Alright, @denisethowe! We Need to Get You and Jamie to Do Your Demonstrations for Many More People to See (& Learn From)

I'm reflecting on Tuesday's teacher-demonstration by Denise Howe, an educator in Danbury, CT, who teaches AP English at Immaculate, but who presented on her work with Jamie, her son. Jamie is an enthusiastic, interested, and focused young man who has Down syndrome. He proudly graduated last year, and Denise has been working with him in his transitions into a post-school life, including verbal communication, expression, and reflecting. After CWP, she's been using a Writer's Notebook with him, and documenting his growth, interests, and learning.

On Tuesday, both Jame and Denise presented to our teachers. It was a remarkable demonstration, as Denise walked us through how visuals prompt his memory, how she gets him to talk as a result of the photographs, and how she writes what he says, so that he can later copy it into his notebook.

They did this with plans for a trip to New Hampshire to see grandparents next week where he will fish, hike, and drive a boat. The presentation was 90-minutes, and Jamie was in his notebook for the majority of time: focused, determined, interested, and proud. He was writing his world.

Denise and Jamie also shared the notebooks he's already filled (almost 5 of them in a year), where we all saw pictures from his life, his writing, the dates, and his memories. Denise has been working with his teachers at school and, together, they are pushing Jamie to write more and more.

It was astounding, and Denise has already seen an increase in vocabulary, willingness to communicate, and a happiness to be a writer. Without a doubt, Jamie demonstrated his capabilities, drive, desires, and individuality. The notebooks brought all of this to the forefront. 

I want to stop the universe and offer Denise the tools so she can continue recording Jamie's journal, sharing his story with teachers, and promoting the love he has for his daily notebook. He's capturing memories as he makes them, and going back to his hard work to recollect his past. More importantly, he's engaged with communicating his story to the rest of us.

What an amazing demonstration!