Special Needs and Students

I chose to dedicate a section of my blog to students with special needs because it is becoming such a prevalent issue in the classroom. Inclusion and mainstreaming has made the classroom a place where virtually every kind of student and every kind of learning ability/disability could be present. As such, teachers need to be equipped to accomodate those students as best they can. The links that I posted provide what I believe to be valuable information about some of the most common special needs found in classrooms, and also offer ways in which a teacher can work with the student to help them achieve. Autism and ADD/ADHD are really hot topics right now - teh sites that I chose were fairly comprehensive in how they dealt with those issues. they offer explainations of what exactly a student with those special needs may be prone to do, as well as tips for helping them in the classroom. Practical examples and an emphasis on the behavioral problems that such students may present in class are really helpful for teachers. Two web sites that proved interesting were the ones dealing with low and high achievers, as each present differend special needs in the classroom. in the area of high achievers, especially, it is important for us as teachers to find ways to challenge them without heaping more on them just because they are capable. I also included a general web site as well as one covering behavioral problems because they will be fairly prevalent, even in high school.

Reading, Writing, and Grammar

I decided to create these link sections because the study of English is so widespread; there are so many different aspects: literature, poetry, writing, spelling, conventions...the list goes on and on. I thought that by dividing them into some sort of grouping I would make it a litle easier on myself when I am looking for a certain help aid online. Instead of searching through the entire collection, now I can access the links according to their group.

I LOVE the grammar games website that I found. While the games and content may be a bit elementary for high school students, I found myself thoroughly engaged as I worked to accumulate points and identify grammar in sentences. It could be a fun alternative to lecture for the students. Also - the questions get somewhat progressively harder as they go along.

The site about getting an "A" on an English paper will be a good site - both for myself and my students. I could use it as a grading resource and a standard for teaching to make sure that I cover all my bases in essay writing criteria. My students could use it as a personal checklist and writing guide from their own homes - instruction put into different terms than what I may have used to explain things. I added the writing prompts site because it intrigued me. We used writing prompts to start class when I was in high school and i remember loving them and looking forward to them every day. There is such a wide variety of prompts on this site that I could always keep things fresh and new in my class.

I love Sparknotes because of its simplicity. To be perfectly honest, many works of literature are difficult to understand in their entirety, and Sparknotes breaks them down into manageable chunks and also offers information on major characters, and sections on themes, symbols, and motifs found in eack work. This could be a valuable resource both for myself and my students. The Shadow Poetry site was interesting because it was a mix of "professional," published poetry and amateur poetry. The site offers contests and poetry writing avenues that could be of interest to students. It also offers a wide range of topics to choose from, as well as detailed looks at each different type and style of poem that would prove helpful when teaching poetry writing to the class.

Lesson plans, examples, games, informational sites, and more abound in the websites I listed - I am excited to get to make use of them in the classroom.

Teaching Resources

I was able to track down several really cool sites that I think will prove helpful throughout my teaching career. The "Teaching Today" site is one that I would like to explore more; it has teaching tips, lesson plans, etc. There is a section where you can type in a search item, for example: field trips, a section where you can search by letter or keyword, and many other things that place information at your fingertips. I thiknk that currently my favorite thing about the site is the teaching tip of the day. Appropriately enough, todays tip is:

"Solve Technology Lessons as a Learning Community - View technology breakdowns as an opportunity for community-building. Ask the class to work together to solve the problem. Technology, when it works and when it breaks down, allows students the opportunity to practice real-life problem-solving skills. The role of the teacher can now shift from teaching to helping students make connections through trial and error and hands-on exploration. Don't panic when technology breaks. Instead, involve and encourage students in the exploration of a solution."

The "Creative Teaching" website is pretty generic, mostly just a place with links to sites that have creative teaching ideas. "Education World" is really awesome - kind of like "one-stop-shopping" for the education society. There are tabs within the site for lesson planning, technology integration, school issues, and several more. The "read, Write, Think" site is especially helpful for my concentration: English. It offers Lessons, Standards, Web resources, and Student materials all geared towards helping English teachers get the most out of their students and help them be the best they can be.

