Behavior

This week, the chapter focused on helping students to prevent behaviors, and how to respond to teach level of behavior. I enjoyed the class discussion this week because we were able to see how this can work in a special needs classroom.

I have been under the impression that without a reinforcer, I can't work with students that have a federally defined disability. This include: Learning disability, Cognitive impairment, Autism spectrum disorder, Hearing impairment, Vision impairment, Hearing and vision impairment, Other (such as ADHD), Orthopedic, Traumatic brain injury, Emotional Disturbance, Speech and language, and Multiple disabilities.

After having this discussion in class, I realized that the reason the reinforcer is needed is because after the extrinsic motivation is gone, the student stops doing the desired behavior. If I couple the extrinsic motivation with an intrinsic motivation, the desired behavior will continue as I slowly take away the "candy" or other extrinsic motivation.

We also focused on BIP and I was encouraged by Brother Cloward to learn more about this because of my study being in ECSE. A Behavior Intervention Plan is included as a part of the IEP plan and lays out what steps are to be taken when a behavior occurs and should be included if the behavior is negatively affecting the students academic success. It is also required when the behavior negatively affects the learning of other students who will be associating with this student.

When I worked at American Fork High School, the life skills students all have varying behavior plans. Some of the behaviors were severe enough that a behavioral contract was signed by the student and the teacher, stating the consequences or rewards associated with the behavior or the lack of it. I think if my teachers would have tried to create better intrinsic reinforcers, the behaviors could have been present less often than they were.

Wrapping up this semester, I feel like my philosophy of education has changed. Because I have seen poor examples of helping these students reach their IEP and BIP goals, I didn't think it was realistic or even necessary. But these goals are hear to help the student to succeed and to offer them as much academic opportunity as everyone else.

Reflection: Teaching on Poverty

Each member of my group contributed to the overall lesson that we presented to our class. We tried to make it as interactive as possible and to avoid lecturing. Looking at the national statistic for those living in poverty made me feel sad because it was so high in 2013. Idaho was at 47% and most of the states were just as high, if not higher.

From this experience, I want to make personal application. Brother Cloward gave us the challenge of finding a small way we can combat poverty and help the public school systems. My first pledge is to never take away a recess from any student because I believe there is value and learning that takes place when we are outside, playing games in an unstructured fashion. I also want to become involved in my community as I have children and to be involved in their classrooms.

Poverty usually stems from a lack of financial security and can affect things as much as cognitive, physical, social and emotional development. Another way I hope to help my students is by creating an environment that is safe from judgement and where they can feel comfortable learning, growing and making mistakes. Part of the teaching I want to focus on is what is morally right when we are working with other classmates. It isn't right to exclude others or tear them down. We need to build each other up and recognize the positive characteristics of each other.

I know I can't take away world hunger or even provide food for all of the students in my class, but I can focus on the circle of influence that I have and try and make an overall better environment for my students within my classroom as well as the students attending the school.

Service Learning

For my service learning hours this semester, I went to Hands, the special needs FUN RUN, and to Life Skills. Last semester, I had the opportunity to go to Hands so I was grateful that the same people were there so I could reconnect with them and learn from them.

I am always impressed with the capability of one girl in particular that I associate with at Hands. She can easily hold a conversation, enjoys doing the artwork, and likes to make connections with the people around her. She remembers people from a long time ago and likes making new friends. She is interested in music and games to play on her i-pod. She likes getting her toenails done and wearing jewelry.

This semester, I really enjoyed focusing on the abilities and skills of these individuals, not their disabilities. When I went to Fun Run, there was a man there that ran the entire mile and when he finished, he called one of his friends and said, "I just finished a marathon!" I enjoyed dancing with them at the finish line and continuing to get to know them.

To prepare for their end of the semester talent show, we practiced their talents for Life Skills. I loved listening to a poem that one girl wrote about love and how she shows her love by being their for people. Another girl sang a song about America and was so proud to be on the stage, singing her heart out. I admire their ability to share what they love to do without fear of being judged by others.

I am grateful for how far America has come in helping individuals to become a part of society and to not exclude them from our circle. I feel a desire to work with young children and to help them be a part of the general education classroom as much as possible. Too many youth grow up not knowing how to interact with someone who is different from them. As a part of the LRE we have seen students included in general education classrooms in high school and in the middle school. But it isn't happening enough. If we want our students to learn what real life is really about, we need them to interact with those who haven't been as blessed as they are. We sill have a long way to go. I wonder how hard it would be to have preschools that included students of all ability levels and how hard it would be to continue using heterogeneous groups throughout grade school.

