The empty nest provides plenty of time for reflection. As your second daughter left for college at the end of the summer, you and your husband were officially alone. Your older daughter was now only 10 miles from home pursuing an accelerated nursing degree, but the fact remains that you now have hours alone. Your husband continues his regular full time job and you continue to substitute teach on a fairly regular basis, but there are still many more hours that are open to you and your thoughts.
When you are in a classroom you find yourself having more patience for the students, more compassion for the other teachers, and tolerance for the events that happen in the course of a regular day at school.
Student Focused Classrooms Continue to be an Advantage for All Learners
Whether you have been parent for decades or a teacher for even longer, it is important to realize that there are many advantages to running a student focused learning environment. These classrooms allow all kinds of learners to make progress. With trained dedicated school staffing members and trained specialists many classrooms can become a haven of learning and growth. Understanding the important need for student focused lesson plans allows teachers to make sure the they have plans in place to not only address the required curriculum, but to, more importantly meet the learners where they are.
Today’s educational challenges are not small. Administrators deal with shrinking budgets and teachers face challenging expectations. What unfortunately gets lost in the process, however, is the need of individual learners. The best teachers, however, find a way to balance the challenges that they face in classroom, while still focusing on the children. Letting every child know that they have a place in the classroom, for instance, is one way to make sure that students stay engaged. When teachers are able to take the time to get to know each and every student in the room, learning can be much more powerful. When you know, for instance, that three of the girls in your classroom play volleyball together on the weekend you can reference teamwork themes in a young adult title that you are reading in class. Likewise, when you are able to understand individual student needs you are able to cater lessons to meet those meets.
Some learners need to be presented information visually, while others rely on listening to new information to process it the best. When teachers use a combination of visual and auditory techniques they are able to reach more children on a regular basis. Curriculum and testing requirements may change, but the need for student focused teaching does not. Consider some of these facts and figures about the current educational needs of many children and what parents and schools can do to meet those needs:
- Unfortunately, studies indicate that 79% of children have not visited an eye care provider in the past 12 months.
- 50% of the public school workforce is made up of teachers, while the remaining 50% are guidance counselors, nurses, speech therapists, and other support staff.
- 25% of school-age children suffer from vision problems that could have been treated had the child been properly screened before entering school, according to the the National Commission on Vision and Health.
- Unfortunately, children without health insurance are three times as likely not to have the eyeglasses they need. As a result, it is important for schools understand that students may come to school with significant physical needs.
- Approximately 66% of 1,000 children in the U.S. are born with a detectable level of hearing loss in one or both ears, a need that requires continued monitoring.
- 25% of children between the ages of five and 17 have a vision problem, according to the the National Commission on Vision and Health.
Before you can make sure that your child is getting all of the educational advantages that they need it is important to make sure that they are able to listen and see as well as possible. Finding the right school is important, but if your child is not able to see and hear, learning will not happen. Are you ready to help your children learn?