This chapter is so full of great information.
The idea of inclusion has become synonymous with integrating hardcore special educated kids. But in reality, an inclusive classroom is one that doesn't tolerate bullying or doesn't allow a shy student to sit silently or doesn't let an apathetic student wallow in inactivity. To be inclusive means just what it says...to get EVERYONE included. That's why I integrate the learning styles activities with this chapter. To be a great teacher, you have to reach every child (if you can). Set expectations high but give the tools to achieve them. If your class is full of kinesthetic learners, then lessons should be active. If there are kids who are auditory and visual, then make sure all lessons have a listening and viewing component. It's SO important to know who your students are, how they learn, and what may connect with them. Within this chapter, you get some insight into the IEP process, into how disabilities are served in public schools, and various philosophies and ethics of meeting those needs. For your blog, you'll tell me a couple of things you learned, a few things you already knew, and how this information can help you be/become a better teacher...
Before you complete any of the learning styles activities, you'll take the surveys (in Learning Styles folder), watch my video in Dropbox so you can see what these look like, go through the packet I posted in the Learning Styles folder, and then you will be making some of your own! THESE are the real activities you will do in your own classroom, so be thinking about how you can integrate these information into your future classroom!
Because class is small enough, when you blog, you then need to respond to everyone's blogs! :-)
When the blog is due, your responses to classmates will always be due with the next 48 hours, unless someone is late to blog.
There was a lot in this chapter that I learned. The first thing that blew my mind was that there were no schools before mid-1970's that aided students with disabilities. In order for those with disabilities to succeed, they need one on one time with teachers and personal attention. It just seems hard to think that students with disabilities did not have the attention that they needed before legislation passed certain programs. It was really interesting to read about the different types of disabilities. I knew very little until I was able to read and understand each type of disability. I never really thought that there was that many disabilities. It just seemed like an individual with one disability was the same as another individual with a disability. I learned a lot about inclusion in the classrooms and how disabled students are not always accepted by nondisabled students in the classroom. It is the teacher's duty to promote the acceptance and implement certain strategies to support the idea of inclusion.
ReplyDeleteI already knew that students with disabilities have to be approved by the IDEA to be treated as one with special needs. I know that teachers must connect to each student individually and point out their strengths and weaknesses. Good teachers really get to connect with their students and get to know their uniqueness. I also knew about gifted students and how they exceed above the academic and mechanical skills. It is great to know that there are a lot of services and programs for students with both negative and positive special needs.
I think that this information will help me in my classroom because it allowed me to acknowledge the different types of disabilities there are and gave information on certain instructional techniques that I will possibly have to use in my classroom. I will be open to techniques to aid students in accepting those with disabilities in their classroom.
It also surprised me that schools did not aid students with disabilities before the 1970s. I love how you mentioned that teacher must connect to each student individually. That is so true! There are many different types of disabilities that the chapter did not highlight, but it was still very insightful. As a teacher you always have to be open to new ideas and techniques.
Delete1970 doesn't seem so long ago, it is crazy to think about how far education has come. I really enjoyed that you said that this will help you aid students in your classroom because it is so important that all students get the opportunity to be in the same classroom, instead of splitting up/singling students out just because they are unique.
DeleteMariah, I definitely agree on your first statement about no special education services before the 70's. I agree when you say that you find it shocking that students with disabilities were not getting the attention they needed. I can understand where you are coming from when you said that you thought all disabilities were like others or seemed like others because that is how I feel about the Autism Disability. I had no idea that there were different types! I also heavily believe that teachers must connect with their students and change their teaching styles to reach success, that is so awesome you said that! I am also open to new techniques to use in my future classroom, and I am sure you will be a fabulous, very adaptive teacher!
DeleteI too was happy to understand the difference in education that a teacher might face when it comes to students with disabilities. I am glad to be able to learn how to incorporate all types of students with in the lesson plans that i will be creating.
DeleteI can relate to a lot of the new things you learned in this chapter including the fact about not having special education provided before the 1970s and how many different types of disabilities there are. I was very surprised and interested by both of those things as well.
DeleteIn the first chapter I learned a lot. One thing that I could believe was that only 20% of students with disabilities were served in public school programs in 1970. I also learned that the first school for children with deafness in the U.S. was established in 1817. The name of the school, the American Asylum for the Education of the Deaf and Dumb, in 1817 may not have been the most appropriate name though. It is now called the American School for the Deaf. Another thing that I learned was that mental retardation is now called intellectual disabilities. I did not realize either that autism was not designated as a specific disability category under IDEA until 1990.
ReplyDeleteI knew most of the material that was covered in the first chapter. I knew about IEPs and how teachers take part in designing one specifically for the student. I also knew that students with disabilities are encouraged to spend time with nondisabled students in a regular setting classroom. Another key point that the chapter highlighted was how differentiated instruction is a necessity in a classroom. Various types of differentiated instruction is needed to meet the needs of different learning styles.
I believe that the information stated in the first chapter will help me in my classroom because it gave me insight on how to successfully do differentiated instruction. There was a table that gave examples that I can use in my future classroom. As a future teacher this first chapter taught me about the history of education and how it is still evolving. Being a teacher can be difficult when you have to change your instruction to meet the needs of all students. Finding various ways to do so may be difficult as well. The classroom will be a better place with a wide variety of diversity.
