This week we talked about differentiation. This means that you change your curriculum in order to accommodate to children's specific needs. A teacher may accomplish this in a large group by rotating through different teaching styles and mediums or in a more direct individual way. This is really important because some children learn in different ways. Some children are more visual learners while some are more audio or kinesthetic learners. Furthermore, some children just think differently so they may need to have a concept illustrated in a different way. For example, one some aspect of a diagram may just click for a child while asking specific questions to group mates may help another child fill gaps in knowledge about a topic. When differentiating it's essential to assess where the child is at and assess the child after you teach the concept. This ensures that progress is made. For children with special needs it's important to give small amounts of information at a time and allow for much review. Demonstrations, illustrations, and explanations help illustrate concepts. Careful sequencing helps these children build on what they know by making appropriate connections.
      For class we practiced teaching differentiation. Our group decided to teach how to whistle with your hands. I was very intimidated by teaching this skill because I didn't know how to and I didn't feel I could teach myself. We scaffolded to see how many knew how to do the skill. No one really knew. We had one main teacher and a few other group mates who knew some aspects of the skill and went around teaching it. Those that learned quickly practiced and helped others. In this class I felt like the students knew more than me about the subject which doesn't really happen to me (but will definitely happen more and more). This reminded me the importance of preparing and being humble. Some people can really proud and upset when they find out their students (or coworkers or those 'beneath them' in ranking) know more. If we are really seeking for truth then we should be willing to learn from others. It was interesting how much more effective the instruction got as everyone taught each other. I have noticed that children learn in a special way when taught by peers, a way that teachers can't replicate. I was finally able to learn to do the whistle and then teach others.
      I liked the structure of the group that taught us. They assessed our knowledge about conducting and put us into either beginner or an advanced/intermediate group. The way they taught with the visuals on the whiteboard was really effective. I want to make sure my teaching is as simple, intentional, and organized as theirs was.

I'm kind of sad that we don't have much class since this class is part hybrid and other things seem to get in the way. Perhaps some of the disconnect is because I really need to catch up with embracing more of my Higher, Wider, Deeper assignment before it's due. However, although we didn't have class on Monday I still liked the class-time we had on Wednesday.
    In class we got into groups and tried different scenarios to simulate a speech delay. In my group we had people put marshmallows into their mouths and try to speak. The first girl to put them into her moth wasn't able to fit that many marshmallows before she couldn't fit anymore. It was difficult to understand what she was saying. She reported being a little frustrated because we tried to guess what she was saying and this slowed down her process of being able to say what she had to say. I need to remember to that, and let those with speech impairments finish their sentences, not only because it may speed the conversation up, but because it allows the person speaking to be independent and to develop their language ability. We don't want to have children who rely on adults or older siblings to speak for them, it shrinks their talents. The second volunteer was able to put a considerable number in, but even then we could barely understand him and he had to resort to charades. The fact that he was able to put in so many mar mallows and still speak some words, while the first volunteer could only speak with a few, reminded me that we shouldn't assume we know what a child is capable of just because we have had experience with children with the same disability (even at the same level of disability). Different children have different capacities, emotions, experiences, and struggles as well as different development and experiences in their cognitive, social, and physical domains. One child have disadvantages that we don't understand and might have had to worm really hard to get to where he or she is at.
      In class we discussed the debilitating effects of poverty. Poverty can be very misunderstood because we tend to equate it with merely having little money. There can be a humiliating emotional aspect to poverty, because people feel like they can't provide for their families. Social ties can weaken because it's difficult to communicate to people without phones or internet access which is frightening because it means one less safety net if trouble were to trip that family up. We tend to judge others because they are in rough situations, thinking that they brought it upon themselves, and yeah, maybe they did. Maybe those people slipped up one day, but the only difference between them slipping up and those of a higher SES slipping up (which I have done on many occasions but have had the resources to bounce back) is that they didn't have the resources to catch them and so they fell.
