Da'Cheray

Da'Cheray 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).

Cultural responsiveness, in my own words, is incorporating all the possible factors that coincide with students’ ability to learn in a wholesome way. The Cultural Responsiveness supports the process and structure of how students learn, including all the factors that contribute to how students learn. Cultural Responsiveness is also a great way to make progress to making education more beneficial for students with disabilities. Using the results from the research that the Cultural responsiveness entails gives teachers the opportunity to use statistics and apply them to enhance the learning experiences that happen in the classroom. i appreciate the fact that the individual is recognized with Cultural Responsiveness Instruction. This is important because students should not always have to learn according to a general assumption or collection of data but instead the individual self is built upon. In my classroom, I would apply this when creating and executing my lesson plans. Taking into consideration the cognitive, linguistic, and social assets of an individual goes hand in hand with learning styles and the multiple intelligences. I would apply the Cultural Responsiveness Instruction with my students in the activities. Being that this type of instruction gives facts about what has worked before, the effectiveness should be accurate when I am constructing my lesson plans. Being able to encompass the different learning styles will have a high success rate. Also, being that the Cultural Responsiveness Instruction would benefit the student’s world view, my students would learn more about themselves, and the world around them, thus educating them on multiple levels. As a future educator, I think it is imperative that the way students learn should be catered to. As far as students with disabilities go, they need the individual molding that the Cultural Responsiveness Instruction can and will provide.

2/14- 12:23 a.m. In Chapter 5, the topic that really caught my attention was the Designing an Appropriate IEP topic. In this section I learned that not only does the teacher direct what is happening, the student can be trained to self-direct. What is most interesting about this topic is that the student has an IEP for their specific disability yet they can have some type of control over their education and how they are receiving the proper help. The text gets into how at the tender age of 16, they start to prepare students to begin being involved with their IEP so that when they turn 18, they will have the right to make decisions from themselves (138). This rule is under the IDEA. The studies found in this section on student involvement in the IEP is very impressive simply because it is showing how effective it can be when students are actively involved in their education. What is sad and unfortunate is that although there is a potentially high success rate for students that are actively involved in their IEP, students are not generally involved with their IEP. It is understood that there is always a down side to a situation especially this one because not all students will be really enthusiastic about their IEP. However, there are processes and strategies that guide students toward running their IEP meetings successfully. What is also interesting about this section is how a team of different specialties are put together for a student's educational benefit. On page 138, it says that "some of these strategies are specific to a student's unique disability-related needs. You may work with physicians, school nurses, rehabilitation specialists, and physical or occupational therapists to develop an appropriate education for a student with other health impairments." Curriculum mapping can be very helpful because it aims to implement the supports of the supplementary aids and ensures high quality planning (139). The process of designing an IEP is very particular and minimized to suit the needs of the student. There is so much planning that goes on and this is very effective because it takes time to build students up to the levels they need to reach. This section gets in dept about the procedures and contributions that all lead to an IEP, which is a very important and life changing document. The steps given in this section are giving me more of an insight as to what I should expect if I have to be a part of an IEP design team.

Da'Cheray, Thank you for a comprehensive commentary on IEP development. In NJ, our special education regulations require that we invite students with disabilities beginning at age 14 to participate in their IEP meetings, so they can have input into their course of study and the type of supports that they need. Unfortunately, not all districts do a good job of preparing students to participate in IEP meetings, let alone direct their own IEP meetings, though some do. Good special and general education teachers, particularly at the middle and high school, spend time helping a student understand his/her disability, strategies they can use to compensate for challenging activities and ways to advocate for the supports they need. You are right that IEP planning is a very individualized process involving the input of many people - parents, educators and sometimes, specialists. As a general education teacher, you now have an initial understanding of the content, purpose and process of IEP development. With that understanding, you can begin to explore how you can use the information in the IEP to design your lessons. The more you incorporate multiple ways of learning into your design, the fewer individual adaptations you will have to make because they are already embedded into your lesson. Good work. Dr. OReilly