I feel like we really learned a lot the IDEA in our foundations class and it really reaffirmed a lot of the information in this chapter. I really like that you said "how to successfully do differentiated instruction" because i feel like sometimes teachers can try to do too much and instead of applying to all students it can become a mess. Diversity is SO important.
DeleteI also thought it was crazy that the deaf school had the name "dumb" in it. You would think the word "dumb" would have been respected then as it is now (well by some).
DeleteMarissa, I also agree that the title for the first school for deaf children was not acceptable or appropriate! I am SO glad they changed it! Just because a child may have a disability does not make them even close to being dumb!! I love how you mentioned that Autism was not even on the IDEA category until 1990 which is crazy to think that in only 24 years how common that disability and services to help those with it has become! I definitely agree with you when you say that changing instruction can be difficult, but with your genuine heart and hard working motivation, I know you can do it and how successful your students will be!! I am also in full agreement when you said that classrooms are better places with wide diversity; these environments bring so many chances to learn from peers and I could not agree more!
DeleteI have a cousin with disabilities and its hard to think that back then she would have been labeled as "dumb". I am very happy that things have changed and went in a MUCH better direction.
DeleteIt was very interesting reading about the schools for students will specials needs back then and how services were not provided and the one that was had the word "dumb" in the title. It is so interesting to see how much schools have changed and improved for students with disabilities.
DeleteSome of the big point that I learned from chapter one is:
ReplyDelete1.) IDEA includes oner health impairments such as hemophilia, diabetes, epilepsy, and sickle-cell anemia. This act covers so many students, the book discuses 10 different categories.
2.) Intellectual disabilities, learning disabilities, and emotional disabilities and behavior disorders make up the majority of students disabilities. When I think about students wit disabilities I usually think of learning and intellectual disabilities. This chapter really opened my eyes to how many other disabilities there are that students could be dealing with on a daily basis.
3.) When many thinks of inclusion they think about having students with disabilities in a normal classroom with students that do not have disabilities, when it is important to consider what the student needs to learn.
A lot of this chapter was stuff we had discussed in pervious education classes of mine. Some information that was repeated for me was:
1.) The attitudes of classroom teachers are extremely important in the quality of services rendered to students with disabilities.
2.) Inclusion requires schools to educate students with disabilities with their non disabled peers as much as possible.
3.) The US public school system attempts to provide 13 years of equal educational opportunity to all American citizens
I think this chapter will really help me in my teaching degree. I believe this because it really helped me to realize that there is really no such thing as a norm students and that inclusion doesn't mean just having a classroom with students that have disabilities but to have a classroom that allows students with disabilities the chance to learn and grow just like any other students.
I was so surprised at the diversity in disabilities! Like you said, the intellectual, learning, emotional, and behavioral disabilities make up the majority of students disabilities. I have always thought of learning and behavioral disabilities when I was in school, vs intellectual and emotional disabilities.
DeleteI really love your last paragraph! Like you said, most of the information we have learned in previous classes. The attitude of a teacher is valuable when there is a large diversity, especially learning styles, of students in the classroom.
DeleteJennifer, my eyes were also opened during this chapter realizing how many different disabilities and categories there are! Reading about them makes me want to study them even more in depth so that I can understand just a tiny bit of how these students live daily, so fascinating and incredible! I just want to help them so much! I love in your last paragraph how you said that there is no such thing as norm students and how students with disabilities deserve the chance to learn and grow like all other students; so true and I highly agree!!
DeleteI said essentially the same thing in my post. There is no such thing as a normal student and teachers need to understand that their teaching could be drastically changed because the addition of even one student with disabilities to their classroom. I'm glad we are learning about these not so talked about concepts!
DeleteIt was so interesting to me that you put that there is no such thing as a norm student because I realized the same thing! It was very interesting and I really liked the way you took the perspective that inclusion in the classroom doesn't just having students with disabilities, but finding a way to incorporate them with other students. I think that's awesome and didn't think about it like that before.
DeleteAfter reading Chapter 1, I realized that there was a lot of information that I did not know. Some points that I learned from this chapter was the fact that around 3 million children that had a disability received inappropriate services and that 1 million were not in the educational program at all. Those statistics made me upset to read, making me another huge supporter in the No Child Left Behind Act. I also learned about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004, where I learned that it is an act that provides all the legal components for current special education programs in public schools. Furthermore, I learned about the Section 504 and the ADA. Those were both new terms for me and I learned that they had 3 characteristics for a student to be considered a student with a disability. I am still confused though on the difference between the Section 504 and ADA so Dr. Bum, if you could help me understand those better and the difference between ADA, IDEA, and Section 504, I would appreciate it! Also, I learned that with the IDEA, at age 16, a transition phase must be started. Lastly, looking at the table from Figure 1.1, I was shocked to learn that students with hearing and visual impairments were out of the classroom less than 21% of the day. To me, I thought that since they have those impairments, those students would need ESL programs or aids in their own classrooms if general educational teachers could not provide those services needed. Even though I only listed a few things, I learned a lot!
