"Sometimes you have to teach compassion."
It was 7:45am and these were the quick words I needed to hear. After the chaos of trying to coordinate observations, a secretary from the MS said this to me when I quickly explained to her what I was doing with my students.
My College Prep senior
students have finished reading a book titled, The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Nite-Time, about a young boy with autism. The evolution of
his character and the explanation of his habits are intriguing for the
students. This book proves not only to be a great literary teaching tool,
but the conversations and understandings of embracing differences that are produced are very informative
for these young adults.
In order to help bring the book to life, I arranged for field experiences for my students so they could be silent observers in a space that was similar to the characters and events of the book.
Here's the email message I sent: I would love for my students to be able to share some time with yours, even 20 minutes would be helpful. I know even being in the room with resources (Swings, manipulatives, kitchen etc.) provides students with information beyond the book. Would you be open to hosting some seniors for a small window of time next week? The goal would be that the seniors could observe and learn from the students about how their world functions differently; and recognize that all humans are more alike than different.
In order to help bring the book to life, I arranged for field experiences for my students so they could be silent observers in a space that was similar to the characters and events of the book.
Here's the email message I sent: I would love for my students to be able to share some time with yours, even 20 minutes would be helpful. I know even being in the room with resources (Swings, manipulatives, kitchen etc.) provides students with information beyond the book. Would you be open to hosting some seniors for a small window of time next week? The goal would be that the seniors could observe and learn from the students about how their world functions differently; and recognize that all humans are more alike than different.
My students had opportunities to observe an HS MH unit, a MS MH unit, an elementary resource room, and an elementary MH unit thanks to the willingness and collaboration of district teachers.
Below are some of the quotes we have discussed and chosen as themes for the book. Students had to support these themes using text evidence and also could incorporate observations as support. For the students, the observations really brought the themes from black and white into color.
- "The world is full of obvious things which nobody by chance ever observes." -The Hound of Baskervilles
- “Sometimes people are born with disabilities, but it’s communities that handicap them.” -Anonymous
- “You see, but you do not observe.” -Sir Conan Doyle
What did you OBSERVE in your field experience.
- The majority of kids were struggling with third grade math and they were HS freshmen.
- Many students struggled to communicate.
- Some of the students were shy.
- In my field experience, I have noticed the only way to deal with children who have some form of mental disability is patience. Some people may not have the quality so taking care of a child with disabilities would be hard.
- There was no in between, the children either wanted to be with people or they wanted to be left alone.
- Once they warmed up to you, they didn't want you to leave.
- One of the students has autism, he shares the symptoms of Christopher in the book.
Create a TWEET about your observation. Include on hashtag.
- I truly respect all of the people that love to work with all sorts of people. #embracethediff
- Shout out to all the parents and people who take care of mentally handicapped children. #patiencealwayswins
- Discovered that we all have differences. #embracedifferent
- Observing children struggle is hard, but watching their success is amazing too. #successisbest
- Kids do learn at different levels, yet kids are kids. #beyou
- Autism is a complex gift, not a burden. #puzzlingup
Relating back to the book, students were tasked with piecing the story together as a whole to make meaning. Below is an image of the graphic organizer used to aide comprehension of the story and used as a how to make meaning as a whole This observation experience allowed students to realize that there are real life pieces of the puzzle all around them, observations in other words, that they can use to make meaning. In my professional opinion, teachers are responsible for making learning relevant to students. The themes of the book were strengthened with the observations.
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