Raven

Raven, 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).

As an up incoming teacher I believe that the incorporation of culturally responsive instruction in the classroom is very important, and something I plan to utilize throughout my classroom. I have always believed in having an open mind when it came to people and their differences. Within my classroom I plan to meet many different children, of all shades of color and from many different backgrounds. I believe that the different culture’s of these children are what makes school a better learning experience however many schools don’t take the time to get to know the students. We tend to only set aside a week out of the whole year to learn different cultures and heritage when it needs to be all year around activity. Due to the fact that I will be teaching a younger age, I will make communication with parents very important within my classroom. From what I learn from the parents I would try to incorporate their culture abilities into my teaching, or use it as a way to make students feel familiar with one another, and get excited about learning. If a child in my class had a disability, by knowing their cultural, I may be able to find better learning strategies for that child. I would also show my class that everyone is different because of their cultures and backgrounds, which may hopefully make the children with a disability, feel more welcome and not outcast-ed. By incorporating cultural responsive instruction we may make the classroom aware of others cultures and try to reduce prejudice and bias judgments.A great example of why children should be introduced to culturally responsive instruction in a classroom brings me back to something my younger brother once said. My brother and I were walking through mall, and a lady with a (I hope this is the proper term) Niqab, which is a Muslim wrap the covers the women head and mouth. He turned to me scrunched up his face and said to me “what the heck does she have on her head”. I was taken back because I felt that this was something that he should already know seeing as though he was about 9 at the time. I was not only embarrassed by his actions but also due to the fact that he was so unaware of other people cultures and their differences.

Raven this all sounds great. It's also good that you're openly accepting all the different cultures that you will be seeing in your classroom. Prejudice's and bias's are a terrible thing and it seems like you will also have your children knowing that. Judging from the experience with your brother you won't stand for people disrespecting other people's cultures and that's a great rule to have in your classroom.

Rohanna

Raven, Thank you for sharing how you will approach developing an understanding and appreciation of culture in your classroom. I heartily commend you for recognizing that this needs to be done throughout the year. I also thank you for sharing a personal experience. Going forward I wondered as I read your experience with your brother, what you think you will say or do if a child in your classroom makes similar comment. Good work. Dr, OReilly

Chapter 8 2/20/2012 Pages 217-218

Growing up I wasn't aware of what AD/HD was and how it affected children, however once I as I got older it seemed as though everyone has been diagnosed with the disorder. It wasn't until my brother was diagnosed with the disorder that I began to have my own understanding of what AD/HD was. When I thought of AD/HD I believe that children got this disorder from watching too much television, playing to many video games, and surgery products. However, from my reading of chapter 8 I was surprised to see how wrong and uneducated I was about the disability. I learned that AD/HD stems from our heredity, structural differences in the brain, and other biological causes. From my reading I was also made aware that they can recognize this disorder is children as young as age 2. Upon my reading I also began to think about how many adults I encounter screaming that they have AD/HD. I believe that this is an easy disorder for people to label themselves as. Saying someone has AD/HD or labeling a child with AD/HD is the easy way out. To many children I believe are labeled as having AD/HD when they just need a little more instruction in the classroom. However, why worry about being a successful teacher when you can quickly label a child as having AD/HD, give those labeled pills and be rid of them? As one can see I feel very strongly about the medicine they give to children labeled as having the disorder. Whenever I spend time with my brother I never make him take his pills. I must admit when he’s not on the medicine he’s more antsy and tends to move around a lot. Yet, I sometimes wonder is he the way he is because he boy is so use to the medicine that he body has began to become addicted to it or is this something that he really needs. If a child entered with my classroom with this disorder I would be very patient. I would also try to do things that would hold their attention as well as refrain from lesson where they would just have to sit and listen to me talk. Out of all the disabilities I find the topic of AD/HD sad, and the most controversial of all the other disabilities.