Stuttering

I think it is safe to say that the majority of my class put this simulation off for last because of how awkward it is to have a stutter. I finally had the courage to stutter while ordering a smoothie. I stumbled over the name of the smoothly, responded slowly to her questions, and repeated myself several times. It got to the point that if she asked me a yes or no question, I just shook my head because if I had a real stutter, I would have resorted to that to save myself from further embarrassment.

This simulation gave me a small idea of how some of my students might feel in the classroom when I call on them and ask them to give me an answer. One thing that could help these students to feel more comfortable would be to have them share their answer with their elbow partner, instead of having them answer in front of the whole class.

The reoccurring theme for me this semester through all of the simulations is the amount of patience it requires to have these impairments or disorders. I needed to be patient with myself as I tried to read with only one eye. I needed to be patient as I tried to push open a door while sitting in a wheelchair, only to have it come right back at me. I needed to be patient while I tried to speak without the letters n and l. And the people around me needed to be patient as I spoke slowly and repeated words.

As a future educator, I want to be more patient with my students and help my students to be patient with each other. In today's fast paced society, it seems to be almost a thing of the past, but I think it is a virtue that needs to be remembered and that will help create a safe classroom environment for my students.

Chapters 6 and 7

Autism

The first presentation was on autism. The majority of my work with preschoolers has been associated with this disability. I enjoyed seeing the connections that the group made and the video that they shared. Too often, we try to make choices for people that have a disability instead of being patient enough to let them make their own decisions. I know for me, it is much easier to just make a decision for some of the students I work with, but in the end, this is just enabling them to rely on me to make their decisions for them.

Autism is characterized by a lack of social skills (taking things literally), avoidance of eye contact, parroting behaviors, and often being extremely gifted in specific areas of learning. People with autism can be overly stimulated easily and can have trouble focusing on a single thing if they have too much stimulation (hence why they avoid eye contact because of the stimulation given when looking at a face).

To help students with this disorder, I can limit stimulation, give them breaks from learning, and help them find their niche of interest. I can help them by not allowing their para-educator to invade into their social circle so they can develop these skills.

Visual Impairment

A piece that stood out to me from visual impairments was when Garret shared his story about having a tumor around his eye and how bad his vision was. It reminded me of the importance of having understanding for the people around me. How easy it is to just pretend like we know the lives of the people around us, failing to get to know them well enough to understand some of the trials they face each day.

Visual impairments need to negatively affect academic performance in order to receive services under IDEA. I worked with a boy at American Fork High School who was legally blind and he had the service of technological supports that helped him to read and write independently. One thing I noticed was that when things didn't go according to plan, he would become frustrated and would need time to cool down. Visual impairments can accompany other learning disabilities.

I can help the visually impaired by making clear assignments that have enlarged print and additional spacing. I can seat the child in the front of the classroom and write with a bigger font. I can also pair them with a buddy that can help them to read material that is too small for them to see.

Speech Impairment

There was so much material in the chapter for this week! I enjoyed the presentations from both of the groups. I nearly choked on the three marshmallows and Britley couldn't understand a word I was saying! The only reason she guessed the three statements that I shared with myself was because I made hand motions while I "spoke". I thought it was interesting to make the connection between showing patience for those who have speech impairments and how difficult it can be for them to get their message across.

The general application I took away from this was to show patience for students with speech impairments. It is a disservice for me to always speak for them or to supply words for them, but I can also be sensitive to their needs and help them avoid embarrassing situations by not asking them to answer a question in front of the whole class. I can use white boards as well as think-pair-share.

Speech and sound disorders come in two types: articulation  or phonological processes. Articulation problems are when a child produces sounds incorrectly (possible a lisp). Sound patterns, or phonological processes can come as word substitution, omission, addition or distortion of speech sounds.

Learning Disability

The second presentation was about learning disabilities. They did a great job of showing us how difficult it could be to read if the letters were jumbled up all of the time. A little girl I work with at the elementary school seems to have an acute problem with this because she likes to sometimes read the word backwards or spell words backwards. She gets frustrated fairly easily because she can't seem to read like everyone else in her class. I am grateful that the presentations have translated over into real life.

