Pittsford teacher honored for work with special-needs students
The Autism News | English
By Nicole Lee
PITTSFORD — It’s evident when sitting in teacher David Wikiera’s class at Allen Creek Elementary School that students are required to be active participants in their education.
One of the first things Wikiera asks the 18 second-graders sitting before him is what they will do to help their own learning process.
During story time, Wikiera reads from The Boxcar Children book series and requires the students to read along with him. They answer questions about the story and interpret the significance of certain passages. The point is to make reading an engaged activity for students, not just a passive listening exercise.
All the children are expected to focus and positively support each other, including a special-needs child aided in Wikiera’s class by a sign-language interpreter.
Wikiera stressed that collaborating with the additional staff that a special-needs child may require and communicating with other Allen Creek educators are critical to ensure that a student — regardless of his or her ability — will learn.
“The focus is, what are the student’s needs and how do we design an instructional environment for that?” he said. “Learning happens on my end, too.”
Wikiera’s commitment to students earned him the inaugural 2008-09 “Inclusive Teacher of the Year” award created by the Pittsford Parent Advocates for Special Students group.
The recognition honors general education teachers who make extraordinary efforts to involve special-needs students within a general education classroom. Teachers must be nominated for the honor, and Wikiera was selected from a total of 16 nominees. His name appears on the award plaque hanging in the school district’s special education office, and he was publicly recognized by the Pittsford school board.
“It’s wonderful when a teacher like Mr. Wikiera takes that extra effort to work with a family and child to ensure a successful (school) year,” said Jane Moore of Pittsford, a former PASS chair. “We’re really happy to start this program.”
Wikiera, 51, of Webster, has been an educator for 27 years, including time spent as a special education and deaf education teacher. He was nominated for the PASS award by Lisa Visca, whose son Matthew was taught by Wikiera in the third grade.
Matthew, now a Calkins Road Middle School student, has mild autism and Asberger’s syndrome but takes some courses in a general education classroom.
Visca, of Pittsford, said her son blossomed both academically and socially under Wikiera’s tutelage, and she remembers the joy of seeing her son’s work displayed with his third-grade peers outside Wikiera’s classroom for a student project on the Iditarod, the annual dog sled race in Alaska.
Wikiera “hones in on teaching kids how to be good readers,” Visca said. “Personality-wise, I couldn’t have asked for a better match between the two; that was refreshing.”
Children at Allen Creek are very comfortable interacting with fellow students who have developmental and/or physical disabilities, said Wikiera, who credits the staff for creating an inclusive environment at the elementary school.
“David conveys a love for teaching and encourages his students to set high expectations for the quality of their work,” said Allen Creek principal Michael Biondi. “His … willingness to put out tremendous energy for each child in his class is evident every day.”
Source: http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090705/NEWS01/907050371/1002/NEWS/Pittsford+teacher+honored+for+work+with+special-needs+students
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