Special education teacher starts each day complimenting his students individually
A Florida special education teacher is making an impact on each of his students -- one compliment at a time.
In his classroom, Chris Ulmer spends the first ten minutes of each day by individually complimenting each of his eight students at Mainspring Academy in Jacksonville, Florida.
A minute-long video posted on his Special Books by Special Kids Facebook page shows a few examples of this daily routine. It has been viewed almost two million times and shared by over 31,000 people.
Children learn to love or hate at an early age.I think it's time we actively work towards teaching love and acceptance.
"You sir are an amazing student," Ulmer tells to one of his students in the front of the classroom. "You're very funny, you're very smart, you do a great job every day and you make everyone laugh because you're so silly."
He ends the compliment with a high-five with the student.
A message in the video states, "After a few weeks of this practice, my students started complimenting one another consistently. They praise each other for accomplishments as if it was their own."
Ulmer works with students with special needs ranging from autism to various brain disorders.
With the permission of his students' parents, Ulmer has been posting videos and other different examples of his special multimedia project that he is putting his own money into.
"Special Books by Special Kids is a platform for children with special needs and their families to share their stories," Ulmer writes on his GoFundMe page. "The purpose of this is to spread empathy and understanding for these amazing children."
Ulmer spends eight hours a day teaching while spending another six hours a day creating his videos and blogging for Special Books by Special Kids, he wrote in a Facebook post.
Ulmer will also be publishing a book soon that will "give a detailed account of raising a child with special needs. In this book, parents describe in great detail the joys, worries and experiences of raising a child with special needs. This book will also include stories and quotes from the children."
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