The general application from this presentation for me was that I need to meet the child where they are at. It doesn't make any sense for me to go outside of the childs' zone of proximal development because that is where the frustration comes in for them. If they don't love learning, then they aren't going to have very much motivation to try.

Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

A girl from my class shared an experience where she suffered from severe anxiety to the point that she would pace her house at night to make sure that everyone was going to be safe. These disorders can range from depression, to OCD, to anxiety to Bipolar to Schizophrenia. 

My family has a high incidence of depression. One thing that my family has tried to do is to set goals for future events. Having something to live for can help a little bit. 

I liked the video this group showed because it talked about the lack of understanding our society has in relationship to these disorders. How often do we use these terms without a full understanding of what that actually looks like? I worked with a girl in a Life Skills class that constantly was worried that people were going to kidnap her and that she smelled gross. These are real disorders that affect a large percentage of the population. 

The statistics for Schizophrenia are very low. I found this interesting because a person can't be diagnosed with this disorder until the age of 18 because of how rare it is. This made it hard in the Life Skills class because there was a girl with high symptoms of this disorder, but she couldn't be treated for it until she turned 18.

One thing I want to be better at is having understanding towards those who suffer from this disorder. I can't understand what it is like to want to wash my hands dozens of times in a day or to want to take my own life, but these are real disorders. I don't need to judge others just because of my lack of understanding.

ADHD and ADD

These week, a group presented on ADHD/ ADD. Before this presentation, I wasn't aware of the medical implications of this disorder. I learned that when a student is affected by this disorder, the cortex of the brain shuts down during time of instruction so while a student may be able to complete an assignment one day, the next, they won't have access to that information. I felt like this lesson was good for me to realize that this is a true medical condition and just because I haven't experienced it, doesn't mean it isn't real.

I took the general application that I need to accommodate for this disorder by limiting the distractions for this student by having them sit in the front of the classroom, giving them more time to complete assignments, limiting the quantity of an assignment (not the quality), giving verbal explanations as well as written (by putting up a powerpoint after verbal instructions so all students know the basic instructions for the current assignment), and offering opportunities to move around in the classroom.

I also need to let the parents know what I have observed (which doesn't mean that I tell them to get their child tested, just that I let them know of the symptoms I am observing). Some parents may be in denial that their child is having these symptoms. I can have patience with the student and the parents as they struggle to find what will work best for them, whether that is medication or social support through counseling.

There are three types of ADHD: inattentive, hyperactive, and a mixture of the two. The inattentive ADHD is found in girls twice as often as it is in boys. The other or mixture of the two is found three times as often in boys then in girls. Around the world 5.2 million people have ADHD.

Cognitive Impairment

Some characteristics of cognitive impairments include forgetting basic information (like their age or names of places), a tendency to get overwhelmed easily, trouble reading despite normal intelligence, impairment of communication, and a high level of motor activity.

These children can be helped by teaching life skills in how to appropriately communicate with others. One way I have seen this done is through role play. The students practicing their social skills are asked to act out different scenarios of how to ask if they can join in a game or how to alternate asking and answering questions in a conversation. 

This impairment is caused by an outside force, usually a violent blow to the head. These students benefit from having more time to understand concepts and to complete assignments.

Poverty

Poverty is so much more than not having money. Poverty also comes in the form of not having proper stimulation from the beginning of life and ranging into adulthood. One way to combat poverty is to give environmental supports from a very young age. Stress and anxiety are a part of life, but there can be toxic stress when children or adults are placed in environments of abuse, neglect, or organized crime. Without these emotional supports, these people will suffer developmentally and will continue the cycle of living in poverty.

In 2013, Idaho was ranked at having 47% of its population falling below the poverty level (meaning a family of four would earn less than $22,000 a year). Half of our students were qualifying for free or reduced lunch at school. 

One way I hope to combat poverty in my own classroom is to never take away recess privileges from a child. Children need to be able to play to develop socially/emotionally, cognitively and physically. Another small way is to create a classroom environment where we are safe to make mistakes and where it isn't okay to look down on others because of their family circumstances. 

I loved the story Brother Cloward shared about the teacher who organized clothes, glasses, and shoes to the point that when the built the new school, they built rooms to house all of those things. It can be hard to do the right thing and to stand alone, but it is worth it. Poverty affects such a large percentage of students that it cannot be ignored. I can make sure my students have opportunities to enroll in programs designed to help their needs. 

