Week 15

This is what I did indvidually for my group:

Specific Learning Disability
Disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or un using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

Students with learning disabilities have a variety of different ranges in their academic, personal, and social abilities. Some students can have IQ’s putting them in the category of gifted, while their ability to do a specific task or communicate lacks. Students who have great communication skills can also have difficulty getting what they are saying onto paper, this could also classify them for a learning disability. Students can lack social skills typical for their age due to unusual or disruptive behaviors that the students around them are not used to. Students who have dyslexia, a specific learning disability can be very intelligent but have trouble reading, writing or spelling. When experiencing these difficulties, other difficulties that might come along with them are; lack of organization and the inability to project organized ideas. Some students who are academically challenged find something they excel at, for some students this is art and others it is things like technology or other forms of art.

Students with specific learning disabilities differ from the students around them because they excel at some things while they lack others, they may look different or act differently around typical students their age. Disruptive behavior may put a social strain the student with a learning disability. Because these students have different strengths and weaknesses than the typical student, the students may look down upon them and call them “stupid” or “dumb”.

Support strategies for students with learning disabilities depend on what specific disability they have and where they struggle due to this disability. General strategies for students with processing problems would be to sit near someone who can help them study or keep focuses, break long work periods into smaller work periods, use organized study guides, and use action games for learning. An example of a strategy that could be used for students with a processing problem specifically in math would be using real life examples as the basis for their math problems. Another specific learning disability deals with speaking difficulties, general strategies for this would include, making notes ahead of time of all the main points you want to discuss and practice them before hand. While if you have a specific speaking difficulty in writing strategies, use email or another way of communication opposed to the phone. Assistive technology is also a large accommodation for students with learning disabilities, for speaking difficulties, an example of assistive technology would be using software to “read” written material. Students with writing difficulties may also need helpful strategies; one of the general strategies is to use prewriting techniques, such as graphic organizers or other similar strategies. A few examples of assistive technology for these students would be using computers for resources such as spell check or grammar checking, another would be to use inspiration software as a prewriting tool and last would be to use voice activated software. Other modifications are included in a student’s IEP and can include, a certain ration of students and teachers in a classroom, extended time on a test or being allowed to use a computer in the class while the other students are writing their work.

Students with these learning disabilities or learning disabilities similar to these are given an individualized educational program, or an IEP, the goal of these are to support the success of the students. The IEP plan is part of the six key provisions of public law 94-142 which is the Education of All Handicapped Children Act. Another key part of this act is Zero Rejection; all children with disabilities are provided a free and appropriate education. The parents of students with learning disabilities are usually a large part of their child’s education, this act insures that the parents are included in the development of the IEP plan and they are allowed to view all their child’s records.

There are many different specific learning disabilities which all have their individual organizations but one organization that deals with specific learning disabilities or LD is the National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities, or NICHCY. This organization covers a lot more than just specific learning disabilities, they cover federal laws such as IDEA which deals with specific learning disabilities and they also cover different age groups and disabilities. For LD the organization discusses the benefits of IDEA 2004. They give you a slideshow telling you the details of the learning disabilities, a trainers guide to becoming an active participant in this organization and deal with learning disabled children and an overview of the laws in affect for these students.

Neurological Impairment

Limitation or impairment in the capacity of the nervous system, with difficulties exhibited in one or more of the following areas: the use of memory, the control and use of cognitive functioning, sensory and motor skills, skills in speech and language, organizational skills, information processing, affect, social skills or basic life functioning.

Examples of disabilities for students with neurological impairments are cerebral palsy (CP), neural tube defects, Seizure disorders and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Characteristics of CP are disorders of movement and posture. Children with cerebral palsy have abnormally high muscle tone. Depending on the type of cerebral palsy the student has they will have abnormal appearances in their arms and legs. CP can also affect a student’s balance, coordination or leave their arms and legs unsteady. Students with neural tube defects or NTD, have problems during development that leave their spine and brain exposed to the amniotic fluid. One main example of NTD is spina bifida. Characteristics of these impairments are the inability to walk like a typical student and due to the damage of the nervous system some children may lose feeling in parts of their bodies. Characteristics of traumatic brain injury can cause learning disabilities with the characteristics of lack of communication, personal or academic skills, along with the characteristics listed above for cerebral palsy. Children with TBI can experience cognitive, social or language deficits which would give them such characteristics as being mute or having a lack of knowledge for their language they once knew. Another characteristic of children with TBI experiencing cognitive deficits would be not being able to process or understand information as well as the typical student. One other characteristic would be the inability to remember or store information in their memory like a typical student would be able to do.

Children with neurological impairments are different from the typical children their age in different ways depending on the type of neurological impairment they have. Some children might need to assistance in language and be unable to communicate with the students around them while others with this impairment may be different in the way they organize their things or school work and they would differ in basic daily functions such as eating lunch, walking down the halls and using the bathroom.

One part of neurological impairments affects a child’s memory, some general strategies to help these students are chunking information, rehearsal and repetition of information usually in some sort of chant, the use of flashcards and lists to keep organized and trigger the student’s memory. Strategies for students who have output difficulties are separate grades for content and mechanics, reduce the length of assignments such as papers or math problems and focus on the most important points and ask for or do extra credit to maintain grades. For students with this problem there is an example of assistive technology, this is using photocopiers to keep visual examples of all your work and notes, use voice activated software and other software that will allow the students to focus on just the essential points of their work. Other modifications for students with neurological impairments are making tasks simpler so they are able to use less cognitive abilities to accomplish the same goal.

The public law 99-457 or the Education for All Handicapped Children Act states that there should be plans and programs for children from birth on, not only when they enter the school systems. This applies to students with neurological impairments because many of them are born with this impairment or acquire it early on, this allows interaction when students are born and prepares them for the road ahead of them deal with the school systems. This act was eventually changed to the IDEA act in 2004. This act was designed for children along with the families and parents, putting a plan and support system in from birth until the child starts school, when another group of government officials takes over the process of providing the students with the best possible education and a support system for transitional and difficult times.

