I-Search Blog Post (Revisions)

After I had a peer read my paper, one of the revisions I made was that I used a lot of acronyms such as "iep" and "vaap", and I was not thinking that not everyone in the class may know what those stand for, so that I should put that in the paper also.  Also, I felt after reading the rough draft I needed to add more of my personal opinion and feelings/thoughts into the paper, so that it was not so bland.  The last thing I really revised, was my interview section.  I needed to add where we interviewed, more on my persons background and knowledge of the subject, and add more quotes.

Learning Blog #8, Chapter 11

Diverse Learners in Content Areas

Diverse Learners: are those who might be at risk for academic failure and need special understanding and attention.  There are different types of diversity, cultural, racial, ethnic, physical attributes, language delays, etc.  The teachers must be prepared to deal effectively with these individual differences.  Classrooms these days are a big melting pot, so being able to be a flexible teacher is important.

Students with Special Needs
This is my area of expertise, and what I go to school for.  These students constantly need constant modifications, and assistance with their school work.  This population of students is also very diverse, because a student could need 100% modifications all day, everyday, or may just need enlarged text, something minor, but the educator has to know how to adjust for each specific student.  Inclusion is the idea that all students' have the right to receive appropriate education within the general educational classroom.  Inclusion is a touchy subject, as some educators do not agree with it, and some do.

Issues in Special Education
IDEA states that all children with disabilities will receive a free and appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.  LRE is the environment in which the student is in the place that they can learn the most, and be the most beneficial in.  The problem is finding the LRE, and there is so many issues in parents agreeing with educators, and vise versa about what the student should be doing, what their goals, are, etc. and that itself creates many problems in special education, just because it is a very controversial subject.

One of my classmates mentioned how unprepared she was with differentiated instruction, which I agreed with, all I knew was I would need to know how to differentiated instruction, but not HOW too, luckily it is something you learn naturally and get the hang of.  DI meets the diverse educational needs, learning styles, and interests of all learners in the inclusive classroom.  UDL is one way to implement DI.  UDL is the framework designed to guide the development of curriculum that are flexible and supportive of all students.

A lot of times, a paraeducator or assistant will attend class with the students in the general curriculum room, in case they need help or assistance.  There will also be times in the day when the students attend a resource time, and meet with their inclusion teacher and work on the core subjects they are struggling with, prepare for tests, etc.  That is why it is important the gen. ed teacher and the sped teacher collaborate well together because they will both be working with the student.

At risk students are students that are in danger of dropping out of school because of low achievement, usually linked to low socioeconomic status, etc.  I find this truly sad, because when a student is unwillingly forced to drop out, there is a high chance they will get into trouble, crime, and that is never a good situation.  To help at risk students, I think it is important to connect with them on a personal level to gain trust and good communication.

Before I knew that building positive relationships was a section in this chapter, I mentioned how that is a big key to working with special needs, low economic status, at risk students, etc.  Caring is a big concern for the life and growth of the student, and really understanding the student's feelings even if they are not apparent is important.

Although this chapter goes into greater depth than I am about students with low self-esteem, English learning students, at risk, special needs, struggling students, there is one common thing.  They are all part of a DIVERSE group of students that teachers will encounter through the years.  Most of the strategies you will use with one diverse group, you will use with another, a good thing about it is the strategies are universal.  Communication, trust, and patience will also be very important.




VIDEO INFORMATION
Some of the problems I hear a lot had to do with disadvantages of lower economic students, as far as technology goes, when so much in school is reliant on technology, when not all students have that they are at a disadvantage.

One thing I would do as an educator is not assign homework and assignments that require technology at home.  At the least, I would allow the students to use the technology in the classroom, and at home do parts of the project or homework that do not require technology.  Although I am young, I am old fashioned in the sense that I do not think technology needs to be a part of EVERYTHING.

Another thing I will try to do myself, to help drop out rates with my students, is be on a very, very comfortable communication level with them.  I want the student to know that I am their teacher, but also an advisor, friend, and helper.  I would definitely try to make my classroom exciting and give the students something to look forward too.  I would try and nip any negativity I see from the student in the beginning, and find the function of it before it is too late, and the student drops out.

