Journal 12

It's important to remember to remain calm when you are frustrated with a child that is having difficulty. When you're upset, they sense that, and then they get stressed. As stated in ch 12, "Behavior is a concern for all teachers. Whether you teach 5-year-olds in a kindergarten class or 17-year-olds in 11th-grade English, the environment you create in your classroom affects whether students' inappropriate behaviors escalate or improve, and your response to such behaviors significantly influences students' learning."

Some ways you can help prevent this are:

• communicate well with students
• use effective teaching methods
• foster positive student interactions

Schoolwide strategies stated in the book are:

• use a soft voice at all times
• ask for assistance is something is spilled or dropped
• remove all trays and dispose of all trash when you are finished eating.

I also believe a big thing for teachers is to let the students know that you want to help, that you're on their side. If they feel they have created that trust with you, it's easier for the two (or more) of you to find a solution to whatever problem is present.

Journal 11

no entry required

Journal 10

If I remember correctly, this was the week that we got into groups and picked something to teach another group. We decided that we would teach sewing with a needle and thread, and then decided who would teach what part, and what order we would go, making sure we knew who was next. My part was teaching the actual sewing part. I was thankful that my mother taught me this, because that enabled me to do it. It was really fun teaching, and the other group seemed to enjoy it as well.

Journal 9

In part of this lesson, we learned about different co-teaching strategies. They were as follows:

• one teach, one observe
• one teaches, the other observes how the students are doing and paying attention
• one teach, one assist
• one teaches, the other assists as the lesson goes along
• station teaching
• divides class into groups, each spending a certain amount of time at each
• parallel teaching
• each teacher takes half the class presenting same material to all using same teaching strategy
• supplemental teaching
• one teacher works with those at level, other works with those who need more instruction
• alternative teaching
• different teaching methods resulting in same result with all students
• team teaching
• both teachers involved in teaching without one overpowering the other

I liked learning about these because you can see the different styles, and thus helping you decide what works for you if you teach with another person in the same class. They should also remember that they can alter throughout time as long as it benefits the students. One strategy may work for one subject, but not for another, so it's important that the teachers quickly pick up on what strategy to use for what subject.

Journal 8

In ch 8 we got a different direction with children. "This chapter is about students who are not necessarily eligible for special education whose learning is at risk and whose success often depends on the quality of the instruction they receive and the care provided by general education teachers." The intro in the chapter continues with 4 reasons why they are included:

1. students with certain needs (i.e. ADHD, language barriers, poverty, child abuse) benefit greatly from similar strategies as used on those with special education needs
2. recognize you'll teach students with diverse needs resulting from diverse causes
3. realize special ed is more than help and is reserved for certain groups
4. not all special ed teachers are responsible for meeting needs for all students

It's important to reach out to all children. There are many kids who have struggles in life, but that doesn't always mean they have a disability. Part of it can be due to personality and characteristic attributes. Just because a child shows struggle doesn't mean they should be referred to special education. You have to look below the surface to see what really is going on.

Journal 7

This week had to deal with Ch 7 which was about high-incidence disabilities. There are three categories"

• Learning disabilities
• Emotional disturbances
• Speech/language impairments

One of these includes ADHD, which I presented with a group in class. I specifically signed up for this one because my older brother has it, so i had personal experience and prior knowledge to it what would benefit teaching the lesson. Luckily he was agreeable to me talking about him, and with the information i gathered from him and my parents was so helpful. Getting life experience directly from someone and not just reading it from the book was so much better. I liked teaching with everyone, and I liked talking about my brother. I have learned for myself that children with this don't have problems with learning, but with paying attention. My brother is incredibly smart and is classified as "genius" due to his IQ level, so I know there's nothing wrong with that. As long as teachers find ways to get the children interested in paying attention and falling in love with that whey're learning, that is so amazing.

1. How do you feel about your lesson delivery and why? Was it effective, why or why not?
• I felt it went very well. We all knew what we were going to talk about and how we were going to present it.
2. What evidence do you have (while delivering your lesson) of effective student engagement?
• People were paying attention, and when we did the video and asked questions on it, they responded, and even voiced when they weren't sure about the correct answer.
3. If you were to teach this lesson by yourself, not in a group, what would you change and why?
• Instead of just talking about it and talking about someone who has it, I would like to bring someone in and talk about what it's like, that way the students can ask more questions that we wouldn't have answers for.
4. What could have been an area of improvement in your teaching?
• I don't exactly remember, but maybe asking more questions, finding out what they know, and maybe even if they've seen this in their own lives what it was like.
5. Based on the criteria for the “Teaching Experience” on our syllabus, would you give your group a 0, 5 or a 10?  Why?  AND would you give yourself a 0, 5 or a 10?  Why?
• It's hard to say, but I would think probably an 8 for the group, and maybe at least an 8 or 9 for me. I did a lot of work getting personal information and looking up additional research to as to decide what would be the best stuff to present.

