Magic Valley NLP

First trimester we tried it out and the students liked it.  I made up a song they could sing to help them remember the strategy and they made their little silos.  For the first time ever since I had taught special ed there were no melt-downs and everyone got to their classes. The students loved the strategy.  I did too.

Second trimester went similarly.  Instead of spending two seeks preparing the students for a new trimester we spent just one week and all the students did well.

Then the test came third trimester.  I had spent a week with the students preparing them for third trimester.  Then the day before the trimester started, while the students were innocently at home, the principal came in with a problem. The only way to solve it was to change my student’s schedules. There was no choice.  This is a special needs teacher’s nightmare. 

The students came in the next day.  I told them we would have to take our silos and do some changing.  Immediately they pulled out their little silos, pulled forward the ones that we needed to change  and started to rearrange them. Then one child got a new idea.  He took the silos and put them on his fingers to take to the next class with him. I never thought of that.   It just seemed to make him feel calm inside.  He knew he could take those silos and the answers he needed would be there.  There were no meltdowns and the students did well. 

School started and so did Xavier’s strategy.  I had only one new student in the class and she also immediately put the little silos on her fingers without anyone telling her to.  She was excited to have something she could use and asked if she could take them with her to all of her classes.  Of course I said yes!

Then the unthinkable happened.  This second trimester was already four days going.  The students were in an overcrowded class, but the period before only had a small number of students.   We were already well into the trimester and now we needed to change.  Not only did we need to change, but we had 45 minutes to prepare for the change.   I thought about how I used to take two full weeks to prepare the students and now I had forty-five minutes.  Could I do it?  Could we do it?

We pulled out our new silos.  We made a few extra pieces because I had just thrown out the extras the day before figuring by now all was safe.  We pulled forward two silos, one for 6^th and one for 7^th period.   We talked about what we needed to do and reformed each little set of silos.  Then it was time to send them to their new classes.  Everyone got to the classes even though for a couple it was in a room and a part of the building that they were unfamiliar with.  After the class they all made it back to my classroom and, they liked their new teacher and the smaller class. 

Two students did have a bit of difficulty with the transition but nothing like I would have had in the past. 

For Xavier, his method of organization was something he did easily, for my students it was a God-send, a mini-miracle, a blessing, a stress reducer.  Although they have never met him, he has a fan club that so appreciates him. They have told their parents about his strategy and how it works for them.  How I appreciate Xavier and his strategy for organizing information quickly.  He is a perfect example of  a what  we were taught in NLP training.  Everyone is excellent at some things.  No one is excellent at everything.   The excellence can be modeled and if their programs can be broken down into small steps, then others can be taught the strategy of excellence,  can follow those steps and also be excellent.   My students can be excellent organizers.

If you are a teacher looking for this strategy you will find this and other strategies for young students and special needs individuals for sale on this site.  Look for the NLP Curriculum CD.  It is developed by a teacher and priced in a teacher’s price range.   If you are a therapist working with special needs individuals you will find a plethora of tools in the NLP curriculum CD. To purchase go to the Products and Services Page and follow the directions.