I gave up on the idea of having a perfect lesson a long time ago. I accepted the fact that I will have frustrating days that will make me feel like a failure.
Teaching children with disabilities is extremely unpredictable, and with unpredictability comes discomfort. Teaching children, in general, is always unpredictable. However, with the addition of difficulty or a disability, the variants become wider and the oscillation bigger.
I had some days when the lesson was filled with continuous giggles and laughter with no apparent reason at all. I had other days when my student decided to hide under the table instead of taking part in the lesson. I also had days with tantrums because the lesson did not go in exactly the same steps as every other lesson. I had days when my student comes in and gives me the feeling that he has forgotten everything he learned.
The following video is an example of one of those days!
These frustrating days will happen no matter how much you try to avoid them. They are the days when you will have to drop your ego and re-evaluate your situation. They are the days that will challenge you to grow, you will get to know yourself and your student better and you will learn from your mistakes. These days will make you rethink, reconsider, and find new ways and strategies to achieve your goals.
There are two types of teachers, teachers who take failure personally and give up, and there are teachers who use it as a lesson and see it as a temporary setback. You choose which teacher you want to be.
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