ELL 

It used to be thought that we should just submerge ELL students into the classroom and that they would figure it out after a while. A girl in my SPED 310 class had that experience when she came to America and said that she was quiet for about a year until she learned Spanish. Today, we have separate classes for these students to help support them academically as they transition into the American culture.

I want to be good at communicating with the parents of my students and because I don't speak Spanish, this is a potential barrier. My husband speaks Spanish and so it is my goal to learn enough Spanish that I could have a conversation with them over the phone or during a parent teacher conference so they feel comfortable enough to attend and talk about their child.

Evaluating Skills

The American public school system is doing a lot to make sure we are evaluating the skills of our students equally across the nation. While the CCSS are making the material that should be taught the same across the nation, there is little as to how this will effect students that fall within Special Education.

I think this also raises the question for how the material is being covered. While the standard for what is being taught has been raised to a higher level, the method of teaching has not. Despite some of these flaws, this week I learned the importance of helping my students to succeed while I measure their skill level, not their disability.

Evaluating skills is separate from evaluating their disability because I should already be aware of the disability- this is not the same as evaluation for services. Because I should already know where my students are at, I can help them succeed by clearly writing my test (making sure there is enough space in between questions), remind students of the option of getting help from a tutor, and give the students either a practice test or a study guide. 

My accommodations, such as no time limit, shouldn't lower my expectations and should be available so that again, I am measuring skill, not the disability. I can also grade out of the number tried, not the total number of questions. This would allow my students to work on the questions they have time for and would end up giving me a more accurate idea of what they really know.

This past week, I was given a zero on an assignment that I had put effort into and had taken my time to complete. While I may have total botched the point of the assignment, I could see how distorting it was for my overall grade to have that zero. For one thing, someone who hadn't attempted the assignment at all would have gotten the same grade as me and for another, it doesn't accurately show what a student does know. 

Grades do have their place and assessments need to be made. But again, when it comes to the CCSS and evaluating skills, I want to assess my students throughout the semester in ways other than formal tests. What if the evaluation is to have the students make real life application? If there is a math problem that says to try and find the three sides of a triangle made with the shadow, flag pole, and the line connecting the two, why not actually find out instead of sitting inside and doing a worksheet? This week's material reminded me of the importance of doing hands on assessments as well as instruction throughout the semester. 

Learning Stategies

The chapter for this week focused mainly on learning strategies instead of on the concepts behind them. In class, I had the opportunity to make modifications to one of the strategies from the chapter so that it would be useful to the age group I hope to be focusing on someday.

The purposes behind learning strategies are to help the learner to become more independent, to scaffold problem solving strategies, and to show students that they can have more successes than failures. Becoming independent will help these students in their future lives. I won't always be their to solve their problems or to remind them how to go about reading an article. These strategies are in place to prepare students for the real world.

In the book, there is a strategy used for writing comprehension. Because I hope to work with children ages 0-4, this strategy wasn't too applicable for me. However, as I met with my group of classmates that also wants to work with this age group, we talked about how this could be modified to asking children reading comprehension questions.

Instead of asking the student to write a response for who the main character is, we decided they could show us a symbol for each of the questions, helping them to remember the purpose behind what they are reading and to increase their reading comprehension.

Main Character: Put a hat on your head
When: Watch on wrist
Where: Hand on forehead
What they are doing: Running
What happened next: Jump the hill with two fingers
Ending:make an X with arms
Feelings:Scared face and hand motions

Most of these questions can now  be answered without verbal responses. The teacher could say, put your hat on your head when you hear me reading about the main character. Or point to your watch when I read about a time of day. Show me with your body what the main character was doing (eating, sitting, running etc.) Show me an X with your arms when we reach the end of the story. How did the main character feel (show expression on face).

These modifications would also be useful for special education classrooms when the CCSS is to know about main characters, setting, plot, etc.

The next time we meet in class, we practiced monitoring ourselves when we participated in the conversation and when we added to what someone was saying by smiling. This made me aware of how often I comment and helped me to back off a little bit so that the other members in my group could have a chance to contribute. My friend shared with me afterwards that this assignment actually made her speak less because it stressed her out. It can be affective for some and defective for other students. 

Braiding hair and The Chicken Dance

Well, I now know every aspect of the chicken dance and will probably never be the same.

