Week 12

Describe your notebook or file box?  Do you think this will be helpful in student teaching?  Why or why not?

I created a binder for this assignment.  It opened to sections with our lessons and instructional strategies (separated by subject).  Next was "behavior management" and several other resources.  The resources were put into plastic sheet protectors to make them easier to maneuver and find.  Some of the categories of resources were "transition", "academics", "classroom", "auditory", and "speech".

I think this binder will be incredibly helpful.  First of all, most of my instructional strategies and lessons were pretty vague, which will (hopefully) make them easy for me to modify for my lessons, regardless of the theme.  The template for the instructional strategies that I created also will make it easy for me to find the strategy that I want to use.  I am particularly excited about my additional resources.  I think it will be a great place for me to find info for improving specific aspects of my teaching (be it academic, classroom setup, etc.).  I wasn't excited to create the binder while I was doing the work, but now I am thrilled to I have it.  That should definitely stay a part of the course.  I actually intend to continue to keep resource binders when I teach--that will be so beneficial!  ...Of course, I may end up with an entire room of binders : ) 

Week 11

How can you prepare to address transition for students who are Deaf/HH?    Even after talking about transition in class, I feel a little bit overwhelmed when I think about it.  I think I feel this way because transition is such a huge adjustment for a student and I want to be sure to provide my student with everything I can to best prepare him or her.  I know that I would use the resources we discussed in class, particularly the PARC checklist and iTransition.  I would also like to focus my lessons on things that will be beneficial for my student in the future.  For example, if my student intends to go to college, I want to have lessons about college (such as setting up an online account for the university, student loan info, living arrangements, student organizations, student resources, etc.). What are 3 pointers you have learned in using instructional strategies?  Has your viewpoint of teaching changed after taking this course?  How or how not? 1.  I was given a huge amount of resources for instructional strategies.  I guess that "pointer" would be to use all available resources--ones that the school has, as well as sharing with other districts and finding awesome ideas online (I was entirely unaware that Pinterest had so many beneficial things on it!!!).   2.  Use a variety of strategies for my students--example, all of the reading materials that were brought to class.  Some had book reading, videos, manipulatives, etc.--i.e. a lot of different strategies could be used. 3.  Think through the lesson before teaching it--clearly, this sounds common sense, but I mean to think it through more than just on the surface.  For example, in a math lesson, the order the student needs to learn should be thought about.  If the student isn't grasping a lesson, the teacher might need to step back to the skills that the current lesson is built on and re-teach those so the student has a solid foundation.  Basically, be incredibly prepared.   I don't know if my viewpoint has changed or not... but I do know that, now, I think about instructional strategies in teaching which I didn't before.  The idea of teaching, while still intimidating, is now less so.  I think that is partly because of the variety of resources we were provided with in this course, the discussions on instructional strategies, as well as "on the spot" teaching of our classmates.  I think that was a fun and beneficial activity.

Week 10

Students who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing often have difficulty socializing and making friends with their peers.  How can you address this within your classroom?

If the student uses sign language:  Number one, I would like to encourage sign language in the regular education classroom.  Learning the signs for spelling words, etc. is a great way to provide the language for the students without taking up a ton of time.  I would also be interested in leading a sign language club, if enough students willing to participate.  This would give the students more language to communicate with the D/HH student, as well as give the D/HH student the opportunity to be a “leader” within that environment. 

I would have the students do activities in groups of two, and they will have to change partners every time.  That will help more students to interact with the D/HH student and hopefully start to become friends.  If the D/HH student has difficulty knowing how to interact with others, I would directly teach that because it’s a hugely important skill to have.  We could also role play interactions with others to try and help the D/HH student to feel comfortable.

I think it would be really neat to incorporate deafness and Deaf Culture/history in the regular education curriculum.  It could help the other students understand how to better communicate with the D/HH student, as well as to respect that student’s culture.

Communicating with parents is very important.  What are some ways you can communicate with parents and is there a better way than another?

Email, phone calls, in-person meetings, newsletters, notes sent home with the student, teacher’s website, and texting are all viable options of communication with/to parents.

I think all of these are good options and all should be used that the parent wants.  I want to communicate with the parents in the way they are most likely to receive the information and respond.  I think the subject matter also defines which is the best choice:  if it’s something of a delicate matter, perhaps an in-person meeting should be set up to discuss (the scheduling may need to be done via phone call, text, email, etc.) 

While I may be more comfortable using certain types of communication with parents, I will make every effort to use whatever type(s) with which each parent is most comfortable.

Week 9

Positive Behavior Supports or PBS is a program some districts or schools implement.   Complete a mini-research regarding this program.  Do you think this is beneficial program?  Why or Why not?

I think the program has the possibility of being very beneficial.  It is a great way to acknowledge and reward good behavior, which (hopefully) encourages others to want to exhibit good behaviors.  I also think it’s great that this is a school-wide program, so it isn’t only the students who are rewarded or acknowledged.  I particularly like this for elementary schools.

For older ages (particularly high school), I think this could still be beneficial but it needs to be paired with punishments (or something for student exhibiting negative behaviors).  My husband and several of my in-laws teach middle and high school, and they don’t see as much of a benefit from the program.  It may encourage the students who are doing well to continue doing well, but it doesn’t necessarily encourage those exhibiting poor behaviors to change them.  That is just their personal experience, however.  

I do think it’s great for PBS should be incorporated in a school, but there also needs to be a set up discipline program.  Focusing on the positives is great, though!

Week 8

What are some ways you can teach the vocabulary presented within science and social studies?

First of all, I would pre-teach the vocabulary to the students.  I think flashcards could also be a good way to teach vocabulary—to make it easier, you could make two copies of the cards and have the student match the definition to the name.  To make it a little more difficult, provide the definition for the student and have him/her tell me the name (no visual cues).  To make it most difficult, provide the name and have the student tell me the definition.

When appropriate, I could have the student make a visual representation of the vocabulary.  For example, if names of plant parts are vocabulary, let the student create a diagram and label it with the vocabulary words.  Another possibility is making graphic organizers.  For example, if several of the vocabulary words have the same, or similar meanings, group them together.

Games, such as Jeopardy, could also be a fun way to impress the vocabulary learning.

How can you prepare to teach both of these subject areas?

I would review all of the student’s material before (s)he does.  I would also look up information for more knowledge, if I don’t feel comfortable with only the school provided info.  Research articles are an option for this, as well as websites like www.pbs.com and www.khanacademy.org.