Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Hopes and Dreams

Last week I was at school for parent conferences and was catching up with our fabulous speech-language pathologist when I noticed the bulletin board in her office. She'd taken the idea of Responsive Classroom's hopes and dreams that most classrooms at our school use. Not letting the fact that she wasn't in a classroom stop her, she had given each child a paper t-shirt where they each wrote their individual goal for speech. They ranged from broad categories like "social skills" to specific goals like "r sounds".
Above the bulletin board was a sign that read Hopes and Dreams, with each child's signature.

I love that she adapted the idea of hopes and dreams to the speech room. One of the greatest things you can teach children with special needs is how to set goals and work toward reaching them. They also benefit from having a good understanding of their disabilities and how they can work toward progress. It empowers them by letting them know they have control of their environment and themselves. And of course, a sense of community is essential to them as well.
I love that she tweaked the idea to work for our kids.

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