Week 12: March 28-April 1

This week started off talking about Emotional Behavioral Disorders, specifically anxiety and depression. The best way to overcome phobias and fears is to face them and figure out how to relax on demand in those same situations that would normally trigger a bad response. Then, they are able to transfer that ability to a real-life situation in order to calm themselves down. There are a lot of phobias which some are learned and some are because of family and what they experienced. People sometimes have a predisposition to be anxious through genetics. We talked specifically about behavioral disorders. In the school-setting, there is a BIP, which stands for Behavioral Improvement Plan.

Our next lecture on Wednesday, we focused on assessments that are used with students who have:

• Learning Disabilities
• Intellectual Impairments
• Autism
• ADHD

As our group final, we are responsible to analyze a specific student via a case study that we have to help as an educator. The student we are reading about had Autism and as a group we're trying to figure out how to best help in the classroom setting. On Friday, we talked about how we are trying to change the lesson plan to be more accomodating to his special educational needs. As a group, we've learned the things we can improve from the Midterm and do a better job of splitting up the work among all 5 of us. 

Service Learning: Outside of Classroom Projects

5 SERVICE HOURS:

I happily served the clients at the Developmental Workshop locally here in Rexburg. It was an incredible opportunity to see first-hand people of all ages who have different learning and physical disabilities. Everyone was so kind and I felt very privileged to be among such special spirits.  The person in charge was saying how their recent objectives were being able to ask & answer basic questions. I was touched by their special spirits (hence my blog name)  and felt very humbled to be among their presence. It was interesting to see the wide range of emotions and ideas that were expressed. At one moment, a client would be laughing jovially and super happy...then the next, they would be crying about something that another client said.

LEARNING DISABILITY: (ORAL EXPRESSION)

Man this was tough. It was putting what I saw on the Fat City video into a real-life application because I couldn't formulate what I wanted to communicate until after people would already have moved unto something else. I wasn't as embarrassed as I thought I would be when I asked the server at the restaurant questions about the menu because I normally do anyway, just this time it was a bit harder to do without using the letters /l/ and /n/ in any of the words that I would normally use to communicate. Asking for help at the library was kinda awk cause of course they're all students that work there and I felt afraid of being judged or treated differently, but they were kind to what I was asking for help with.

VISUAL IMPAIRMENT:

I've had glasses/contacts since I was about 8 years old, so I definitely know what its like not being able to see very well and struggle to keep up with the material being taught in the classroom. However, wearing those eye masks was a lot harder than I originally thought. I mean MASSIVE massive headache and feeling really disoriented. But of course this experience opened my eyes (lol) and I feel immensely more grateful that I need a light prescription, rather than having permanent blindness. As a future teacher, I'll be very conscious and careful as to how I give instruction at the front of the classroom and avoid blocking anyone's eyesight.

ORTHOPEDIC IMPAIRMENT:

On Memorial Day of last year, I broke my ankle four wheeling and was in crutches for what seamed like foreeeever (sandlot status). So of course I assumed that going around temporarily in a wheelchair wouldn't be all that bad, because I previously lived with limited movement and mobility. haha but BOY was I wrong. It was much more challenging and difficult because I was legitimately only confined to the chair and I realized how much I currently take for granted when it comes to independence and being able to get around day-to-day. The only similarity that felt normal was relying on other's assistance and help with things that I really could not do on my own.

FLUENCY DISORDER:

This experience was by-far my least favorite because my brother really does have a speech impediment of stuttering and it hit too close to home because it felt as if I was imitating him...he was bullied all through school and when he recognizes that other people are paying more attention to what he lacks more than who he actually is, he becomes nervous and his stutter is worse. With that being said, I completed the experience the best I would in a way that didn't make me feel like I was poking fun at his daily life and the challenge he's had throughout his whole life. People looked at me a little differently and it was like putting my feet in his tough shoes and skin.