Teacher Requirements

I chose to include these sites because different states do have some different requirements, and ultimately I hope to live and teach in Montana, or maybe even Idaho. These sites will not really help me once I am certified and in the classroom, but for where I am now, they could prove helpful.

Web 2.0

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

Web 2.0 basically targets the "sharing" aspect of web use. it enables users/subscribers to interact and engage using the internet as a platform for communication, learning, and growth. It is a much more "user-friendly" system than its predecessor. Much of the aspects of Web 2.0 is free, but often with conditions (requiring ads, limiting total content allowed, etc.). It encourages collaboratve efforts and networking.

Examples include:
- Wikipedia
- Myspace
- Facebook
- Podcasts
- Wikis
- Blogs
- Flickr/Picasa
- Skype (a free computer communication service)
- Image generators

Wow...I am amazed at how much this covers! It seems limitless as far as its capabilities - limited only to the imagination! It could really be a classroom perk, especially in encouraging student discussion. Several of my college courses involve student or class blogs and it can be a great way to interact with eachother...especially since the average college student hours of operation are definitly not during the day :) I think that I would definitely consider using a calss blog when I teach, but I would really need a lot more experience with the other things available on the web before implementing them into the classroom. I also really like the idea of podcasts, etc. for study purposes. Many students need repeated interaction with material before they can fully retain it. I would not mind recording my lectures for the students to use later, or podcasting assignments, etc.

Smart board in the classroom

As an English teacher, the smart board could serve some good purposes:
- providing students with ways to interact with the material (e.g. conjugating verbs, diagraming sentences, etc.
- English classes can sometimes be boring so it could be good to mix things up - perhaps showing tutorials or instructional
videos instead of just lecturing
- I like the "Jeopardy" idea for study purposes, especially like with grammar rules, literary terms, or actual questions from
readings they may have done
- I love that the SMART board is so good as a presentation tool, both for myself and also for students. Giving them the
option to present a research paper, etc. using the board could offer those that are technologically inclined a creative outlet

Even though the SMART board could be useful in so many ways, I also think that it is not necessarily an educational must - at least for my teaching style. So much of English learning, especially literature, is greatly enhanced with research and discussion, neither of which would be really advanced by using the board.

Technology Literacy

1. Technology should be used in education because it provides students with alternative information sources and assorted learning venues. It also broadens the teaching base, allowing teachers to not be limited to simple textbook lectures but to branch out into presentations, interactive learning, and alternative lesson plans. The world is in such a heightened technologic state that the students sitting in our clasrooms will be used to being immersed in it. they will come into our classrooms expecting to be immersed in the same things they do every day. if we fail to meet them where they are, they will very likely lose interest in us and in what we are teaching. Technology acts as both an eductional aid and an educational crutch all depending on how it is used in the classroom. It can make learning more rounded and efficient while giving students a comfort zone to learn. Technology is new and exciting and always changing and growing, which is possible why it appeals to kids so much - it offers consant challenges and opportunities for success and skill mastery in areas they grew up with and understand.

2. Students are generally in contact withmultiple forms of technology on a daily basis. This includes but is not limited to: cell phones, televisions, computers, internet, dvds and videos, cds, iPods, MP3 players, video recorders, palm pilots, GPS systems, laptops, video games, and arcades including virtual reality games. It would be really neat if it were possible to incorporte lesson plans into a video-game of sorts: a game-like situatin where students answered questions and studied as part of the "game." Podcasting lectures, class notes, etc. has become popular, especially on some college campuses. I think that encouraging kids to use computers is a great way to put them in their comfort zone while learning. Also - video and interactive learning (SMART Boards, clickers, etc) may be a great way to engage students in class discussion and projects.

