Have you ever tried explaining something to someone who just isn鈥檛 getting it? First, you have to figure out what they don鈥檛 understand and why. Then you have to fashion a different approach. It鈥檚 painstaking work that requires enormous patience.
精东影业 do it every day.
Take Emily Moxey, a St. Louis special educator who works with kids with hearing loss. As a teenager, Moxey cared for a neighboring family鈥檚 two-year-old child who was deaf. In TC鈥檚 deaf education program, she learned to 鈥渇it the instruction to the child, not vice versa.鈥�
Emily Moxey (M.Ed. 鈥�06) (Photo Courtesy of Emily Moxey)
A few years ago, Moxey helped a boy named William (not his real name) learn to add and subtract fractions with unlike denominators (e.g., 2鈦�3 鈥� 3鈦�7). William often stared in silence, but Moxey, aware that he liked to reassemble old TVs, understood that his mind was working.
鈥淚鈥檇 say, 鈥榃hat are you thinking?鈥� We developed a process checklist he could follow with each problem.鈥� When William鈥檚 math scores improved, Moxey walked him around school, sharing the news.
Read more about TC alumni, faculty and students addressing mounting challenges at a critical moment for the future of education.
In 2016, Moxey was named St. Louis County Special School District鈥檚 Teacher of the Year. Now, as Area Coordinator for the Countywide Program for Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing Students, she鈥檚 sharpening a focus on language 鈥� especially in math, where language delays often surface when teachers assign word problems.
鈥淚 tell teachers, if kids don鈥檛 get it, change what you鈥檙e doing,鈥� Moxey says. 鈥淭his is about the kids and how to get through to them.鈥