Assistive Technologies - Case Study Critique (KEVIN) YESIM, IMAN & MARIA

Content and Context:

• Classroom management in 5th and 6th grade;

Major issue

• How can the teacher meet individual needs of the students?

Types of disabilities/exceptionalities encountered:

• Learning disabilities (4 students)
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (2 students)
• Mental Retardition (1 student)
• General low reading level.

Modifications, Accommodations, and/or Strategies used to address disability/exceptionality:

• Commitment of a special education teacher
• Special summer school on teacher´s collaboration
• Cooperative learning groups focused on the "Jigsaw Strategy" (expert group)
• Constructivist teaching ("Venn Diagram")
• Performance based assessment.

Technologies used:

• "Universal Design Learning" as a guide and ressource for lesson planning
• "Guided Notes" for students that have a difficult time following lecture or assigned reading
• "E-Reader" to read content from the Internet, word processing files, scanned-in text or typed-in text, enhancing text by adding spoken voice, visual highlighting
• Creating a "Rubric" (assessment form to translate the achievement of the students) that helps students to understand what they learn, provides information for a portfolio for use by parents and teachers.

Comment/Question:

• How should these strategies and technologies enable the disabled students to be successful in school?

ROLE PLAY ACTIVITY – PEDRIN (PEDRO)

After reading about Pedrin’s situation I believe that we can find a great variety of ways in order to help him.




In my opinion, the first step (and the most important one) if we want to help him is to know why he behaves in this way. For example, some children who are very bright need to be given differentiated activities to be stimulated, so we should know if Pedrin is one of these pupils or not.



This problem affects many members of the educational community, so there should be a lot of cooperation between them to change Pedrin’s attitude. In my opinion, a good teacher should be focused on every student, that is why to suspend him is not an option for me. According to my own experience, suspensions are not effective because during these days the child is missing classes. For instance, when he returns to class he doesn’t understand anything, so he can be frustrated and behave badly again.



I believe that we should look for a way to motivate him. If he refuses counseling, we should think about other methods and techniques that can help him. He wants to graduate, so we can use this information to create our solution. For example, one solution could be to use positive reinforcement - both at home and in school – when he is working well. This can be a very effective technique of turning his behavior because he is going to feel that his job is valued, so his self-esteem is going to be improved. It would also be a good idea to meet with their parents to talk about how Pedrin is going to work, because both teachers and parents should work together to “fix” the situation.



To sum up, there are a lot of different ways to solve these problems, but it is necessary for cooperation between teachers, principal, parents and the child. Finally, the main objective should be the welfare of the children, not the one of the teachers.

UNDERSTANDING OUR STUDENTS (PEDRO)

Due to globalization, we can find people from a lot of different cultures, religions and countries in the same place. As teachers, we should be open-minded to all these differences and try to use them in order to integrate these children in our class. Our students should learn that students of color or minority people is an advantage, because they learn about different ways of life. In my opinion, if there is a child in class who comes from a minority the teacher should talk with him in order to know how he is and what it his level of knowledge.


Even if there are non-immigrant children in our class, we should acknowledge different characteristics that every child holds. Personality, family, culture, and religion are some of the qualities that a teacher should take into account and respond to. For example, it’s very important not to single out the child or make him feel out of the main group - we have to express also the things that students are doing well, not only to correct them.

Finally, it’s also important to be response not only about the student’s background but also about his emotional baggage. An important element of successful teaching is to know how to motivate our students. We should try to look for different topics that our immigrant students find interesting in order to encourage them. Encouragement is by far the best tool for promoting and retaining a student’s interest in a class. Talking about the different cultures that we can find in the classroom is a good way to step the integration of these students.

In conclusion, the lack of integration of immigrant children still is a problem that needs to be solved. Therefore, we need all kind of support in order to develop and improve integration in schools.

NON-TRADITIONAL MATERIALS (PEDRO)

     During the whole course we have been talking about the different strategies that we can use in class in order to acquire a second language. In my opinion, the best way to teach is by using learning centred strategies because in this kind of activities the pupils have a chance to use language in a less controlled, more creative way. A good technique is to use pair group because they have plenty of opportunities to talk. Moreover, they are more independent because sometimes they choose they own tasks and they have access to the resources they need.

