At both stations, everyone I saw was able to participate successfully if they were helped to peel stickers off of the sand art and pizza ingredient packets were opened for them. Squeezing the sauce out of the packet was difficult for some students, but I was able to help them figure out ways that they could do it themselves (hold with one hand and squeeze the sauce out, or put it down and get the sauce out by putting their hand on the unopened end and sliding it towards the open end).

I was able to interact personally with students with disabilities at these two stations. This experience was a good way to learn how to assist these students in activities in which they are engaged, rather than more difficult (and less enjoyable!) academic tasks. All of the students I worked with were eager to participate in the fun activities and there was no pressure on them to perform.

I loved the Very Special Arts Festival and would love to go back! It seems like a much needed escape from an academic setting into a fun and accessible one. I am sure that students look forward to this event all year, especially if they do not have a particularly active social life or are not involved in any extracurricular activities. I am involved with a therapeutic recreation program (horseback riding), and I know that the highlight of the week for many of those students is their riding lesson, because they do not have many other opportunities for social experiences or recreational time that is accessible to their specific needs. This experience has reinforced my prior belief that it is just as important, if not more important, to create opportunities like the VSAF for students with disabilities as it is for their typical peers.

A class blog where parents can keep up with what students are learning, as well as access related resources, could also be useful.

At the parent panel, a speaker discussed the effectiveness of positive phone calls home at the beginning of the year to make initial contact with parents so that if you have to call later in the year with more good news or for a less pleasant reason, they remember who you are. She mentioned that she called each of her students’ parents during spring break and that her students came back to school excited to see her because she had taken a personal interest in them outside of school.

2) I thought that the panel was very informative.I was very interested in what the the keynote speaker, a Towson graduate student who is legally blind, had to say in relation to the types of services that she did and did not receive during her school experience. It was very interesting to hear from the perspective of someone who had been through school with an IEP. She made a point to say that we should always be asking the student what they feel they need to succeed, which I think is incredibly important.

When we broke into groups by the age group we intend to teach I was with two young special educators who work in an inclusive elementary school, one of whom is a first-year teacher and Towson grad. They gave good advice on getting organized and prepared to teach during your college career, and spoke at length about the importance of collaboration as special educators. We also received the phone call advice that I mentioned it question 1 when they talked briefly about communication with parents.

It was very helpful to hear what they had to say as young special educators, as they are not too far removed from what we are experiencing as future teachers, though I wish that I had also had the chance to listen to parents discuss their thoughts. My brother has an IEP so I have seen my own parents’ experiences, but our family’s experiences with the school system have not been ideal and I would love to hear what works and does not work for other families.

Chapter 7 – What kind of physical limitations would cause a student to benefit from using speech recognition software?

Some limitations were that the switch only said, “My turn”, which meant that unless she wanted it to be her turn, Christina was only able to point. Kate’s boardmakers symbols were almost all food-related, which limited our discussion because they were not related to it, though she did use “more” to ask for more information.

Communication got smoother when we started to sign. If Christina’s switch had had more prerecorded messages related to the discussion, and Kate’s boardmaker symbols had also been relevant to the discussion, communication would have been easier.

http://www.learner.org/interactives/geometry/

I found a series of student-created podcasts called “Writing Techniques” from Studio 203 which focused on writing techniques such as comma usage. The students’ energy was engaging, as was as their use of music.

There are a number of Discovery Channel podcasts, and I thought that Discovery Space podcasts were very interesting and potentially useful in the classroom, as they are definitely more engaging than reading about space in a textbook. I particularly liked the ones featuring “Dave’s Space Disco”, and Dave provides the link to his blog for more in-depth information than what he covers in his podcast. His use of manipulatives in the podcast is fun.

If you go to the “iTunes U” section, you can also find a number of podcasts from Harrisburg Area Community College related to phonics that they have posted for English Language Learners.

Teaching children to record their own podcasts to share their learning is also a way to  create an additional mean of expression, as well as a mean of engagement, as podcasts are fun to make.

Standard 4.0 Chemistry

Topic C. States of Matter

Indicator: Provide evidence from investigations to describe the effect that changes in temperature have on the properties of materials.

Objective A: Based on data gathered from investigations, identify and describe the changes that occur to the observable properties of materials when different degrees of heat is applied to them, such as melting chocolate pieces, boiling an egg.



2. By separating specific goals from the methods used to reach them, teachers are able to create opportunities for a larger learning population.

3. To appropriately affect each brain network, new media can be used to provide multiple means of representation so that students are able to demonstrate their learning using their preferred method. Tools like CAST software, for example, can be used to provide additional pathways to a common goal.

4. Providing students with scaffolds that help them to reach the goal that is just beyond easy reach so that the student must work to achieve it but will not get excessively frustrated in the effort.

5. It is necessary for teachers to first identify a standard’s chief purpose to decide which information it is most important for students to learn related to that standard.