11/15

 I now have new goals, and new motivation to be involved in the lives of students with moderate to severe disabilities. I originally thought that I did not have the skills or patience to make a difference but now I feel like I could work in a self-contained class and do just fine. I would prefer inclusion and think that most of these student would do fine in an inclusion setting but still I think I would do fine.

I learned that these students are much more capable then most notice. I feel like the integration of technology and the efforts from good teachers can help mold these students into successful citizens. The students all have skills and when they are noticed for these skills they are motivated to do well and to progress to new limits. Overall I just have a much brighter outlook on this group of students then before.

From my experiences with Mila I realized that there are so many tools that are not being utilized. I also learned that sometimes patience means keeping with a routine and not expecting immediate results, but instead appreciating the experience the student is receiving. I also saw how when Mila did well her overall outlook and levels of happiness improved. It is so important to keep the morale up in a classroom, every student should have a chance to show what they can do and be proud of their efforts.

My experiences in Mrs. Turners room were not the best, but I still learned. I think that some teachers are good in their own way, I feel that others are just burnt out or not willing to put in the same effort. I saw students in a room full of opportunities watching movies and goofing off when they could have been learning. I will make sure as a teacher that I will not make the same mistakes or become lazy. If I need to do testing to that level I will demand a sub, or design a lesson which allows students to learn from a movie that is related to the course content.

I have grown greatly from the hands on, one to one contact with the students. I have had chances to work with students who have talents unseen by the teachers. I have also made a realization that I am going to have to up the ante when I come in as a teacher. These teachers have their skills but they could be doing much more to increase the chances of success for their students.

Today I really went out to work on my outreach project and to see what is left for us to do. I decided to do this because Mrs. Turner was bringing the kids out to play basketball and to get ready for some tournament. I took turns playing a little with them and also looking at the project ahead of me. After taking some notes about the grounds I went back to playing basketball.

One student was amazing, he could shoot from almost anywhere on the court and land a shot. I hope so much that he can progress through school, improve his grades, and make it onto a college team. He was one talented young man.

This again relates to how we need to address transitioning to college also. These students do not even think they will ever have a job let alone go to college. In our class we discussed different programs that allow students even those with disabilities to get somewhat of a college experience. Also when looking up collaboration with the community for another class I saw how much of a difference painting the lines on the basketball court will make.

11/8

Today there was a substitute teacher in Mrs. Turners class. The class usually is horribly out of hand and Mrs. Turner said if we wanted to teach a lesson we could when she was gone. We went in prepared to take lead when we noticed something was off. I was shocked. Every student was at their desk, they were paying attention and studying. The sub was in the front of the room leading a lesson while the para was grading papers. I went up to the sub and had to tell her she had amazing classroom management skills. I found out that she used to teach special education and was just subbing for something to do. She said that they were going to play some bingo, but to get the squares to cover up letters they had to behave well and answer questions. She had also brought a bag of candy that she was giving out if they won the bingo. We took control and let her have a break. We led the bingo, took note of the words and checked that the students were all participating. It went very well and they seemed like different kids to me all together.

I learned that some people are just naturally good teachers. This substitute was calm, organized and had tools that the normal teacher did not seem to posses. I also learned that my classmates were amazing. In the program we rarely get to see each other teach. Seeing them go up and take control was great, I really enjoy seeing others in front of the room, especially my friends.

I noticed that there is rarely any talk about transitioning. In Dr. Reeds course we have talked so much on how important it is to start teaching life/job skills in the middle grades. Mrs. Turners students are more than capable to enter the job force when they are older, many I believe could go to college and beyond. If we could just convince the teachers to realize we are not just teaching for them to pass the class, but for them to pass at life it would be amazing. In the Raymonds room book we had an assignment related to thinking up careers for students with disabilities. It got me thinking about how much these students could already be learning towards making their dream career come true.

10/25

Today i was in Mrs. Turners room. When I first went in I thought to myself "Where is Mrs. Turner", but soon realized that she was doing some testing in the tiny closet that the class keep supplies in. The students were watching a movie "Ice Age", which seemed like a waste of time. I tried to work one on one with some students and ended up pulling out Jarone and trying to review to vocabulary words with him. Next thing I knew it the clock said it was time to head back.

I learned that some teachers do not plan well around testing, it is not fair to the other students in the class when they are just placed to watch a movie. The movie did not even have activities accompanying it nor was it relevant to the science topic they were working on. Pulling one student out made me feel a little better, but seeing the teacher testing, the para watching the movie and the students just goofing off bothered me a little. My field II placement is at Mattie V. Rutherford and I am used to dealing with students in this age bracket. I still learned that when a classroom has poor management the students learn quickly what they can get away with.

I did some science review I felt that they did not cover the unit like they should have. It was simply five vocabulary words, and the test was 5 fill in the blanks with a word bank. I learned in class that we need to incorporate teaching of life skills and if we would have used this time to work on those skills it would have had a much bigger benefit then to be working on 5 words that the students have already went over many times. When reading through journals about the students who were behind it was saying that the further behind they fall the harder it is for them to catch up. The rate of catching back up isn't always linear, it also makes all of what they are learning in new classes irrelevant because they can no grasp the topics not knowing about the materials the missed.

10/18

Today the students had choice time of sorts and had to work on the computers. Once again I decided to work with Mila because she knows me and I have been working well with her. When Mila got on the computer I immediately notices that she was having difficulties moving the mouse. We started a program that had the alphabet and it would have different games associated with each letter. When playing the game I would help Mila move the mouse and she was getting all of the answer correct, almost like she had played it before or that it was too easy. I went to the next level up and she still seemed to get them correct. One thing that I noticed is that she was touching the screen on the monitor a lot, she was able to pinpoint what she wanted to answer way easier than she could do using the mouse. This makes me think of my research on the IPad, I wish I had one to try with her.

