For today's class, we did a jigsaw activity on 5 different case studies:
Case 1
Teddy (Grade 3)
Problem: spelling accurately
Intervention: direct instruction, tested on taught/untaught words.
Result: Increased weekly scores to 65% after 13 weeks.
Case 2
Jody
Problem: was given reading probes for abc's and phonics, level quite low
Intervention: was given a Tier 2 intervention with daily testing.
Result: Successful
Case 3
Megan (Grade 5)
Problem: spelling problems
Intervention: tried copy-cover-say-spell method and phonetics.
Result: Teacher found that phonetics was the more successful method.
Case 4
Lilly (Grade 4)
Problem: reading disability
Intervention: Tier 1 - observation and testing, Tier 2 - 2 methods of reading help tried but failed. Tier 3 - recommended for special education reading class.
Result: unknown
Case 5
Gavin (Grade 7)
Problem: reading problem
Intervention: testing found he was a slow reader and comprehender but understood meanings.
Result: tests demonstrated that Gavin did not require special education.
After the case studies, we worked in our groups to prepare for our presentations on Thursday and Friday.
Tuesday, 14 February 2012
Monday, 13 February 2012
Class 6 - Monday, February 13th 2012
For tonight's class we worked on the practice quizzes for the early chapters. It was heartening to see that most of the replies that I had were the same as my partner's. We also took some time to work in our group and touch base on our presentation.
Some names that came up in our discussions tonight were:
Psychology of Learning:
1. Lev Vygotsky
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky
www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html
2. B.F. Skinner
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner
www.nndb.com/people/297/000022231/
3. Howard Gardner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences
4. K. Anders Ericcson - cognitive psychologist - expert on expertise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Anders_Ericsson
Some names that came up in our discussions tonight were:
Psychology of Learning:
1. Lev Vygotsky
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lev_Vygotsky
www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html
2. B.F. Skinner
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._F._Skinner
www.nndb.com/people/297/000022231/
3. Howard Gardner
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_multiple_intelligences
4. K. Anders Ericcson - cognitive psychologist - expert on expertise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K._Anders_Ericsson
Saturday, 11 February 2012
Video Response Sheet - Misunderstood Minds
Misunderstood Minds is a 2002 PBS documentary on children with learning disabilities. It followed the stories of five adolescents, from the point of them learning about their disability and their reactions to this news, to a follow-up months later to see how their treatments have gone.
Detailed information on the five subjects can be found at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/
The documentary can also be viewed on YouTube at:
Questions:
1. Hearing the term "misunderstood minds" makes you think of what possible learning and social problems?
The term leads me to think of people with problems such as dyslexia, bipolar disorder, aspergers, ADHD, and autism.
2. Understanding kids who struggle to learn takes what skills on the part of teachers?
A teacher would needs skills such as patience and understanding at first to help the student adjust to the classroom. For instruction, the teacher would need to have skills in differentiated instruction to ensure that the learner's needs are being met.
3. What learning specialists do you know who could assist you with those with learning problems?
In our school, we have a counsellor to assist students with learning problems so they could be my first port of call.
4. View the video and identify the various learning difficulties that are described. List these and as well list any strategies you are informed about.
Nathan V - Phonemic awareness - placed in school resource room and given tasks and strategies to tap his strong verbal skills to compensate for his reading difficulties. He achieved a perfect score on his grade four standardised test.
Lauren - Attention Deficit Disorders - was placed on medication which she described as being able to keep her in tune without changing her personality.
Sarah Lee - Expressive Language Deficiency - was prescribed a full and ongoing language immersion program.
Adam - difficulty decoding words
Nathan S - Attention Deficit Disorder - enrolled in military school and was excelling.
5. Write a brief evaluation of the video, "Misunderstood Minds"
I found this video to be useful to see how students saw their learning disabilities in their own words. The frustration that the parents and the students felt before any answers were known, and the relief they felt after a diagnosis was quite interesting, and this showed me that parents are looking for an answer to the problem.
