Special Education - 6 Senses

As I watched the young students begin their work day, I was struck by the quiet resolve that had suddenly engulfed each child.  It was the month of September, the beginning of a new school year and my first day as the newcomer to the primary intensive language class.  Today would mark a pivotal moment in my life as I observed the dynamic exchange unfolding between student and teacher. For me, it was field study at its best, an unbiased look at learning in its infancy. The year was 1994.
 

“Mary” had invited me into her classroom earlier that year. She was the lead primary language teacher of the school. I was honoured by the invitation. By the end of class that first day, yeast dough was born. Its implications were history in the making. It engaged the 5 senses of the body in addition to movement, which current scientific thinking has labelled, the 6^th sense. In addition to the learning goals it promised, yeast dough was inexpensive, an efficient teaching tool, was classroom friendly and easily transferable to any environment. During the summer and on holidays, the student could become the teacher.  

Mary’s children were catapulted into a world of words - via the 5 senses - using yeast dough. A word list was developed as we learned about dough using each of the senses - taste, smell, hearing, touch, sight- as guideposts. It was the all inclusive high school curriculum and an effective, multi dimensional approach to language acquisition, thought, and the world of art. The technique of questioning, the most important learned skill for teachers, was now becoming an important tool for the students as well. Language brought it all together, the engine that drove the program and life itself, to its fullest.

Scientists spend their whole lives asking questions and trying to find answers to those questions. The student would do the same... The results of this mind expanding experiment began to demonstrate its awesome power. The students were becoming enthralled with the results of their efforts. They were becoming thinkers and masters of the craft.  Making doughnuts, dinner rolls, pizza, crullers, to name a few of the items the class created, helped to empower and instill confidence in each student. The day the class learned to make roses they refused to leave for recess. Could the world renown croissant be next? Of, course it could.

‘Mary’ gave me the freedom to explore any and all ways to mine the limitless intellectual resources of the class.  She was a pioneer, a visionary, allowing to create the curriculum as I saw it. We watched in amazement the incredible transformation taking place. This elaborate exercise of fun and learning, an educational detour you might say, captured the imagination of the students as it ensnared their optimism and self-confidence. One morning I could not attend ... A student replied, “We don’t need her”!....Another remarkable step in the learning process.

One day, as I was getting ready to leave and with recess minutes away, a student engaged in solitary quiet play with his action figures, suddenly admonished me for not using the word -gluten -that morning. The word had been used once or twice - last week!  How did he mange to remember a strange word mentioned weeks ago? I promised to do better next week. I left speechless.