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Question 34: I have a request
to do an in-service for a high school student with TS. They are looking
for both a session with the teachers and with students. Since
the high school students all have their own timetable, there is no
single class of students that this fellow is with all day. Do you
have any recommendations for strategies on how to approach this? Thanks,
C.W., ON, Canada.
Good
morning C.W.:
This is a good question -- one I spent some time grappling with along
with a teen in the Kitchener/Waterloo area myself last year. We entertained
a number of options -- hopefully one of them will work for this student
(and for yourself!). If nothing else, maybe OUR brainstorming will give
YOU ideas (in which case I'd love to hear them!).
-In some high-schools, while the student selects the courses (s)he will
rotate between during the term/semester/year, a homeroom class is assigned.
If your time is limited you may choose to only in-service this homeroom
group, as the student with TS will most reliably interact with them.
While it depends on the school, homeroom often meets everyday; in some
schools I believe this 'homeroom' group stays together through each
year as well.
-On the opposite extreme, if you have all the time in the world to invest
in this in-service, you may choose to rotate with the student during
the day -- giving a brief presentation at the beginning of each of his/her
classes, and then going to the cafeteria/library until the next class.
Again high schools vary in how they run: this option works best in a
system where the same classes are taken everyday (whether the order
changes in a "Day 1/Day 2" system or not). If it is a high
school where different classes are taken throughout the week it becomes
a bit unfeasible (but still possible depending on your own schedule)
to go into the school at different times on different days.
There are also some more creative ways to in-service a high school:
-On occasion high schools will still have assemblies -- you could perhaps
work yourself a spot into one of these.
-You could hold a noon-hour cafeteria/library presentation where interested
people would go -- I would suggest that if you go this route you try
to work something out with the school in terms of a motivating factor
to come (free refreshments at the end of the presentation, vouchers
for something free in the cafeteria for attending, anyone who wishes
to attend can do so in place of an earned detention, etc.).
-Most high-schools have morning and afternoon announcements: the school
may permit you some time to give a brief presentation during these.
-Some schools now have radio stations: you can schedule a spot into
one of their programs (again, an incentive program might be built in
-- the next day in class a question about the in-service will be asked:
people who can answer it get an extra point on the next quiz or something.........).
-Finally, early in the year lots of high-schools have club days: your
affiliate could set up a booth in the gym or wherever the event is being
held in order to educate and increase awareness (you may even get some
new volunteers to boot! :-)
I hope this helps -- best of luck to you!!
cheers,
Dr. Dunc.