Week 11: March 21-25

I really appreciate the layout and organization that we had this week, it was intriguing and different. To start everything off, we learned about the various different types of assessments-specifically informal and formal assessments. On a scale on the whiteboard, we classified countless different types of assessments ranging from each of these two main classifications of test types. It was interesting to see which assessments we placed in the dead center of the scale, especially those that we as educators can make informal or formal, depending on which type of assessment would be more effective and beneficial for our students. The assessments that we placed in the middle were:

• Progress Reports
• Portfolios
• Self-evaluation
• Formative 

Of course, there are both strengths and weaknesses for each assessment. The most important thing to do is analyze the type of students are in your classroom, including: age, grade level, ability level, and learning disabilities present. Synthesizing all this data about the students is how teachers can determine which type of assessment is the most effective and productive.  

The group project that was presented taught us about Emotional Disturbance. It was fascinating to think of what a large umbrella this topic truly is, because it has so many different directions and topics. I appreciated learning more especially about depression and anxiety, because it runs in both sides of my family and I've always wanted to learn and understand more.

As a group, we were assigned to each create a rubric, then compile all of our efforts to a handout and powerpoint slide. I specifically created the rubric requirements for a Summary of Each Unit. I created standards that students had to reach for a score of 5, 3, and 1. Surprisingly, I noticed that it was more difficult than I thought to create specific statements of each achievement in order to know what score to give each student to avoid grading with a bias or strong opinion. 

VISUAL IMPAIRMENT GROUP REFLECTION

1. I feel like our lesson delivery went well because as a group we established goals and objectives, then individually planned our portion to meet those expectations. For my specific part, I think teaching about a real-life classroom situation was very effective because it allowed our peers to actually apply what the other stations discussed and put it to the test. I chose to design my station like this because a classroom simulation is the most helpful and useful for me to solidify the information that has been conveyed by my peers. I think teaching everyone about things to do and to avoid in a classroom environment is very effective because they will know how to assist students that are suffering with Visual Impairments.

2. The evidence I saw of effective student engagement, while I was delivering my lesson was when students were making comments about the things I did wrong during my purposefully bad model example of teaching. Through the things that they pointed out, I was able to identify that they were understanding what NOT to do. When we reversed roles and I had the students in each group come together as a collaborative group, they were very effective with re-designing the classroom to make it easier for students with visual impairments to learn in a formal classroom situation. Each student in every group was very engaged in how they could work together in order to help students that have visual impairments.

3. If I was teaching this same subject independently and not affiliated with a group, I honestly wouldn't change very much at all because I thought we did a wonderful job of teaching the many different aspects of visual impairments and made it virtually as interactive and hands-on as possible. For me personally, this is how I learn best and we decided as a group that we would teach the most important aspects about this disability and teach in a very realistic and effective way that would help everyone in our class know how to best help students with visual impairments in their future classroom environment.

4. There were several areas of improvement in my teaching, specifically:
-Writing an agenda on the white board so people could remember what came next
-Giving clearer directions
-Having a black white board marker ready to use
-Printing out and laminating specific instruction in a LARGE font to have as an example of what we can use to display curriculum information for our visually impaired students.

5. I would give our group the score of 10 because we first met as a group several weeks prior to when we had to present in order to assign everyone different parts of our project and what we wanted to accomplish. We collaborated very effectively because we communicated our mutual goals and made it happen!! I would also give myself a 10 because I adequately completed my portion of our group assignment and did my absolute best to provide our peers a valuable classroom simulation of what it would be like to have students that are suffering from visual impairments in their individual classrooms.

Week 10: March 14-18

We watched a "Fat City" video, which stands for Frustration Anxiety where a group of adults in the public educational setting felt what it would be like to have a learning disability. It was interesting to see the common things that we as adults do that are completely contrary to what would be helpful and effective in that situation. For example, when a teacher or parent is very frustrated at a child and reprimanding them for their misbehavior-the adults tend to demand that the children look at them, however that's the complete opposite of what they want to do in that situation. 