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, even though I did learn a lot of new information, I still new some topics brought up in this chapter. For example, from being a Cadet Teacher Junior and Senior year of High School, I have experienced students with disabilities in the general classroom. The book talked about how the attitude of the teacher, support staff, and principals is everything, and that is very true. Another thing I already knew from this chapter was that students are considered gifted if they have an IQ score of 120 or higher. Furthermore, I knew what an IEP is and the Due Process Requirements of IDEA due to my Cadet Teaching experience.
I feel that information from Chapter 1 will definitely help me in my future teaching career. I believe this because it taught me all about the benefits of inclusive classrooms, learned from Webber (1997), with inclusive classrooms there is a sense of community and social acceptance, an appreciation of student diversity, attention to curricular needs, effective management and instruction, personnel support and collaboration. Also, the table in Figure 1.2 showed the difference between traditional and inclusive educational models, and after reading that makes me even more excited and supportive of inclusive settings. The way that Inclusive models bring about communication, collaboration, acceptance, challenge, and all success makes me so eager to start teaching. I feel that only great things can come from inclusive settings and I hope that all public schools switch to it. From this chapter I have learned about the rights and processes of students with disabilities, and I feel that since I now know those, I will be able to better help and improve the education of my students in the future.
I also thought that the Section 504 and ADA was a little confusing. So it would be nice to have a little bit of clarification on that from Dr. Bum. It really is crazy to thin that the 3 million people who had disabilities had inappropriate services, and the 1 million that had no services at all. I am big into equality, and it does upset me that those with special needs/disabilities were not treated fairly.
DeleteThe Section 504 and ADA was a tad confusing. You will definitely be an asset to your students!
DeleteI was also very surprised to learn that more than a million students with disabilities werent even in any type of education program at all. I dont see how that could even be possible.
DeleteI hadn't really heard about IDEA before reading this chapter either, so finding out about that act was interesting to me as well. I think the Cadet Teacher thing sounds awesome and it sounds like it has already helped you with your future teaching!
DeleteI also thought it was incredible that 1 million were not in the educational program at all. I do also agree that the attitude of a teaching staff is so important. Are you a visual learner? Im taking a wild guess since you seemed to gather a lot of information from the figures the book included.
ReplyDeleteYes I am :) Now that you mentioned that, I looked back at my post and it really showed!
DeleteMany of the information that was provided in chapter 1 I had already learned in a previous education classes. Although I had learned much of the information already there was a lot that I did not know also.
ReplyDeleteI did know that there weren't any schools before the 1970s that aided students with disabilities, which in my opinion is absolutely ridiculous. Although they weren't "normal" students, students with special needs should have had the same attention provided to them when schools were first established. It amazes me that back then people didnt think that children with disabilities didnt need their own special help and attention. Even though I have learned a lot about children with disabilities in previous classes, I did not realize that there were so many disabilities that children face. Before reading this chapter I really only thought that there are only a few types of disabilities that teachers could possibly deal with in the classroom or in the school. I was very surprised to learn that there is much more to learn about when it comes to children with disabilities.
This information that I learned from this chapter could help me in my classroom because it made me realize there's a lot more behind disabilities than what I knew previously, I knew, obviously, that I would come in contact with students with disabilities but I didn't know the wide range of disabilities that I could potentially be helping. So, basically I now know that I need to be prepared to make lesson plans that fit all different types of students not just the "normal" every day student.
There are many more disabilities that are not listed in the chapter. It amazes me also that people didn't think that students with disabilities needed special help. Preparing lesson plans that fit and aid in students' learning can and will be difficult.
DeleteI also think it is interesting that people back then didn't think students with special needs needed special attention...very strange! I also realized that I will have to change my lessons according to how my students are so that I can help them succeed in the classroom.
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ReplyDeleteAs this is my first education class besides Intro to Teaching, many of this information was very new to me. The first major thing that stood out to me was Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act (IDEA) of 2004. I was clueless to the fact that there was an actual law that made sure certain services were provided to special education. The other major thing that stood out to me was the fact that there were no services provided for students with disabilities before the mid-1970s. It was surprising that only 20% of the children with disabilities were served, and of the 20%, the services were very minimal and were provided separate from all the other students. The last thing that I learned from this chapter is how different each disability is. While I always knew there were slight differences, it was interesting to see how different each disability was.
ReplyDeleteThere were very few things that I actually knew from this chapter. One of the things I knew was that students with special needs are taught in the classroom with other students in general education classrooms. I also knew that the attitude of the teachers is very important in helping the services of the students with disabilities. Other than those two things, I was surprised about how much I actually didn't know about the information in this chapter.
The ways in which I can use this information in my future classroom is that I now know about all the different kinds of disabilities. I realized that if I do end up deciding to teach, I will have to rearrange my lessons to try and fit most disabilities in some way. I have realized there is no such thing as a normal student, and will have to adjust what I do during lessons to help my students.
The Foundations of Education class talks a lot about IDEA. Teachers have a huge impact on each of the students. And I agree when you said that there is no such thing as a normal student. Everyone is unique in their own way.
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