For our application day, we prepared to teach a lesson using the different models of teaching we discussed earlier in the week. Our group planned to teach our classmates how to braid hair. It was easy for us to think of way to differentiate this lesson because of the many varieties of braiding hair. This can translate into other subjects I teach my future students. If I need to differentiate my lesson, I need to be knowledgeable across the whole span of the subject, not just surface level understanding. 

For those who didn't know how to braid at all, we had a teacher specifically set up to take that group of students. As the braids advanced, our teachers needed to know more and more skills about braiding. I liked dividing the students this way so that everyone could learn something new and if we would have had more time, it would have been beneficial for the students that acquired a new braiding skill to teach one of their classmates. 

To pre-assess our group, we found out which braids people were familiar with and which ones they could learn how to do. Then we divided everyone into the appropriate group with an instructor at each group. After the instruction and demonstration, each student was able to practice the new skill. For the assessment, they needed to pass off a braid by their instructor. 

Co-teaching makes it possible to focus more on individual needs instead of throwing blanket statements at students. I like the idea of having the students teach each other so they can have a deeper understanding of the concepts they are learning as they put things into their own words. This can range from having students give each other their spelling tests (so that each spelling test can have words specific to that childs needs) to teaching in homogeneous groups and then switching half of the groups to have the students talk about what they experienced in their section. 

Differentiation is such a big idea because with out it, students aren't able to reach their potential. As a future educator, I need to be knowledgeable in all subjects and stay current with new curriculum. This will help students to not reach the point of frustration in their learning.

No L's or N's

I planned on finishing this simulation several times, but each time I went to fulfill it, I would have a super impatient waitress or a guy speaking his second language in English. So, I finally got enough courage to do this.

If I was this nervous to speak without using L's or N's over the course of 15-30 minutes, how do people feel that constantly have a speech impairment. It was hard to think of words without these letters and it was often the case that the person I was asking questions to would just supply me with another word when I didn't speak as quickly as most people do. I found this frustrating because I wanted to say things independently of others and don't like being spoken for.

Because I live in a society that is GO GO GO all of the time, it is hard for people to stop and think for a minute about what other people are going through. This simulation gave me a glimpse into what it feels like to want to say things but to simply not have the words to do it.

Nobody was unkind to me while I struggled to find the right words to say, but it was a disservice to me that they found all of the words I needed and left me just smiling and trying to move onto my next thought.

This particular disorder, speech sound disorder, can be classified into two types: articulation and phonological processes. They can be caused by brain injury, stroke, dementia, or neurological difficulties. Before speaking for someone else, I want to consider what might be going on for them cognitively and give them the opportunity to speak for themselves.

Abuse and Neglect

This chapter was filled with information that is valuable to me as a future educator. I had some real life application from the material this week, which I am grateful for.

About a week ago, a little boy in my class shared information with me that startled me and that I knew I would need to talk to his teacher about. When I spoke to her about my concerns with what he had said, she didn't seem to find the same urgency or importance that I had when I had talked to him. So I let the issue go, thinking I had made too big of a deal out of it.

It wasn't until I reviewed the information in this weeks material, where it talks about abuse and neglect that I was reminded of the situation with the little boy. The following day, I went to his class and observed some things about him that again made me think that I needed to do some thing about it. But what? My mentor teacher didn't really want a part of it. Who was I supposed to talk to?

I am grateful for the Education department on campus. As I spoke to a few members of their council, they helped me to learn the importance of reporting cases of abuse within 24 hours. They then sat with me as I called the principal of the elementary school. I told him all of the details of the situation and the principal was very interested with the information I gave him.

This was an experience that was scary for me. I was nervous for what would happen to the little boy, nervous that I was blowing things out of proportion, and nervous for how this will effect the relationship I have with my students and with my mentor teacher. But I know that it was the right thing to do and that in the future, I will be sure to report within the first 24 hours of finding out about instances like this.

I can't help but think about how much I was prepared for this experience. We just happened to be talking about these exact topics in class this week. Maybe if it had come after, I wouldn't have been aware of what my students were telling me.

I think about the videos I watched in preparation for this week and the assignment to look up a story of abuse or neglect. Heavenly Father was aware that this little boy would tell me things and that I would need to say something.

Mask Simulation

Can anyone say HEADACHE?

My grandma had a stroke about a month ago and since that time, she has had a black line across her vision that cuts the top of people's heads off so she can't see their eyes. While I was fulfilling the requirements for the mask simulation, I couldn't help but to think about her for those four hours and the time following after. My head hurt so bad for the rest of the day.