LB #7 Writing to Learn in the Content Areas (chapter 8)

The beginning of the chapter states that writing may be the most complex communication process within communication arts.  I agree with this whole-heartily, because teaching students with special needs especially, it is usually a long, tiring, stressful process to 1) get ideas from the students to 2) put those in writing the way the want it said.  With communication deficits, it puts a lot of stress on the students I work with to form a sentence.

Importance of Reading-Writing Connection:
After reading, it is important students can clarify what they read in writing, showing they can make a connection between reading and writing.  It is found that reading and writing are intricately connected.  Sooner than ever, now teachers are encouraged to start writing with their students in all content subject areas as soon as the student can.

Writing as a Product
The textbook made it seem as teachers mostly use writing to evaluate an essay, or research report for grammar/syntactical errors, but I agree with the textbook, that teachers should also use what the students write as way to evaluate comprehension of a reading.  The better teachers can connect the connect the content to something the students enjoy, the easier it is for the teacher to get good results from students' effort with writing.

Computers as Writing Tools
Whether we like it or not, computers are now a big part of school, and so is technology, so teachers have a duty to integrate technology in their writing instruction.  Actually, computer usage improves student learning in general and student writing in particular.   Since students like to email, teachers can set up pen pals, and have students email instead of writing letters.  The theory is that students using media progress quicker than students who use more traditional ways, whether or NOT I believe that doesn't matter, because technology is not going to go anywhere.

Quick Write
This is a writing activity where the students come in, and write for 2-3 minutes on a given topic, or on a topic they choose.  This is an "old-school" activity, because I remember doing this as a student, and I really enjoyed it.  I think some of the fun came from trying to fit all of your ideas on paper in such a short time, so you really wrote and did not lolly-gag with this activity.

Assistance Phase of Writing
Much like the assistance phase of reading, students begin to realize what they understand and have to say about a topic.  Students can use peers as an audience, because they provide support and comments/suggestions.  Students seem to have a better attitude when working with classmates, as opposed to teachers.  Then, the students can pick a topic so that they are motivated to write!  The 3rd and 4th steps suggest that writing assignments should be varied and should connect prior knowledge to new information, to give a creative challenge.

Learning Logs
Daily, or weekly students can write in a log about what they learned, etc.  Like we do, this can be a universal tool from beginning writers to professional bloggers.

Annotations
Something I think we all use, for older students to practice critical thinking in their reading and writing. Making notes about a reading, helps students think about their understanding of the material and enable them to have their reflections down in writing.

My favorite writing activity would probably be the guided reading procedure because although it is a reflection stage, it also involves preparation and assistance steps.  Day 1, teacher activates prior knowledge to facilitate prewriting, then students fact storm and categorize their facts, then students write 2 paragraphs using the organized list, and then students read about the topic.  On the 2nd day, students check their drafts for functional writing concerns, and assigns rewriting based on functional needs and revision to incorporate the information from the reading, then gives a quiz.

Collaborative Writing is when students work together, and seem to be less intimidated by the activity given, or amount of work, because they know together they can find a way to complete it.  Smaller groups work better with this, and each student can independently gather their information, and as a group make a collective writing that utilizes every bodies ideas and thoughts.

At risk and struggling readers
Telling anecdotes and stories that connect to the principles being taught become memorable, and help the student comprehend the reading.  For struggling writers, pictures can prompt discussion, and this is how I write with my students with special needs.  Pictures with lots of opportunities for discussion are better, giving sentence starters, and choices for adjectives and verbs also help the student form sentences independently, and help them become more stable and frequent writers.

Practice Quiz 9

1)  All of the following are ways to help students become effective note takers except:

A) Provide questions, verbal cues, and nonverbal cues while talking.
B) Project material (on the board or on the website) to be sure students will record it.
C) Tell students what type of test to expect so they will take the notes appropriate for that test.
D) Do not provide handouts for poor note takers.

2) True or False: mnemonics are devices and techniques to improve memory.

