Video Post

  

  I found both of these videos to be very insightful and uplifting. I have never personally known or worked with someone who has autism; so, it was very beneficial to watch these videos. All of the information presented helped me to better understand what it really means to have autism. I felt that these videos really communicated the saying, 'don't judge someone unless you're in his/her shoes.' As with any individual, we need to be aware that everyone is different and has different needs.

    I really enjoyed watching the first video, Here We Are World. The real life footage and people made everything that was presented hit home. I learned a lot about facilitated communication that I did not know before, and watching these individuals with their facilitators brought new insight. I did not realize all of the different ways that facilitated communication can be used. It was inspiring that these individuals were able to show their competence, stay engaged in a discussion, and even be humorous with their friends. It did a good job of showing how real these individuals’ thoughts and feelings are, and this is something we need to remember when becoming a teacher. How our students feel when they are in our classroom can have an impact on their learning, as well as things like their self-esteem and self-efficacy.

   The second video I watched, Autism Teacher Please, was also very inspiring. I enjoyed hearing quotes from Barb Retenbach's book being stated from these individuals. One in particular that stood out to me was, “We are all diverse, yet all important to this world.” I felt that a lot of the information in this video would be beneficial to know when having my own classroom. One thing that really stood out to me was about how individuals with autism do not always like to be alone. I feel that this is a common misconception because individuals with autism can come off as very shy and to themselves at times. I also found it interesting to hear that school systems need to be more accepting of facilitated communication. The special education class that I took this semester really helped me to see how important it is to think about all of your students and how you can differentiate to meet everyone's needs. There are ways of doing this, whether it is peer assistance or allowing them to use resources to make sure that they feel engaged in the class and with their peers.

   I took both of these videos as another learning experience towards my goal of becoming a successful teacher. Being exposed to videos and information like this can help prepare teachers (and others as well) when they are working with children who have autism. 

Group Differences Forum-Gender

I really enjoyed completing my group differences forum and participating in the discussions today. I felt that it all went really well, and I learned a lot as well as had the opportunity to give my thoughts and opinions. Some of the points made and talked about have been addressed in my other classes, so I felt that most of us were able to bring many examples into the discussion. This helped me to see how gender, disabilities, and poverty could affect my classroom and the students in it. Being able to bounce ideas off of each other made our discussions meaningful and we were able to go more in depth. 

Focusing just on gender, I learned a lot from reading our article. It made me think about things that I had not previously thought about, like how we do not want to ignore gender just because we want a gender-free education. I liked having the opportunity to ask questions to get my peers' input on topics or statements that stood out to me. For example, should there be single sex classrooms according to subjects? If we were not cut short due to class time, I felt that our discussions could have gone on. 

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PLE 10

Theories in educational psychology promote the idea that language plays a critical role in cognitive development. Examine Table 2.2 (p. 51), paying particular attention to the age range that you are interested in teaching. Consider how you might incorporate or adapt the strategies presented for use with your own students.

Although I found all of the strategies to be useful, some that stuck out to me for the K-2 age range were:

• Read age-appropriate storybooks as a way of enhancing vocabulary
• Ask follow-up questions to make sure students accurately understand important messages
• Ask students to construct narratives about recent events

      In my Reading Education 430 class we discussed how reading, read alouds specifically, is the single most important activity leading to literacy achievement. Read alouds can be used across content areas to help children gain new vocabulary. It can also help the teacher to model behavior that he/she expects from their students. Read alouds, using quality literature, can help engage the students and keep them motivated in the content being taught. New vocabulary stemmed from read alouds can also assist the students in gaining a deeper understanding and constructing more meaningful questions and conversations.

    Follow-up questions allow the teacher to asses whether or not their students are coming to a full understanding of the material being presented. Teachers will be able to see if they can move on or if they need to review material again. Follow-up questions can come after reading a book, after a whole group discussion, after modeling a problem and/or material, etc. Questioning keeps both the teacher and students engaged and give the students an opportunity to also ask questions. 

    I also like the idea of asking students to construct narratives about recent events because it makes it more personable and meaningful. Students will be able to learn from their peers as well as work on other skills, like sitting quietly and listening. As we have talked about many times, students learn so much more when they find it meaningful to their own lives. 

Here are examples of different classrooms http://www.readingrockets.org/article/40991/