An organization for children with neurological impairments is, APA, American Academy of Pediatrics. This group helps treat students with neurological impairments using patterns. They are trying different strategies all relating to child development to benefit these children in the best way possible. The most well thought of strategy is patterning; this is doing a series of exercises to improve a child’s neurological organization.

Emotional Impairment

One or more of the following characteristics exhibited over a long period of time and to a marked degree that adversely affects educational performance: an inability to learn that cannot be explained by intellectual, sensory, or health factors; an inability to build or maintain satisfactory interpersonal relationships with peers and teachers; inappropriate types of behavior or feelings under normal circumstances; a general pervasive mood of unhappiness or depression; or a tendency to develop physical symptoms or fears associated with personal or school problems.

Students with emotional impairments also tend to have behavioral disorders as well. Students with emotional impairments tend to react to situations differently than typical students. A student with an emotional disorder does not smile often and tends to have outbursts when they get frustrated with situations. Students react differently to their emotional impairments, some students take their frustrations out in anger while others keep to themselves and sometimes harm themselves, this is an example of how emotional and behavioral impairments go hand in hand. Children who do not know how to properly express their emotions sometimes use inappropriate words and body language to do this and in turn face the consequences, when they are sometimes unsure of what they have done wrong. Home life can influence a student with emotional disorders and also lead to their emotional disorders; students often take their emotions and negative behaviors out on other students around them at school. Students who are opposite from the ones just explained tend to hide their feelings and express them in only tears and negative attitudes. This affects their social life and leaves them with few to no friends.

Students with emotional impairments are different from the typical students in the surroundings because they either have extreme outbursts, stopping them from being sociable and making friends or they are kept to themselves and depressed, which also keeps them from being sociable and making friends. They are also different because they tend to fall behind academically due to this impairment. The typical students in a classroom with students like this are usually shocked by their emotions and behaviors that they are unsure of what to do and how to react, so they choose not to.

Modifications, accommodations and instructional strategies used for students with emotional impairments are not as easy to come up with as for specific learning disabilities or other impairments. Students with emotional impairments are sometimes places with one on one teacher’s in a general classroom to try and get their academic standings a little better since they are often a lot lower than the typical student their age. Another strategy for students who have emotional impairments where they tend to keep to themselves have trouble with their social skills, making a game that the student would play with a small group of students or doing an activity they would enjoy may encourage them to speak up or make friends. Students who tend to have behavioral outbursts need to be put in a calm environment where things won’t put them over with their emotions. Sending these students to counseling is also a way to maybe make their emotional outbursts or temper tantrums occur less often. Working one on one with these students may open them up to talk and not break down as well.

The federal law that applies to students with emotional impairments can be the IDEA 2004; part of this plan is transition services and the quality of personnel. These two aspects would apply to this type of students because a lot of students with emotional impairments struggle with transitions, they have a tough time working in a comfortable place, but take them out of their comfort zone and things can only get worse. The other aspect that applies to them is the quality of personnel, the one on one aids working with students with emotional impairments are that they must have a full state certification and a license to teach. This ensures that these people know how to handle the students and their impairments.

An organization for children with emotional disabilities is Bridges4Kids. This is an organization that helps children with family, school and personal partnerships. They provide you with positive behavior supports, accommodations, general information about emotionally impaired students and resources that may be helpful to parents or educators looking into information on students with emotional impairments or disabilities.

Autism
One characteristic of children with autism is the lack of theory of mind, or the ability of human beings to understand the thinking and feelings of other people. These students are unable to shape the behavior of other people and see things from any other perspective but their own due to their theory of mind. Children with autism often suffer from hypersensitivity to sound or noises in their environment. Autistic children have a more extreme reaction to sounds then a typical child or person. Another characteristic of an autistic student deals with their motor skills. They have difficulties with gross and fine motor skills, these include, running, jumping, and being able to properly control and move ones body. Their height and weight can appear to be typical but their academic skills can appear to be at a first or second grade level while they should be performing at a fifth or sixth grade level. Children with autism can also suffer socially; they have difficulties with making friends and understanding the typical student in their classroom. This goes along with their lack of theory of mind. Dealing with another type of autism, students can be extremely intelligent and excel in their academics while they lack any type of social skills. They have very socially unaware and have no “people skills.”

Children with autism differ from typical children their age because they receive an enormous amount of extra support dealing with academics, social and personal skill. They have a normal appearance but have difficulties with bodily movement and motor skills. They tend to have social difficulties and they are very unaware of their surroundings.

Our final portfolio!

Our group worked together and split up our work fairly. I think we did a good job and worked well as a group.

Learn & Serve 12/8

Today was my last day of learn and serve and there were three students missing. These three students are three out of the four most distracting students. It was like working with a totally different class. They were all well behaved and calm. Today was only a half day so they may have had that to look forward to but I think that it had to do with the other negative influences being removed from the room. I went to learn and serve earlier than I usually do today so that I could finish my hours on time, and I really enjoyed what they were doing when I got to class. When I got to class they were all sitting on the rug, they were going over the date and the days of the week. They had to put on the board what today, yesterday and tomorrow would be. Then they had to tell us what the date was, the month and the year. Once they established that it was the eighth, they had to tell us the different ways to write, say, or show eight. They used picutres, written out, roman numerals, spanish, subtraction and addition sentences, and weight. Another thing that I noticed today was that a student with behavioral impairments is often times very influenced by their peers, the one student with extreme behavioral impairments that was in class today, was on the green on the traffic light all day and so proud of himself. Using discipline like the stop light is a good way to remind a child to keep on track and he gets very upset if you threaten or do move him up. At the end of the day he was so excited that his mom was going to give him a prize when he got home. My learn and serve teacher asked me if I would be interesting in attending a field trip with the class later in the year, I think that this would be a great experience, taking students with these disabilities into an unfamiliar environment may show me a different side to them and also show me how they adjust to change outside of their routine.

