Learn and Serve #9: 12/8...2:15

Tuesday is the first day of the week for students at Niagara Catholic University and my last day at learn and serve this year. At Niagara Catholic they decided to go by a 4 day week so they could increase attendance but the school day is longer. So after the test that they had the previous thursday, they got their tests back and went over the problems they had. My teacher usually gives the students extra time (p.137) to go over the things they didn't have the time to in class. According to her, the main idea is that they know the material, even if that means giving them time to look over their material and come back and finish the test. It was sad that i had to go as that was my favorite learn and serve location so far and it will be missed as my last picture is of me walking down the hall one last time.





Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

Learn and Serve #8: 12/3...2:25

I was not supposed to attend learn and serve today but based on absences by the teacher and myself, i attended learn and serve for 2:25. Today was a little different. I wasn't expecting thursdays to be any different but today all the classes had tests, even the ones who were not the same class. She likes to give tests for all classes on the same day so she can grade all of them around the same time. To me that would seem like more work, but that is her teaching style. So i didn't have to do much today as concerned with teaching the students or helping them with work. I did however get to see the style testing that she uses. Because their school has to take regents tests she uses problems from past regents based on the info they learned as their test. She also uses the same format that the regents uses. According to her, if she can prepare them for regents type questions then they won't be suprised once they start regents preparation or when they get to the regents. "The level of anxiety that is associated with testing compunds their problems with learning and exacerates their learning difficulties" (p. 137). It makes sense to me.




Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

Learn and Serve #7: 12/1...2:15

It is great to be back at learn and serve at Niagara Catholic High School after thanksgiving break. It seems like the students and even the teacher wish they were still on vacation but nonetheless, teaching still continued. More teaching and learning went on today in class. My teacher uses a lot of the smartboard system. I used to think that the smartboard was basically used for internet use and basically for subjects such as history and geography. But she utilized the smartboard to its full use with math problems and even let the students take a turn using the smartboard. After a couple classes i feel like i can actually use the smartboard. I feel like when i become a math teacher, i will use that to my full advantage. This type of instructional technology (p.63) is very good for the students to learn. I actually feel like this may make the learning process much easier.





Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

Learn and Serve #4 and #5: 10/27 and 11/3...2:15 each

I realize that i grouped two learn and serves together but i have to go to 9 learn and serves anyway so my blogs will still all be here.


These two learn and serves were pretty similar. My teacher did a good job teaching the students. I am there for four different classes but two of them are essentially the same grade level and course. Its interesting to see how she changes the second class based on how the first class went. If in the first class, the students didn't understand the material being taught, she would change the way she went about teaching it to the second group as to not waste time explaining everything.
I have also come to realize just how small of school Niagara Catholic actually is. I mean, absences are expected but in some classes, when all the students are there, 3 people are sitting in the seats. So when students are absent there are sometimes 2 students there to learn. According to the book, it is a goal for students to learn independently (p. 293) but i also think that they need to have peers next to them to help them and encourage them.



Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

Chapter 12 video response

Including Students with physical disabilities:
1. As a teacher, i felt like her teacher aids did a lot more than i expected. I realize that being in an inclusive classroom must be difficult for one teacher to do by themselves but i guess i never just thought that the aids would help out so much.
2. The use of the stander is important to helping Mary Anne. Also the use of the wheelchair helps her move around in the classroom. She also realizes that Mary Anne needs more attention than most, so she tries to make sure she is caught up and by not making activities that would be too difficult for her.
3. I feel like this class has further prepared me for working in an environment where someone needs that type of attention. Although i've never actually experienced it, i assume throughout my learn and serve, i will have an opportunity to along with other classes, i will be prepared.
4. I have not actually experienced doing any activities and im not exactly sure what activities i would be able to do at the high school level for a math class.
5. Students with ADHD will probably rather use a chart with pictures instead of having to read their schedule. It will probably be easier to follow.

Assistive Technology in the Inclusive Classroom:
1. I have assisted teaching a religious education class a few years ago where one child was disabled. Other than that, i really have no experience with working with kids who are physically challenged. Hopefully by sitting in on classes who have students like that i can learn exactly how to react and respond in situations.
2. Smartboards seem like the best way as a math teacher that i could use technology in my classroom. I feel like smartboards are good teaching methods and i could make my students solve problems on them which would get them involved with the technology as well.
3. Sara let her do the work on her own. She was there to assist her if she needed help but her main concern was to let her do the work by herself.
4. I did not realize all the ways and methods which are used for assistive teaching.
5. I really have no experience similar to that. Im assuming once i help out in an inclusive classroom i will understand the tension that he feels.

