Barb

Before attending today's field trip, I watched the videos to get an idea of what to expect. The videos however, did not do Barb justice. Being there in person today to experience it all was really eye opening. It took her nearly five minutes to type the statement, "Autism is my prism, not my prison." Combined, the effort it took to write the sentence and the message itself were a powerful way to begin the presentation. Barb's SS talked through the entire presentation, but that did not take away from the message. Autism is such a misunderstood neurological disorder, but today's presentation gave the audience such perspective. Barb is an inspiration because like the quote she said in the beginning, she doesn't see Autism as necessarily a bad thing. To her, all of the people in the world are over-stimulated. There is a weird fascination with being too busy to do one thing at a time; multitasking is the only option. Barb said that Autism is evolutions response to our current world. With Autism, Barb is able to pay attention to the dew on a blade of grass or the prisms of light in a drop of condensation. Instead of converse fervently with everyone around her, Barb takes in what she sees and hears and puts it into text. It took Barb ten years to complete her book, but it was a goal that she set and one that she met. It was so mind-blowing to me that someone so socially inept could say such intriguing, insightful, and true things on paper. She in her own way is a genius, despite her ability to act like everyone around her. She enjoys company and she has friends like most people, but her life is in a way more rich because she is able to take the time to listen and reflect, when most of us have a million things going on a once. I think what I took away from today was it is so wrong to just write off someone with Autism. Yes, from the outside those with the disorder don't look or act the same, but they have feelings and they're brilliant people. They feel like we do. They desire every basic need that we do and I don't want to forget that.

Postmodern synergistic knowledge creation: extending the boundaries of disability studies

Postmodern synergistic knowledge creation: extending the boundaries of disability studies

    What this article aims to do with the two empirical studies, Deleuzo-Guattarian and Bourdieu, is provide a comparison to the traditional medical studies of those with profound and multiple learning difficulties. Disability research and focus on a person with disabilities inabilities, has become the focus where as individual identity has been lost. That being said, I feel that I agree with the studies that took place and I advocate what results the studies produced.
    Based on results from the first study, those with disabilities stretch their curiousness and capabilities when treated in social situations as if indeed there is nothing wrong with them. I think that the positive implications behind this first study suggest that we as educators move from defining a person within the confines of their disability and instead treat them as any other person. The challenge it seems that we sill face is how those students affect the other students in the class. The article states that eventually those students that were shy with the one disabled student eventually became more accepting. If we want our disabled students to be treated as though there is no disability, it may be of the most importance to model that behavior and even explicitly teach it before it is possibly eventually developed.
    Keeping the first part of the article in mind, we can go on to the second section that moves from observation of a boy in a mainstream setting to interviews of older individuals struggling with MS and there outlook on their situation. Bourdieu’s theory as outlined in this second section is defined through “capital”. I like this notion because it provides a way to break down what gains a person has through social capital (interactions), cultural capital (personal skills), economic capital (money), and physical capital (body). The second part of the article is looking at peoples’ capitals and what they do with them.
    What the second part of the article concludes is that much of a disability is based on what a person does with their capital. Environment often times cannot be changed, but there are those with disabilities that sit back and let the disabilities define them and then there are others that push the limitation of their disabilities and try to live as they would if they had no impairments.
    My question then is how do we as educators use our classrooms to the benefit of our students with disabilities? How do we alter our class environments and the opinions of other students to be accepting to those with disabilities? How do we convince those students with disabilities that just because their abilities in one area suffer, they are not subjected to a life within the confines of that disability?

Child Abuse Case Study

One of your 4th grade female students is very well developed

physically and looks as if she is 15 instead of 9 years of age.

Today you heard a group of 5th grade boys commenting on her

body in a lewd and humiliating manner. Two other teachers also

heard these comments but blew them off as "boys will be boys,"

and "she needs to get used to it."

Considering teacher ethics and responsibilities, describe how

you might respond to and handle this situation.

 

 

 



Although this situation was almost ignored by my colleagues, I would not just brush what happened under the rug. The poor girl has hit a stage of adolescence so early and I am sure that she is uncomfortable with the way her body has changed. Now, these boys are making comments about her and I am sure that she is aware of what people say about her. I would first write down exactly what I heard the 5th grade boys say for record. I would immediately go to a supervisor and tell them what happened and tell them exactly what the boys said. I would make sure to get their permission before taking further action. I think that it is very important to have the support of someone that is of higher authority so that legally, you are backed and safe from lawsuit or any other threatening situations. Then with my supervisor's permission, I think that it is important that those boys understand the implications that their words can have. I would make it a point to pull the boys aside and explain to them that the things they said about my student are inappropriate and hurtful to her and to me. I would also explain to them that if I heard any more comments like that, there are sure to be further repercussions. She is in no way in control of how quickly she matures and that can be something very difficult to deal with. I would pay close attention to her mood and they way in which she carries out her days. If I suspect any sadness or a sense of insecurity, I would take my student aside and try and talk things through. I would want her to know that no matter what I am a resource for her and that she should feel free to come to me and confide in me anything that has happened that day to make her feel vulnerable or uncomfortable. She most likely will face this type of situation for years to come until her friends catch up to her level of development, but that does not mean that, "she needs to get used to it." 

QTC Ch. 10

Lower-Order Question:

List the four essential conditions for successful modeling.

Higher-Order Question:

Is there one of the four that you find most important? If so, which one and why? If not, which one do you believe to be most challenging and what can you do to improve it in the classroom?

QTC Ch. 9

Lower-Order Question:

Using the table on p. 299, distinguish between positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, positive punishment, removal punishment.

Higher-Order Question:

Jamie completed his paper on time and it was quality work. Describe an example of both positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement that could be used to increase Jamie's behavior.

