Gloria

Gloria, This is your wiki page for our course. For 2/8/12 I am asking that you write a commentary on Culturally Responsive Instruction - How you might you apply these ideas in your classroom. Include considerations for students with disabilities. (300 words).

According to the textbook on page 68, cultural responsiveness refers to being a fair and effective educator making instruction compatible for all students and not disregarding the student as a whole. Meaning you should consider how a student thinks, his or her language or communication styles and their social status when developing a lesson plan for children with or without disabilities. I might apply these ideas by altering my lesson plans after getting to know my students and how they connect with what's being taught in the class. The text book gives theories about diversity (starting on page 68) that are practiced and used today to help bridge the gap between students whose families migrated to the United States and the American students but found that the migrating students still failed by large comparison. To prevent this from happening in my classroom, as I get to know the students, I'd incorporate the student's experiences within my mode of instruction which could help to engage the students within the lesson. For example, if I'm giving a lesson in Social Studies or Current Events instead of using the common scenerio of what I as an American may know, I'd use experiences from maybe the child with a disability and another foreign student to provide another outlook on the lesson. Allowing the other students to see the event through their view. Not only will the students learn a lesson but they would learn something about each other and how they could positively interact with one another. Culturally Responsive Instruction could be utilized as another method of differentiated instruction if properly used. This would help the students to not only learn about one another, but also others that they may not come into contact with. Children with disabilities would benefit from this because they could use this as a forum to demonstrate their thoughts or communitcate with others in ways that normally aren't available to them. This would give them a chance to be or play a more active role in the classroom instead of being one that's included in as an afterthought.

The topic in Chapter 5 that was of great interest to me was "Using Effective Instructional Strategies". This section explains to teachers how they can help with the development of language for students in early education programs and children in elementary through middle school. The students in early education programs use social skills to mainly develop their speech. As stated on page 169, there are several foundations that are based on, language interaction and intervention being the major tools. This gives the student plenty of opportunities to learn to communicate with others including their friends, teachers, and family members. I like this idea because it takes the stres off the student in trying to learn language in one particular way. That may make the student feel as though their not being understood when restrictions are given on how they can communicate with others. However, with in the class with elementary and middle school students, they use other learning diciplines aside from basic communication. They use graphic organizers wiich are tools used to assist students to comprehend and write more effectively (Turnbull, pg 169). These are visual aids that are tailored to the unit or speciality that the child is learning. It's made in a web type design connecting concepts. Teachers' assistance is sometimes needed to show a student how to enter the information in the begining, but with practice the student will hopefuly usi it to the best of their ability. Because of the graphic design of the organizers, I think when constructed properly, this too can be used to some degree with younger students to use their visual sences and help enable them to recognize and communicate verbally what they are seeing or experiencing.

Gloria, One of my best resources when I was teaching was a speech language specialist (sls). I learned so much from her about language development and facilitation to help my students further develop their language skills in the context of natural routines, conversations and activities across the day. As you noted, learning disabilities is a language based problem, and therefore, it is helpful to both general and special education teachers to have access to other professionals who can provide helpful strategies to promote language development. You also mention graphic organizers that can be used from preschool through college and beyond. There is a lot of research behind their use and we will explore these in class. I am glad to see your postings. Dr. OReilly

Feb 21, 2012 Chapter 8 Using Effective Instructional Strategies I found this section interesting because it gave examples of interventions to use for students with AD/HD and how to implement them. The problem I've encountered is the scenerios depicted in the book or discussed in class are so clean cut or ideal until you visit a class with the not so best case scenerios. Since the signs and symptoms of AD/HD, Hyperactive or Impulsive are broad, and depends on the opinion of others, the diagnosis of a child with the disorder can be overlooked and not treated for an extended period of time. This means that at each level there should be an intervention program that can be utilized for all children across the board.