Raven, Thank you for a very thoughtful, personal commentary. You raise many of the key issues in the field today. AD/HD is not easy to diagnose, but the effects on a person's ability to maintain attention and/or the extraordinary need for sensory input and movement are very real. The incidence of persons with AD/HD is on the rise and it is not clear why. Part of the reason fr the increase in incidence may be misdiagnosis, but I do think that environmental factors play a part. Medication is very controversial and I understand your point of view. Many others share that as well. This is a topic I hope to discuss in class. Excellent commentary. Dr. OReilly

Chapter 9 3/12/2012 Page 259-260

What caught my attention out of chapter nine would have to be the secondary and Transition Students: Community-Based Instruction. I believe we need to accept the fact that every student is not capable of continuing their school career after high school so we must prepare them for the future. This chapter talked about a project called TASSEL which is something that teachers and school districts use to do community based instruction. Children have the option to take this route in their learning which would mean they would be focusing on learning their trade rather than sitting in a classroom learning things they probably will never use in the future. To decided which job would be best for the child the IEP would be used to tell the child’s “strengths and needs, particularly in the adaptive skill areas of work, community use, and self-direction/self-determination”. This program I believe not only gives the students a chance to become something, but makes them feel good about themselves as well. Although school is an amazing place and there is a lot to be achieved everyone is not capable of fulfilling the task. If I was a special education teacher this project is something that I would push for in my district, I feel that we worry so much about students falling behind in high school that we forget about them falling behind once there out of high school. I also believe that we tend to not worry about students being successful once they have their cap and gown and I feel that this is unjustified, and we are giving our children the short end of the stick. If we were to identify students whom probably wouldn’t succeed in higher education such as college and prepare them with a skill so that they could get a job, we would see less people in jail, or out on the street.

R aven, You make some excellent points. Many families of students with intellectual disabilities opt for community based programs as part of their child's high school programs, but others don't. Some families want their child to have a typical high school experience until they are age 18 and afterwards, attend some type of vocational training. As students with intellectual disabilities can receive services until they are 21, that is a possibility. Dr. OReilly

Chapter 7 3/19/2012 Pages 185-188

I was totally unaware of how many emotional characteristics there were until I begin to read this chapter. Throughout out this chapter there were some disorders that I felt weren’t very important for example, bipolar disorder. From the chapter I learned that bipolar disorder was “exaggerated mood swings” and due to this disorder children may “experience depression; at other times, she experiences euphoria, increased activity, self-confidence, racing thoughts, decreased need for sleep, and an exaggerated sense of strength”. Saying someone was bipolar was very common however, I have learned from this chapter that children maybe suffering from this disorder, and maybe effecting their education. Due to the fact that I plan to be teaching kindergarten I feel that understanding separation anxiety disorder is another disorder that I will encounter frequently. This chapter has given me a great insight to many different disorders. When it comes to my own classroom I will try my hardest to never label a child as being bad, I will consider the things that I learned today. I will also make sure that I’m patient and have a connection with my students so that I can recognize when something is wrong. Labeling a child as just being bad, or having problems at home has become the easiest thing to do. I also believe that we see so many children labeled as the same things because we lack information on other disorders, it seems as though we like to stick to the things we know. Children that suffer from these disorders have a hard time in school and I hope that in the future they can find some acceptance, and earlier detection. I feel that most people that are diagnosed with some of these disorders don't find out they have these problems until they are older, but maybe if they would've found out earlier they may have had not only a better life experience but a school experience as well.

“Creating the Culture of Positive Behavior Supports” This video made me think back on many of my past classes, and what they had taught me about behavior in my classroom. Behaviors seemed to be a big topic in many of my educational classes, and how to deal with them. In addition to what I already know about behavior the PBS video taught me how to increase academic performance, more information about problem behavior, and an array of other things. Using the three tiered triangle we are able to help at risk children move down to more stable levels, and stop the students who have minimal behavior go to the high risk level. I have learned that you should always praise a child for doing the right thing instead of waiting for the child to do something wrong to punish them. I also have learned that keeping the child in the classroom is essential to their learning; learn to not keep children out because of their behavior. I also like how in this video everyone is on the same page, from the teachers to the parents. In my future classroom I plan to I will try to always maintain a positive atmosphere. I will also try to not to label the child according to their behavior, and I will also try to keep everyone on the same page, for the child’s best interest.