Graduating Peter: Third Extra Creidt

Watching Graduating Peter, I noticed that he changed a lot from fifth grade to his graduation. I was impressed with how he didnt give up easily like some people who don't have any type of disabilities do. Peter was diagnosed with depression at the end of his fifth grade year and from that point on recieved therapy and was worked with at a more severe level. I think that the life classes were very helpful and it was good to put Peter in a setting with other people who also had disabilities. Parent involvement was a large part of this video, Peters parents were a large part of his success and ability to graduate. I think they worked well with him and they were well educated on his disabilities. His parents got frustrated at times when they felt that Peter wasn't getting the help he needed or wasn't improving with the help he was recieving but they always tried to stay positive which i think helped Peter. Peters depression was a problem through the entire video, I think two of the main things that helped him with his depression were being on the soccer team and being in the organization that allowed students with disabilities to work with students without disabilities. In both of these palces Peter felt welcomed and wanted. At soccer the boys looked at Peter as one of them, on and off of the soccer field they treated Peter as just another player. When Peter met with the organization and went to the amusment parks and fairs, he seemed to have a great time. The students working with the students with disabilities once again treated them like eachother aside from their disabilities. I think that this had a lot to do with turning around Peters depression along with the therapy he was recieving and the medications he was put on. One big difficulty with students with disabilities is their social skills. I think that Peter developed a lot of social skills and was well accepted when he graduated. He had trouble with his transition, when other students didn't know what to think of his differences but once they learned to look past that Peter was able to expand his social skills. Peter graduated with his class but not with the same requirements, he took very few academic classes and worked more on life skills and preparing for the work field. Peter got a job working first in the laundry room at school, and then in the kitchen. He needed help adjusting to his tasks but once he got the hang of it he didn't need assistance or instruction. I noticed that Peters life was very routine and he was not well adjusted to change but once it became everyday, he was okay with it all. Parts of peters experiences were upsetting, but the way he overcame them and graduated with a good group of friends, a girlfriend, or prom date and a job was impressive.

Week 14: Chapter 12 Video Cases

Summary of chapter 12:

This chapter talks about different physical impairments such as cerebral palsy and the different types, and spina bifida, which the two children in the case videos both had, seizure disorders, and orthopedic and musculoskeletal disorders. It also talks about health impairments, such as cancer or diabetes and how they can affect a child and their learning. Other disorders that they talk about a specific learning disorders, such as ADD or ADHD. This chapter talks about early intervention and ways to help children at the early stages, this can prevent secondary or behavioral problems from beginning. One last major thing that the chapter discusses is modifications and accomidations such as scheduling, setting, presentation, activities, and responses to their actions during acitivities.

Including students with physical disabilities best practice viewing questions:

1. Teacher Lisa Kelleher describes her role as a teacher in an inclusive classroom as being quite multifaceted. Are there any aspects of her role that surprised you or made you envision your future role as a teacher differently? Explain.

No, this did not surprise me because I was in inclusion classes in elementary, middle school and in high school and I also was placed in an inclusion class for my first learn and serve. I have seen the extra work teachers have to put into modifying their room or lessons for students placed in these inclusion classes.

2. What skills does elementary classroom aid Danielle Doucette bring to her work with MaryAnne, the child who has spina bifida? How does Danielle take MaryAnne's academic and social/emotional development into account when planning activities?

When Danielle Doucette goes to work with MaryAnne she has to know about MaryAnee’s disorder along with how to adapt the environment to best fit her learning ability. Danielle takes MaryAnne’s development into account when she plans activities by making her able to be on the same levels as the students or doing the same type of activity with just little modifications. Her social and emotional development was taken into account when she makes sure that MaryAnne feels as “normal” as the other students as possible, for example her electric wheelchair and her standing machine that allows her to be working at a table on the same level as other students who sometimes come to work with her.

3. What questions has this video raised in your mind about your own familiarity with adaptive technologies for children? How can you take action on Lisa's suggestion that teachers familiarize themselves with how the equipment works (e.g., an electric wheelchair) even before you have your own classroom?

The only questions that this video really raised for me was, how am I going to be able to modify the lesson to more than one student’s needs while still teaching to my best potential for the student who do not need modifications? You can take actions to familiarize yourself with the assistive technology by interacting with students who use these types of technology at your learn and serves and in other settings that you see these types of opportunities to get to know the equipment. You can also look into them online or in stores, if you know that you students are going to be using this in the near future.

4. In the bonus video, "Encouraging Social Interactions in an Inclusive Classroom," Lisa explains how she makes sure that all students have opportunities to play together, typically through music or art. Can you think of any activities you've used successfully to engage a full range of learners? If not, what types of activities do you plan to add to your repertoire?

Activities that you could use to engage a full range of learners is playing games that consist of basic math or spelling questions that all the students would know, but also throw in some more challenging problems for the students that excel in these subjects.

5. The classroom artifact entitled "MaryAnne’s Schedule" blocks out MaryAnne's schedule for the day in words and illustrations. How could a chart like this be used more generally to help students with other types of learning challenges (such as ADHD)? Explain.

A chart for students with ADHD that could be similar to the one used for MaryAnne could be a behavior chart. On this chart they could use different expressions stickers such as smiles, frowns and some inbetween to show the students overall performance of the day. If a teacher gives the student an incentive such as, if you get 4 smile faces out of the 5 days this week you will receive a prize at the end of the week, the student is more likely to cooperate and behave.

Assistive technology in inclusion classrooms best practice viewing questions:

1. Kindergarten teacher Tony Byers describes his responsibility to teach Jamie, a girl in his classroom who has cerebral palsy, so that she can feel like an equal participant. Have you had any experience in working with children who are physically challenged? If not, how can you gain experience before you have your own classroom?

Yes I have, I have worked with students with physical challenges in my learn and serves, at summer camp and with my cousin who is autistic. I think that when students are younger like in the video they are more accepting to these students with challenges and as they get older it seems that students tend to reject the students that are not the same as they are.

2. Inclusion facilitator Sara Woodruff is an advocate for assistive technologies. She explains that there are many ways to help children access their voices and their minds as best they can. What assistive technologies--either high-tech or low-tech--have you seen or read about? How and when would you be likely to incorporate them into your teaching?

I have read about assistive technologies that read students their questions and materials that they need so that they can avoid the difficulties of reading when the goal is to obtain an understanding of math or some other subject. I have read about others but I would be most likely to incorporate this into my teaching when I put students into small groups to work and I am unable to read the student their assignment or sit with them and give instructions, I could also use this on a test so that the student wouldn’t need to waste their time trying to read the questions but can focus on the actual content of the questions.