3. There was not a very high level of technology in my high school classroom. Granted, it was a small private school in a fairly small town, but still, one would think that we would have been around more technology than we were. Since I graduted, the school has gotten SMART boards and the like, but when I was a senior, we had old-school projectors that you put transparencies on, we had a small computer lab of about 15-20 computers, and three computers in the library. We had large TV/VCR machines that were on wheels and were rolled from room to room as needed. The chapel had capacity to run powerpint and slides on an overhead projector, but that was about as high tech as it got. According to the Technology Use In Classrooms Rubric, I would say that we were somewhere between tier one and tier two as far as meeting the required conditions goes. We had acces to computers, etc., but we only really had one man who ran the computer lab, and often he was teaching a class and was hard to get ahold of if a student had a question. Assignments, etc. were not posted online, however, but this changed shortly after I graduated - when my 3 year younger sister graduated they posted all assignments online and even had a place where parents coud go to keep posted on how their kids were doing in the classroom. Pretty much all of the changes that I would suggest have since been implemented (online resources, SMART boards, more computers, etc).

4. According to the NETS, a student completing grade 12 must demonstrate mastery of a wide selection of technological skills, including: 1. Students identify capabilities and limitations of contemporary and emerging technology resources and assess the potential of these systems and services to address personal, lifelong learning, and workplace needs. 2. Students routinely apply touch typing techniques with advanced facility, accuracy, speed, and efficiency as they complete their assignments. 3. Students understand and apply advanced software features such as templates and styles to improve the appearance of word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations and to provide evidence of learning, productivity, and creativity. To help students learn ad master skill set #1, simple class discussion could go a long way in helping them understand what technology is and what ut does in the classroom andin the world. Reseach reports, group studies, field trips to science centers like the one in Seattle - all these things would help further their knowledge and understanding of the limitations and capabilities of technology. To help students with #2, assigning students to type all homework would require them to have adequate practice with typing. To help with #3, STudents could do ndividual or group projects in which they must put their findings into some technological medium to present to the class: powerpoint, class blog, etc. Also, instead of requiring them to format their papers and projects in the usual MLA format the could be allowed to be creative with certain assignments andcome up with new formats and new publications that require them to delve into the capabilities of their technology a bit more.

Technological woes

While technology is supposed to be "our friend", it seems that sometines it is not so "friendly"after all. My husband relies on computers for his career and when they are not working, it is like everything comes to a screeching halt. We moved back on campus the end of August and, unfortunately, his computer decided not to cooperate when he went to start it up again. He could not figure it out, the Apple technicians could not figure it out - we were in serious trouble. Finally, weeks after the problem first arose, a MacGenius was able to detect the problem and correct it. However, he had still missed about two weeks of work. It is funny how dependent we are, even in a world that is "on the fence" with technology.

Seeing my husband struggle through technological troubles made me think about if and how technology could turn against me in my life. As a teacher, if i plan a powerpoint or another digital presentation, or even an audio/vido presentation, I need to be prepared to have the technology fail, and have a plan B and maybe even a plan C ready. This does, unfortunately, mean more work and preparation on my part. In some ways, it seems like using technology is perhaps potentially more trouble than it is worth. After all, I got along fine in my school days without too much technology assistance...

However, there is that whole thing about "engage me or enrage me" - if I decide not to use technology, I run the risk of disengaging my students and losing their interest.

Is there any way to "guarantee" technological success? Is it possible to avoid the major headaches associated with living and working in a technologically dependent environment?

British Literature...Technology?

We do so much with notes on the projector in this class...I can't help but wonder what class would be like if there were only lecture. So much history, so many exerpts from ancient works, so many notes. I don't think that a SMART BOARD would be especially helpful in this class - the same goes for the clicker system. There are just so many students and the format of the class would not lend itself to such an education system. The magnifying projector that teachers can set on their desks and use to magnify books, papers, etc. onto a screen would be a helpful tool for the professor, however. So mch of what we learn is taken from other works that are not in our books, or from on-line research she has done. This stands in stark contrast to another class that I have: Special Needs in Education, which would benefits greatly from use of videos, powerpoints, and clas discussion.

Engage me or Enrage me...