PAR Final Lesson Plan

Par Lesson

Purpose: For students with low functioning Autism in a Communications support classroom, grades 6-8 be able to identify parts and functions of plants.  This is a life science section.  The purpose is not only for students to identify plant parts/functions, but also for selected students to read short non-fiction books in plants, and others to hold the book right, and identify parts of a book. 

 Detailed Objectives:

.    The student will investigate and understand basic plant anatomy and life
processes. 


.        (SOL 4.4) a) the structures of typical plants and the function of each structure;

.        b) Processes and structures involved with plant reproduction;

.        c) Photosynthesis

.        K.5 The student will understand how print is organized and read.

.        a) Hold print materials in the correct position.

.        b) Identify the front cover, back cover, and title page of a book.

.        c) Distinguish between print and pictures.

.        For the advanced students in the class:

.        1.10 The student will read and demonstrate comprehension of a variety of nonfiction texts.    

Learning Objectives:

-Students will activate their prior knowledge by watching a Power Point on the parts of a plant and note cards paired with photos. They will be asked to choose the notecard with the stated part of the plant in order to assess knowledge.

-The students will be able to hold print materials in the correct position with 100% accuracy.

-When provided with visual supports (photos, word bank, etc.), the students will complete a worksheet on parts of a plant with 90% accuracy.

-When provided with visual supports (photos, color coded pictures, etc.), the students will complete a worksheet on the needs of a plant with 90% accuracy.

- When provided with visuals (photos, color coded pictures, word bank, etc.) and asked to label the components of photosynthesis in the appropriate location (e.g. carbon dioxide, chlorophyll, water, etc.) the student will label the photosynthesis chart with 90% accuracy, upon first opportunity per data session, data taken during the last instruction session.

Book:

Lesson Sequence:

1.              Teacher will show the students multiple plants and model labeling the parts (this is the leaf, this is the root). 

2.              The class as a whole will view a short instructional video on plants (brainpopjr.com and united streaming). 

3.              After the video, the teacher will ask questions and the students will use their notecards to answer and use as cues.

4.              The teacher will then pass out a teacher-made book and have the students follow along.

5.              The teacher will demonstrate each plant part and its function, and give the class a graphic organizer to complete with the help of the teacher/Para to highlight key terms and main ideas of the lesson, for future reference.

6.              The next day, the student will complete a worksheet and work on labeling parts of a plant and the function on their own.

Strategies/Activities: 

Preparation:

1) Students will activate prior knowledge by first watching a short, fun video on plant parts/functions on brainpopjr.com, then follow up with a PowerPoint containing pictures and visuals of plant parts.  Since each student is mostly non-verbal, each student with have a stack of notecards with the words and pictures of each part, and will hold up the picture of the plant part the teacher says.  Same activity with the functions.  The teacher can then see what the students know so far and what will have to really be taught.  A Para or assistant will keep a tally chart of which parts/functions the student got correct and incorrect to get a baseline on what the students know.  I chose this strategy because it is measureable, and will activate prior knowledge.

2) Each student will correctly hold, turn the pages, and identify pictures, titles, and left to right reading, with a peer or teacher.  For the students who can read, they will read short non-fiction stories on the different plant parts and their function to help prepare them for assessments.  For the students who cannot read, they will point to pictures and see visuals in the books to help them for assessments.  I chose this as a strategy because although this is a science lesson, I would like for the students who can read, to read, and also students who cannot read, to at least start holding books, identifying parts of a book, as a starter.  Lessons like this will eventually be easier the more the students know how to read.

3) Students will fill out graphic organizers, of a blank plant chart and use a word bank to help fill the chart in.  Below is one of the examples I would use.  I think blank graphic organizers are a great way to prepare because it is seeing what the student is connecting with the material on their own before any hints and helpers.  It is pretty cool to see their train of thought on the initial introduction to the lesson.

4) Pre-Learning Concept Check: THIS WOULD BE THE VOCAB SECTION; stem, root, leaf, flower, photosynthesis, etc. (see which functions (definitions) the students know and don't know).  The students would put a + or – depending on if they know the plant part and function.

Assistance: The teacher will read the non-fiction books on plant parts and functions to the class, showing the pictures as he/she goes along.  I chose this because it lets the students see and hear about the lesson, and visuals and auditory learning seem to be effective with my population of students.