QTC Chapter 8

Lower Order: Metacognition is the act of thinking about thinking. This act helps us to transfer information into storage in our minds. What do you think the relationship between metacognition and critical thinking is? Does one enhance the other?

Higher Order: List three activities and/or learning strategies (overt and covert) that you could use in the classroom to enhance metacognition through critical thinking.

QTC 7.1 & 7.2

Lower Level: In your own words, define what you believe to be a community of learners. What experience have you had with this concept (in school, outside of school, in placements)?

Upper Level: Using you personal definition and the experiences that you have had, list some pros and cons that can come from developing and implementing a community of learners in the classroom. What are some difficulties that you as the teacher may face when turning your classroom into a facilitative learning community?

QTC 6.1 & 6.2

6.1 (lower level): To learn, we as humans have to convert what information we take in from short term memory to long term memory. We can do this using two forms of declarative knowledge: rote learning and meaningful learning. What are some examples of activities you could in a classroom to make rote knowledge entertaining and less formulaic?

6.2 (higher level): Working memory uses information given to us from our environment, while simultaneously pulling connecting information from storage, and uses all of it to execute a task. Why do you think students with AD/HD and learning disabilities struggle to use working memory efficiently and what can you do as a teacher to better assist these students?

15.1 & 15.2

Chapter 15

(15.1) Turn to p. 559 in Ormrod’s text.  Now, imagine that you are meeting with Ingrid’s grandmother today to explain her scores on the recent standardized achievement test pictured at the bottom of p. 559.  What will you tell her about Ingrid’s performance? her strengths? her weaknesses? Even though this is not a criterion referenced test, if Ingrid’s grandmother asks you what she could be doing at home to help strengthen Ingrid’s skills, what will you suggest? 

After sitting in on several IEP meetings, I can say that making Ingrid's grandmother feel comfortable is the most important thing to consider at the beginning of the meeting. I would make sure to discuss with her grandmother specific positive qualities that I see in Ingrid. I would make sure to focus on the good behaviors and stellar work that I have seen come from Ingrid while in  my classroom. After we have discussed her granddaughter and her positive attributes, I would explain to her what the standardized achievement test is and what the results show and predict as far as Ingrid's performance is concerned. I would break down the results to her and show that Ingrid is scoring well above average in Social Studies, Science, and Reading Comprehension. In Math concepts she is scoring just at average. And like many children, Ingrid is scoring below average in both Math computation and Spelling. Ingrid's grandmother is probably concerned at this point so I would assure her that the results of this test do NOT define her little one as a student; instead, it shows us what she excels at and with what subjects she struggles. I would suggest several ways to help Ingrid's grandmother help her daughter in Math computation and Spelling. Some of these ways would include math practice beyond just what is done in the classroom and for homework. There are so many resources online that offer fun games and activities for every grade level that are fun to play for kids and help strengthen those basic skills. I can think specifically of one website call MathBlaster that I grew up playing and is still active today. As far as Spelling goes, I know there are games on the web for that too, but to increase time spent together I would suggest that Ingrid and her grandmother read challenging books together. Seeing familiar words repeatedly and experiencing new ones is sure to build her Spelling and vocabulary skills. Finally, to end our meeting I would give Ingrid's mother my email and encourage her to contact me with any further questions or concerns.

Selden 14.1 & 14.2

Chapter 14

(14.1) Think of a lesson plan from your licensure area. Knowing that assessment is an integral part of teaching, explain at least four informal and formal assessments that you will use in your lesson plan to provide you with feedback and involve the students in assessing their own learning.

 

From what I have experienced in the third grade classroom that I am in now, these students have to understand and identify shapes. These shapes include cylinders, rectangular prisms, squares, spheres, and triangles. 

For the first assessment, I would use a pre-assessment. This pre-assesment would be a short quiz that would include various pictures of shapes and the students would be required to identify the shape. Based on the results from the pre-assesment, I would better adapt my lessons for the days to follow.

The actual first day that the shapes are introduced, I would bring in items that were of those shapes. I would pass them around and let the students handle them. Following that, I would informally asses by holding up the objects and asking the students to volunteer their answers and identify the shapes. 

On the second day I would bring in magazines. The students would be instructed to search through the magazines and find pictures of objects that match the shapes that we talked about. This would be a formal assessment because the students would glue what they have found on to card stalk and share with the class. 

The next day, we would make shapes from toothpicks stuck together with dots. I would assign each student a different shape and they would have to go about creating it. This would serve as an informal assessment.

I think by including some of the activities listed above, my third grade class would certainly gain a better understanding of geometric shapes, especially because they have searched and identified as well as created the shoes. Everything was very hands on and would also provide me with feedback as to how my students are doing with understanding.

 

Chapter 14

(14.2) Consider norm referenced assessment and criterion referenced assessment. Are there advantages to both? Are there disadvantages?

 

I think that both types of assessments have their advantages and disadvantages. Norm-referenced assessments are a good tool to use to compare children to other students either in the class or in the school. This can provide data for the teachers and help them to better plan on how to instruct their students. They help teachers identify those students who are struggling as compared to other students. These tests though, are time consuming and do not really help pick out individual students strengths and weaknesses outside of the test.

Criterion-referenced tests help determine if a child has reached, fallen short, or exceeded the set expecations of a child of that grade and age. These tests porvide a good comparison to levels of achievement, but they do not provide a good comparison to other students of that age. They also may be difficult to create.

In summary, one type of test will not provide all of the feedback a teacher needs. There most likely needs to be a combination of types of tests used. Also, it is important to consider that frequent assessment is necessary for both teaches and students to determine progress.