    My favorite teaching strategy is TPR (Total physical response) because in TPR students do not have to give instructions themselves until they are ready. Moreover, responding to commands students get a lot of comprehensible input. For example, a typical TPR activity is ‘walk quickly to the door and hit it’ (when the students can call respond to commands correctly, one of them can then start giving instructions to other classmates) I think that it is a good strategy because students have a period of listening and developing comprehension before production. In addition, students answer to commands with physical movement so it’s funny for them.

    One example of TPR activity that I would use in my classroom would be “The lost treasure” game. This game would be used to improve speaking and vocabulary skills in “English as a foreign language” class.

• At the beginning of the class I ask them: 

Write 10 things that you bring to a desert island if you were marooned there.

• How can the activity start? Probably children are not going to know the meaning of “marooned”, so I can use a picture and explain the meaning of this word.

• When they understand the activity, they are going to work individually, choosing the things that they considered more important.

• After that, all the members of the class are going to create a group discussion, trying to choose 10 new items. Each group will have 4/5 pupils

• Finally, each group will choose one representative who will present to the whole class which items they have chosen and why.

MELTING THE POT VS TOSSED SALAD (PEDRO)

     The increasing cultural pluralism has a big effect on education all around the world. Moreover, nowadays we can find a lot of people with immigration background due to globalization. In Spain the immigration is a new phenomenon, that’s why there is not too much pluralism at schools. However, I think that it is really important to teach children that to coexist with people from different cultures and religions is an advantage, not a problem.

     About the text, I understand the difference between “Melting the Pot” versus “Tossed Salad” as a metaphor between multi-cultural and inter-cultural society. In the first one, everybody is living in the same place although they are different. However, they don’t try to understand each other, they don’t want to share their ideas or customs, and they just want to be part of an “empty” society where everybody is supposed to be exactly equal. On the contrary, “Tossed Salad” tell us about a society where there are different types of people, ideas and religions that live together in a positive way. In an inter-cultural society, every member tries to understand the rest of the people and to learn about them, but everybody is accepted and differences are welcomed (each person is different, and it’s an advantage!)

     About the interviews, I read them some time ago so I don’t remember them really well. However, I find more interesting the one about the Latin girl because she talks Spanish and English like me. I identify myself with this girl because her boyfriend doesn’t like her father, and vice versa just because they are from different countries. I don’t have this situation at home, but I think that if I would have an immigrant boyfriend it would be a “problem”. The story about the Chinese girl is also interesting because although she feels that she’s American people don’t share this opinion, but still I prefer the first one!

LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGY - PODCAST (GINA)

PODCAST:
http://www.podsonoro.com/podcast/1020/codys-cuentos (LA LIEBRE Y LA TORTUGA)

To use this podcast would be really helpful for 8-years-old children because…

•     The podcast tells us about the conversation between two animals. Children are really interest on the topic “animals”, so it will be easy to catch their attention. With this podcast they will learn not only how to speak in Spanish without mistakes but also a lot of vocabulary about animals and foods.

•     To use this podcast in class is a new technique that they haven’t seen before, so we can use it as a new tool that only will be used if they have a good behavior.

•     Thanks to the podcast, the information is given to them through different ways (because they can read the story on the book, listen to the podcast or combine them). Moreover, they can repeat the podcast a lot of times in order to understand better what it is been said. To use podcasts is great because they can change and be adapted for every child (you can modify the volume, the speed, etc.)

•     Moreover, they listen to different people talking, so they learn that we can distinguish people just by their accent and tone

•     They can be used in class or at home, and they provide a good and relaxed environment

•     They can be useful for these students with disabilities that have difficulties to read or to use they hands

  

To sum up, there’s a lot of good reasons to use podcast in class, so the teachers should be open-minded and try to use these new technologies in class.

.

CULTURAL IDENTITY- Guest Speaker Day (PEDRO)

   The truth is that the class about cultural identity wasn’t really useful for me. We were discussing about different values and trying to find the more important ones just by talking.

