I live in Atlanta, Georgia. I quickly discovered that the city schools were not going to be able to provide the environment or the services that my son needed. Consequently, the bulk of my experience with school settings and facilitators derive from working with private schools. I am aware that several schools in the metro Atlanta area have begun to use a facilitator model to facilitate their mainstreaming goals. The ideas discussed below may be helpful to both parents whose children work with facilitators, and to teachers or administrators who must train and coordinate facilitators.
These notes talk about the basic approach to working with a child in the classroom. I have also created a document that provides more detailed advice about working in the classroom with a child. These notes also provide guidance to a facilitator in giving feedback about a child's day.
Interacting in the Classroom: An Overview
I want to focus as much as possible on a child's social interaction skills. In a school environment, you may not always be able to be as flexible as would be ideal to keep the child motivated and engaged. I consider this to be a limitation of the approach, and I can only encourage you to stretch the environment as much as possible. In other words, be as crazy and silly and innovative as the class structure will allow.
In whatever you do with a child, be gentle. If his ideas or comments seem strange or unappealing to the other kids, work on helping the child feel good about whatever he is doing. I don't want a child to feel like he isn't liked for who he is. At the same time, help the child to understand that not everyone will like her ideas or the way she wants to play, and while that is a normal part of life, she may want to think of some other ways to generate interest in people.
Always respect a child's desire for space. A facilitator should work to create situations where the child is motivated to interact with the other kids. The experience should not become a burden to a child. During free play, try to start interesting games with a child that might attract other kids. Or, start games with the other kids that attract the child. You don't always have to be right at the child's side. In fact, at times it will be wise to pull back from him when you think a child is supporting herself well (responding to others, playing cooperatively, maintaining emotional flexibility).
Help a child to make eye contact and respond to questions/comments from peers with very subtle physical prompting (such as a touch on the shoulder) and/or gentle verbal prompting. Try to be as oblique (non-directive) as possible. For example, instead of, "{Name], please answer Caroline," say, "[Name], it sounded like somebody said something to you!" If the indirect approach doesn't work, you might ask Caroline to repeat her question a little closer to the child, or have her tap him before asking again. If that doesn't work, you might remind the child that when people ask questions of others, that it can be fun to answer, because you might get to play a new game. The trick here is to remain non-judgmental, and not to pressure the child. Once you start feeling like the child has to answer, you will add a level of tension to the situation that will work against you. If the child still won't answer, help Caroline to understand the situation, and close it off with her. For example, say "[Name] seems to be busy right now, Caroline. Maybe he can answer you later. If you want to play a game, John might like to do it with you." It's always important to maintain the other kids' positive perceptions of a child--do what you can to have them feel good about their interactions with him. The less comfortable they are with the child, the less they will initiate interactions. One last idea: most kids will be more responsive when they use each others' names. Prompt everyone to use names, and things will work better.
Helping A Facilitator To Provide Feedback
A basic chronology of a child's day works fine as a basic model for making comments. I have a few specific guidelines for helping you to focus your feedback.
I am most interested in hearing about a child's experiences:
· Interacting with other kids in one-on-one or small group situations
· Participating in unstructured group activities
· Participating in organized group activities
· Attending and responding to any class instruction
With those interests in mind, here's my suggested plan:
1. Provide a brief overview of the day.
· Did the class follow its usual schedule?
· Were there any factors that might have made it for difficult for the child (i.e., a substitute teacher, extra kids, etc.)?
2. Provide a brief overview of the child.
· Was he attentive and responsive?
· Was he relaxed and happy--did he have fun?
· How did his behavior and attitude compare to other recent days?
3. Describe as specifically as you can significant interactions with other kids in one-on-one or small group situations.
· Did the child initiate conversations or play?
· Did the child respond appropriately to comments or questions from other kids?
· Did the child look at people when talking or playing?
· Did the child show some flexibility in the activity (considering ideas other than his own)?
· Was the child on the same wavelength as everyone else?
When you can, provide some examples of specific dialogue. What was everyone saying to each other?
4. Describe the child's activity in group situations, both planned and spontaneous.
· Did the child attend to and understand the activity?
· Was the child watching and copying the other kids?
· Did the child interact with any individuals during the activity?
· Was the child on the same wavelength as everyone else?
5. Describe the child's ability to manage the demands of the class.
· Was the child responsive to direction?
· How did the child handle transitions between activities?
· Was the child involved in any corrective/constrained situations, and how did he or she react?