Journal 6

In this week, we learned what low-incidence disabilities are. They include but are not limited to:

• hearing impairments
• orthopedic impairments
• visual impairments
• autism
• deafness
• blindness
• traumatic brain injury
• developmental delay.

When working with kids with these disabilities, you automatically notice their differences. You can then apply what we learned from the previous week-assessing and analyzing their needs. With this you can find what best fits their needs. But be aware that two children have the same disability, but they may handle it differently, and some characteristics may be more dominant in one than in the other. You want to understand what each individual child needs, and go from there.

Journal 5

Ch. 4 and 5 were our readings for this lesson, and they talked about assessing the child's needs and  planning instructions by analyzing classroom and student needs.

Ch 4 says that it explores "assessment strategies that help general education teachers contribute to the process of decision making for students with special needs. This process involves determining whether a student needs special education services; when a student is ready to learn in inclusive settings; when an alternative to state testing in required; and what classroom accommodations and modifications to try, continue to use, or change. The assessment strategies described are also helpful if your school is implementing Rtl." (pg. 104) Once you assess the child, it's a lot easier to figure out what they can be eligible for and what else you can provide so as to assure they're getting their needs met.

Ch. 5 "introduces you to a systematic approach for helping all students with special needs gain access to the general education curriculum, a requirement of [IDEA]. Part of that approach is for you to be the best teacher you can be so that fewer of your students require individualized instruction in the first pace." If the teacher is willing to work hard to make a difference in their classroom, that is the least they can do. Having a desire is one of the best things. Without that, what is the point to wanting to be better?

Journal 4

Ch. 3 in out textbook had to do with building partnerships through collaboration.

You can only have true collaboration when all members feel their input is valued, the goal is clear to each other, they share decision making, and they can tell they're being respected. This is important when working to meet a child's needs when they need assistance for anything.

There are many ways to collaborate in the class, and one is having two teachers in one class working a team. There are many different styles the teachers could use, but they have to work together and assess the students' needs to see which ones will work the best, because just like each child is different, each class is different.

Though with this, collaboration is important in the classroom, it's also a good strategy to use in many places outside thus. once you develop it, it becomes a habit and it's helpful no matter where you are.

Journal 3

In this week, we were introduced to many court cases that we would study throughout the semester, but the one we particularly looked at was the Cedar Rapids case.

IDEA was enacted in part "to assure that all children with disabilities have available to them . . . a free appropriate public education which emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs." The child, Garrett, couldn't attend his school until the proper resources were available to him to meet his needs. The district thought they weren't required to provide "continuous one-on-one nursing services." In the end, it was ruled that the district needed to fun "related services" to students like Garrett who are integrated into the public school.

I couldn't believe that the district didn't feel responsible for doing this, thus leaving it to the parents. The students are in the school's care while they are away from home, and this means the school is responsible for providing the necessary needs.

Journal 2

When watching the video of the Serbia institution and seeing all the people in there, I was horrified. I couldn't believe that they weren't caring for the children there, and they were left to grow dis-formed and not have any physical attention from people. It was heartbreaking. These people need the attention and care they deserve. It's sad that their parents didn't want anything to do with them and/or try to help them. Ans maybe that's not completely their fault as well. But if a parent wants to raise their children no matter what, they should be able to. Plus, getting punished for something they can't control? That is not okay under any circumstance. These people were deprived of the care and attention that is so beneficial to their development. Even if they couldn't communicate well, they deserved way much more than they had. If I were in a position where I was involved in things like this, I would punish the people who own and run places like this, because they are not doing the right thing. I would also do what Dateline did and make it aware to the world what is happening, because nobody deserve to go through this, no matter their situation.


Elder Gene R. Cook, former member of the Seventy, said, “The major role of a teacher is to prepare the way so that the [students] will have a spiritual experience with the Lord. … All true gospel teaching is done by the Holy Ghost. … We must be careful not to get in the way. … The most important thing a teacher can do is to help the student feel the Spirit of the Lord.”

What this means to me is that I can do my part as a teacher, parent, caretaker, etc., then rely on the Holy Ghost. We as adults can only do so much, and we have to let the Holy Ghost take care of the rest to help guide the children as they grow and make their own decision, and also to protect them from any danger.