On Wednesday, we learned about:

-self-advocacy

-self-determination

-self-instruction

-self-monitoring

-self-questioning

We discussed the basic steps that are effective pattern of teaching:

1. Assess
2. Teach expectations
3. Demonstrate/model
4. Practice with them
5. Practice independently 
6. Assess 

Friday was my group presentation of Visual Impairments. The station I taught was a classroom simulation in which I gave a really horrible bad example in which my peers pointed out what was wrong and points to improve. Next, we switched roles and I had the group of students in my station come together as a collaborative team and make decisions about how to set up the classroom and teach ins such a way that would be more conducive to students with visual impairments. 

Week 9: March 7-11

This week we learned all about Differentiated Instruction in the classroom. Basically what this includes is meeting students' diverse needs by differentiating the content being taught, the process by which it is taught, and the ways students demonstrate what they have learned through products. There are several ways that we as teachers can use this instructional strategy in the classroom, namely through an instructional process, teaching subject-area content, and basic skills instruction.

To apply what we read previously in our preparation assignment, we broke into groups on Monday and figured out a specific skill that we were able to teach to another group-specifically teaching through differentiated instruction. After realizing what we would teach to our peers, we first gave them a pre-assessment which we used to learn what everyone in the group already knew about the subject we wanted to teach. My group decided to teach about how to do different hairstyles with various types of braids. Each person on my team had a specific braid that they were designated to teach and we were prepared to demonstrate. For our pre-assessment, we had each person in the other group that we were teaching do a self-evaluating on how well they could do the following braids: dutch, french, bangs into a side french braid, fish tail, and an up-do. Through the pre-assessment we knew the strengths and weaknesses of each person and which braid they were most proficient at doing. Roles switched and the group then gave us a similar self-evaluation about how well we could decorate cakes.

The following class period on Wednesday, we were taught by the other group how to do a specific cupcake design for the Easter holiday. They also used a powerpoint presentation to educate us on the various tools and instruments that bakers use for professional cake decorating. We each had a turn at doing the various steps and they were able to do a visual post-assessment of the skills that we learned. Afterwards, we had the opportunity of teaching them all about braids. We differentiated the way that we taught because it was obvious that some of the girls were much more skilled and confident in their abilities to braid, while the classic french braid was more of a challenge for others.

On Friday, we learned all about the different types of Intellectual Disabilities (Mental Retardation). As future educators, we focused on how we could help these students and focus on their strengths rather than their weaknesses. It was interesting learning about the different ways we could help them reach their academic goals and succeed in the classroom setting, even with this cognitive impairment.

Week 8: Feb 29-March 4

This week we focused about students that have special needs other than disabilities. In lecture, we talked about the differences between a 504 plan and an IEP through IDEA. This concept always confused me from when we first started learning about this at the beginning of the semester so it was very helpful to finally distinguish between everything and connecting all the dots. We also touched briefly on the rules with cyber bullying and harassment.When teachers are told or see first-hand students that are dealing with any kind of abuse: emotional, mental, or physical they are required by law to report it to the school psychologist and they take it further with the School Resource Officer. WE as teachers cannot be in trouble with reporting this as long as we are documenting EVERYTHING and are told first-hand, rather than by another student.

In lecture, we also explained the differences between UDL and UDA. Universal Design for Learning is preparing the curriculum before knowing the students. For example, building in advance ramps and other wheelchair accessible tools that is accessible to all, rather than having to change the building later.  Universal Design for Assessment is creating assessments that are available to all, focusing on what the target skill is and what the access skill is.

Regarding children's health, it has been proven that stimulation and extra nutrition is crucial for students to succeed. In addition, protective relationships and guidance helps students have greater resilience to challenges that always come in life.

