Sensory Solutions in the Classroom: The Teacher's Guide to Fidgeting, Inattention and Restlessness

Description

Every teacher knows them - the students who are continuously balancing on their chair legs or who prefer to hide in their hoodies all day long. These students are using all kinds of tricks to be able to stay focused, as they are under- or overresponsive to sensory input and trying to restore their balance. Children who struggle with processing sensory input can experience a wide range of symptoms, including hypersensitivity to sound, sight and touch, poor fine motor skills and easy distractibility. Using this accessible, science-based guide, school staff can support these students by understanding their symptoms and how they impact their learning. Teachers can learn to look at students in a different way: through so-called 'SPi glasses', introduced in the book. With these glasses on, you learn to recognize behaviours linked to sensory processing and respond quickly, easily and with more understanding, without using a diagnosis, medication or therapy. The techniques provided help children feel settled and soothed at school, enabling them to learn and communicate better. Creating the perfect learning environment for all students - a sensory supportive classroom - this tried and tested guide is an essential tool for teachers (with or without prior knowledge of SPD), to better support and understand their students and their sensory needs. Review: Should read for educators - If you want to understand the students in your class, you should definitely read this book. It will provide you with a greater understanding of why children respond in certain ways, strategies you can use to support participation and learning engagement and support in identifying the types of children you are working with. Definitely recommended! Review: Just enough science and a TONNE of practical ideas - There's not a lot out there about how to use sensory strateiges well so this book is golden IMHO. The first few chapters dive just deep enough into the science and the theory to help us understand the why and the who (and the what not to do and we sometimes unwittingly get it wrong) and then much of rest of the book is FULL of ideas of the practical stuff you could do today to support your student (plenty of ideas for parents/carers too in the absence of a book aimed directly at us). It's well laid out, superbly illustrated and feels accessible to those who are new to the area whilst also sharing plenty of ideas for more seasoned hands too. I love it. Would whole heatedly recommend it.