Hmmmmm. This was a very interesting article. I loved how straightforward and factual the athor was - he took no pains to pander to his audience or to sugarcoat the issue - instead he very openly talked about how we as a society are boring our kids right out of the classroom and into the waiting arms of media, technology, and a new kind of education. He then posited that it is up to us to "engage" students on their level and not try to pretend that they are interested in the dry, uncreative curriculum of the past. The consequences of failing to engage students where they are is that we will instead "enrage" them - possible to the point where they tune us as educators out completely. I really appreciated how candid he was about the failure of the education system to make adjustments to integrate the technology these kids are using into their classrooms. Kids today are fully capable of learning on levels that we do not give them credit for. and if we fiind a way to tap into the way they best learn, then, quite possible, they will give us more than just blank stares and rolling eyes. To give a child a lecture when what they are begging for is an interacitve lesson that brings in elements of technology and that challenges them on more than an auditory level, is like giving a plant water but keeping it in the closet when it is begging for sunlight.

I would be interested to hear what everyone else thinks on this topic and whether or not they have seen firsthand how this affected a classroom for better or worse.

class notes, CPS, copyright laws

- - - having a good working relationship with the IT people and the librarians and the secretaries and the office ladies and the janitorial staff is vitally important, because they will be the ones to help you out every day.

- - - we are bridging the gap between the "old learnig ways" and the "new learning ways" - the old ways are pencil pen and paper, no real computer use, and lots of lecture and books. the new ways are technology based, revolve around computers , and are easily bored with the typical lecture-based classroom experience.


CPS can chart out answers (e.g. T/F or A/B/C)


Teachers can use copyrighted material if:
- it is used for educational materials
- it is in an acceptable amount
- it will not have a negative affect on the market (take $ from the author, etc)


- - - Copyright and Fair Use Handout

- - - Need to print out EALRs amd GLEs


EALRs and GLEs are really specific about what requirements need to be met - especially for technology in education.


- - - THINKFINITY (website to see lesson plans that match up to state standards)

- - - NETS (National Education Technology Standards)

- - - Fairy Use Tale (Utube video detailing fair use)

- - - Other national standards ("Education World")

- - - GLE and EALR handout

- - - NETS handout (about tech requirements before one can teach)

- - - Technology Use in Classrooms handout


Perhaps I need to learn how to use Utube, since my students surely will know how to use it, and use it potentially often

Tech Standards I need to work on

1. Fair use/copyright laws - I need a better understanding of what is leaglly ok and what is not, so I can help both myself and for my students

2. Learning what exactly students are familiar with and what they are adept at outside the classroom (video games, etc.). Then finding ways to integrate that into the classroom, since I grew up fairly technologically naiive.

3. Making sure that I meet the tech standards set forth for prospective teachers (on an in-class handout

Inglemoor High School - website

The "mission statement" on Inglemoor's website is: "providing a safe, caring environment that fosters lifelong learning and inspires students to develop their full potential as contributing members of a global society." This is, as most mission statements often are, quite a broad look at what the school is attempting to accomplish as an institution. However: it is also a escriptive statement because it shows that the school understands the need for kids to feel safe and secure in order to learn, and that the society their students live in is a global one.

I really apprecite that this website is so comprehensive. There is nothing more annoying than hunting all over for something nline only to find that th information provied is either nonexistent or, at the very best, slightly informative. This website includes:

- a complete bell schedule
- a calendar of events
- a virtual campus tour
- extensive information about the senior "cuminating project"
- information on clubs and activities
- a really informative and user-friendly athletic page
- a comprehensive information page where even district news can be checked out
- multiple parent-related links, as well as a link to the online gradebook for parents to see
- each department nd each teacher in that department has detailed class lists and links to their class "calendars"

I really liked this website - I though that it was very comrehensive and user-friendly. However, it was not as aesthtically pleasing as some I have seen. Eventually, the block letters and yellow and black theme gets a bit redundant - it would be nice to see some diversity - at least on the different teacher and class pages - perhaps things pertaining to the subject matter? (Maps as backgrounds for the history page, etc.) All in all though - I thought that it was a very professional, interactive, and informative site.

http://schoolcenter.nsd.org/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=12105&sc_id=1189557003