3. As you watch Jamie complete an activity using a speech output device, what do you notice about the way Sara interacts with her? What can you learn from Sara's approach in general, and the way she describes her goals for Jamie?

As Jamie completes her activity Sara interacts with her in a very positive way, she is enthusiastic and optimistic about Jamie and she provides her with a generally happy environment. You can learn from Sara’s approach by watching how she is so focused on Jamie’s goals and feelings, she focuses specifically on one goal at a time and watches the progress.

4. According to Tony, having Jamie use assistive technology "helps show the other children that there's a wide range of communication capabilities in our population as a whole. Children are shown an alternative way of communicating that is different rather than better or worse." What questions about your own understanding of the potential of assistive technologies has this video raised?

What do you tell students who see Jamie using this assistive technology that do not understand why they are not allowed to use it without making Jamie sound like she is at a loss? That is one of the questions I had after watching this video.

5. In the bonus video entitled "Adapting the Curriculum: Mr. Byers' View," Tony describes the tension he feels between teaching spontaneously and the need to slow down and adapt every lesson for all students. Can you think of any experiences you've had that have created a similar tension? Explain your ideas.

When I was in high school, I had a deaf sign language teacher, she felt that you could not move on until every single student in the classroom knew the signs she was teaching and had perfected them. There were students in the class that seem to care a lot less than others, this was upsetting to me because I was one of the students who did care, and sign language came very easy to me. I tended to get very bored in this class, and this got me in some trouble which in turn held me back from receiving my regents in sign language because I chose to drop the class. This created similar tension because I wanted to move quickly while she wanted to hold everyone back for one or many even two students.

Learn & Serve 12/1

Today in learn and serve the students were reading when I got to class, then we went to the library, they worked on the computers like normal and they got books. I worked with one specific student who has more sever problems than most of the students in the class, he doesnt vocalize his thoughts and he doesn't do work unless you sit with him and work with him. This student probably has some type of speech impairment. Specialist have come in to work with him individually and as part of a group or the entire class, but nothing seems to be improving. He was doing well with the activity and seemed to be enjoying it. The teacher and I were discussing the student and his abilities and she was talking about all the different ways she has attempted to teach him and reach out to this students with speech impairments. She has talked to other teachers, his family, and used other resources to try and find new ways to teach him, instead of wasting his days at school, getting nothing accomplished. The teacher I work with feels that the student also interfers with the other students learning as well, taking time out to specifically try and help thsi student that doesn't have the ability to learn in the way that she teaches them, along with being a distraction to the other students. We went back to the room and we worked on math like we usually do, I worked with the second graders on writing out their numbers. They all excelled at this and seemed to enjoy working on this type of activity. When the students were done one of the students read to me and they got ready for lunch.

Learn & Serve 11/24

Today in learn and serve the students went to the library as usual, worked on the computers and got books out, then we went back to the room. When we got back to the room the students got to make soup. The teacher was surprisingly trusting in the students. They got to cut the food and mix the food in bowls. Each student brought in something for the soup. Some brought carrots others potatos some noodles and others corn. They each were given a job, to either wash the potatos, peel the potatos, cut them. While other students mixed the ingredients in bowls or waiting for their instructions. Most of the students were very well behaved because they looked forward to this activity and knew if they acted up they would be removed from the activity. The students were very good with the household tools they used and some of them had never used tools like this before. When I was done with learn and serve the students all hugged me and then I left. The environment at learn and serve was very unsual compared to what I have seen in this classroom before, the students were well behaved and they listened to directions. The students made this soup because they were learning about Thanksgiving and its traditions, they told me what they were thankful for and how they celebrated Thanksgiving.

Learn & Serve 11/19

Today I went to make up the learn and serve that I missed on Tuesday because of the home opener basketball game, I know im such a devoted fan! When I got to learn and serve the students were working on three letter sight words with the teacher. Then we split into math groups I worked with the second graders like normal on their place values. Some of the students were taken out of class for testing throughout the time I was there. When my group was done they went to the computers and I worked with some of the first grade group on using blocks that represented their place values and numbers. Then it was time for social studies, they sat at one table and took a quiz about Thanksgiving on the smartboards. After this they went over the different kinds of food that go with the season and what colors they were so they could color when they got back from lunch. When they were done with that they washed their hands and got ready for lunch. Time today seemed to go pretty quickly and the students weren't too bad, they were a little thrown off because their aid that is usually in the class everyday had her baby on sunday so they have a new aid and they do not know her. I think that for students such as the ones in my learn and serve class, comfort and change are two big things that they find difficult.

Blog for class 11/2

Today in class, we were only in class for an hour. We picked partners to do partner crituqes, I am working with Dallan and Alyssa. One we were done going over the instructions for that assignment we were split into groups by our major and then broken into smaller groups and assigned our portfolio project, which is going to be our final. We were given the rubric cut into pieces and had to try and piece it together. Then we worked with out group to decide how we we were going to hand in our portfolio without using any paper, only technology. My group decided to make another blogger account and make entries for each of the topics we are responsible for. Once we were done with that, class was over. My group is meeting later next week to work on our portfolio and hopefully finish it.

Week 10 & Learn and Serve 11/3

1.) Today in class we met adults from opportunities unlimited. They were all adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities. I worked in a group with Dallan and Jerilyn. We got paired up with one of the adults from opportunities unlimited and had to find some way to represent a good work quality and a bad work quality. We went and got cookies and showed Ben the radio station in gally. When we left there we went to the class to work at the stations. We wrote about our day, played with playdoe, built a fort and did a worksheet on intellegences. When the adults left, we cleaned up and started our blogs until class was over.

2.) Describe your experience:

What did you notice?

I noticed that the adults were very excited to be doing the things we were doing. In the first station we went to and had to write a story, Ben didn't have to do this with us but wanted to write.

How did you feel?

Class made me feel good, I enjoyed working with Ben. I was a little nervous at the beginning because i didn't know what we were going to do for our assignment and then we had to try and help Ben do it.

