Blog post 7A Nicole's Response to Corey's paper

Corey,

            When reading your research paper, I thought that it was well written and the paper was organized so the reader could easily follow the paper.  The overall paper was well developed and provided many professional references.  As for the power point, it summarized your paper efficiently and provided the key points. I also felt that your discussion questions were well stated and could all be found within the power point and paper.

             How can influenza affect special needs children in the classroom? Students with disabilities are twice as likely to contract the flu. How easily transmissible is HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, and Influenza in a school environment? The influenza can easily spread throughout the classroom environment by sharing toys, pencils, a cough, shaking hands, and sharing utensils. As for hepatitis, type A can be transmitted through contaminated fecal matter, type B through blood or other body fluids that contain the virus, and type C through blood containing the virus and mostly though needles and sexual activities. Finally, within the school, the only way HIV/AIDS can be transmitted is through sharing needles, sexual behaviors and blood transfusions.  What educational preventions can be provided for students to learn about HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis? What are the legal obligations pertaining to teaching children with HIV/AIDS, and Hepatitis? Special education students with HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis cannot be denied education because of IDEA 2004.  Also, teachers are not allowed to share any information with anyone else that would not need to know.

            One thing that you could have added to your paper could have been some teaching strategies for these children.  I understand that the students do miss a lot of school, but it would be interesting to research how teachers prepare and get the student’s back on track when they do come back to school.  I know you mentioned the nightly communication netbooks, but I think it would have been interesting to provide the read with more way.

Overall, I feel that you did an excellent job on your paper and you covered many interesting points and the issues that are related to special education students with HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, and the flu. 

7A- Christina Neeley- In Response to Courtney Cruz

Courtney,

     Your topic was interesting and engaging.  I never really knew what the term SCLC, I now know that it stands for Social Communication Learning Challenges.  After reading further I came to realize that I have many kids in my classroom that suffers with social communication.  Some of the challenges that these students face are:

-Adapting in a social situation by struggling with the thoughts, emotions, and needs of those with whom they interact.

-Conative skills will be the skills students with SCLC will struggle with the most.

     Your paper was well written and very informative.  It was organized so that I was able to easily navigate to explore answers for the questions that I had in addition to the discussion questions.  The headings throughout your paper were helpful and broke the information up so that it was easy to read.

     The connection to Social Thinking was key in stating that in simple terms it is teaching the thinking behind the social skill.  Social thinking should be taught to kids with social learning challenges not as an additional school subject, but as a core instructional element that impacts each moment of the school day.

I learned that there are benefits and challenges to implementing this, they are as follows:

-Benefits: It is essential that we understand the perspective of other’s around us.  This also means that we need to take into consideration that perspective and be able to adapt our response accordingly

-Challenges: Time, it’s not a quick fix, vocabulary, embedding terminology throughout the school day, and the lack of social skills will negatively every relationship that they try to have.

     The Power-point flowed nicely with your paper and honed in on the key points.  I especially liked the ILAUGH framework in teaching problem solving as well as effective communication. 

                        I= Initiating novel activities

                        L= Listening actively

                        A= Abstracting and inferencing

                        U= Understanding perspective

                        G= Gestalt: the big picture

                        H= Humor and human relatedness (Winner, 2000, p.14)

Much like other Positive Behavior Supports, a lot of time is required to put this support in place.  A few years ago I taught in a Public Charter school on the East side of Youngstown.  We used the acronym ARMOR, this was recognized school-wide as a behavioral system throughout the school in all levels.

                        A= Always listening actively

                        R= Respectful at all times

                        M= My body belongs to me

                        O= Our community is organized and clean

                        R= Ready to learn

     I found it beneficial to work in a place where all of the staff used the same language.  I do believe that it somewhat reduced the negative behavior when teachers were consistent about implementing this plan. 

     In my classroom now we use behavior charts to monitor progress as well as the “Give Me Five” rules.  We only have five simple classroom rules: Eyes watching, ears listening, head thinking, hands still, mouth quiet.  Students will move up or down the chart based on their behavior and if they are following the rules.  Often times we have to deal with our socially backwards students that feel that they’ve done nothing wrong to deserve punishment.  We handle them with kid gloves to de-escalate the child and make them understand what they’ve done wrong through a brief mediation.