Poverty is difficult to leave because poverty tends to breed poverty. those in poverty are less mobile and more likely to marry those in close vicinity who are like-minded. Those in poverty have a different perspective on the world. For example, those in poverty homes tend to have authoritarian parenting, partially because many are in manual labor, low-paying jobs that have an authoritarian mentality to it, an mentality of obeying the boss regardless of the reasoning and severe reprimand for non-compliance to the current work structure. This mentality can be perpetuated through generations.
     In chapter 8 we read about disabilities like poverty, substance abuse, and ADHD. The spectrum of issues with these disabilities is great and many of these children aren't disabled enough to need an IEP. However, many of these children are on the outskirts of learning and merely need a teacher to reach out and draw them back in. For example, some children with parents involved in substance abuse have difficulty trusting adults, including teachers. Teachers need to consider ways to connect with these children so they can feel secure and engage more in learning without the need of accommodations, modifications or specialized assistance. Children with ADHD may just need a buddy to help them keep focus, some breaks to move around, and a little more of hands on activities. These children may just need someone to help bridge gaps in their learning.
      For those children who have a language barrier, they may need a better working vocabulary before they are ready for full language immersion. As we watched in a video, some children shut down when they are overwhelmed by the language barrier. Some try to gain some receptive language skills by copying what students write and by writing what the teacher says; however, while this receptive effort may teach them something, there is still a gap of knowledge that the child can't bridge. Neither child's reaction was incorrect, both just need help in order to understand better.

Well the test this week was interesting. Honestly, I struggle to get class readings done (partially because I feel the need to read through them like a novel, which they aren't) for most of my classes so it's sometimes nice to have tests that.
(1) Get me to read the text and....
(2) Get me to read the text in an interesting and critical thinking way, since I am actually looking for answers.
         I'm hoping to read next weeks text the same way I read the text for the test. I liked that our test was essay question format and I could discuss what I knew instead of trying to see if I remembered some erroneous detail from the text in order to choose between two multiple choice answers that both look correct if viewed in different lights. I liked talking with my group before the test because I found that teaching others was the best way for me to learn the material (and also I was just happy that they were learning it). The group test was nice because we definitely all had different things to emphasize on our concept maps. One group member is taking the law class, and so laws and their implications were more on her mind than mine.
         It's interesting how high profile statutory laws seem to be built on the foundation of simple (and sometimes regional) case laws and how those statutory laws greatly structure schools. One failed IEP in some obscure town could cause a lawsuit that could create a huge Act or policy that could change the nation, and the ideology of the people (since laws DO effect public opinion, despite what some may say). This can be good and bad. Perhaps if we weren't always suing everyone the law wouldn't have to spell things out for us so explicitly that we are unable to let our conscience govern some issues and those in special needs programs wouldn't feel completely controlled by policies and get burnt out so quickly. It seems implied that IEP's are mainly for ensuring that children get all of the benefits and eligible resources. I wish the parents weren't just satisfied with resources and would come throughout the year to meet with the teachers about the child's learning that was decided on in the IEP. But then again, I wish that parents were more involved in their children's learning in general.
         I liked doing the case study this week where we got with our groups to decide how to modify our curriculum for a student with a possible disorder. I was in the music group and I was surprised with how much we could modify our curriculum in order to better meet the needs of the student. Sometimes, teaching methods can seem so rigid and habitual until you talk with other people and get their input. When we came together into different groups it was interesting to learn how other classmates modified their material to meet the needs of the student because they used different methods that I wouldn't have thought of that seemed based on their Elementary Education background. Someone took notes on one of my ideas. It is interesting how we all try to meet the same needs of a child in different ways. Parents do the same thing with their children.
I didn't do anything with my HWD project this week, which is really uncool but I'm determined to give extra effort to it in the coming weeks. I have done some experimenting with CBT practices and now I want to do some more research and reading based learning.