The group presentation was about traumatic brain injury and orthopedic impairments. Typically, traumatic brain injuries are a result of an injury. There are 2 types of injuries: closed head and open head injuries. We talked about primary damage and secondary damage. Moral of the story with Spina bifita-take prenatals with Folic Acid BEFORE getting pregnant in order to avoid this growth on the spine or other location on the body.

Week 7: Feb 22-26

This week we focused on planning classroom instruction and learning according to the students needs. The way this can be accomplished is by using the INCLUDE strategy, which stands for:

I-Identify classroom demands
N-Note student learning strengths and needs
C-Check for potential areas of student success
L-Look for potential problem areas
U-Use information to brainstorm ways to differentiate instruction
D-Differentiate instruction
E-Evaluate student progress

Using these strategies, we can help students understand material in individualized and specialized ways because we are catering and specifying the curriculum to the way in which students can grasp the information to the best of their abilities. Personally, I think its all about focusing on the strengths and weaknesses that each student has and helping them improve their weak areas.

In some situations, universal design is the best method and in other circumstances, differentiated instruction is more effective because it allows the teacher to cater the curriculum to the individualized needs of the student. This often works more effectively because students are not left behind and are able to reach their academic goals.

Week 6: Feb 15-19

The chapter we read as preparation for class this week was all about using assessment results to make decisions regarding Special Education. It was interesting learning about what conclusions and inferences we can draw from the assessments that children take and what we can do for that information regarding additional services, modifications, and accommodations. 

There is only so much one can understand and grasp from reading about the subject, because one is envisioning things in their mind rather than seeing concrete objects and evidence. During class on Wednesday, we were able to see real-deal tools that are used for testing different learning disabilities that students may have. Some for spacial memory, others for hand movements, and it was fascinating seeing how the tools provided a measure to assess specific parts of the brain. Now I was able to connect the dots because after assessments are done, then its time to analyze that data and see what the student needs to succeed and reach their academic goals. 

The group presentation from this week was on hearing impairments. I didn't realize that there are different types of these impairments, that are associated with different parts and components of the ear. Regardless of what type of impairment, it's best to catch it early in order to prevent it getting worse. The activity was interesting because it gave us each a test taste of what it would be like to have a hearing impairment and how much they would need to rely on others to help them understand what other people are trying to communicate. 

Week 5: Feb 8-12

We started off the week learning about different Co-Teaching Models that can be used with classrooms that incorporate collaborate efforts. We learned about the different types, which include: 

1. one teach, one observe
2. one teach, one assist
3. station teaching
4. parallel teaching
5. supplemental teaching
6. alternative teaching
7. team teaching

It was interesting learning how to distinguish the differences between each and for which type of classroom each of these models would work better with. 

Reading about an IEP and actually doing a mock one was a lot different. As the Principal of the Elementary School of Esther Ramirez, I was responsible to introduce her mother to everyone at the meeting and make sure that she was fully aware of her rights and responsibilities as a parent of a Special Education student. While conducting the meeting, I tried to make Mrs. Ramirez feel very included and that her opinion was valued and important. However, afterwards I realized that it came across a little but of us versus her, and not as one big team all trying to help Esther. As a group, we talked about ways that we can help parents feel apart of the solution and avoid only focusing on the problem at hand. The chapter 3 reading in our textbook gave me a great background and preparation for understanding how a collaborative meeting is most effective and how to establish team goals all together which help everyone involved to feel shared accountability. 

The group presentation on Specified Learning Disabilities was insightful because the website understood.org allowed us to see first-hand what it would be like to have one of these disabilities. In addition, it provided resources and tools that are very useful with how parents can understand for themselves and talk to their children about the learning disability. As a future general education teacher, I realize the importance of giving parents the tools and resources that will help them not only understand it for themselves but also know how to best talk to their child with that specific learning disability. In addition, the special education teacher will also be able to describe these things in greater detail and know how to best help the child in a specific ways. 

