Reflection 9

Reflection 9

This week, it was very interesting learning in SPED310, I realized when we were talking about disabilities that even though we all have flaws and imperfections, we can all create. I thought that it was so amazing when I was watching this video about how we all have an ability to create and contribute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJC1sRJ8F0Q

I realized when we were talking about adaptations and changing the classroom, that we can always help those that have disabilities and that those disabilities don't have to define them! Most of the time it is the teacher that needs to change her thought process and way of teaching. I have noticed that most teachers get stuck in a rut of teaching and don't switch up their teaching methods because they get use to teaching a certain way. I think that any student has an ability to learn.Teachers need to help adapt their classroom so that the student can create and grow.

I think that teachers also need to get out of their comfort zone to get to know the families of their students. This is beneficial to help get more personal with students so you can better meet their needs. Every student has needs that need attention. I think that it is important to know students so they are more open and willing to learn. I loved how at the beginning of the semester we learned everyone's names and Brother Cloward knew our name. That helped in the learning process and making it easier to talk in class because it was more on a personal level.

We also had a presentation on traumatic head injury. I thought that was interesting because we learned about how the brain functions and how it really makes a difference. I realized that our brain is very important and if we injury ourselves, we need to seek help.

Damages to the brain-
Frontal- Socialization
Parietal- language verbal memory
Occipital- visual ability
Temporal- hearing

Lesson Week 8

This week I learned about children and their needs. After having a group discussion, I realized that teachers really are key to the growth and success of the child. I think that teachers make all the difference in the classroom. I enjoyed reading those case studies of the different teachers and seeing how they acted towards children. I was the science teacher that was teaching the older sixth graders but got bumped down to the second graders. I still held a super high expectation in my class even though they are a younger grade. I think that teachers that have these mind sets, might have good intentions but will ultimately harm the children in their ways of growing because they don't allow room for error. No one is perfect and everyone can make mistakes. I think this week was really helpful in putting myself into perspective, I realized that I need to be the best teacher I can be for the children I teach!

Reflection Lesson 7

This week in Sped 310, I thought it was interesting to talk to about diagnosing children and finding symptoms that they had. I really enjoyed the group's presentation on ADHD and how children are affected by having this disability. My heart was wrenching when we watched the video about the little girl who had ADHD and had no friends in school and didn't have confidence about herself. I think that it is very interesting to see how children's mind sets can change even when they are so young. I was so surprised how she viewed her home life, and  school life, so much differently compared to the other boy. I just wanted to take her and hug her and tell her everything was going to be alright. I really enjoyed talking about the different ways for teachers to test. I realized in class that teachers could make tests more individualized for the students but that takes a lot more work on their part and can be a difficult long process.  By having tests that are more individualized it can help students to think in different ways. I love the picture this picture.....


I realized that many schools test children all the same but don't realize that children have all types of abilities that cannot be shown in the same way. I think this is important to keep in mind.

Sped 310 lesson 6

SPED 310

This week was very interesting in class. I think that the legal aspect of this class can be very complicated. I never realized that there were so many situations that can change how you view a case. I loved being able to have the colored slips of paper with the cases on them. We were able to lay them out on the floor and it really helped me to have a visual aid.

I loved the presentation today about "Hard of Hearing", The group did a wonderful group in how they talked about the topic. I think that people who are hard of hearing, they need to have exposure to deaf culture and hearing culture. I have had so much experience with the deaf culture that I realized how different it is. In high school, I took a Sign Language class for 4 years. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to take this class. It stood out compared to other classes because my teacher was deaf. I realized that sign language is like dancing with your hands. There is a fluency and rhythm. I grew up dancing my whole life and so once I started learning Sign Language very quickly. My teacher noticed how well i was doing compared to the class and she took me under her wing and helped me to grow to my potential. By my last year, I started interpreting for her and helped aid students in class. There is a special place in my heart for the deaf community and sign language!

Lesson 4 and 5 Lesson Reflection

This last week was very intense. I loved playing the role of the attorney for the families and talking about the Cedar Rapids case. I realized how cases can be confusing and it can be hard to choose a side. When we were stating facts about the Cedar Rapids case I thought that I just agreed with the parents because of allowing children to have free public education. I think it is important to have children be able to have education no matter what condition they are in. But as we began talking about it, I thought it was hard to decide on if the school really had to pay for the nurse because it was under medical assistance . I think that it is important to have schools help children when it has to deal with education but on the other hand, where do we draw the line? How do we know when it is best to have schools provide something under IDEA or have the parents be in charge of taking care of that student. I could see the view point of the school and almost sided with them that because they are responsible for that student and their health then they need to get the best for them so the school isn't sued for death. The school needs to get the best but at the same time, it is too expensive. I think that it can be hard to turn away some children while others aren't. I understand why they have the laws in place that are there because if they didn't, they wouldn't be able to decide who gets what privileges and treatments.
I liked also being involved in the group presentation and being able to do those activities, they were very interesting to participate in and really made me think about how kids with disabilities feel and that there is a wide range of disabilities that someone can have. It is good to be able to put yourself in someone else's shoes to understand how they feel. We cannot just have sympathy for someone. We need to have empathy for them as well. We have to experience for ourselves what they feel like so we can understand. it can make a huge difference in how we treat someone if we ourselves go through it too.

Children

This week I learned so much about children with disabilities. After watching the videos for class, my heart was broken. It was really hard to watch how people were treated just because they weren't fully understood. I think that it is so crazy for this time period of unfairness to only occur a couple of decades ago. I know that we have come a long way in research and understanding, but it still seems like we treated those people so primitively not so long ago.I think by looking back on the past, we can help drive our future.
I also learned this week how we can use different teaching methods to help our classrooms and to change the way our students learn. I think there some great methods like, team teaching and alternative teaching so that it can help those students that are struggling. I know as a student, I struggled in school at times and I loved breaking off into groups to learn more and bounce ideas off one another. It was helpful for me to see a peer's perspective that is my age, instead of trying to understand my teacher's way of thinking.

Week 2 SPED310 response

This week I really liked doing the vote with feet. I think it was a great way to address the different principles that we talked about it in an interesting and new way. I think that it was fun to be able to walk around to each corner of the room and choose what we felt on the subject. I think there can be every side to a story but it was nice to voice our opinions and be able to debate in a friendly way. I think that it is nice to also see all different perspectives even if one is more favorable. The activity was very helpful to voice our opinions and talk to our neighbors that were by us. It definitely was helpful when the tough questions came up. I know that it is nice to talk about hard subjects because you can bounce ideas off of each other.

I realized that as we were going over certain topics, I had a lot more opinion and say then I thought I would. I realized I had done more work with students with disabilities then I had imagined. I know that at first i was a little unsure of myself. But after reading the questions, I noticed that I had been exposed to a lot more stuff then I knew.

When I was in high school, I was a teachers aid and helped with students that had disabilities. I loved working in that class because I really grew a love for these children. I understood them and knew them very well. I thought it was a great experience for me and taught me patience and love. I think that it helped me to be more aware of other peoples situations as well. I can't wait for this class to unfold, to learn more and grow!!