Tuesday 6 March 2012

Research Interest 2

For my second research interest topic, I wanted to find out more information on how to identify students with learning disabilities such as Aspergers, ADHD, and bipolar disorders, in the classroom.  This topic is of particular interest to me as I had recently been advised that one of my grade seven students showed symptoms of bipolar disorder and I was at a loss to know what the signs were.

I found a lot of excellent resources on the internet.  The following link:

http://www.bpchildren.org/files/Download/Educator.pdf

provides a great document for teachers detailing what bipolar disorder is, what you should look for in the classroom, accommodations that could be made for students, etc.  This document has clearly been created for someone like me who suspects that one of their students may be suffering from this disorder.

The ADDitude website (http://www.additudemag.com/topic/adhd-learning-disabilities/adhd-teachers.html) is a great resource for teachers with ADD students in their classroom.  It contains blogs, factsheets, lesson plans, and general advice to help teachers.

As for Aspergers, the two sites listed below contain a wealth of information on the topic.  They are both designed for teachers to provide them with enough information to assist their students with Aspergers.

http://www.aspergerresources.com/asperger_child_in_the_classroom.html
http://julieajohnson.hubpages.com/hub/Students-with-Aspergers-Syndrome-Tips-for-Teachers-and-Parents

After looking for information on these topics, it became clear to me that teachers are lucky to be living in an age when there is so much information readily available to them to assist their students with learning disorders.  I hope that teachers make the most of what is available to them to help their students reach their full potential.

Educational Leadership Sheets

Website Analysis 2

http://www2.edc.org/ncip
The National Center to Improve Practice in Special Education through Technology, Media and Materials

Objective:  The National Center to Improve Practice was federally funded from 1992-1998 to improve educational outcomes for students with disabilities by promoting the effective use of assistive and instructional technologies among educators and related personnel serving these students.

Description:  This website provides multimedia resources, such as videos, as well as technological resources, such as software, to assist educators working with children with special needs.  Some examples of the software available includes captioning software for videos, as well as information organising software.

Evaluation:  This organisation was federally funded from 1992-1998, and has not been updated since that time, thus a lot of the materials and information on the site seem quite dated.  

Website Analysis 1

http://www.cast.org (text p.289)
The Center for Applied Special Technology

Objective:  CAST is a nonprofit research and development organisation that works to expand learning opportunities for all individuals, especially those with disabilities, through Universal Design for Learning.]

Description:  CAST provides learning tools for educators and students to create various resources such as digital books to support instruction literacy learning.

Evaluation:  This organisation provides free resources to help teachers prepare materials for students with special needs - they should be commended for their efforts to make these materials so widely available.

Friday 17 February 2012

Group Presentation - Chapter 11

Below is a copy of the presentation my group made on Chapter 11, "Evaluating Student Learning"


Class 9 - Friday, February 17th 2012

Tonight my group presented our presentation on Chapter 11, "Evaluating Student Learning".  My group did well and I was happy with the way we were able to present our chapter.  I felt that the students were attentive and receptive to the information we had to share.  Our group dynamic helped us a lot and I felt that everyone pulled their weight and contributed to a truly collaborative project.

The final presentation was done in a TV talk-show format.  This was an interesting way of presenting the information, however I felt that it perhaps went a little long and didn't involve enough chances for the audience to work together or discuss new information.  It was like watching a show, and not being involved in a presentation.

Thursday 16 February 2012

Class 8 - Thursday, February 16th 2012

Tonight we had the first two group presentations.  The first presentation was on differentiated instruction. I felt that this group did well, giving a lot of practical ideas and seemed to know the topic thoroughly.  The visit to Natalie's classroom was a nice way to show how differentiated instruction is achieved in a classroom environment.

The second presentation on independent learning had a lot of group discussions and the audience was involved throughout the evening.