Each student will have the same index cards as before with the plant parts, and when the teacher says “I am the part that connects the plant to the ground” the students will hopefully hold up “roots” and so on.  This is similar to the Mystery Clue Game.  By doing this, the students are using reflective thinking by having to use prior knowledge, and what they are now learning to decide which makes sense.

Jot Charts will also be used, with the help from an assistant (those who need it) and using markers or crayons students will fill in a jot chart on the plant part, function, and a small picture of each to use as a study aid and review.  The jot chart is a good wrap up activity, that the students can use as a study aid before the assessments, and it is something they can follow the teacher along with and complete independently.

Reflection:

1) Writing Activity: I would use a short writing assignment: since they are students who are low-functioning, I would give them "the, a, I see, it" as sentence starters, list all plant parts/functions, and example, if they picked roots first, would pick which sentence starter they want, so "The roots" then have them choose which function, so they can pick each part of the 3 necessary parts of the sentence (starter, noun, verb) and put it together and write, or for some students type the sentence.  Connecting writing with any lesson is always something I try to do to show the students connections in learning.

2) Post Graphic Organizers: I would still have my students use a word bank, and would have the student fill in a diagram of a plant, and the function underneath it.  Same was they did before the lesson, to compare and contrast what they knew, and what they learned.

3) To incorporate something FUN, I would use pipeline straw, play do, and other crafts and let the students build a plant by placing the correct plant parts where they belong, arts and crafts is always a good way to have the students be independent, socialize, and still use their knowledge.

Evaluation: I will give the students a multiple choices assessment, for their VAAP/SOL grade, along with matching.  I will also incorporate student participation, their arts and craft plant they make, their organizers, and reading of the story as grade factors.  I have to have evidence for VAAP, so I choose to do a multiple choice exam, but given some students do not test well, I will do antidotal records of students making their plant, and verbal responses that also show their knowledge.  The assessments are down below.

Materials Used:

Writing utensils, scissors, glue sticks, markers, diagrams, worksheets, graphic organizers, staplers, vocabulary word cards, brainpopjr.com (including login and password), worksheetmaker.com, projector screen, computer, review materials, assessments

Extra Information

Completing any new lesson is difficult in a special education classroom, so I also want to highlight I use many reinforcers, and rewards for staying quiet, focusing, and trying.  These include gum, candy, stickers, or verbal praise.  I am extra enthusiastic, have many pictures and diagrams so that they students are always visually seeing the material they are learning.  I do not do the same activity two times in a row, to keep it new and engaging.

Assessment

This will be used before the lesson is taught, to see what the students know and use their previous knowledge

(Taken from pinterest.com)

*After the lesson is finished and the students have worked on this unit for however long the teacher feels necessary, they will complete the same worksheet to compare the differences.

References:

Eshach, H., Dor-Ziderman, Y., & Arbel, Y. (2011). Scaffolding the 'Scaffolding' Metaphor: From Inspiration to a Practical Tool for Kindergarten Teachers. Journal Of Science Education & Technology, 20(5), 550-565. doi:10.1007/s10956-011-9323-2

Miller, S. P. (2009). Validated practices for teaching students with diverse needs and abilities (2nd ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.

Richardson, J.S., Morgan, R.F. & Fleener, C.E. (2009). Reading to Learn in the Content

            Areas.  Belmont, California: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Learning Blog #6- Chapter 6: Moving Beyond the Traditional Textbook

Why Textbooks Cannot Stand Alone
The textbook has limitations: The strength of a textbook can provide one source of great information, and over viewing of information of topics, but the inability to provide the depth that is truly needed.  To me, it seems like a catch 22, because many educators and readers say that the book is not in depth enough to truly do what it needs to do, but on the other hand complain that it is too big and too long, and it makes it too difficult for students to use it to do homework.  I think the textbook is stuck in a place between wanting to be enough of a source on its own for papers and homework assignments, but not wanting to be overwhelming and therefor not useful.