     You have a variety of helpful resources to gain more information on this topic.  Thank you for bringing SCLC to life through your paper and PowerPoint.  I feel that I have a better understanding for what these kids are going through and how important it is not to leave this children behind.  It is very important to tackle their social issues with research based evidence in order for them to be able to function within society.  It is partially up to the teachers to make this social connection happen for the sake of the child’s present and future relationships.

 

 

 

Blog Post 7A- Catherine Valantasis- Response to Amanda Barbone

Assistive Technology for Students with Exceptional Learning Needs is an extremely informative compilation of research dedicated to explaining what assistive technology is and how it assists students with exceptional learning needs. Amanda Barbone aimed to answer five research questions: (1) What assistive technology resources are available to help support families of students with exceptional learning needs? (2) How can we, as intervention specialists, facilitate and monitor best practices for use of assistive technology by children in their homes? (3) What other benefits have been seen from personal experience within the classroom for students with exceptional learning needs and students without exceptional learning needs? (4) Why do you think veteran teachers might be intimidated by using technology in their classroom and not as open to using it in their classroom as a support for learning? and (5) Why do you think, in the 1997 reauthorization of IDEA, that technology was taken as a major topic of concern and made an amendment of technology?

This research stated the definition of assistive technology, the two types of assistive technology, and the two levels of assistive technology. Amanda discussed the use of assistive technology and its impact on a child's experience in the inclusive setting. It was suggested that assistive technology has the ability to increase a child's independent learning, as well as help a child to master grade-level content in the form of visuals/audio. An important statement was made regarding the fact that assistive technology does not compensate for less effective teaching.

I really enjoyed reading this research because it informed me of the different types of assistive technology, as well as how it can greatly impact students' learning. A few older students who attend The Rich Center use their iPods and iPads as communication devices. They are able to use specific applications that include pictures and phrases that help them to communicate their wants and needs. It is remarkable to see how these devices have helped these children reduce their feelings of frustration. Due to the fact that they are able to communicate through these applications, they have become more confident and their behaviors have diminished. Devices such as the iPod and iPad are also ways for these students to relate to their neurotypical peers, since these items are extremely valued.

Overall, I found this research to be extremely helpful. The different types of assistive technology for each subject area were mentioned and discussed in-depth. This helped me to understand how to use assistive technology appropriately in order to meet the needs of my students.

Jim's response to Danielle Hackett's Special Education Preperation

Looking over the presentation, questions and paper I believe that teacher preparation for Special Education as well as regular education is very weak in our colleges and university.  I haven't had much experience with Special Education training having just started it myself.  I do however, believe that the teacher training I received from YSU was, for a lack of a better word, adequate.  First off, as an undergraduate student my first experience with anything having to do with education didn't come until I was in Upper Division. this is the time when a students starts to get into classes that deal with education and SOME fieldwork.  During this time, I recall having 1 special education class, which was primarily an overview class and no real help.  Unlike my Special Education Masters classes, my undergraduate classes prepared me for a 1950s type of utopian classroom setting.  in this setting every child is very well behaved, says yes sir and mam, has no disabilities, and is ready to soak up any tidbit of information the teacher presents that day.  there was no classes on how to handle behaviors, motivation, disabilities, etc.  there were, however, plenty of opportunities to write 12 page lesson plans because that is how real teachers write lesson plans. 
When I got my first teaching position in Florida, I felt like a fish out of water.  Very little of what I learned, was of any use to me in that setting.  When I moved back to Ohio and accepted a position at a charter school, I was placed in a multiple disabilities classroom.  Again, my teacher training did not prepare me for what I faced.  Everything I learned and dealt with came from the aid of other teachers or my own learning and research.  The research you did on in-service trainings jarred my memory of one particular training I attended.  After sitting for most of the day in a training on motivating the students, the CEO of our school took the stage and told us teachers that we were not permitted to incorporate anything we just learned in our classrooms.  That made me think and feel like they just wasted our time and needed something to feel the mandatory in-service day.  Alternative licensing was huge in Florida when I taught there.  I cant tell you how many people I met that were going after an alternative license because they wanted a change in career or were recruited from other countries.  one would think that colleges and universities that have been training teachers for decades would have it down to a science but, alas, no.  We are still fumbling around like the chips used for the Plinko game on The Price is Right,

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7A Amanda Barbone reviewing Nicole Y. Least Resitricted Environment