You are so right when you say most students are not involved in their IEP's. Sometimes the social workers, psychologists, and other people on the support staff, may not take into consideration what the student may think that he or she may need. I work in an elementary school and I hear the parents and the students complain. Most of these parents do not know that they have rights. They do not know that they have a say so in their education. As teachers, we have to inform our parents that they have a right to help plan their child's IEP. Most parents know what their children need, so they can help plan the IEP, and the student can tell you what they are having difficulty with. So it will be nice if they all can come together and work on what the student needs.

Chapter 8 Section: Designing an appropriate IEP- Not all students with AD/HD qualify for IDEA services. pages 220-221 This section really caught my attention because it spoke on the students with AD/HD that do not qualify for the special needs services under the IDEA. Alternatively, Section 504 does have a section that services these students where they are still able to receive an IEP to aid in their education. It is a very great thing that students with AD/HD are protected by ADA and they are not being left out because they receive medicinal assistance with their disability. The medications that control the behaviors of AD/HD can disqualify students with AD/HD. These medications control the students’ behaviors therefore; the students are performing well inside the general classrooms. This is very interesting because, personally, I am against giving children with disabilities medication. Although these medications have proven to control the student’s behaviors, they could also be preventing students from receiving all of the beneficial services under IDEA that students may really need. In my classroom, I would rather my students be under IDEA without the medications. I have this viewpoint because I think about the students’ future and health. These medications may be regulating one problem momentarily but could cause other issues and side effects that young children should not have to experience. One of the medications given to students with AD/HD is Adderall. Some side effects of Adderall include “ Severe allergic reactions (rash; hives; itching; difficulty breathing; tightness in the chest; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue); blurred vision or other vision problems; change in sexual ability or desire; chest pain; confusion; fainting; fast or irregular heartbeat; fever, chills, or sore throat; new or worsening mental or mood problems (eg, aggression, agitation, anxiety, delusions, depression, hallucination, hostility); numbness or tingling of an arm or leg; one-sided weakness; painful or frequent urination; red, swollen, peeling, or blistered skin; seizures; severe or persistent headache; severe stomach pain; severe weight loss; shortness of breath; sudden, severe dizziness or vomiting; slurred speech; uncontrolled muscle movement; unusual weakness or tiredness.” Students will probably miss much of school given these dangerous side effects. This section also gets into the 504 Accommodation Plan. In this plan are 3 steps to help create specialized instruction for students with AD/HD that are on the medications. I am thrilled at the fact that there is always an alternative to help students with disabilities, no matter the circumstances.

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Da'Cheray Thomas 3/12/2012. 8:03 pm Chapter 9 Section: Nondiscriminatory evaluation process for determining the presence of intellectual disability. page 249. This section drew me in because it made me think about the nondiscriminatory evaluation process for determining the presence of learning disabilities. What i decided to do what review Chapter 5 and compare the different techniques used to evaluate students with these specific disabilities. In Chapter 9, I saw that in the process of identifying students with an intellectual ability, medical personnel are required in more than one step. In the evaluation process for learning disabilities, no medical personnel is required. This fact alone stood out to me because learning disabilities often are the result of a mental, social, emotional problem that interferes with the student's learning ability. In fact, some students have learning disabilities because of AD/HD or ADD in which they are given medicine, but my question is, where is the medical examiner? Students deserve a fai evaluation because there are cases where students are misrepresented or overrepresented. As I reading the teacher and parents observe for the observation for intellectual disabilities, some of the things that are notices are the same as students being observed for a learning disability. For example teachers and parents observes students for their quickness in learning, low motivation, etc. Where is the line drawn between what is looked for in a student. Many disabilities mirror each other so I believe they can be evaluated to the fullest extent before diagnosing a student. Another thing I noticed is that students that are observed for learning disabilities have a more extensive screening process which ties into my previous point. In my classroom, I want my students to have a fair and equal evaluation so that they can be better assisted. These evaluations are crucial to their education and future. As an educator in training, I strongly believe my students all deserve to be helped for each of their unique situations. (321 words)