Detailed information on the five subjects can be found at: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/misunderstoodminds/
The documentary can also be viewed on YouTube at:
Questions:
1. Hearing the term "misunderstood minds" makes you think of what possible learning and social problems?
The term leads me to think of people with problems such as dyslexia, bipolar disorder, aspergers, ADHD, and autism.
2. Understanding kids who struggle to learn takes what skills on the part of teachers?
A teacher would needs skills such as patience and understanding at first to help the student adjust to the classroom. For instruction, the teacher would need to have skills in differentiated instruction to ensure that the learner's needs are being met.
3. What learning specialists do you know who could assist you with those with learning problems?
In our school, we have a counsellor to assist students with learning problems so they could be my first port of call.
4. View the video and identify the various learning difficulties that are described. List these and as well list any strategies you are informed about.
Nathan V - Phonemic awareness - placed in school resource room and given tasks and strategies to tap his strong verbal skills to compensate for his reading difficulties. He achieved a perfect score on his grade four standardised test.
Lauren - Attention Deficit Disorders - was placed on medication which she described as being able to keep her in tune without changing her personality.
Sarah Lee - Expressive Language Deficiency - was prescribed a full and ongoing language immersion program.
Adam - difficulty decoding words
Nathan S - Attention Deficit Disorder - enrolled in military school and was excelling.
5. Write a brief evaluation of the video, "Misunderstood Minds"
I found this video to be useful to see how students saw their learning disabilities in their own words. The frustration that the parents and the students felt before any answers were known, and the relief they felt after a diagnosis was quite interesting, and this showed me that parents are looking for an answer to the problem.
Class 5 - Saturday, February 11th 2012
In our class today, we spent time working on our group presentations. Our group did further research on our individual content areas and we collaborated using our Google Presentation. This tool has come in quite handy as it allows group members to work on a joint document in real time.
In the afternoon we looked at a video called "Misunderstood Minds". This film is about children with different learning disabilities. A video response post to "Misunderstood Minds" will follow.
Notes taken during the day
In the afternoon we looked at a video called "Misunderstood Minds". This film is about children with different learning disabilities. A video response post to "Misunderstood Minds" will follow.
Notes taken during the day
- Least Restrictive Environment => regular classroom. By law, each town and city must have in place a service plan so that any one of them can be included.
- Parents could be interested in having their child placed in a specialized environment but school could say no due to budgeting costs. Having kids placed is a major cost to school districts. Having schools take on inclusion is an economic idea to save money for school districts. More placements in-school have replaced out-of-school (private settings). Parents can resist the school’s plan. Can be handled with mediation. Parents have the right to accept or reject the plan.
- Page 8 – Influences on Current Special Education Practices – given economic times, the fact is that to support SPED is maybe in some people’s eyes undercutting support of other things. Who is going to support it? Fed or State govt? City or town? All of these are arguing there is not enough money to go around, and priorities. Daily occurrence in the US. By law, SPED has to be supported or funded. Maybe not to the level people would like. The more severe the disability, the more dollars the town/city will receive.
- IFSP
- Individual Family Service Plan - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Consent - parents have the right to reject or to accept, to certain elements or everything in an IEP.
Friday, 10 February 2012
Class 4 - Friday, February 10th 2012
In tonight's class we used a jigsaw activity to analyse some case studies from the textbook. We talked about the case study in small groups, then went back to our project group members and explained to them the different case studies we each had.
Jigsaw activities are helpful in trying to cover a lot of material in a short period of time and are something that I use from time to time in my classroom.
A few other terms that came up in tonight's class were:
Whole Language Curriculum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_language)
Direct Instruction Teaching (http://www.education.com/reference/article/what-direct-instruction/)
A helpful website that we were introduced to was the What Works? Clearninghouse
(http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/)
Thursday, 9 February 2012
Life Without Limbs
Watching the "Extraordinary People" video reminded me of a guest speaker we had at our school in 2011, Nick Vujicic. Nick is quite a well known person in Taiwan, due to his speaking tours and the translation of his autobiography into Chinese. To have him speak to our students was quite a coup, as his speaking tours had sold out in Taipei city. I was amazed at the reaction our students had after his hour long talk. Many came away with a different perspective on their lives.
http://www.lifewithoutlimbs.org/
Video Response Sheet - Extraordinary People
We watched the PBS Frontline program's investigation into thalidomide babies, "Extraordinary People", tonight in class. Before answering the questions from the response sheet, I wanted to briefly sum up my notes taken during the video.