As you mentioned throughout your paper not only at the beginning, that Least Restricted Environment (LRE) has a complex history and that it is consistently changing to improve learning of those with disabilities.  Have worked in special education for a few years now, I couldn't agree with your discussion and statements in relation to it has to be the LRE for that student.  Regardless of the diagnoses an inclusion setting might not be the best LRE for that particular student.  Take example the ED (emotionally disturbed) students I teach daily.  Of my eight students only two have academic goals, as the rest are all on an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) for their misbehaviors.  My job as a special educator is to get each individuals behavior maintained to prepare them to slowly be placed back into a regular education classroom with support and then hopefully one day back into their home school.  In a recent case with one of my students new to the ED unit, was having outbursts of very aggressive behaviors physically hurting other students and myself.  Strategies were implemented, data was collected for six weeks, and have those six weeks, the IEP team meet again and determined that this student is not near mainstreaming into a regular education class and was placed in a separated more contained school for behavior.  Just because a child is labeled something doesn't mean they automatically go to a separate school or placement.
I really like how you discussed not only the benefits of students with disabilities to be in the regular education class but how the regular education students benefit from having the special education students in their room.  I have seen first hand a regular education student take a student with a disability under her wing and help the student through not only academics but her daily routine.  To see this exact thing in action was a beautiful thing. 
When determining the LRE for a student it is important to back up the decision with data and like you mentioned it is a process.  I like how you touched the procedures to determine the LRE in accordance with the IDEA of 2004, in your PowerPoint because it goes to show how many factors are considered before the IEP make that determination.
Nicole, overall I feel like you did a very nice job touching on the basis of LRE along with providing great discussion questions. Nice job!!

 

7A - Danielle Hackett –Response to Raymond Marks

The focus of Special Education in the Private Parochial School Setting: How Creative Use of Resources Can Enhance Student Success  by Raymond Marks is how students at private schools do not have the same right to special education and related services as students enrolled in public schools.  The special education services should be provided to the student through the public school in the town the child resides in if that child was identified as needing services.

In a perfect world, we could assume the private school is aware of their students needs and inform the parent of their rights which would lead them into getting the services from the public school and making other informed decisions regarding their child's education.  Unfortunately, nothing is ever perfect.  The child who needs services may not get them because the school doesn't have anyone trained in special education to screen students, the school is uncertain of their responsibilities, the parent is unaware of their rights, etc.

Although the private schools do not have to adhere to the same legislation as public schools, I feel that is their right and it should not change.  However, there are some things that should change.  Private schools should educate their families on the  issues related to special education so that they can make informed decisions as to what route to take regarding the best interests of their child.  Parents need to know what they are gaining and losing by leaving the public school system.  My only issue is what happens when students leave the public school system and get government assistance (vouchers) to attend private school.  I would hope that these schools would then have to follow legislation as they are receiving government funds. 

The paper was well written and covered the many issues related to students with special needs in the private school system.  It was very informative and was greatly enhanced by including a background of a private school (Mooney) and pointing out their strengths and weaknesses as a whole and in relation to special education.  Prior to reading this, I was unaware of how special education is handled in private schools, so thank you for that.  

Choice response to Jim's research

The word that jumped to my attention in your title was normalization.  In all my studies of students with special needs when I read that word so many thoughts begin to gather.  When reading your research, I identified with the thoughts you discussed about what things would be considered normal.  The gauge to which each of us defines that thought, concept, and or word is what I continue to question.  In my thoughts I continue to come to the same hard truth that unfortunately students with disabilities have issue that a normal (loosely defined) student does not, and that is not normal.  I was interested to read that the thought process changed and that the name tried to as well.  I just don't think that stepping away after the fact makes people change their view of the idea.

I enjoyed reading all the pros and cons of both Normalization and Inclusion.  The ideas and concepts that both can be beneficial rings true for my professionally.  I have seen instances of both being highly successful and both failing terribly.  I think trying to put students, ideas, concepts, and programs into nice tight little boxes may be part of the problem.  What is fair is not always equal and what has worked for one student may not work for anyone else.  The factors for each student like parent involvement, medical care, living conditions, school setting, teachers, ect. differ so greatly that we can not put a blanket over students and think that just because things were successful in the past that they will continue to be successful now.  The continued search for what will work best for children is a long road and I feel as though we are going to continue in the race for years to come, and may never actually "win" if we continue to try to find a one cure fits all concept.