Multimodal Text and Multitext
Multimodal texts are something that incorporate visual, auditory, spoken, and nonverbal cues to help understanding and learning through technology.  Technology is quickly becoming the most common, frequent, and useful means of learning at all age levels and populations.  Some of the new school teachers prefer it, while "old-school" teachers cannot stand it, but I think it is inevitable.  However, Jewitt says that no one mode is enough alone to teach and do everything it needs to do, but that all of the forms of learning put together can as a group become effective in learning (to read).

Trade books are books that are considered to be in general use, that the students can get from a library or book store.  These are useful when students are starting to write research papers, or reading stories on certain topics and subjects, because textbooks do not contain novels, poems, fiction, non-fiction, sports, etc. all in one, that is again why textbooks are not enough, and we need trade books.  At the same time, we still need the textbooks because they teach the student how to read and comprehend what they are reading in the trade book.

Content Area Literature Circles
Literature circles are researched based and seem to be widely accepted for reading instruction.  At first, fiction was the genre of choice for the small-group based strategy, but now non-fiction has been used also.  The teacher will introduce the book selections to the class, and each group member is given a role, and the roles rotate.  The literature circles are highly interactive which is my favorite way for students to learn, and are appropriate for a wide range of topics and concepts.

Barriers to Comprehension and Learning

Inconsiderate Discourse
Many college students, along with high school students complain that they are too long, too in depth, too hard to understand, the paragraphs are too long, and they have trouble following along and reading the text.  As we have discussed in class before, textbooks seem to be transforming into more graphic organizers, images, features, and layouts that are easier for students to read, they have more examples to look at and read, and in general are written in a more convenient format to help students comprehend what they are reading.

How to Determine Readability of Textbooks and Resources

Checklists: Teachers can use a checklist in judging the strengths and weaknesses of the readability of text material, to see if they feel the textbook, or book will be useful and appropriate for their class.

Rule of Thumb: I think is a pretty cool way to see if the book is appropriate, the student will flip to a random page, and if they spot an unknown word while reading, they put down a thumb, if on that page they put down a whole hand, the book is probably too hard and they should try a different one.

Readability Formulas: 
Frequently used for determining the difficulty of material texts.  There are many different ones, I need to read up more on before I am comfortable discussing each one, but I know they are used to calculate the textbook difficulty in terms of reading-level scores.

Assessing Students' Ability to Use Books
Cloze Procedure: To perceive things as a whole, even if parts are missing.  By using a cloze test, a teacher can find out whether students have prior knowledge about upcoming material and are able to adapt to the author's style.  The purpose is to help the teacher quickly see whether students have adequate background knowledge and understand the language.

The Maze: This is similar to cloze, but easier for students to respond to.  The teacher selects a passage of 100 to 120 words from a representative part of the textbook and deletes every 5th or tenth word, the students then get 3 choices, the correct word, a similar word, and a distracter, a maze takes more time and is harder to construct, but many teachers prefer it.  I love this and use it with my students, for a variety of reading/spelling/comprehension activities:)

This chapter has highlighted the importance of going beyond the textbook and traditional instruction models in the content classroom.  Textbooks can no longer stand alone, and multiple resources are more efficient for learning.

iSearch proposal :)

Topic: Should special education students be given homework?

 

Possible Questions: Do parents at home already have enough to worry about, so homework would be too much?  Would it help the students keep the consistency of the classroom and help them academically?  Should it be the parent’s choice?  Should it be a school-wide decision or teacher to teacher, and they can choose?

People to Interview:  I plan on interviewing the teacher I am a Para-educator for, she teaches special education, and has done so for 6 years.  We teach in a communications support classroom, so our population of students is more severe.  So, I will also interview a SPED teacher of an inclusion setting to see if the responses are alike, or different.

Titles of Articles You Plan to Use: 

Autism, Homework and Beyond!

 http://www.autismsupportnetwork.com/news/autism-homework-beyond

Homework Issues in Autism

http://www.child-autism-parent-cafe.com/homework.html

Notes: I wanted to know more about this subject because this coming year when I teach ALONE, I want to have a better feel of how other professionals, parents, and researchers feel about assigning SPED students homework.  My initial thought is that it depends on the student, and their severity and home life, but it may not be fair to exempt certain students just because I feel they cannot handle it, and it may be wrong.