing Torey did was bringing in the camera. She did not know it until she watched the film but it helped Jadie speak to her in a way she couldn't before. Jadie asking for help was a cluw to Torey that Jadie needed more then just speaking encourgement but Torey wasn't sure what. I think one of the biggest things Torey did for Jadie was allowing her to come visit after school hours. Those hours were vital where Jadie locked them into the cloak room and was just Jadie till 5pm. Torey allowed Jadie to do what she wanted in the cloak room, with limitations of course. However, Torey would also ask her questions to get her mind going, to make her think about what she was doing, and also to give Torey an explanation for some of the bizzare things that went on inside the cloak room.
Torey is a great teacher and instructor and I think she has a real gift with working with special needs children. It is so very interesting to see the kind of things she does with such a wide range of students varying in their diability level.
Torey had an advanced understanding of human development. She did have an wide array of students in her classroom, even though there were only five student. She did several things to help all of them work together and seperately. She made sure that she had time to talk and work with every student that she had, dispite all of the distractions that she had in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteI really liked how she adapted every activity that she did to suit what her student abilities where and what they needed to learn. She would have an assignment where one student (Jadie) would be writing complex sentances, another student (Jeremaiah) would be working on simple sentances, Rueben and Phillip would be trying to draw pictures and Brucie would be working on dressing.
She made huge adaptations for Jadie. She let her come in after school and let her go into the closet with her. She let her play with the dolls and listened to her talk but did not force her to talk. This made Jadie feel comfortable enough to communicate what her real problem was: sexual abuse. I think that the best thing that she did for Jadie was that she did not look at her talking as if it was a big deal. She made Jadie feel as though she could talk or not talk and it did not matter, which made her comfortable enough to talk with Torey.
She understand human development because she tries to push the students into learning, and she uses the best techniques to do so for each child. For example, for Jadie, she would give her the alone time to make her feel safe. She would also push Jadie because she knew she was smart and knew she could speak and express herself. She just really understands where the students come from and the way to successfully get them to learn to their capabilites.
ReplyDeleteHayden has a great vision for the diversity in her classroom. She sees and uses the different interests of each child to help them learn up to their maximum. She would do the thing each child enjoyed doing. For example, Jadie needed that comfort place which she provided by giving up her alone time to do so. Jeramiah was super extatic about his costume so she helped with that. She also would let Brucie color and draw during times.
Hayden gives Jadie the time after school to talk and feel loved. In Ghost Girl Hayden sits in a bolted cloakroom after school and listens to a frightened Jadie's shocking story of abuse. "I know what that sign means now," Jadie said quietly, not looking over. "What sign is that?" "Over by ninth street, there's a brown church, and it's got that sign out front. It says "Safe with God." I kept reading it when we went by, and I never knew what it meant. She smiled. "But I do now. I'm safe in here, aren't I? I'm safe with you." She is a great teacher in the ways she helps and understands ever one of her students.
John Selman