The Trumpet / SEN / April 2018

The Trumpet Contents

The Trumpet

By Department SEN Sen@dpssrinagar.com

THE EDITORIAL TEAM

THE DESIGNING TEAM

1. Ms Munaza Mohiudin

Mr Imran Farooq Beigh

2. Ms. Munaeeza Zagar

Mr Aamir Bashir

3. Mr. Yuaish Qureshi

Mr Wakeel Ahmad Rather

4. Ms. Salma Bhat 5. Ms. Bisma Showkat 6. Ms. Sadaf Ashaq 7. Ms. Adiba 8. Ms. Subreena Sen Department Established in 2012

PHOTOGRAPHY Ibrahim Vikar

BY

CONTENTS 1. Fun with Colours 2. Activities of the Month 3. Outings within the Department 4. Teacher of the Month 5. Workshops and In-House Training

Programs 6. Guest of the Month

FUN WITH COLOURS: On 4th May 2018, students were overjoyed and thrilled as they were being involved in “Rangoli� activity.

It was an activity which was performed by the whole school and our Special Education Needs department altogether. The students shaped up the different shapes and filled them with different colors of life. The teachers along with their special students participated in the activity and made it a success. It proved to be a refreshing activity both for the students and the teachers. Mr. Adil an art teacher of our department, turned to be the back-bone of this activity.

ACTIVITIES OF THE MONTH:

“THE SCARECROW”: It was an activity done by the students to learn the spellings and meanings of the difficult words of the poem “Scare Crow”. The students were able to relate the words to the scare crow made and further used the words in the sentences of their own.

“THE BIRD NEST”: It was a tactile activity done with the low-vision students to help them gain the knowledge about how and why the birds build nest and the material required for the same.

“THE SEASON TREE”:

It was a tactile activity done with the visually impaired students. The students change the direction of the pointer in the season tree as per the weather outside.

“MENU CARD”: This was a follow-up activity done by the vocational department after their visit to the restaurant.

OUTINGS:

An outing is a way to break the daily routine of teaching and learning. It helps the students socialize, gain the knowledge about historical places, nature etc. It also helps them to learn the value of money by spending and earning. Each year, the department puts in a lot of effort to plan the outings for the students. Recently, the department has done the outings to several places which include Badamwari, Amigos restaurant and, a Farm house.

TEACHER WITH A DIFFERENCE: To teach and to have a passion for the same requires a lot of effort and dedication. Such efforts have been put in by one of our dedicated staff member and made it to be known as the “TEACHER OF THE MONTH” Ms. Nyra, who joined the institution in the year 2015 and has been working with low vision students, has successfully gained the title. While working with the students, she uses different methods to meet their needs. She has been successful in following the deadlines and maintaining discipline while carrying out the sessions.

Based on the parental feedback, well-planned sessions and, innovative activities, she has been awarded as “TEACHER OF THE MONTH”.

“CHEERS TO THE TEAM WORK�: A small get together was organized by the department for the teachers in order to shed the burden of their daily routine. It was organized after the school hours and the teachers had a lot of fun as they participated in several games. The atmosphere was very refreshing for the teachers and the new trainees were welcomed to the family with happy faces.

WORKSHOP FOR MACMILLAN On 14 April 2018, teachers of English remedial (SEN) attended a workshop on Macmillan’s textbook teaching skills conducted by Ms. Mridula Shrivastav. The session began with introduction activity wherein every teacher introduced themselves and their unique way of teaching. As teachers together categorized list of activities, they realized that more and more activities could easily be used as fun exercises within the classroom. Ms.Srivastav enlightened the teachers about the activities given on the website www.macmillaneducation.com and also shared how to apply those in the classrooms. Thereafter, teachers had an interactive session on creative writing. She emphasized on how important the skill is for the child to learn as it expands the imagination and offers a wonderful outlet for expression. She also spoke about enhancing vocabulary skills through videos and audios. Various other vocabulary building activities such as locating the synonyms and antonyms of the word, dictionary activities etc. were also suggested to enhance the skills. Ms Shrivastav puts stress on story writing, story extension and some other interesting techniques we could use with our children. Towards the end, each participant (teacher) was made to speak about a story read from the textbook in a group.

The workshop was thought provoking and showed us various applications, tools and techniques which could be easily integrated within the curriculum to develop imagination and expression amongst the children.

Training for existing teachers As teachers, we are all concerned with improving the education of our students, thus we need to focus on teaching strategies and to take a step back for improving teachers training. In SEN workshops are conducted for existing teachers to polish their skills and to work on the loopholes. The basic strategies used by the concerned Incharges to enhance the teaching skills of our teachers are increased teacher contact time and observations.

The concerned In-charge keeps a track on the sessions of the teachers. She also keeps a check on the reports, assessments and book reviews. Teachers are made to gather the facts about the disabilities and concerns their children have. The In-charges make sure that a close eye is kept on the daily schedule and execution of plans of every teacher. After the observations are done, the Incharge ensures all the loopholes in the sessions are corrected for further execution. Variations are tried in sessions based on the needs of the child. Teacher’s expression and communication is the main thing that is focused on.

In the month of April 2018, the workshops for Autism and Early Intervention were conducted. Further workshops would be conducted in the month of May 2018 for Elementary schools and Math’s.

We all make it sure that in every session, there is an increased emphasis on allowing students to pursue their own interests and passion, to evaluate their own work.

TEACHERS TRAINING IN SEN FOR NEW RECRUITS: Teacher quality plays a crucial role in the quality of a student’s education that is why it is so important for schools to recruit highly qualified teacher.

Once the teacher is hired in SEN, he/she is not given a session directly but is first made to observe the ongoing sessions followed by the formal training which lasts for 15-20days. During the training, the new recruits are informed about the different learning challenges, different learning styles, strategies and sources that can be used to overcome the learning challenges faced by the special children. The new recruits are also informed about the formation of IEP’S, planners and assessment procedures. The training program is followed by the informal testing and an overall assessment to check whether the new recruits have grasped the concept.

At the end, the process is followed by an observation period of 3months wherein the new recruits sit in for the observation sessions and go through recommended books and links related to Special Education in order to enhance their knowledge.

WORK SHOP BY MS. VANELLA Best special educator of the state of Gujarat, Ms. R.Vennela held an interaction with the staff of Delhi Public School, Athwajan here on Tuesday. The interaction was mainly focused on ways to deal with students having special needs.

The interaction was held in the school auditorium where teachers exchanged their thoughts and ideas with Mrs. Vennela.

Writer, academician, counselor and a part time nail artist. Ms. Vennela has worked as a teacher, educator and master trainer for Diploma and B.Ed students in Madhuram Narayan Centre for Early Intervention in Chennai. She has worked as a research officer in a research project titled ‘Inclusive school Readiness Package on Early Childhood Education’ by UNICEF in collaboration with National institute for Mentally Handicapped, Sikanderabad.

Ms.Venella has conducted workshops on Development of Individualized Educational Plans (IEP), Behaviour Modification Program and Evidence based documentation.

On Tuesday 8 May 2018, Ms. Vanella conducted a workshop regarding: 1. Disability Awareness and sensitization program 2. Orientation and Sensitization Program for Regular School teachers and parents on Learning Problems.

3. Importance of early childhood and positive parenting.

4. Challenging behaviors in children and their management.

5. Inclusive education