I Learned that sometimes students may know more then they are demonstrating but it is only due to other limitation such as the ability to use a mouse and keyboard. If Mila had a tablet device for her elementary year for all we know she might be at grade level in some topics. I also noticed a different side of Mila today, the more she got right the calmer and more willing to move through the lesson she was. Unlike trying to use scissors where she got frustrated, this just seemed to motivate her.

Just like the class and my research said the use of tablets for students with autism or other disabilities could be very effective. The help with communication skills, if the student can not communicate with you they can not tell you the answers to questions and they also can not tell you there needs. In the article I just read the young man progressed 1 whole year in a one month period using tablets. That means that in a few months Mila might be able to read. People underestimate these students so much.

10/11

Hard time with Mila, but made progress by doing as we suggested. We were still trying to work with her to be able to cut with scissors. This time the teacher has a pair with a larger thumb hole and she was using the same ones over and over instead of trying different ones. Also instead of having her cut things for no reason which could be frustrating she was cutting through just play-doh with the goal of filling up the bin with materials she cut. We worked with her the whole time and I felt like we were actually making progress which motivated me to want to keep working with her. After about 30 mintues we ended up going outside where Mila bee-lined to the playground at the elementary school. The paraprofessional ran after her and was able to return her without any issues. While outside I saw a student climb under a portable to get a basketball, when he came out he was covered with thorns, I spent about 30 minutes pulling them off of him...I wish we could do something about the mess out here. I hope our outreach goes well!

I was more comfortable and more willing to express my ideas this week. I felt like I had more patience, but it might have just been less caffeine. In the future with my students I will make sure to have a real goal when having them do a task. It does not makes sense to just cut lines in paper or cut play-doh in half just have somebody combine it back into one piece. Another thing I learned was that when one ofyour students takes off, it really is a big deal because the para ran at top pace after Mila. Ms. Calls class is getting a little crowded it seems like there are more teachers than student in there and I can tell that it is making some of the students uncomfortable. I hope next week we can work outside of that room. 

I can tell that Mila has an issue with sensory needs. It seems like she is over stimulated by the smallest touch but loves to lightly itch herself and wring her hands. In class and the book we were talking about the sensory needs of students. As a reflection to the topic out group for our outreach project were talking about making a sandbox but one that is designed better for middle school aged students.It is important that sensory needs are met or else the students may not be able to reach their highest potential. Also, in the article I am reviewing about using tablets/IPads as educational tools they mention that some students just do not feel comfortable using mouses, pencils, or keyboards. It seems like this might be the thing with Mila, next week I want to try to get her on the computer to test some things out. While researching for our outreach/cleanup we were finding a lot of evidence that the environment the students are in plays a large role in their learning. I saw that first hand today and hope that we can make a real change out here in November. 

9/27

Today I learned a lot. Just like I was worried about I am still afraid I wont have enough patience to work with students with moderate to sever disabilities. I enjoyed the classes today but did not feel like I did as much as I could. I guess I am going to realize that not everything can be taught in one sitting. Today I worked with a girl named Mila, Mila is a student in the autism spectrum. We were trying to teacher her how to use scissors and every time she would go to cut she would either slide her fingers out, move her hand, or just give up. The teacher in the room was being less patient then I was, instead of letting her master one medium to cut, or using one set of scissors she was constantly bombarding us with new tools. First we were trying to cut play-doh, then it was paper, then it was bigger scissors, then smaller...I could only image what Mila was thinking.

I wish that I told the para what I was thinking and we could try one pair of scissors and one thing to cut for long enough to make a difference. I also wish that I could understand Mila's needs more. I could not tell if she was happy with her progress, or if she was even enjoying the activity. I have a lot to learn.

In the previous class we were talking about comprehension. It is hard for me because I am not skilled enough to assess if Mila is or is not comprehending anything we are teaching. I know she is not completing the task she is given, but is she at least getting something from it. I was trying to check for understanding like we learned in class, but how? The book for the course mentioned applying scaffolding, and with a task like that I was assuming it meant to help her move her hand in a way to do a cutting action. This just made Mila upset and she wanted to stop trying. The book also mentioned collaborative learning groups promote learning, maybe next week we will see if we can get a few students to practice cutting with her.

First Post

My initial feelings were a mix of excitement and a little fear. I know from my experiences in my previous courses that I was not the most patient person. I feel that my patience maybe tested. I have worked with students who are considered severe to moderate but do not feel like I have really connected with them. I am hoping that this opportunity helps me become more comfortable and teaches me ways to form relationships with the students I work with.



I feel like I already know quite a bit when it comes to the book-smart perspective of students with severe disabilities. When it comes to actual hands on experience I am definitely new to the field. I understand that it is more important to know your student and their specific needs. I also understand that there are accommodation that must be met by law, and that it is my responsibility to make sure that these students reach their goals and are successful as possible in their academic careers and beyond.



I plan to learn how different tools such as technology can help students with severe disabilities. I would also like to learn how teachers structure their classes with students who have such different learning styles and such different needs. I will also learn to be more patient and put more time into really watching and learning from the student so I can address their specific needs, and even maybe discover something about their learning that acts as a bridge to more difficult content.



There are so many things you can learn from actually working in the community, and in the field then you can from a book. I will learn to interact with the students, but also learn how to work with my fellow classmates, the teachers, on-site professors, and paraprofessionals. I plan to not only learn to work with them, but learn from their skills and tools of the trade. Overall I just want to be prepared for anything and be able to adapt to all situations.