Hello, I agree with everything you have said. Students should be given fair evaluations that are unique to them. In the chapter, the authors mentioned how teachers are able to determine whether or not a child has intellectual disability by evaluating their intellectual functioning (giving them IQ test) and adaptive behaviors. I found this ironic since IQ test are known for being biased. Sometimes you may even have a childwho do not have a disability, and in fact just develop at rate slower than what’s typical for kids their age. One day a child might just be having a bad day when being evaluated which will have an effect on the results. Things like this should be taken into considerations. -**Renee Amos**
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**Da'Cheray Thomas 3/20/12 9:50 Chapter 7 Section:** behavioral characteristics: internalizing and externalizing behaviors. this section was interesting to me because it discussed two different types of behaviors that students with behavioral disabilities exhibit. it was very interesting because the behaviors displayed in these two, internalizing and externalizing, are on two different ends of the spectrum. i was thinking about which type of student would be more difficult to help and it would be the student that internalizes their behaviors. If a student internalizes their behaviors, it is somewhat difficult because sometime the students keep to themselves. students that internalize their behaviros often hurt themselves as opposed to hurting others. This is difficult because it is not so clear if the student is harming her/himself because as an educator i would not know what happens in their lives when the school day is over. Some of the harms that students with internalizing behaviors engage in is cutting, eating too much, eating too little, depression, abusing substances, etc. The substance abuse would send a red flag up in my mind because i would be able to tell if a student was using drugs by their physical appearance and behaviors. thinking about how i would help a student with this type of problem would be difficult simply because there probably would not be some obvious clues; but as an educator it is my job to observe and get to know my students. One of one conferences with my students will help me be up to date with their lives. Physical appearance could aid in helping students with this type of disability. Focusing on students with externalizing behaviors, they are harmful to others. Externalizing behaviors include physical aggression, verbal bullying, relational aggression, defiance, theft and vandalism. These types of behaviors would probably cause a lot of classrom disruptions and as a future educator i need to be prepared and ready to deal with these types of situations. Having students with these types of behaviors will require me to be firm and sympathetic at the same time. If i have students with internalizing and externalizing behaviors my skills as an educatoor will often be tested.

Da'Cheray Thomas 4/2/12 Chapter 11 historical perspective on causes this section was interesting to me because it was amazing how people could be so critical in the parental blame of autism. The way that the parents were complemented and insulted in the same idea was astonishing. On page 307 it said that parents of children with autism were often seen as intelligent people of high socioeconomic status who were also "cold." This statement makes it seem like parents were smart but cruel to their children. Making an mindless assumption such as this just gives a negative perspective on "professionals." Also on page 307 it says that in the 1940s some professionals referred to mothers of children with autism as "refrigerator mothers." This part really took me over the top. I can image that having a child with autism is challengeing but to be ridiculed by professionsals must have been tough. Instead of them pointing the finger, they should have been coming up with ways to best facilitate everyday life of parents with children with autism. What is also amazing is that it took them 30 years to figure out that autism is caused by brain or biochemical dysfucnction that occurs before, during, or after birth. this shows that it was completely unwarranted to blame parents for autism. It was a relief to read that in 1977 the Autism Society of America stated "No known factors in the puschological environment of a chld have been shown to cause autism." it was also a relief to see that parents are seen not as the blame but as a very important part of a team of educators to help solve their children's problems. Being that it is now 70 plus years later, i am not really worried about parents being the blame for autism. What could be a possible concern dealing with parents could be their involvement in getting the proper assistance for their child. In my classroom i plan to keep parents involved by sending home notes, phone calls, and having conferences with them periodically so they have no choice but to be involved. I truly believe that it takes a village to raise a child.