Teaching
methods for special needs |  Multi-sensory
teaching methods
Studies from the National Institutes of Child Health
and Human Development have shown that for children with special needs, a multi-sensory
teaching method is the most effective teaching method.
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Dyslexia
symptoms |  How
do you indentify possible dyslexia in a pupil?
The criteria most commonly
used in assessment is the disparity between a pupil's intelligence and their actual
achievement.
If a pupil appears to speak and listen normally, yet they are
unable to read and spell, then there may be more to check out. Everything a classroom
assistant, special needs assistant or L.S.A. needs to know!
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Resources |
 Print-outs
for parents, listings of phonics programs, and links to a huge range of resources
for helping children with special needs in your school.
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Math/s |
 Many
children and teens with learning difficulties aften experience problems with math/s
because of their difficulties with sequencing. Many have not yet learned the basics
- how to count to 100 forwards and backwards, and do not understand any processes
beyond addition. Jean Herold describes some techniques
which will help you as a classroom aide or classroom assistant (L.S.A.).
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Teacher's
Aide |  •
When
you need all the
help you can get -
There are times when teachers need three sets of hands, an extra pair of eyes,
and the ability to be in two places at once…cases where a student with special
needs cannot stay in the regular classroom without extra assistance…days when
three kids need help with spelling while the rest of the class acts out a play
or everybody gets the new math concept except one student who needs some one-on-one
help. That's where the teacher's aide comes in ...
•
Teacher's Aide Job Application covering
letter •
Teacher's
Aide Resume Sample •
Transitioning
from Teacher's Aide to Paraeducator More |
| Talk
with other classroom assistants in our
Discussion Forum •
• •
HINTS
AND TIPS
• • • FREE DYSLEXIA NEWSLETTER
Online Courses for Classroom Assistants
Many
classroom assistants, teaching assistants and learning support assistants find themselves responsible for the support of a child or teenager but do not feel equippped
with the practical techniques they need to teach a child with dyslexia or needing help with synthetic phonics. Our
distance learning multi-media courses provide practical training in how
to support and teach a child with difficulties with reading and spelling.
Dyslexia
Certificate Course
Dyslexia
Advanced Certificate Course
Synthetic Phonics Certificate Course
Synthetic
Phonics | | 
Synthetic
phonics is the expression used to describe the sounds the letters make. In simple
terms, the word 'cat' can be read from its three sounds: c-a-t. These
are not the names of the letters as we say them in the alphabet, but the sounds
these letters make.
Likewise,
the word 'thick' is made up of three sounds: th-i-ck, where pairs of letters combine
to make a single sound: Synthetic
Phonics
 Phonics teaching is also known as Systematic Phonics and is described in our website Systematic
Phonics
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Classroom
Assistant of the Year | |
 Denise
Murray, classroom assistant, is highly trained, highly motivated, and is often
in high spirits. She brings lots of spirited fun into the classroom at Beaumont
Hill special school in Darlington, which is valued by colleagues and students
alike.
She is
one of 25 classroom assistants at the school; her colleagues nominated her for
Classroom Assistant of the Year. Murray says one of her proudest moments was when
the school was awarded technology status. "It was such a big thing for the school
and it was a brilliant day." Murray has a NNEB qualification and has worked in
special schools for 20 years, the last seven years spent at Beaumont Hill. She
has gained the Specialist Teacher Assistant qualification, focused on literacy
and numeracy, and is now a specialist maths SSA. She is also a trained counsellor
and a staff member of the school's governing body. Working with children in a
math/s lesson, she is able to encourage children with a range of difficult disabilities.
Murray speaks directly to every child and she uses references to a child's own
experiences to keep them focused and make them feel special. Full
story |
News
headlines | |  •
Each day our news agency searches in newspapers around the world for any
stories about classroom assistants, children with learning difficulties, dyslexia,
etc.
Our News Page
is an easy way to keep up to date.
| Print
out our pages!
All articles, listings
and other material from Classroom Assistant website may be printed out and copied
for personal or professional use (meetings, school files, for parents,
etc.) provided that our web address
www.classroom-assistant.net
is clearly included in the copy as a reference for others. Search
our website:
CLASSROOM
ASSISTANT
Direct
Learning Limited
editor:
John Bradford | |
Confidence
building |  Confidence
building
The majority of children with learning difficulties have come
to the conclusion that they are stupid!
In any school in any week of the
year a child with learning difficulties experiences a huge amount of failure.
Why can't he read and spell? He must feel that he is dumb, thick, stupid. How
can a classroom assistant or teacher's aide help?
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Books
and software |  A
selection by experienced experts of books, software and technological aids for
children with special needs is here for classroom assistants and teacher's aides.
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Training
to be a classroom assistant |  The
National
Occupational Standards for Teaching or Classroom Assistants outlines the training
needs of classroom assistants in the UK. The national occupational standards are
designed to be suitable for all staff in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern
Ireland who work with teachers in classrooms supporting the learning process in
primary, special and secondary schools. These staff currently have a range of
job titles such as teaching assistant, classroom assistant, learning support assistant,
or special needs assistant.
|
Dot's
Diary |  Saturday
I put up a display in the classroom about differences. The whole class discussed
the issue and contributed (race, hair colour, skin, eyes, religion etc) but no-one
talked about learning requirements or disabilities. It was a good chance to talk
to some of the pupils about these issues and remind them that we do not all find
learning easy nor do we learn in the same way.
Read
more of the diary of a classroom assistant (learning support assistant, special
needs assistant, LSA).
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Contacts |
| 
Organizations, Discussion Boards, Conferences, Conventions and exhibitions for
classroom assistants, teaching assistants, learning
support assistants and teacher's aides.
More
|
Case
studies | |  Difficulty
copying from the board
A child
in my group says he has these difficulties copying from the board: •
Not enough time to copy from the board.
• I
lose my place. I try hard but get lost. It takes me a long time to check nearly
every word to find my place. It is easier in the support group because I can ask
where I am.
More
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Dyslexia in children |
 You might be concerned that a child you teach may be dyslexic. Full details about dyslexia in children and a description of the symptoms of dyslexia are to found on this page:
Dyslexia in Children.
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Have you seen your child memorising and guessing words?
It is much the most common problem we see. Luckily it is possible to fix that entirely, sometimes in just a few weeks.
But the reality is... without the right help, one in every five children reaches the age of 11 unable to read and write competently. And many schools do not have the resources needed to deliver that specialised help.
Just try the free sample lesson.
Easyread gives your child the tools and guidance needed to learn how to decode words with confidence, with a short daily lesson over the Internet.
Easyread System
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