3.) Connect to text:

Class this week connected to chapter 9 because we talked about multiple intelleginces and we also adapted the lessons and activities for the adults with cognitive and developmental disabilities. When we had our time to go anywhere on campus with our groups we had to use technology and in this chapter they talk about adaptive technology. We had to take video's or pictures showing our working habits.

4.) Critique:

The activities we did today were not well organized but I think that was good. I think that having them be more borad allowed us to make it our own in a way. When we went off to a place on campus with our groups we were able to do what we wanted while showing specific work habits we weren't told you have to do this and do it this way. This is preparing us to be teachers, you are going to have requirments of what material to teach, now its your chance to make the material apealing to the students. There was a point behind each activity and if you could project that point in your own way as a group I think that you successfully completed each activity. I really didn't see a problem with any of the individual activities we worked on today.

5.) Visually impaired students:

The activities we did might be benificial to students who are visually impaired in more than one way depending on what activities you did. First we went to the station where you had to write a story about your day, this might be benificial for a visally impaired person because its allowing you to kind of see the story with words not your sight. The second station we went to was the building a fort or house one, this was hands on and might allow the visually impaired person to use their hands as their eyes and make something. Third we went to the playdoh station, this did not have a lot to do with vision it was a hands on activity that would allow a visually impaired person to use their hands to feel the texture along with the shape of different objects and models that you could make.

4.) Learn & Serve:

Today at learn and serve I met the class in their classroom. Then we went to the library. Today they worked in the library on the computers, using the program fastforward. I walked around and got to see the student playing the different interactive games, this program is really interesting and the students loved doing it. Once they were done with their games they picked out a book, signed it out and were told to sit on the carpet. This is when they day really went down hill, the students were fighting and screaming and out of control. We got them to calm down and we went back to the classroom. They were told again to sit on the carpet and didn't follow directions. After they were yelled at and some of them were punished, they split up to do math. I worked with the second graders like I usually do, they were over all good. The one student who I usually have difficulties with was showing some improvement, he would tell me the answer it was just a matter of putting the answer on paper that he struggled with. Two of the students flew through the worksheets and went to the computers and the other student worked with me and did very well. Then they went to the carpet to read and were once again out of control. The teacher wrote one of the students up and took him out and asked me to sing songs with the students. Me and one of the students picked out two songs and sang them with the class. When the teacher got back, we got the students lined up for lunch and walked them to lunch.

Week 9 Post & Learn and Serve 10/20

1.) Learn & Serve:

This week at learn and serve, the students were terrible. I went to learn and serve and the class was in the Media Center or the Library like they usually are. When i got there, they had two new students and they were supposed to be watching a movie. The movie playing was Arthur, but the students were more concerned with the new girl in their class than they were with the movie. Some of them were put on computers to do "Fast Forward" which helps students with their listening and following directions while playing games. The rest of the students watched the movie and one by one got to go pick out their books for the week. When we got back to the room we sat on the carpet and listened for directions, the students were acting out and doing things, like fighting that they knew were unacceptable. Once the finally calmed down and were listening they were sent to their math tables. I once again worked with the second graders learning greater than, equal and less than symbols and when to use each of them. One student flew through this, another one of the boys knew how to do this with my help for each problem but there were two other students who were acting out. One of them just wouldnt do the work while the other one knew how to do it but just didn't want to follow directions. When the students were done with that assignment they went onto matching their addition problems with letters that were followed by their answers. The same general pattern went with the students, some were quick with this others needed assistance while others decided they were going to be helpless. When they were done with math they went to the carpet for reading time and each read their books they had picked out at the library. The student that I was working with, who decided not to follow directions the entire time we were doing math then threw a tempertantrum. He was kicking things and hitting things and continued to do so after the teacher talked to him. Then he threw a pencil followed by a chair into the carpet area where the students were reading their books. This is when the teacher directed myself and the other aid to take the student to lunch she called for assistance and delt with the situation. This was the first real incident that made me realize the extreme challenges of working with students placed in a self-contained classroom. This was eye opening because the teacher who has been teaching for so many years has learned to put aside their feelings for the students with struggles and knows how to handle the students, she had to scream at him to get his attention while in a regular classroom that wouldn't be necessary or even acceptable to the extreme it was taken at my placement.

2.) Connection to Chapter Eight:

In my learn and serve there are a variety of different disabilities at all different levels. All of the students have an IEP whick is discussed in this chapter, their families and educators work with the student to assure the best possible learning environment for the student. This can be difficult with a class like mine because there are so many students with so many different needs. The teacher has learned what each student reacts to in concerns to dealing with their behaviors in that certian way, the chapter also talks about the different treatment plans for students with autism spectrum disorder.

3.) Have you ever spent time with an adult with a cognitive or developmental disability? if yes, describe and explain.

I have spent time with an adult with cognitive or developmental disabilities on more than one occasion. First was when i visited my grandparents in florida one of my mom's cousins has a cognitive disability. That was the first experience I had faced and was kind of shy about it. I didn't know how to act around him or what to say. My second experience was with Special Olympics in the spring of 2009. We worked with a large group of cognitive and developmentally disabled people (mainly adults) teaching them to play basketball and training them for the Special Olympics event we planned at the end of the semester.

4.) New Links:

The first link we put on our blogger was CAST, this is a nonprofit research and development organization that is working to make learning opportunities better for students, particuarly those with learning disabilities. Their main focus is the Universal Design for learning. This link provides you with research and development, and policies and practices dealing with the universal design. The second link we put on blogger is, The Iris Center for Training Enhancements. This website has a variety of resources such as diversity information, learning strategies, resources dealing with the RTI model and accomidation resources. These resources include information for school leaders and teachers, give strategies and resources for different age groups as well as case studies and activities.

5.) Hearing Loss:

Students with hearing loss or impairments have a different way of communication, some use verbal communication and can read lips while others use sign language or a form of sign language. These students tend to socialize with students with similar impairments or losses. If students get the resources they need early on their academic abilities are ususally not affected in any extreme way. These students have accomidations and assistive technology that play the roll of their ears and allow them to learn like a typical student would.

