Jessica Pounds
New Beginnings School
Fairfield, New Jersey
Jessica Pounds is teacher at New Beginnings School in Fairfield, New Jersey. New Beginnings is dedicated to working with children ages three to 21 diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
What led you to become a teacher? “I’ve always wanted to be a teacher ever since I was very young. Being a teacher allows me to see the progress children make each day and each year. To be part of their successes is very rewarding.”
What structures are most helpful to you as a teacher? “As a teacher of students with special needs I find it most helpful to have such a great team of assistants who enable our classroom to be more differentiated and hands-on with instruction.
What do you like best about teaching in a differentiated classroom? “Differentiated instruction allows us to accommodate the students’ various learning styles. We differentiate using learning centers. Differentiation values creativity and makes it possible for all students to experience learning in a variety of different ways.”
How does this population of students create a felt need to use technology? “Technology fosters collaboration, independence, and makes learning much more accessible. As a class we have been using www.iknowthat.com in all subject areas. This all began when I started using this site to create online quizzes for my students. They loved taking my quizzes in a quiz show format. My students have created their own online quizzes for each other and are shared with students around the world. The students soon signed on becoming members and would interact in a virtual environment with one another during class. They would create their own bumble bee character and fly to different hives where they played educational games to earn points to buy cool things for their hives. It is very similar to Webkinz™and Club Penguin™ which is very popular with children these days. Even when the students have the freedom to go anywhere they want on the internet, many of them will go to iknowthat.com and play educational games.
To check out all the great resources available at this site go to www.iknowthat.com .
Jessica Pounds is teacher at New Beginnings School in Fairfield, New Jersey. New Beginnings is dedicated to working with children ages three to 21 diagnosed on the autism spectrum.
“Differentiated instruction allows us to accommodate the students’ various learning styles. We differentiate using learning centers. Differentiation values creativity and makes it possible for all students to experience learning in a variety of different ways.”
They loved taking my quizzes in a quiz show format. My students have created their own online quizzes for each other and are shared with students around the world. The students soon signed on becoming members and would interact in a virtual environment with one another during class. They would create their own bumble bee character and fly to different hives where they played educational games to earn points to buy cool things for their hives. It is very similar to Webkinz™and Club Penguin™ which is very popular with children these days. Even when the students have the freedom to go anywhere they want on the internet, many of them will go to iknowthat.com and play educational games.