EDN319--Blog 2

Fat City Video

• What was your reaction to the video? What part of the video impacted you the most and why?

          The first thing I noticed at the start of the video is that he uses the words "learning disabled child", and even "mentally retarded". However, I can tell the video is dated before these terms were considered politically incorrect or offensive. That's not really the point, but it stuck out to me because of last module's discussion. Even though the adults were in a "learning workshop", you could tell from their faces, the one being called on was not amused, but everyone else was. I was surprised about seeing their reactions. These were mostly professional adults, aware they were participating in some type of learning demonstration, but even under these circumstances, you could tell the discomfort on their faces was genuine. If being called out like that on the spot has that kind of effect on adults without learning disabilities, imagine the effect on a child. I know when I was in school this was common place, if the teacher thought someone wasn't paying attention, their name would be called next. In my daughter's classrooms, and in classes I have observed, I have seen this happen in some classrooms, but not in most, as was the case in my school days. Hopefully teachers are being educated this is not beneficial to students, causes them embarrassment, and sometimes emotional issues. I have known this is not the way to teach a student with disabilities, or any student at all for that matter. Embarrassing a student in front of their peers, for not paying attention, or as a form of punishment is something I really dislike. I read a story in the paper about some parent making her kid wear a sign. I thought to myself, no matter what a child does, what kind of parent or teacher thinks giving other people reasons to ridicule a child can be beneficial in any way. 

• Describe 3 points that Dr. Lavoie made that were new to you or provided a good reminder.

1. Never "blame" the child, they are not intentionally struggling in school just to give teacher difficulties. Many children with disabilities are labeled as being "lazy" by teachers and often parents too, who feel their child is just unwilling to do their work. When a teacher or parent uses sarcasm directed at a child with disabilities, saying things like "hey are you deaf?", this does not help children, it just creates victims. In fact often comments like these, especially in front of other students, can have a negative impact on this student for a very long time and stay in their mind even into adulthood.
2. Putting a child with disabilities "on the spot" in class, asking a question when they seem to not be paying attention, is really not very beneficial for their learning. In fact, they may even know the correct answer, but the anxiety of being caught off guard in front of the entire class prevents them from being able to answer correctly. - 
3. Oftentimes, the biggest difference in learning, for students with learning disabilities versus students without learning disabilities, is in language processing times. When a student without disabilities is asked a question, they are immediately processing an answer to the question. However, a student with learning disabilities may have to process the question just asked before even thinking about an answer. This does not mean their intelligence is inferior, just their brain processes information differently, so they may need more time to form an answer.--I was not aware of the reasons that cause a student to have "learning disabilities", which really are not actually "disabilities", just differences in mental processes needed for learning. 

• Identify at least 3 strategies that you, as a teacher, can implement in your future classroom for students who experience frustration, anxiety, and tension.   

1. I will allow students with disabilities more time to complete class work and test. Wait an extra minute before calling on raised hands, giving these students more time to consider their answers, and raise their hands too. If their hand is not up do not call on them. 

2. I will be considerate of all the diverse learning styles and processing speeds of my students. I will try to make learning more personal and focused on the individual student. Even though I will be planning lessons to teach the entire class, I will make adjustments on individual student's learning plans to best suit them.  I will be willing to demonstrate a lesson in a variety of different ways, as many as I need to make sure all students understand. If some of my students are struggling, or even one student is struggling, I will need to find another way to teach it to those students. 

3. I will demonstrate an optimistic attitude towards all of my student's learning, showing them I believe in their abilities. This kind of attitude will build their self esteem, not destroy it. Correcting student's wrong answers must be done tactfully, not emphasizing that they are wrong, but showing them how to get the correct answer. Usually after showing them the way to get the correct answer, they will change their previous answer without teacher having to say they were wrong.   

Misunderstood Minds

• Did the simulations help you better understand a disability in each of the areas? How?