6.) Differentiated Instructions for this population:

Differentiated instruction for this population would be writing lectures on paper or putting them on the computer for the students to read instead of listening. Another way of differentiated instruction would be to show the students the activities using hands on nonverbal cmmunication. Having a translator or using the microphones that are programed to the students hearingaids are also ways of differentiated instruction. Some students who are hearing impaired having note takers who sit in class and take notes during the lesson incase the students missed something important. When using music students who are hearing impaired obviously can't hear the music, a lot of times they can feel the vibrations so using music that has extreme vibrations would help these students. Also if the purpose of the music is the meaning of the lyrics, you could print the lyrics out and give them to the student ahead of time so they have an understanding of whats going on.

Week 8 Post

Three important points before watching the video that I thought were important to consider when having a parents teacher conference were, you need to know that a child acts differently when they are at home and at school, so you cant assume the child acts that way with their parents around. Another is that you need to understand the background and lifestyle of the family and the child. And last you should have work to provide to the parents, as an example of what you are telling them about their child.

After watching the video through the interactive website provided by WADSWORTH, called Home-School Communication, three things that I realize are that parents don't understand why children act the way they do in educational surroundings. Second is that a child's behavior and social activities needs to be discussed with the parents so that the parents can also impact their childs social behavior positively. Last I learned that you have to share with the parents the positives and negatives of their child, like in the video, his child really enjoyed writing their story or book and so the teacher was prepared to show the parents that work along with the work or environment that may have been a struggle to the child.

The most difficult part of parent teacher communication would be if a student is doing poorly with their work or causing problems, and the parents have no interest in the student. Parents who are not involved with their childs education make it that much harder for the teacher to deal with problems caused by or with that student. Telling a parent that their child has been the reason for disruption in class or telling them their child is doing poorly would be challenging because what parents dont want to hear positive things about their children.

Students with communication, language and speech disorders often excel at one or two things, because they lack in another. Students with communication disoders often have poor social skills, but could be extremely smart. Students with language disorders are also going to have poor social skills most likely because they cannot talk to their peers, they also will struggle with their school work because they are lacking one of the basic functions to get through school. Students with speech disorders will have the same difficulties as the students with communication disorders, they may have some other way of communication like sign language for students who are hearing impaired. Students with speech disorders with lack social skills but could still excel in academics. Students with autism usually need more intense support than students with communication, language and speech disorders. They are worked with at an extreme one on one basis and take a longer time to process some information than the typical student their age.

The parents of students with disabilities such as these would be interested in knowing what type of support and extra help their child is recieving. They would also like to know what modifications are being made for the child as well as the progress of their child in the classroom. They would be interested in knowing that their child is not falling behind or being pushed to the side during acitivities because they are not the typical student.


Kirk, S., Gallagher, J, Coleman, M., & Anastasiow, N. (2009). Educating Exceptional Children (12th ed.). Kentucky: Cengage Learning. Retrieved October 22, 2009, from http://college.cengage.com/education /kirk/educating/12e/resources/video_cases.html

* Citations are supposed to be indented on the second and third line but because of the format of blogger it wont allow me to do that.

Week Seven

This week at learn and serve I went to the library with the class for the first fourty five minutes. While they were in the library they each picked out a book off the counter to read for the week and then they watched a movie about the reading rainbow group. This movie taught them that they need to use teamwork and work together to get the work done. One the movie was over we went back to the classroom and two teachers came in to do a reading activity with the class. The learned three new verses to if you're happy and you know it, the verses had to do with being bothered. Telling them they should ignore, walk away or say please stop when they are being bothered by other students on the bus or in the hallways and classroom. The students enjoyed this activity. When they were finished they split into groups by their grade level in math. I worked with the goup of second graders on noticing patterns on number lines and filling in the missing numbers. Then they worked on subtraction. One boy named nick was totally in a different world and would not even repsond to any type of approach to the math problems I was asking him. Two other students I was working with needed help on the second worksheet which was subtraction. I got out the little wooden blocks and told them that if they counted out the first number in wooden blocks and took away the second next they would be left with the answer. This helped them both a lot and they finished the work quickly. Then I attempted to help Nick again and he just wanted me to tell him all the answers which I wouldn't do. So he got angry with me and gave up even more. When it was time to go to lunch I found out that he has just been put on medication for ADD, and the teacher does not understand why because he did not seem to need this medication, a little discipline would be just fine. This teacher worked with these students in the previous year as well beacuse it is a self contained class and she said that he was one of the top students coming out of school last year and is now in the bottom of the class since he has been put on this medication. The parents are trying to meet with the school as soon as possible to figure out what can be done to help the student but there has been no avaliabilty to meet with the educational team working to maximize the childs education.

Connection to Chapter 7:
Chapter seven is about communication and language. In my learn and serve class there is one boy who is classified as a kindergartener. He doesn't speak barely at all. If you tell him to say please or thank you he will repeat you occasionally but he won't tell you what he wants or ask for something before he does it. That makes it very difficult to work with him. The chapter talks about speech pathologist, and how they help is a students classroom. The student has been taken out of class multiple times to be worked with one on one as well as an aid coming in to try and work with the entire class, but targeting this student. He has began to act up lately by standing on chairs and doing this he knows are inappropriate, they believe that he is doing these things because he is attempting to communicate with the teachers and tell them what he wants. The problem with that is he continues to get in trouble. When you talk to the student he does adknowledge you, so he has an understanding of the language and he knows when he is being punished for doing wrong, he just doesn't have a sense of verbally communicating his thoughts and feelings.

Quiz Chapter Seven

She Stoops To Conqure:

Act One:

paltry

superfluous

stoutly

tedious

facetious

Act Two:

impudent

brazen

dissembler

hypocrisy

inoculation

Act Three:

confounded

brazen

stammering

sulle

ecod

Act Four:

laurels

rogue

coxcomb

haspicholls

izzard

Act Five:

mortifying

cursedly

gibbet

confoundedly

rebuke

Characters:

Hardcastle

Mrs Hardcastle

Kate Hardcastle

Tony Lumpkin

Constance Neville

What type of activity is this? This activity is an example of differentiated instruction which shows that there are is more than one way to engage students in an activity that in the end will teach them the same material.