Week 4: Feb 1-5

It's so interesting to be learning about the Special Education law and especially the actual application to real-life students and families in their unique circumstances. We had our mock trial on Monday and it was really unique because we each had different roles and we trying to convince the hearing officer to hear our point of view and agree with our side. I represented Garret's Mother, Mrs. Frey and got really into my character. I came to class prepared with the facts from the actual case and looked at a lot of information online to figure out what information I could present to our family's lawyer and how we could win our argument and case concerning my son's opportunity to receive a free and public education. The mock trial got intense, but it was a wonderful way that we each were able to apply what we have actually been learning from the readings and classroom discussions. It was a successful way to understand the laws themselves and how they are used to apply to real-life special education students and families.

The group presentation from this week was all about Speech and Language Impairments. It was fascinating being able to learn about the difference between the two and hear the audio of the Speech Language Pathologist and have more personal insights about how they help children in their professional career. I had a very high personal interest to this subject because my older brother has a stutter and I remember when our family went to a different part of the state during the summer for a special speech program to help him. He's had it since he was a little boy and my parents got him help early on and it has improved drastically. He's noticed that in moments of stress, exhaustion, or embarassment it's the worst. I respect him very much for not considering it as a weakness, but rather as a strength just like we read in Ether 12:27. 

Week 3: Jan 25-29

This week, we reviewed the 6 principles of IDEA which are:

1. F.A.P.E. (Free & appropriate public education)
2. Individualized education
3. Least restrictive environment
4. Non-discriminating evaluation
5. Due process
6. Zero reject or child find

It's interesting learning more about each specific part of IDEA, especially because we as teachers of course need to uphold these rights for special education students. The part that I think would be the most difficult and probably time-consuming is individualized education. However, this is where adapting and modifying comes into play. For example, instead of having students do 10 math problems, you could have students with special needs do 3 of their very best job thus they would still be challenged but not overwhelmed. 

An important court case that put FAPE to the test is the Mills case. This was a girl who was born to 2 deaf parents and they taught her how to read lips and communicate via sign language in order to do well in public educational settings amongst her peers. She worked hard and spent a long time at home with her parents going over homework to succeed in her class. Her parents knew the curriculum would get harder, so they wanted to get her a sign language interpreter. The interpreter said that the student wasn't using her, so the school stopped paying for it. The parents sued the school district to fight back to get the interpreter. It went to mediation, hearing, trial court, appeal court, and ultimately the Supreme court. The school district won the case because they don't HAVE to provide anything thats OVER appropriate education, since the student was at grade level and doing well. 

This further detailed that FAPE provides only what the child really NEEDS without cost to the family of the student with further needs. In addition, FAPE requires parent participation. 

We also learned more about Due Process through the Cedar Rapids case. At a younger age, this boy Garret became paralyzed from the waist down and thus needed a respirator in order to breather. The insurance money from the settlement of the accident was used in order to employ family members to take care of the boy and make sure he kept breathing through the night. However, when the insurance money ran out, the parents turned to the school to pay the cost of a nurse to be with him. 

Due process is needed when parents and schools don't agree. The ruling was that IDEA requires the school boards to provide full-time nursing services to students that with disabilities who need them during the school day. Next week, we will each take on the 5 major roles and do a mock trial court.

These are the 5 roles:

1. Hearing Officer
2. Parents
3. Superintendant 
4. Attorney for family
5. Attorney for school district 

We also further discussed Specially Designed Instruction (SDI), Related Services, Supplemental Aids and Supports (modifications and accommodations).

Least Restrictive Environment (LRE) is basically trying to keep the student in their regular class. However, here are the steps for helping students stream in the regular classroom:

regular class

regular class + push services

pull-put less than 40%

self-contained

special school

home-bound services 

Our group report taught about Developmental Delays which vary from mild to severe. Basically there are 5 areas that this can affect: 

1. cognition
2. communication
3. adaptive behavior
4. social/emotional
5. physical/motor 

In order to receive funding, the student must be mildly disabled in 2 areas or severely disabled in 1 area. 