I feel that children below the age of six could benifit from the multimodal treatments which according to the information stated on page 226 says "it involves multiple interventions or treatments across modes or types of therapies. Multimodal treatments for young children with AD/HD typically involve medication and other behaviorally oriented treatments. Also that reasearchers concluded that three primary treatment approaches were most effect: medication, parent training, and classroom behavior management intervention". Though these practices show in research to be effective, teachers are given other challenges that they should be well aware of. For example a student who uses medications should know "the name of a drug, its purposes, it effects (positive and other), and when the student must take it" (page 225). Students could have side effects such as sleep and appetite disruption, stomachaches, head problems, anxiety, irritability to name a few. I mention these because though one form of a students's diagnosed problem has been dealt with the teacher must now incorproate additional instrusctional boundaries to correct the new challenges. Parent training and cooperation is critiacal at this level. if parents are not doing their part such as going over work at home, making sure medication is taken as prescribed, and reviewing what's expected of them in the classroom then a large portiion of treatment will be defaulted on. Elementary and Midddle school students use Errorless learning for effective instrucctional strategies. Basically you give the student a direct question and he or she responds with the correct answer. If the student does not a cue is given to determine the correct answer. You are atarting from a task the student can reasonable perform without a prompt then you gradually move upward to a more difficult task with prompting of the correct answer. According to the text "the basic idea behind errorless learning is that learning that occurs wiithoug mmistakes is stronger and lasts longer. With trial and error learning the student runs the risk of learning something that is wrong or learning to do something incorrectly having to unlearn and relearn the correct information or process (pg 226)." To me this may seem like an appropriate way to teach a student one on one but may pose a problem with group teaching since children as a whole learn differently. To me it does not give any room for creativity in learning since most individuals naturally learn by trial and error.

"Cognitive behavioral strategies have been used to address problem behavior including hyperactivity and impulsive behavior" (pg 227). It's purpose is to modify behavior and thinking patterns.Students are involved with their intervention plans by discussing with their teacher ways of connecting negative thought s and outcomes and switching them for positive thought and outcomes. Some of the examples the teacher may come across are students expecting outcomes to go only one way or another, picking out only negative aspects of a situation or overly punishing oneself for an acton or inaction (pg 228). The teacher redirects the students' way of thinking by concentrating on what are the student's options, what to concentrate on and how to disregard distractions. These strategies I believe are important for teenagers because it gives them a sence of freedom as how to combat their problems. There is no one way but the outcome must be a positive one and by discussing the situation with the teacher helps prevent the student from going back to negative thouthts and outcomes.

Gloria, I agree with you that parent cooperation is crucial at that level. Shoot parent cooperation should be crucial at all levels of education regardless of if the child is general ED or has some type of disability. Parents should also be aware of the changes that their child undergoes when they are on their medication so that they can help to prepare the teacher for what may occur. I agree with you that learning is by trial and error, because without trial and error in certain aspects of learning, you may never learn that lesson. Like how all children learn at a young age not to touch the stove, not because their parents told them not to, but because they actually touched the stove and burned their hand (trial and error). With classroom learning, it is our job to ensure that the students have the right answers, even if it means correcting them (in a loving manner of course). But at the same time we encourage self regulated learning and can guide them to the right direction without having to outright tell them and then they may retain the information longer because they learned it themselves.---Tashena

Chapter 9 There are two areas that peek my interest in chapter 9 which were determining the causes of intellectual disability along with secondary and transition students: comunity based instruction. Social, behavioral, and educational causes for intellectual disabilities was given a short passage but to me says so much. Poverty affects the lives of children in drastic ways that may not be determined until some years down the line. When this is ovrlapped with adolescent/teenage pregnancies it puts the children at a greater risk for intellectual disabilities because the teenagers themselves are not experienced enough to recognize their childs limitations. During my observations in the classrooms I find this to be true. Not all the time, but there are times when children of teenage parents (14-17) are spoken to about their child's limitations, they themselves are limited by what they can do for their child because they do not have the skills to recognize and overcome what their child is going through. Or they do know something is wrong, but leaves it soley up to the faculity of the school to address the problem. ( For that matter, a lot of parents in general have the attitude that you deal with the problem, they have other concerns to deal with. I am not by any means saying all parents do this with children with intellectual disabilities, but it does happen enough to notice and react) It also angers me that women knowing that when they are pregnant there are times when limitations are not enough. You have to say absolutely none and to this I'm addressing drinking while pregnant. It angered me as a person and as a woman to see that in 2012, it is now written in educational books that "the more a pregnant woman consumes alcohol, the greater likelihood that her child's development will be impacted, with the most serious outcome being fetal alcohol syndrome" pg 248. To me it crosses all social classes. Those in poverty may have a greater acess to alcohol today than they did years ago and it seems the message is being whispered or left to subliminal messages. Billboards saying no drinking while pregnant; people (family/friends) may tell you not to drink but little is said or done after its done. Pamphlets and news reports and sometimes your own doctor stating its ok to have a glass or two. I say all this because its these actions that when a child is born begins to live with intellectual disabilities but nothing in many cases is done about it on the parents part. These are maternal choices. By the age of 3-4 unless they are in an Abbott program, many children dont attend school so their limitations are not detected nor addressed. However on a lighter note I was pleased to read about Project TASSEL under secondary and transition students:community based instruction. I am originally from the south and have family in Shelby, NC. I understand clearly the theme behind projects such as this one because the community there has the mind set that no matter your limitations you have to work. And to many of them you can't do ANY type of job without education. It's understood that all children may not require the same educational steps as the general population so there is a need for on the job training or occupational curriculum to help afford them a better quality of life. To me it's funny because instruction like this has been in existence for years, they called them Vocational Schools. However, in programs such as Project TASSEL, it seems to be more community based with the strong assisstance from parents, teachers vocational rehabilitation specialists, technical college administators, and residential service providers- a large step up from Vocational instruction (differentiated with modified support) pg 259. Programs such as these gives the family and student a chance for a better lives all around. Parents are less concerned with being burdened with a child with intellectual disabilities because he or she can now support themselves with minimal assistance from them. Again not all, but some. It also keeps the child occupied during his later years in high school. They are less likely to fall into depression but instead they feel more connected and less different so I'm told. Some even feel as though they are getting a better education because they have the opportunity to experience more than one field of occupation or at least exposed to such. They learn earlier how to adapt to instruction from an employer vs teachers.

