The Lego Master

 

One of things that a good teacher has to do is learn about their students. Each child is different. And some children require more one on one instruction than others. Then there are the students that may have a special circumstance, such as autism. One year I did have a child with autism. He was brilliant and very serious. He was also non-verbal and so it was hard to communicate with him at times. 

Since he was smart, very smart, he often became bored with the lessons I was teaching the class. I would supplement his learning with things that were more advanced. This included worksheets, videos, etc. It would work for a while, but eventually he would become more restless. I didn't want him to be bored or restless. And, of course, I wanted him to learn and be able to advance to the next grade. But with his autism, it was very difficult to keep him focused.

He also would have bad days when he would become violent. This would include hitting, pushing, and throwing things. The other students would become scared or would want to fight back. At times, I had to separate him from the class for his and their safety.

In this school, we had quads. There were four classrooms and between the four rooms, there was a separate room for the teachers. This is where we kept the coffee, fridge, microwave and snacks. It was basically our teacher's lounge. One day, when he was in a very violent stage, I had him go in that room. I didn't just want him to sit there, so I gathered Legos from other teachers. I put them in the room and showed them to him. I then left him to calm down and went back to my class. 

After only 15 minutes, I went to the room to check on him. I stood there in amazement. He was working hard building with the Legos. He had already built a city skyline and was working on finishing it up. It was spectacular! The other teachers came into the room and were also amazed! I had discovered that building with Legos helped this student to redirect his anger, calm down, and be able to rejoin the class. 

That what a teacher does. They make sure that they are addressing the needs of all the children in the class. That takes time, dedication, and hard work.