Yes, they did help me better understand disabilities. I do not have any disabilities myself, so even though I truly want to help students with disabilities, I can't say I know what they're going through. The visual one made me dizzy, and it was impossible to read the passage. Even though I got last 2 questions right, I guessed the most logical answer on number 2, I didn't remember it from the reading. On number 3, I never got to reading that part of the passage either, but in between the screen going in and out, I saw the word "hill" somewhere in the passage. The auditory video really got on my nerves too, especially when the speaker continued on even though everyone was talking. I made it to the 3rd step, after that I missed several steps until the last two after teacher "quieted class", and by that time it was too late. I was not able to focus on math problems long enough to work through them, or write them down. 

• As you were going through the simulations, were there things you wished you had (e.g., more time) or that you could do (e.g., refer to your notes) that would help you? If so, what were they?

During the visual simulation, I wished I had more time to actually read the passage before the screen would start blinking. At the end, when the screen was white, I sat a few seconds expecting it to flash back on screen. In the auditory test I just wanted everyone to be quiet so I could hear the teacher. I also wished the teacher would have slowed down, and repeated the steps I missed when everyone was talking. She knew they were all being loud, that's why she quieted the class. She should have repeated it for those that couldn't hear over their rude classmates. In the attention simulation, I just wanted to be able to write the problems down and work through them, but I was not able to. 

• Given what you this week and your participation in the activities, list and describe at least four supports or accommodations you could provide to students in your classroom who have difficulties with learning, motivation, attention, and/or memory. 

1. Learning-- Using visual supporters has been proven especially helpful when working with young children with disabilities, in particular those with autism spectrum disorder. Children with autism often "think in pictures", and many children with other disabilities are visual learners as well. Commonly used visual aids are real objects (tangible things they can relate to material), photographs, line drawing programs, charts, and maps. 

2. Attention-- A tip for helping children with learning disabilities improve reading and keep their interest, is allowing them to seek out books they are interested in. Whether it is sports, fashion, or a favorite animal, making time for children to read books they truly want to read, is a great way to keep children with a short attention span engaged. Of course they will pay attention and stay on task if they are reading about something they want to know about. Also, keep an open mind on reading materials, it doesn't necessarily need to be a book, to keep children's attention. Reading is every where, in magazines, advertisements, even the school lunch menu. 

3. Memory-- A great way to help children with memory disabilities is to provide them with flashcards on everything. From multiplication tables to vocabulary words,  practicing with flashcards is a great strategy for memorization. 

4. Motivation-- A great way to help children stay motivated to continue learning is by using positive motivators. Successful completion of work, staying on task, and doing one's best should be rewarded. Some rewards may include letting children grab a "prize" from the surprise box, which probably contains small little things kids love, or perhaps the students could choose their own classroom chore that day, instead of being assigned. The reward may be a something fun for the entire class like and ice cream party. Of course larger rewards are now earned in a day, but after several days or maybe even weeks. 

• What effect does your participation in these simulations have on you as a future teacher?

As I said before, I don't have any disabilities myself, so even with my heart in the right place, I can't truly understand what it is like to have disabilities. These short activities provided some insight into what that would be like. If I had experienced any of those disabilities in real life, I would have a lot of trouble in school myself 

3. Visual supports assist students with Autism in various situations and settings, and there are many different kinds of visual supports to aide in many different situations
   

Flash Cards- Using flashcards is a great strategy for helping children with autism especially those with communication and language problems. Flash cards teach new vocabulary, and expand communication for students with autism. These cards could be used for vocabulary/spelling words of the week, practicing addition and subtraction, and even communication. Students with autism can benefit greatly from using flash cards. Expanding their vocabulary, seeing a visual representation of words they may not have comprehended otherwise, and just increasing their means of communication are some of the many benefits. Interesting pictures on the cards make cards more fun for children, helping them stay engaged and on task. Flash cards are often used by students without disabilities as well, on a variety of topics. They are especially helpful for studying words, or any material that just needs to be memorized. In my last required college English course, I myself used flash cards as an adult to ensure I would remember vocabulary words.