Gloria N. Smith "Creating the Culture of Positive Behavior Supports"

This has to be the most influential piece of material for improving positive behavior in class that I have ever seen. Finally, someone other than students of education are acknowledging the fact that the problem does exist and that the responsibility is on all individuals involved within the students daily activities to stress and teach good and positive behavior. PBIS proved that the teachers alone cannot do the task alone. I was amazed to see a bus driver who actually held a class on his bus to teach students how to behave on the vehicle, his expectations.

I also found it wonderful that the students stepped up to the plate and claimed part of their responsibility as role models for the younger students. The older students are in a much better position also to determine if a child is going through something that might escape the attention of an adult. Having all parties held accountable for the actions of everyone from the custodian to the kitchen staff to the administration to the parents is a great way to keep children focused on positive behavior.

Another event I found to be interesting is for all that were involved, there was a careful well planned lesson plan to meet each situation that the students would encounter. For every lesson plan written, individuals were taught how to carry out the lesson, not just simply stating this is a goal that must be met. Teachers and staff were taught for example before the school year began what the expectations of the students were and the strategies they were going to use to implement them.

I would definitely use PBIS in my classroom even if I had to do so by actions alone. The concept of learning to be safe, respectful, responsible, and caring not only lead to a better learning environment for all students, but it lead to less students classified with learning disabilities. I think this doesn’t mean children didn’t have them, just that the new environment lead to better teaching concepts that were able to be learned by the students due to less distractions and negative behavior. It did not state to be a cure all for every scenario because it was stated that some students still had to be either classified or reassigned to another school to better suit their needs, but with the help of everyone involved and expectations clearly stated about all areas of their environment, it did prove to serve it’s purpose. That being to give all children the safe, respectful, responsible, and caring school all children need in order to learn.

Understanding Students With Autism/Chapter 11

This chapter gave good insight on the behaviors of students with Autism, and some good reference information about Asperfers Syndrome. Autism usually affects children by the age of three, but most times detected later depending on when a child enters school. Children with autism have a develomental disability that significantly affects their verbal and nonverbal communication along with their social interaction with others. These children also may encounter stereotyped movenments, behavioral challenges, and educational challenges. I found the instrustional strategies very useful. Social Stories are used to show studentnts with autism (and Asperger syndrome) how to appropriately interact with others. These stories can be incorporated into lesson plans and can also be written by parents, students, and other educators. They are meant to demonstrate social cues, situations and their proper responses. There are four types of sentences used in these storeis.: Descriptive sentences which define where a situation occurs, who is involved, what they are doing, and why. Perspective sentences which describe a person's internal physical state or desire. Also it describes another person's thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and motivations. Directive sentences define what is expected as a response to a cue or in a particular situation. Control sentences identify strategies students may use to recall the information in a social story, reassure themselves, or define their responses.

To me these strategies can be used to not only help those with autism, but to help those who do not have autisim but have problems socializing with others. Using social stories would also help the class as a whole write more creatively and become more mindful of their actions and the reactions of others.

For the children in elementary and middle school there is School wide positive behavior support (SWPBS) might be a more appropriate strategy. It is proactive, problemsolving oriented and data based which gives appropriate behavior and contributes to academic, social, and communication outcomes throughout the school building. It allows the students, educators, and schoo staff to evaluate problems making accommodations where they find problem areas. Sometimes allowing a student including those with autism, to be a part of the solution gives them needed support and a sense of ownership of their own success.