VIDBE-Q Volume 66 Issue 3
of the day before, or what are they looking forward to doing in the near future.
Students that seem withdrawn or quiet, I name what I perceive, asking if I am
correct. We then discuss why the student might feel that way, what can be done to
support them in the lesson and going forward. We set the norm the first day that
students have the self-regulatory power to say they do not want to talk about
something, but they also learn I am actively listening and I care. While not
necessarily the original content of the lesson, this is important modeling and
functional exercises in Self-Determination and Social Interaction Skills from the
Expanded Core Curriculum.
I used to be big on pushing through a lesson, continuing to work despite
outside concerns or emotions most of the time. Through the pandemic, I learned
that lessons must be responsive to where the student is, both skill-wise and where
they are that day emotionally. Maybe it is increasing interest, maybe it is first
addressing the emotional concerns, either way pushing through did little to help the
student content wise or emotionally. Does the content on how to use VoiceOver
still get taught? Of course. Did the learning model for that one lesson switch from
accessing the 6
th
grade reading book on Learning Ally to how to watch the most
recent episode of Star Wars: Bad Batch? Absolutely. Both procedures were
covered, and the student could get what he needed from both apps by the end of the
two day lesson, but by not pushing through and instead being responsive to how he
