As teachers in a school serving students with special needs, we have a little bit of advice we give one another from time to time. It comes in the form of an acronym – QTIP. When our students let loose on us in their anguish, anger, or misery, and we’re in danger of feeling overwhelmed, our colleagues will remind us to Quit Taking It Personally. If we were to take all our students’ pain and anger to heart we would quickly burn out or become basket cases unable to help ourselves or our … [Read more...]
Measuring Success
I am a wood shop teacher at Dearborn Academy, a special needs school serving Eastern Massachusetts located in Arlington, MA. Like many teachers these days I have been thinking about how to measure success. It is a question that comes up with my colleagues and it certainly appears in the media frequently. As is so often the case in these sorts of discussions, it is important to reach a common understanding of definitions. Success can mean many things. It can be an on going process or and end. … [Read more...]
Woodshop vs. Computers
The other day I was asked by my supervisor whether I thought my students were enjoying shop class as much as they used to. I had to admit that fewer students had been signing up for shop at recess than in previous years. She was surprised. She knew during tours of our school the shop is always a big draw. It’s true. I see the potential students on the tour. They get to the shop and their eyes widen and a look of great excitement comes over most of them. Their parents/guardians too get … [Read more...]
Helping Students To Develop Self-Awareness
Many years ago, I took driver’s ed. my senior year in high school. I don’t remember seeing the graphic movies about irresponsible teenagers driving badly, but I do remember we practiced using machines called simulators. The simulator was a boxy affair that one sat in with the basic layout of a car—steering wheel, brake and gas pedal, turn signal. They were as realistic as the original bridge of the Starship Enterprise. All students sat in their simulators and watched a large movie screen in the … [Read more...]
Opportunities for Meaningful Education
When I first started working at Dearborn Academy, I had a colleague who'd been around for a number of years. He had a gentle soul and his love and respect for our students was manifest. One day the two of us were playing a pickup game of basketball, a game at which he excelled, against a pair of middle schoolers. I wasn't sure how hard I should be playing against such over-matched opponents, and when I got a chance to do so unobtrusively I asked how hard we should try to win.His response … [Read more...]
On Teaching Woodshop
When I tell people I teach woodshop to special needs students I am fairly certain to receive one of a couple of responses. Particularly when I first started, people would go on about what a noble thing I was doing. I don’t get that as much these days, and I don’t know whether that is a sign of the times or something about the way I now explain my work.People also tend to tell me about their own shop experience and how they still have this or that old shop project hidden away somewhere (that … [Read more...]