During one of the hours, it was time to attend devotional. I was wearing the mask that makes vision blurry. During portions of the devotional, I had to close my eyes for a few moments at a time to try and not feel dizzy and to rest my eyes. I couldn't see who was speaking and felt nauseous.

I needed to walk from the Taylor chapel to the Hinkley building at the end of the day and found it hard to make my way up the hill without anything to hold onto. Several people stopped to ask why I was wearing a mask, but nobody offered to help.

I think most people thought I was trying to dress up like bat man or something and didn't realize the purpose for wearing the masks.

My appreciation for being able to read grew after wearing the mask that cuts all vision down to peripheral. I had to hold my textbook up to my eyes and still could only read sections at a time. It was frustrating to begin to feel sick, tired and to want to just close my eyes and rest.

This simulation reminded me of what I am studying right now about dyslexia. Sometimes the problems my students will be facing will not be as visible to me. They could be struggling with things that they might not even be aware of. It is my job to be patient and to help access the accommodations that my students are in need of.

Learning Disabilities

This week, I watched several of the videos that were posted on ILearn and really enjoyed them! One story stood out to me in particular because a young woman with cerebral palsy got married and was having a baby. In the video, her husband is interviewed and he talks about how people would stare at them while they went around campus together, judging them for having a baby together. It made me really sad that society likes to decide who is capable of loving someone and of having a family together. In this same film, a psychologist spoke about how the first extermination camp during WWII was in a hospital for people with disabilities. I feel like these two themes run together. Ethnic cleansing and deciding who is "allowed" to have children in society.

While it was hard for the mother to care for her child, it showed great love to see that she was willing to try and take care of the needs of a baby while still relying heavily on help from her husband. To me, it was the ultimate story of true love. Her husband cared for her each day, cared for their baby, and still managed to go to work. He saw past all of her physical limitations and loved her as a person.

This is now what I am working towards adding to my philosophy of education. I want to be better at seeing past the limitations of my students and look instead to their potential and to their areas of success.

In class, the Learning Disabilities group presented. Before their presentation, I was unclear as to what disabilities fall into this category. Brother Cloward talks a lot about cochlear  implants while the group focused on the over arching theme of learning disabilities.

Three members of my essay group met with me to finalize our paper for our first test. I was grateful to have the input of these group members as we formulated ideas and pieced together our essay. Collaboration is an effective tool but to have things run smoothly, everyone has to be willing to participate. A couple of members from our team essay group never responded to the google doc until an hour before we printed the essay off. Their ideas weren't really a part of our paper because of that and they missed out on the opportunity to take a part in our final product. They basically left their grade in our hands. This can be related to IEP meetings. If I am a member of an IEP team or MDT, it is my responsibility to speak up with the information that I have and to be a contributing member of the team. If I happen to be a parent on an IEP team, it will be important for me to not leave my child's education plan in the hands of someone else. Each member must contribute.

In class on Monday, I participated in making a group concept map of chapters 4 and 5. I found this activity helpful because I didn't have as much interest in the material for chapter 5 and so most of it was missing from my concept map. It was also helpful to see how well collaboration can work when everyone takes a part in the process and all of the work isn't left to one individual.

For one of the preparation activities this week, I played 5 different simulations to understand writing, reading, math, and attention problems that children with a Learning Disability struggle with. The one that stood out the most to me was the attention simulation because of how hard it was to focus while the other children were disrupting the teacher, and disrupting the child's concentration.

I had an experience with a little girl at the elementary school this week where she was totally off task, making disruptions for everyone else, and disrespecting her group members and myself. After participating in this simulation, it made me wonder whether she was simply showing me her need for a quiet place to read the material and to comprehend a little bit better. My patience was very low that day for some reason and so instead of trying to understand the problem, I simply removed her from the situation. Sometimes I don't know what the correct answer is or how I am going to be able to help some of the students that "act out" in class, for reasons that I don't understand.

On Wednesday, we broke into groups to implement the INCLUDE strategy from the book. I enjoyed seeing the different perspectives of other members of my group and talking about Mark's needs and how we could unify our efforts and to make accommodations for him.

I liked the portion of the text that talked about the classroom environment and how much that effects a students learning. It can be easy as a teacher (working in the elementary school this semester for a practicum class) to just assume that the child is acting out for attention or to avoid doing school work. But certain senses are heightened for individuals with special needs. I like the idea of checking on the lighting and organization of my classroom. Is it too bright? Are the desks too close together? Am I offering enough quiet time for my students to concentrate?

