Hawaii’s Mrs. Takahama, a special needs teacher with 17 years of experience, has had 14 classroom projects funded in less than 2 years using DonorsChoose.org. She infuses her classroom of 3 and 4 year olds with enthusiasm, creativity, and strategic problem solving.“I teach 3 and 4 year old special needs students in a fully self-contained class and love it. Despite 17 years of seldom to never having a duty-free lunch, break or prep time, the never-a-dull-moment pace continues to energize, mesmerize and challenge me. Even with an educational assistant, I’m out numbered and children this age, I swear, are magnetic. Consequently having routines that work is essential to providing a pleasant environment for optimal learning of all those layers of skills we, at the early childhood level, address.”In our discussion forum, Mrs. Takahama shares how she’s developed a “line-up” routine that not only allows her to keep students organized and get them around school on time, but it helps them learn about shapes, colors, numbers, directions, and more.Visit the forum for ideas to incorporate into your classroom, and share routines that work for your own students.
