I am so lucky to be working in a class with students who have special needs. I am so proud of them everyday for everything that they learn and how kind they are to others around them. My students are just a whole bunch of awesome! For those of you who are used to student led conferences as opposed to traditional parent-teacher interviews, but are not sure how to organize the experience for kids with special needs below is one possible example. One important piece of information to note is that most of my students are verbal, have the ability to explain something simple and can recognize the numbers up to 10.
I labelled some of the areas of our classroom and had each of my students lead their parents through the numbers one to seven.
1. Pictures of places outside the classroom. Students said statements like “I go to gym to practice my basketball skills” or ” We learn about flowers outside”
2. Our morning activities on the smartboard. Students showed their parents how they could complete activities about the weather, months, date and personal information.
3. This is a picture of our business, the coffee cart. Students shared with their parents “I practice using money ” or “I practice my counting”
4. A table of student work from their teacher table time. Students shared with their parents “I practice my printing” or “I practice my reading”
5. This board is where we shared our ideas of how to be kind. Students shared their ways that they could show kindness.
6. This small cabinet holds our toothbrushes, toothpaste and wash clothes. Students told their parents “I brush my teeth everyday after lunch”
7. We have a baking and cooking program so we made sure to make a sample for our parents to try and an example of a recipe we follow
Parents really enjoyed seeing all the amazing things that happen in our class everyday!