The earlier the detection is, the better. It is more prevalent in males than females. Females need to be as healthy as possible while pregnant in order to help their child avoid these developmental delays. They mostly can be noted because a child is not reaching their milestone markers that they should be at their specific age of what should be expected. 

Week 2: Jan 18-22

On Wednesday, we learned all about the history and case studies which formed the background of Special Education rights with federal and state laws. It was saddening to know that people with special needs; both mental and physical were kept in institutions until people knew more about how to best help them. Through case laws and vital court cases, people with special needs earned rights-especially in the public educational settings. Through Section 504 and the Rehabilitation Act, students with mental and physical disabilities were identified as students that needed accommodations made in order to help them learn and understand the curriculum. In addition, 504 gave people the right to sue for punitive damages if teachers or schools were neglectful. The government realized that the more they helped students with special needs earlier in their lives, the more money they would save in the long run from not ending up in juvenile detention centers or prison. Prevention and remediation are key with helping people with special needs, both cognitive and physical delays. Response to Intervention is a strategy that we talked about with providing extra services to those that need it on the first tier. On the second tier, providing after-school help and tutors can help students who need more assistance. Intense interventions; such as an aid, special aid teacher, behavioral contract, parent involvement, written plan, and an informed parent consent are the actions for students on the third tier.

On Friday, we learned all the details of students with Autism from the small group presentation. We were broken up into 3 groups: characteristics, teaching these students, and management strategies.

Characteristics:

• repetitive behaviors 
• social interacitons
• communication
•  no known cause nor cure
• varying degrees and effects
• sometimes tantrums and behavioral seizures
• best to catch early b/c early help with treatments. could be less-severe.

Teaching these students:

• incorporate repetition
• get to know them personally, their "likes" and talents
• patience, ask for assistance
• small solutions, helping them to learn
• parent communication, do what they do, they are a great resource!
• Heavenly Father knows best how to help his children, follow the Holy Ghost

Management Strategies:

• focus more on the HOW, more than the WHAT
• establish academic goals, more social, go from where they are
• motivate! keep on-task, show care, love, and respect
• distractions and changes with daily routine can stress them out, so be careful and SLOWLY transition from one thing to another

Week 1: Jan 6-15

I really didn't know what to expect coming into this class and learning more about this specific subject. However, I've already learned so much since our first day of class. I love that we'll be learning about how to advocate for children's right with the law. I don't know very much about Special Education laws and their rights, so it'll be interesting to learn more in order to help fulfill their needs and reach their academic goals as a future educator.

On our second day, we learned a lot about how to not only be successful in this specific class but also for all of our classes through college. We learned about staying ahead of assignments and introducing ourselves to our professors. A really wonderful way to solidify information is to meet in study groups and immediately review information directly after class. Retention is crucial in order to build upon what we already know and store this information in our long-term memory. We also learned how to read material in a way that helps our minds summarize information and make sure that we truly understand the concepts. 

On Monday, we talked about the idea behind our concept maps and talked about our readings and what we learned from each. We identified that all our readings could be connected to Christ's Gospel and everything else was simply an extension of that. After our discussion of the readings, we had a "vote with your feet" activity that brought up many statements and we had to choose whether we agreed, strongly agreed, disagreed, or strongly disagreed. It was the first time that I have thought deeply about some of these issues and situations, so it was very interesting analyzing each example and forming my own personal opinion. 

On Wednesday, we began discussing our own personal teaching philosophies and the different components that should be included in these statements. A hot topic up for debate was the role of teachers vs. parents and what our expectations are for each other. It really got me thinking and I have concluded that we need to form a team between the two in order to help each student in an individual level. 

Friday we were able to share the rough drafts of our teaching philosophies and I was able to see new and fresh perspectives and points of view. It's wise to break up the philosophy in different sections like classroom management, assessment, teacher's role, and teaching methods. We also began discussing different court cases which really helped students with special needs having equal rights in the classroom and the different types of law.