The rest of the week, I focused on preparing the exam on Friday. I have tried to make each IDEA principle personal so that I can remember it more easily and to give it extra meaning. My group worked really well together in preparation for the exam which reminded me of the importance of collaboration. Each member of my group has a different perspective or information they have memorized because it stood out to them. I liked learning from them today and hope to continue to develop the ability to work with others.

Wheelchair Simulation

My first question is: Why do we have an extra lip on the floor at the entry way of a bathroom? It is hard enough to push the door open while wheeling yourself into the bathroom with the other hand, without the extra piece of granite on the floor. Little things like that stood out to me as I spent a few hours in a wheelchair,

Before this simulation, I realized to some extent the muscle required for a person in a wheelchair to be able to make their way where they want to go. But after, I felt like my body had been walking on my arms all day! Going down hill was almost as hard as going up a hill because of the constant need to put on the breaks with my hands. I was impressed that while I was making my way to the Kimbal building that someone stopped to see if they could push me anywhere.

Another thing that was pretty hard for me was the fact that I had to stay seated for the duration of the simulation. I became fairly restless towards the end and wanted to get up and run around! I didn't realize how much I take my ability to walk for granted.

I am also fairly certain that the Romney building doesn't have an elevator in it so if I was truly wheelchair bound and had a class in that building, I would be out-o-luck. Something that stood out to me during this simulation was something Brother Cloward told us in class in regards to passing laws. He talked about how originally a law is usually written by someone because of their personal interest in the matter. I wonder how many people in wheelchairs had to write to their state representative before buildings started adding features to their doors that allow them to open with the touch of a button.

Overall, I am grateful for the experience, even if my arms, shoulders and hands hurt the following day. I am grateful for my opportunity to have a body that allows me to walk and hope to take better care of it, to show it the respect it deserves.

Collaboration~ Parents as a part of the Multidisciplinary Team

I have a lot to learn about collaborating with parents, teachers, and other members of a MDT. As I read through this chapter, I realized how quick I am to want to do things individually and to just get things done because I don't like wasting time. One portion of chapter three talked about how the shared outcome, although it may take longer to reach it, will be better than what could be achieved alone. I really liked this because as I think about next weeks exam where I will be a part of a group essay, I would like to try and learn from my classmates instead of being concerned about how quickly we can accomplish something.

Everyone brings different talents to a collaboration meeting. This is true even when looking at our study groups for class. Even people with the same majors will find that the experiences of their group members can shape new perspectives and deepen learning. During collaboration meetings, individuals can work together if everyone is willing to have mutual respect for the ideas of their teammates. One way I can work on this is to actively listen to the ideas of the team members as we go through the five step process of the meeting. As I help identify the problem with the parents (as the special education teacher) I can offer my input in a way that doesn't make the parent feel like I am in control or that I am the one defining the problem.

Solutions are developed through a brainstorming process. One of my skills that I can use during this portion of the meeting is my ability of knowing how much time has passed and how much time we have alloted to each portion of the meeting. However, I need to do this in a respectful manner and not let my weakness of impatiences seep through.

Again, as we evaluate ideas as a team, I need to be careful to not hurt people's feelings and begin by stating my opinion as a OPINION, not the final call.

Another skill I can use is when our team will plan the specifics for that child. I am organized and can see all aspects of a goal. I need to make sure everyone is contributing and that we are all working towards the same goal,, the academic success of this child.

And finally, our team can implement a solution.

I have made a goal after this week to begin my career as a teacher with collaboration in mind. I want to call two of my students' parents each night to maintain a relationship with them and use sensitivity towards their children. Something else I want to learn throughout my career is how to focus on the individual, not their disability.

In class, we participated in a mock IEP and in a court ruling under the law of IDEA. I really enjoyed these activities because they helped me to find the relevance of what I am studying in class. 

Lesson 3 Disability Law

My post this week is going to focus on the IDEA parental rights for those who have children with disabilities. These stuck with me because of their importance for my future work with children from the range of birth to 8 years old.

I want to work with younger children and because of that, it is likely that I will be one of the first people to recognize developmental delays and red flags. Knowing the laws that protect parents and their children will help me to be an advocate.