Notes
Thalidomide, a "wonder drug that went wrong", was given to pregnant women in Europe, Australia, Japan and Canada in the early 1960's. It was a popular drug at the time as it eased problems associated with pregnancy such as morning sickness, and as a sleeping pill. However, babies were being born without arms or legs, or died because of organs not being formed properly. As many as 5,000 children were born with these symptoms in Germany, and many were left in institutions run by the German government, or abandoned.
Initially, doctors tried to fit these patients with artificial limbs but the patients were not in favour. Many thought that the limbs were for the benefit of everyone else (so that they seemed "normal") and not for the patients themselves.
A question that was raised at the time was where these children would be educated - in schools for the handicapped or given a normal education.
One of the people interviewed, an American called Alvin Law, recounted how his grade school opposed his enrolment. After much negotiation, he was finally accepted into his school.
Germany provided better compensation and assistance for their nationals born with thalidomide than Canada did.
Questions
1. For you, what is the significance of the title of this video?
I think the title highlights the trials and hardships that the men in the video had to surmount to be accepted in society as full members. One thing that struck me was the good-humor that most of the men had about their situations. They didn't seem to see themselves as being "extraordinary" but the ways in which they had overcome a lot of their difficulties would no doubt strike able-bodied individuals as "extraordinary".
2. What reaction do you have in regards to the message(s) of this video?
One of my reactions to this video is that despite these men having been born with a disability that may affect their mobility, they would no doubt be able to participate in regular schools academically. The argument for including students with these types of disabilities has been strengthened in my mind by watching this film.
3. Describe how you and/or your school could use this video?
I think many of my students think that they have big problems in their life and don't often think about those who have to overcome such hardships from an early age, and come out the other end with such a bright outlook on life. I would hope that by watching this video my students would take two messages: that the people in the video have overcome adversities with a positive attitude, and that having a disability doesn't mean that someone can't function normally in society.
Notes
Thalidomide, a "wonder drug that went wrong", was given to pregnant women in Europe, Australia, Japan and Canada in the early 1960's. It was a popular drug at the time as it eased problems associated with pregnancy such as morning sickness, and as a sleeping pill. However, babies were being born without arms or legs, or died because of organs not being formed properly. As many as 5,000 children were born with these symptoms in Germany, and many were left in institutions run by the German government, or abandoned.
Initially, doctors tried to fit these patients with artificial limbs but the patients were not in favour. Many thought that the limbs were for the benefit of everyone else (so that they seemed "normal") and not for the patients themselves.
A question that was raised at the time was where these children would be educated - in schools for the handicapped or given a normal education.
One of the people interviewed, an American called Alvin Law, recounted how his grade school opposed his enrolment. After much negotiation, he was finally accepted into his school.
Germany provided better compensation and assistance for their nationals born with thalidomide than Canada did.
Questions
1. For you, what is the significance of the title of this video?
I think the title highlights the trials and hardships that the men in the video had to surmount to be accepted in society as full members. One thing that struck me was the good-humor that most of the men had about their situations. They didn't seem to see themselves as being "extraordinary" but the ways in which they had overcome a lot of their difficulties would no doubt strike able-bodied individuals as "extraordinary".
2. What reaction do you have in regards to the message(s) of this video?
One of my reactions to this video is that despite these men having been born with a disability that may affect their mobility, they would no doubt be able to participate in regular schools academically. The argument for including students with these types of disabilities has been strengthened in my mind by watching this film.
3. Describe how you and/or your school could use this video?
I think many of my students think that they have big problems in their life and don't often think about those who have to overcome such hardships from an early age, and come out the other end with such a bright outlook on life. I would hope that by watching this video my students would take two messages: that the people in the video have overcome adversities with a positive attitude, and that having a disability doesn't mean that someone can't function normally in society.
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