How does it challenge you? This challenges us to think in different ways then we would using the typical styles of learning. Using multimodal learning reaches out to all students, and this may challenge us because to some people a different mode of learning would be more beneficial but you won't know what mode fits you best until you have tried more than one.

Who is our "audience" and what do they like? What kind of music, images, sounds? Our audience is a group of heterogeneous grouped high school students. Some of the students are gifted and talented while other are learning disabled, have IDD or ED and others are average students from general education classes. They like interesting images, popular upbeat music and attention grabbing sounds, like normal high school aged students would.

Podcasting:

What kind of activity is this? This is an example of differentiated learning like the previous activity was. It could also be considered a multimedia instructional activity, using your digital images and the podcasting to tell a story instead of writing down your story. This is a challenege because most students haven't used podcasting before and they had to deal with the technology and what to do.

How does it challenge you? This challenged us because we didn't know what technology to use and all our computers were different. Once we figured out how to use the technology aspect of this we were all worried about how we looked and sounded and what stories to tell.

What background knowledge do you need to complete this activity? You needed to know how to use your computer or ideo camera, you needed to know how to use energy in your voice to tell your story and you needed to know then how to upload this to blogger.

Chalkboard:

What kind of activity is this? This is an activity for students who learn better through hands on activities or artistic activities.

How does it challenge you? This challenged me because I had to look up the information and think classify each one, it wasn't something that I could do off the top of my head.

What background knowledge are you using to complete this activity? I used background knowledge to draw the shapes and to write some of the details and characteristics that I could remember from the reading and other discussions that we have had.

How much do you love this Blackboard compared to the other Blackboard? This blackboard is my friend, the other blackboard hates me. Hate may be a strong word but I really think its appropriate in this situation! I enjoy using technology but not when it doesn't cooperate with me. In cases like that I would rather just use a real blackboard because it is reliable and easy.

Chapter 6

1. When a child is causing disruptions within the classroom that significantly impact the education of other students, what rights do parents of these students have in trying to secure a better classroom environment for their child?

Parent involvement is dealt with through IDEA and tells parents their roles and rights in their child's education. When a student is disrupting the classroom to the extent that the education of other students in impacted the parents are to be notified if the disciplinary processes and actions being taken. They are also part of developing the child's IEP plan, this plan deals with the child's education, environment and behaviors. If a parent does not think their child is getting the best possible education or in the right classroom environment they are allowed to propose a change the their child's evaluation or IEP, with advanced notification to the school. This allows the parents to evaluate the child at home and give their impact on what is going on at school. If a child's being disruptive and the parents believe that the child needs to be put into a different environment they are allowed to suggest that at the meetings held to discuss their child's education.


2. What responsibility should the school and school district take to provide support to the classroom teacher, the child and the child's family when behavior difficulties are preventing learning?

The school district should have a disciplinary plan put in place for when a child acts out this way, the classroom teacher should be notified of what to do is this type of situation so that all educators and administrators are on the same page. The school can set up a way of notifying the family everyday of their child's behaviors and actions. At my first learn and serve placement there was a student who constantly acted out and was disruptive to the learning of other students. At the end of everyday, the teacher would write in a notebook to his family, she would put a smile face, sad face, ect. to tell how he was in general and make any other comments that the parents needed to know about for that day. This way they parents and the teacher are communicating in efforts to change these negative behaviors.


I chose this picture because it shows rather than just telling a child they have done something wrong the woman is discussing the problem with the little girl. If you tell at a student and punish them without making sure they are aware of what they have done and what the consequences will be they will not be able to correct their behaviors.

Week 5, Learn & Serve 9/29 and 10/6

When I went to learn and serve for the second week the class was getting ready to work on math when I got there. The class is a self-contained class and there are kindergartners, first and second graders. For math they split into their grades and work on different skills and worksheets. I was asked to work with the second grade group and that was a challenge to me. The students were reluctant to do the worksheets and some were more advanced than the others. They all wanted me to work with them at the same time and did not have any patients. I sent some of them to do math on the computers while I helped others with the worksheets. After that i walked around and tried to help the students keep their focus during a science lesson using the smart board.

In class on October 1st we went to the class room first and got assigned a card with a term or topic from the assigned chapter. Then we walked to the gorge and periodically stopped to discuss the topics we were given. This was to prepare us for our quiz and I think that it helped a lot but at the same time it was hard for people who are not auditory learners. The hike to the gorge was an interesting way to have class because we had different surroundings. I enjoyed the hike and the walk to Professor McLaughlin's house. When we threw a rock into the water to relieve our stress I thought that was an interesting task and I enjoyed it. Our assignment to take five pictures while we were walking to tell a story really got me to use my imagination and I enjoyed it. The reason that our professor chose to do this activity and have class outside was to get us thinking of different ways to teach children material. If you teach a child the same boring or traditional ways day in and day out they will begin to stop listening and not learn as efficiently.

A metaphor similar to the umbrella metaphor we were shown for students with IDD could be, Children with IDD are ovens, you turn the heart or intensity up as needed. With students with IDD their surrport system has 4 different levels of intensity. First in the Intermittent, which is needed support but support that is not present at all times, that would be like a low temperate, just warming something up. Second is limited which is support given on a regualr basis, third is extensive, which is ongoing regular involvement with the students. Last is the most intense type of support, this would be like cooking something that is froze and completely raw. This is called the pervasive level of support, where there is constant help provided for these students and this may also involve more than one staff member helping the student in more than one specialty area.

Today my learn and serve showed my a totally different side of the students. They were very misbehaved and had very short attention spans today. They went to the library and when they got back they sat on the carpet and were given instruction, which they didn't follow. They were split into three groups to combine math and science activities. I worked with small groups of students to pick out pictures to represent the seasons and put them on a circle which we cut into quarters. Then they had to write the seasons names and draw another picture to go with them. They were once again impatient, all wanting my help at the same time. They were also very protective of their work, they did not want the other students working at the table to see their work. The last two students I worked with brought me great challenge. One of them had very little to no verbal skills and the other student was at a very low level of abilities. I had to modify their assignments. For the student who had a low level of ability, I wrote the words for her and she traced them and I also talked to her about the weather and type of clothing you wear during the seasons rather than trying to have her memorize the names of the seasons. For the student who had very little vocal skills I showed him the picture and talked about the season while he repeated me, then I helped him draw pictures, I would draw and he would try and draw the same thing or he would guide my hand while I wrote or drew a picture. Learn and serve opened my eyes to the patients I will have to have and the different levels of ability that students of the same age group can truly have.