Before this week, I had no idea that I would need the consent of a parent before I even assessed a child for a learning disability. I wasn't aware that they could then get their own testing done and that I would need their approval before placing their child anywhere other than a general education classroom. This leads into a discussion on least restrictive environment. The least restrictive is the general education classroom. The most restrictive is being taught in the home. Interventions, such as a paraprofessional or other professionals that come into the general education classroom add to restrictions in the environment. If one of my students struggles to learn social skills and to apply them, then having a para-educator sitting right next to him isn't going to help him to develop in that area. It may be necessary to have someone attend school with him, but ultimately, our goal as educators should be to have the least restrictive environment. Other restrictions include pulling the students out of the general education classes for portions of the day and attending a special class instead of a general education class. 

Before coming back to school at BYU-Idaho, I worked at a high school in American Fork. From this experience, I saw how hard my teachers worked to get all of our life skills students into general education classrooms as much as possible. I want to work for this goal too.

Under the laws of IDEA, parents have access to the records of their child's file and a knowledge of everyone that has looked at them. While I was working as a para-educator in American Fork, I saw the importance of this law. We had several students come into the life skills class to assist our students in their learning. Each of them signed a confidentiality form saying that they wouldn't talk about the students disabilities or about their behaviors. It is against the law to break confidentiality. If I want to be employed in the future, then I am going to have to keep this law.

Parents have the right to redefine their child's IEP through a Due Process system. This is important to understand so that when I work with future parents, I remember that their input is valuable because of their relationship with the school and their child. The parent will probably want what is best for their child. This leads me to the principle of IDEA known as FAPE ( free appropriate public education). 

Cases dealing with FAPE have helped to define that what is appropriate isn't always what is best. I want what is best for my children and future students however, this law isn't about that. It deals with getting what is appropriate.

FAPE is hard for me to fully understand because as a future parent, I am certain I am going to want what is BEST for my children, especially when they come to earth with limitations on their opportunities already. However, it is also important for me to remember that what I think is best, might actually harm them in the long run. For example, I might think having push in services for a child would be the best thing for them but socially, this isn't always the case (in fact rarely). 

I am grateful to understand about the informed consent laws because as I work with parents, I don't want to be flying by the seat of my pants, trying to figure out what I need to do. I can be organized and call them 10 days before a meeting is scheduled about their child and can talk with parents in collaboration to a lasting relationship with them. 

This week reminded me of the importance of understanding the rights of the parents as well as the rights of the school district that I work in so that I can be an advocate for those who can't advocate for themselves.

Lesson 2, Chapter 1

There is a place for the law. Although I may end up with more paperwork then I would without, the law is in place for the protection of individuals with special needs. Watching the video of the institution in Serbia opened my eyes to how good we have it in the United States and how quickly our law is changing to continue to protect the rights of any group of people.

Watching the videos in Serbia made me think about a little girl I used to work with that needed to have a medical procedure done for her health. Because of her disability, the issue was taken up in court so that the law could examine her individual rights. It was a pain for her family, to get through all of the meetings in court, but they were set up for her safety and to avoid things happening in the United States that aren't humane.

In class, members of my heterogeneous group shared insights about how the videos made them feel and we concluded that it was because of the law that people with special needs are protected, under the fourteenth amendment.

The Brown v. BOE case moved me to want to advocate more for what I know to be true. Thurgood spent YEARS working on the case that ultimately stated "Separate is inherently unequal." I thought about this statement over the week and about the implications for my future students. I want to include students with special needs in general education classrooms. It is a disservice to everyone involved to exclude people that are different from the general population. In a sense, everyone struggles with learning difficulties or differences in sociability. Because of this, I believe in educating people of all strengths. Research has also shown that this type of learning, in environments that include those that are different, prepares people for real life better than excluding all distractions from the learning environment. 

This week also motivated me to take the Law class that is required for k-12 majors but not for ECSE. If I am going to be an advocate for people with disabilities, than I need to understand how the law works and what is currently in place in the United States.

My philosophy of teaching will continue to change as I learn more about the differences between special education in the United States verses throughout various parts of the world. I learned a lot from my peers about accountability and the need for government officials to be aware of what is going on throughout the country. I need to be aware of elections going on within my own community so that when the time comes to vote someone onto the school board, I know who is running and can make a choice based on who can help ALL the children in the public schools, not just the general population of students. 

Introducing Post

Hey AnnDee! I am just posting this so we can make sure that we can both find each other's blogs. Hope you have a great weekend!