by Brooke Dunoff, Or Ami
In TAP, I have learned about helping children with learning differences because it allows me to have knowledge of strategies on how to work with an individual with difficulties. Though I am unacquainted with working with children with specific disabilities, I have experience with some young students who do have trouble in the classroom. I didn’t necessarily enjoy assisting the student at the time, but I have taken on the experience of having a frustrated child in the classroom. The main reason that I like to individually teach a child is because I have learned that many children learn at different paces. Having some time together allows me to teach more about the student, and at their speed of learning–I can pull the child out of the classroom to clarify their knowledge of the specific topic.
I have learned from my own experiences and TAP that some of the most important things in solving a problem are classification, patience and fairness. As we discussed, fairness doesn’t mean that everyone gets the same thing, but that it means that everyone gets what they need. In the situation in which a student is behind in class, it is the teen aids responsibility to make things fair. In TAP, I learned that patience is very important for helping students calm down and learn whatever is necessary. In TAP, I learned many strategies that help students learn, and be involved in the lesson, but the most important things to have in order to be a good helper in the classroom are clarification, fairness and patience.