Connection to Chapter Five:
In class we adapted our lesson and learning enviornment by being given a term from the chapter, looking it up and leaving for the gorge. While we were hiking the gorge we walked a while then stopped and discuessed one groups term and continued on. This was also the questions to our quiz so for people who are not auditory learners, this could have been a difficult task. As we walked we learned more and more about the chapter and the questions that were going to be on our quiz.

Redo of question 5

239 Question 5

Redo of question 1

239 question1

Extra Credit

She Stoops to Conquer:
1. a) Setting: Year 1773 (18th century) Hardcastle’s home in a city near London.

b) Characters: Mr. & Mrs. Hardcastle
Tony- Mrs. Hardcastle’s son from a previous relation
Kate- Mr. & Mrs. Hardcastle’s daughter
Constance Neville- Mrs. Hardcastle’s niece
Sir Charles Marlow- A friend of Mr. Hardcastle
Mr. Charles Marlow- Sir Marlow’s son
Mr. George Hastings- Mr. Marlow’s friend/ seeking relations with Miss. Neville

c) Plot: The play starts out with Kate and Mr. Marlow being set up on a blind date. Tony misleads Mr. Marlow to believe they are inn keepers and he is staying at an inn. With Mr. Marlow is Mr. George Hastings. George finds out that they are not at an inn they are really at the Hardcastle’s home, but decides not to tell Mr. Marlow. Kate enjoys Mr. Marlow’s company and does not tell him where they are. Miss. Neville and Mr. Hastings are planning to run away together. Sir Marlow shows up and Mr. Hardcastle figures out what is going on and Kate finally tells Mr. Marlow the truth. Mr. Hastings and Miss. Neville are finally together in the end.

2. To create a student guide for a high school student with a learning disability you would give them the background of the story, along with each of the characters and their role in the play. Another resource that may be helpful to students would be a short description of historical background about the 18th century in London. You would do this so that a student could easily follow the plot and gain the knowledge they need to see the general idea of the play. If the student will only have limited time to read the play before their classmates move onto the next play, you could add the general idea or questions to help the student reach the idea in the end in a more idealistic time frame.

Chapter 4 Question 5

239 Question 5

Chapter 4 Question 4

239 Question 4

Chapter 4 Question 3

239 Question 3

Chapter 4 Question 1

239 question1

Chapter 4 Question 2

239 Question 2

learn & serve, and class on 9/17

Today in class we had a discussion about environmental stressors and then as a form of differentiated instruction, we were sent outside to take a picture of an example of an environmental stressor. The picture I took was of a BMW car, with two sets of mufflers. This is an example of a source of pollution. Once we came back to class we watched a movie about a boy named Peter and how he lived, in elementary school as well as in high school. I was very impressed by how accepting the students were to Peter and his disabilities in the first movie. Although the students were accepting and the teacher was doing her best to treat Peter as any other student, I think that when he became violent with the other students, there should have been something done, to protect the students along with show Peter that it was the wrong thing to do. Peter was doubted in many situations but he made it through school with the extreme help of his family, community and the educators in his school.


Today I went to my first day of learn and serve, I am in a self contained kindergarten, first and second grade class at Niagara Street Elementary School. This was a very interesting hour and a half for me because I never knew what to expect next. The students were doing puzzle type activities when I got there where they had to rhyme words or watch a word to a picture, while other students were doing addition on the computers. You had to watch very closely because they tended to fight with each other a lot and misbehave or get distracted easily. There was about fifteen of them in the classroom and there was a teacher and a teacher’s aide as well as me. I think I was nervous at first but once I saw that the teacher was very in control of the class it made me more relaxed and able to work with the students.

Chapter nine entry

Briefly explain the six ways to accelerate students, as described by Stanley.
“The process of student acceleration- passing students through the educational system as quickly as possible- is a clear educational objective for some children.” (Educating Exceptional Children, 308) The six different ways to accelerate students according to Stanley are, early school admission, skipping grades, telescoping grades, advanced placement, dual enrollment in high school and college, and early college admission. Early admission to school as well as college allows students to start kindergarten or their freshman year of college early. While, skipping grades allows students to test out of grades, but it also has its drawbacks. There can be adjustment problems for the student as they are placed with students of different age levels. Advanced placement allows students to take classes that allow them to receive college credit while still in high school. Last is dual enrollment in high school and college, the student takes college courses while finishing high school. Acceleration is very important to keep a student’s interest in their education, a student who is so far ahead of students their age will not enjoy sitting in class bored and will easily lose interest.

What are some special problems of gender for students with gifts?

One special problem of gender is the idea that girls must project a feminine message. For gifted girls, this is a difficulty they face because they are stuck knowing what they are supposed to project and what they are able to project, they struggle with idea’s such as being independent while the feminine message is to be dependant as well as passive or modest against assertive. The roles of male and females are very well known and they are sometimes interfered with when a working with gifted students, male or female.

Define and discuss the concept of twice exceptional.
Being twice exceptional is when a student is both gifted and learning disabled. Often when this happens a student’s gift is overlook because of the great focus on their disability. An example of when a child can be twice exceptional in some cases is when they are diagnosed with autism, “Although the majority of children identified as sutistic have average or below-average ability, a subset of children, those sometimes diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, can be highly intelligent.”(Educating Exceptional Children, 304) Having this disability would make a student socially awkward in many situations but would not take away from their intelligence. Twice exceptional children do not show helplessness when dealing with their disability in a learning environment because in a sense their disability is made up for by their gift, while students with average intelligence and a disability may become helpless or distance themselves.

Differentiated Instruction-

This picture at the top of the page shows differentiated instruction because the students are working together on a computer instead of sitting in a traditional lecture style class setting that may not benefit the exceptional child. This will benefit student who need hands-on interaction in order to learn rather than being auditory learners.