My work for the Portfolio Module

http://highschoolgroupedu239.blogspot.com/2009/12/communication-impairment-paul.html

http://highschoolgroupedu239.blogspot.com/2009/12/autism-paul.html

i just found it easier to copy and paste the websites from the disabilities that i did for the portfolio module so here they are. Enjoy

Learn and Serve #6: 11/24

On tuesday i went to my learn and serve placement at Niagara Catholic High School. I had previously not gone the two weeks before because the teacher took a personal day and on the other i had a game. I was still able to help the students though and found that the students are getting more used to me being in the classroom and are looking more for me to help them with classwork. The students had mostly classwork on tuesday so i had little to actually observe other than the fact that they had classwork so i assisted them in learning the material and helping them if they were stuck. They learned long division today. It wasn't really difficult for most of them but some of them had a difficult time realizing how to multiple whole equations and such. It was confusing and many needed help so i helped some while the teacher helped others.
I thought this was a good example of curriculum compacting (p.310). She used the curiculum to pick out things that students may have a difficult time with to challenge them. Nothing that isn't in the curiculum but challenging enough to make them apply what they've learned in situations.




Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

Blog November 5th - Opportunities Unlimited

1. Today in class we made forts and played with play-doh and we also created stories and likewise took pictures and videos with our guest.
2. It was a fun experience and i felt like our guest, Colleen, really had a fun time today. If felt nice to feel like Katie and I could make a difference in her day and make it more fun.
It was much different because it was just not what i was expecting. I have never really worked with people who have special abilities before so it was an experience.The book says, that we should, "try to match the individual to activities on the basis of the person's preferences." (p.442) I thought the idea of having play-doh and even the fort in the middle of the classroom would make them feel more comfortable. As you said on the first day of class, they won't be embarrassed if they see us doing something more embarrassing then anything they can do, and believe me, seeing me, 6'6" in a kid's fort and playing with play-doh, nothing can be more embarrassing than that lol. But in reality, i felt like we made a connection with our student and they enjoyed themself and it made us better teachers by doing that.



Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

week 8 post

Top 3 things you need to know when working with parents:
When working with parents, a teacher needs to understand the background of the student and their family in order to relate to where they are coming from. The parent is going to want to understand how their child is specifically doing, something that most likely they have no clue about, grades, etc. How the parent views their child is also going to want to be known by the teacher.

3 things now after the video that didn't occur to me:
The teacher's parent teacher conference with the parent was a little different than I had assumed. The teacher showed all the work that the student had done to the parent which I did not know that the teacher did. The teacher also questioned the parent as to what the parent hears about school and specifically that class. The parent describes what they have heard. That seemed different and I did not know that teachers and parents talked about that. I also did not know that the teacher would, even if the child was struggling, would make it seem as though they weren't. By using terms like improving and stuff like that, the teacher is describing the student as having trouble but still improving at their own pace and making it seem as though they are struggling but still not far behind the other students.


According to our text it says, "the family needs to be placed at the center of any early intervention system." (p.102) It is this way that parents pay attention to their students and make sure that they are informed with how their child/ren are doing in school. As a teacher i will have to talk with the teacher and show how i teach and how they are doing in school. I would try and find out whether the student complained about schoolwork or what i could do to help them on problems that they are having with math. Maybe show what we have done and what they are going to learn as a heads-up for the parent.


Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

Learn and Serve #3: 10/20...2:15

I really enjoy my learn and serve. It seems as though my teacher and I are getting along really well and I really enjoy watching her teach and her teaching style. For the first time in her class I finally saw students misbehaving and her reaction towards it. It showed me an example of how to be a great teacher because of the way she handled the situation with poise and perfection. It is not similar to the way that they explain it in the book where they say you should use, "self-monitoring, self-instruction, or self-control." (p.204) Although those are probably for more serious situations, i saw how she kept control of the class and didn't let it get out of hand. I really enjoy my class and I feel like every week its getting to be a better class, I don't know how to explain it but I am really enjoying my time at my learn and serve placement at Niagara Catholic High School and it is helping me enjoy the fact that I am going to become a high school math teacher.




Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

Quiz 7

Metaphor Madness:
This is a learning activity that is meant to teach metaphors for the learning disabilities that we learned about. The purpose is to better understand them. This can be challenging because you need to think of 5 different metaphors to go with each topic but by doing so you do receive a better understanding of each. To be able to complete this activity, you need to know background information on the four different topics that you are looking for metaphors of. Without knowledge of these it will be difficult to come up with good metaphors and enough metaphors to use for each. I prefer this blackboard to the other one. First of all i don't really check either, but this seems to be less of a hassle just writing on a blackboard that i can see and touch and don't need a good internet signal to use. And second, i usually check the blackboard of the classroom i enter and notice if anything is written on there and the only reason why i ever check the internet blackboard is if someone tells me that something is due and i still sometimes don't get a good sufficient answer to that question.










Act 1:
Paltry
Superfluous
Stoutly
Tedious
Facetious


Act 2:
Impudent
Brazen
Dissembler
Hypocrisy
Inoculation

Act 3:
Impudent
Confounded
Brazen
Stammering
Sullen

Act 4:
Laurel
Rogue
Coxcomb
Haspicholls
Izzard


Act 5:
Mortifying
Cursedly
Gibbet
Confoundedly
Rebuke





Characters:
Hardcastle
Mrs. Hardcastle
Kate Hardcastle
Tony Lumpkin
Constance Neville


Questions:
1. This activity I would consider to be a english learning activity with the intention of learning new words.
2. It challenges me because I don't know the words.
Our audience is people interested in the play and i'm sure that they like music so we added music to each character and assuming people like pictures we added pictures to each chapter to make them interesting.




What kind of activity is this?
This activity is meant to be a technological activity where we learn how to use podcasts. It also is meant to influence creativity in the act of creating stories from a set of 5 pictures.
How does it challenge you?
It challenges by making you learn technology as well as challenges you to create a story from pictures.
What background knowledge are you using to complete this activity?
All information from computers that you understand can be helpful in completing this activity.










































I didnt really know how to edit this blog based on your comments but i saw that i needed to edit it so here are my responses to your questions:

I understand that the play is meant to be used as an example of what the play is going to be about. It is also supposed to encourage others to want to come and watch it. Im sure all of them will not to be doing this lol. Reading the play which i have now done has increased my knowledge of the play. I thought the usage of giving all the characters a specific song which fits their description is a great way to get to understand the background info on the characters and better know the play. Seeing the play in action would be the best way to fully interpret the play. Teachers should know the content. But knowing everything is sometimes not always be a option. I guess the best way for teachers is to know as much as they possibly can about the subject. They should explain it in a way in which the students can understand and hopefully will not ask questions to which they do not know the answer. That is the best they can do. Study what they need to know and everything it has to do with and hopefully they will be fine. It is impossible to know everything about a subject but they can do their best to understand as much as possible.

Learn and Serve #2: 10/13...2:15

I really enjoy my learn and serve placement. I am located at Niagara Catholic High School and I really enjoy the teacher that I have and the teaching atmosphere. The students are nice and the teacher is really great with them. She jokes around with them but not enough to avoid straying from the topic being taught. The teacher had another teacher assistant in the classroom when I went this week and that was the only downturn. I helped out a few students with classwork but I'm not always comfortable being the only college student in the classroom. There was no real problem, it was just a little weird at the time. I do enjoy my placement over all the other placements I've had so far though. I've had to help students and that has been fun for me. Some of the students struggled a little but because of the "No Child Left Behind Act," (p.42) the teacher needs to make sure that all the students are at the same pace and all receive the same attention.


Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

Learn and Serve #1: 9/29...2:15

For my learn and serve, I am at Niagara Catholic High School. I know that it's only my second year and third school that I am looking at from a teacher's perspective, but I have a good feeling about this one. At my first learn and serve placements I worked in a tutor room and at the other did very little teaching. At this placement though, I feel like I can actually experience what being teacher is all about. I like my teacher that I have and the students don't seem to be that bad. So far it seems to be my favorite placement that I've been given. My teacher also said that if I want to help teach a lesson or whatever that I am more than welcome to. She seems like she will give me the entire teaching experience that I was looking for and I am grateful for that and am looking forward to the rest of my learn and serve placement. After one class though, i do not know if there are any students with disabilities however. This i do not know for a fact though because "the educational program does not have to be modified to serve their needs." (p.6)



Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

Blog about the Hike

I am going to give my honest opinion about the hike. I do not really understand the purpose of the hike, before or even after taking the hike. I'm not sure if I'd go as far as to say that it was a complete waste of time but I will be honest that I really did not enjoy the hike. I didn't think that going on a hike at 8:30 in the morning was a very good idea. It's not that I was tired, it was just that I don't really plan on starting my day off by going up and down 200+ steps (that's right I counted). Also with my legs being sore enough from basketball, I really didn't feel like I needed the exercise or even that I felt like going to the gorge. I'm not using basketball as an excuse but still nonetheless I did not enjoy the hike to the gorge.
Looking back on this i guess i kind of understand where you stand with going to the gorge. The textbook says, "Social relationships seem to be the overarching concern for those supporting the inclusion movement."(p. 59) In other words, i understand that many of us are not the social type of students nor are we likely to do physical activities such as hiking, but you are trying to make us into more social people to help us with our students.


Kirk, S., Gallagher, J., Coleman, M., Anastaslow, 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

How Do We Identify Children With Learning Disabilities

How Do We Identify Children With Learning Disabilities

View more presentations from gueste42a4d.

In what ways has social bias affected the achievement of girls with gifts?

Girls are often not considered to be as special as if a male were to be considered having exceptional abilities. Girls often do not use their special abilities as males do in the classroom. Females are known to be "passive, modest, dependent, nurturing, and unselfish." Although there is nothing wrong with these characteristics, they do not always equal excelling in the classroom. They have the need to be feminine and will not try and show off like the males in the classroom or show off their smarts to look like a smart studious girl. This is one of the problems and has caused girls with special gifts to ignore their gifts and not use them to their fullest potential.

Define and discuss the concept of twice exceptional.

According to the dictionary, twice exceptional is possessing average to above average intelligence despite having a disability. In our textbook, twice exceptional is described as also having superior intelligence despite having some sort of disability. The problem with children who are twice exceptional is that their intelligence is often overlooked. If a child cannot see, hear, walk, or something else, they are not always looked to as intelligent. In fact, in most cases they are overlooked because of their handicap. In fact though, these children may be twice exceptional and may actually be academically superior to their peers. However, most cases are not discovered as easily and sometimes are not discovered at all because of the obvious handicap.

Laws and Schools

Identify and briefly explain the six key principles of PL 94-142, the 
Education for All Handicapped Children Act.

The 6 key provisions of the Education for All Handicapped Children Act includes: zero reject, nondiscriminatory evaluation, individualized education program, least restricted environment, due process, and parental participation. These make sure all handicapped children can receive the same education, that they get tested about whether they need to be placed in a certain class, that an IEP be written for each student, that handicapped students are included in classes with students who are not handicapped in any way, that there is fairness in the classroom situation for these students and that parents can be included in the decision making of what is best for their child in the schooling environment.


What is the impact of the “No Child Left Behind Act” and “High Stakes Testing" on schools?

No Child Left Behind and High Stakes Testing have had huge impacts on schools since they came to be. "The increase of High-Stakes testing has created special problems for children with exceptionalities because important decisions are based on the results of such tests." No Child Left Behind also causes other students to feel like they are not being challenged enough because all the material is made so that everyone can pass and sometimes not to completely challenge the students or push them to the next level.

Family with Children

What are the special burdens of families with children who are disabled?

There are a numerous amount of burdens that face a family which has a child who is disabled and often not able to learn at the same ability of his/her peers. Families first of all have to be faced with the financial burden which the families needs to go through to make sure that the child receives the best care that is possible. A family needs to make sure that their child receives the best education that they can and if that means spending the extra dollar on a better school for their child who may need special attention. As well as spending more on the child's education, the cost of medical bills and medicine may take a role on the education that their children receive. They may have to attend a public school as opposed to a public school where they could possibly receive more attention if money is an issue.

Families also need to become more involved in the schooling of their child. According to the textbook, "Involving and supporting families is likely to be a more powerful intervention than one that focuses exclusively on the child." In other words, if a family is more directly involved in the schooling of their child, the child is more likely to do better in school.

How do parents and siblings respond to the presence of a child with disabilities in the family?

A family will try its best to include the child with special needs and consider them one of the family. Despite this often the siblings feel a sense of not being loved as much as the child with special needs often feels. They sometimes may feel like the child with special needs is the center of attention. Although that is often the case, it is not always. From seeing this myself, I can say that although most of the attention may be centered around the one with the most needs, the siblings are not ignored and are included as much into daily family life as one another.
What I also found was that the parents of children with special needs can suffer from them. In a study I saw that sometimes having a child with special needs can create psychiatric and psychological problems for the parents in the future.