I loved my time teaching students on the spectrum over zoom last year. It was a great opportunity to hone a skillset that I had not had a reason to build up until I was asked to teach some students in Arizona who were utilizing the Empowerment Scholarship Account Program.

In the M.Ed. program I graduated from, we were given quite a bit of training in behavior modification, but it was all very hands-on and face-to-face. COVID-19 gave so many teachers the unplanned and uncharted opportunity to practice online education. It was hard for so many of us to jump into such a different form of educating, especially for the elementary school age kiddos and their teachers. They benefit from face-to-face interactions in ways that are difficult to duplicate in any other environment.

I taught small classes which was an enormous advantage. As any teacher can tell you, having a large class is daunting when your students have very specific learning and classroom behavior modification needs. My small classes allowed me to get to know my students even faster than if I would have had twenty or more students in my classes.

We took time at the start of each day playing some get-to-know you games, solving silly riddles, and completing fun puzzles. These games brought out each student’s personality and helped me to pinpoint the individual currency of each child… and this was key to creating plans for each student. Some of the kids were driven by their ability to lead their peers. Some were motivated by point systems and “child specific” rewards. Other students were driven by time earned to read as a class. There are so many different ways to motivate and help mold behaviors.

With kiddos on the spectrum, we found that looking at a screen with their faces reflected back, was hard for some students. There are tons of great ways to troubleshoot this issue. Some students wanted to turn off their cameras, but for me that was not an acceptable option. I needed to see that students where in their seats and have the ability to check in with each student at any given moment. So, some of the students turned off their ability to see anyone except the person speaking. One of my students was very distracted by seeing his face and refocusing his attention was difficult. So, I had this one student pick an avatar each day, and that was what he saw when he looked at his screen while answering questions. One day he was a dog and the next a squirrel. It was fantastically entertaining for me and his classmates, and it did not set him off to see his avatar looking back at him when he felt compelled to share or answer questions. There are so many ways to get around struggles and meet the needs of students and their teachers.

I’m blown away by the amazing response the first book in the Wisteria Jane series has received, and can’t believe we are already looking at the second book coming to the trade market this October. To make it even more surreal…I am actually finalizing text in the third book with my editor right now. Eeeeeek! Life is crazy sometimes, but it sure is fun.

Last year I was able to travel to Arizona three times to speak and participated in the Tucson Festival of Books. I made a couple of trips out to Texas and we had multiple readings here in my hometown and I have felt the love of the community as everyone rallied behind Wisteria. I will start posting new speaking engagements and book signings as we get closer to the launch of Bingo Did It.