The Fiday Philosophy
My philosophy for working with students who have special needs is that, if they are not learning, then I have to continue to try to find their special way to learn. If your child does not understand or remember things as I have taught them the first time, it is not because your child is unable to learn. It is up to me to continue to try new techniques and strategies until I finally find the one that makes your child successful. I ask in return, that you do your best to help me see if the method we are trying could work if it is being reinforced at home and at school. If you already know of strategies in the past that have or have not worked, please share that information. I also try to instill a comfort in risk taking. Often the students are afraid to try something new for fear of failure. I promise the students that if they are willing to try, and to keep trying regardless of whether or not they succeed, I will keep trying to come up with a strategy to reach them--after all, if they haven't learned, then I have failed in my job as well. Just as I don't expect them to give up, I won't give up either just because my first efforts at teaching a concept have failed.
My philosophy for working with students who have special needs is that, if they are not learning, then I have to continue to try to find their special way to learn. If your child does not understand or remember things as I have taught them the first time, it is not because your child is unable to learn. It is up to me to continue to try new techniques and strategies until I finally find the one that makes your child successful. I ask in return, that you do your best to help me see if the method we are trying could work if it is being reinforced at home and at school. If you already know of strategies in the past that have or have not worked, please share that information. I also try to instill a comfort in risk taking. Often the students are afraid to try something new for fear of failure. I promise the students that if they are willing to try, and to keep trying regardless of whether or not they succeed, I will keep trying to come up with a strategy to reach them--after all, if they haven't learned, then I have failed in my job as well. Just as I don't expect them to give up, I won't give up either just because my first efforts at teaching a concept have failed.