     On the one hand, I have found this class interesting because now I know which are the values that my partners consider more important, and it can be useful in order to understand their behavior (for example, Rukiye thinks that the most important value it’s faith, that’s why she is so strict with religion)

     On the other hand, I think that this kind of activity doesn’t have sense if the values are not explained before. In my opinion the activities that carry out “moral” contents should be introduced by a short speech about the topic, because if not they are too much superficial.

     To sum up, I think that these kinds of activities can be really useful if they are explained in a correct way. They can be interesting for us and we can learn a lot about the other people, but it’s necessary to have more time to do them and to understand all the values that we are talking about.

COURSE REFLECTION (SEAN)

     I can affirm that this class hasn’t been as I expected it was going to be. Thanks to this class I have reached one of my main objectives here in the U.S: to learn how the American educational system works and the relationship between politics and education.


     Even though I have had some difficulties to reading and understanding course texts, I think that to split the texts between us has been a good idea because we have understood all the contents without spent so much time reading about the same topic.

     The most interesting part for me has been the one about the different methods that the U.S government uses in order to improve the educational system (in my opinion “no child left behind” and “race to the top” are ineffective and unfair methods because they don’t provide the same opportunities and resources for every children).

     Moreover, after to complete this course I’m really happy because I have seen with my eyes that there are a lot of American people and teachers who understand that a good approach for teaching should be “learned–centered”.

      In my opinion, both ideas are quite important, and I am sure that they will be really useful in my future investigations and experiences as a teacher.

     To sum up, I have learnt so much about the educational system of the different countries. I have found this class really interesting because they have allowed me not only to express my knowledge about how is the education on my country but also how it works in Europe and here, in the U.S.

     …Now I’m completely sure that the myth: “all the Americans are stupid” is a fake!

MY OWN TEACHING PHILOSOPHY (SEAN)

           Our philosophy of education is based on our philosophy of life, and I am sure about the purpose of my life: to be happy. According to this purpose, I believe than classes should be places full of happiness, places where children can learn and grew up in a good environment.

          In my opinion, there are three essential factors in order to acquire knowledge: comprehensible input (students should be able to understand what is being said without difficulties), stress-free environment (students should have their affective filter kept low, classroom stress should be minimized and students "should not be put on the defensive”) and right to be silent (No one can make them talk before they are ready. As teachers, we don’t force early production, but we allow students to produce it when they are ready)

       We shouldn’t forget that our ideas will be reflected in the way we teach, and it’s very important because we are a model for our pupils. Because of that, we should teach to the children not only all the contents of the curriculum but also different behaviors (these values, norms, beliefs and ideologies are included in the hidden curriculum).

     Moreover, a good teacher should have numerous qualities. A good teacher is passionate (he loves to teach and wants to do his best), creative (he knows how to catch the attention of his pupils in every moment), flexible (he changes his methods and activities according to his children necessity) and a model.

    Finally, although to choose a good educational philosophy is really important, I think that is more important our attitude in class because educational philosophies are only effective when the teacher really wants to create a difference in the lives of his students.

LANGUAGE TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP (GINA)

COMMENT ON WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED ABOUT YOUR OWN APPROACH TO THE USE OF EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY.

        Nowadays, the use of technologies is something really common in our daily lives. Technologies are changing our working methods, and they are changing educational methods too. However, many people is warned of the possible harmful effects that technologies can have in the education of our children.

       On the one hand, technologies can be useful in education because children are really interested on them, so we can use them in order to catch their attention. Moreover, using technologies they can share information and work together from different places. Another advantage is that some technologies are really easy to use, that’s why children can find a lot of information without difficulties.

       On the other hand, we should be careful with the technologies that we use with children because technologies can be really harmful if children use them in a bad way. We should catch their attention while they are using it because some technologies as for example ‘the Internet’ keeps children amused in non-educational WebPages as Facebook, Twitter and so on. Moreover, we should teach them that they can find a lot of information using technologies, but they should learn to select only the valid information.

       In Spain the use of technologies in education is something new and only a few teachers use them because they are afraid. It’s something new that a lot of adults don’t know how to use!

         In conclusion, pupils should understand that technologies are really interesting and they can be a really useful tool to learn, but they should be used carefully. We must teach to our students how to use them or it can have dangerous consequences!

MARIA

CRITICAL PEDAGOGY (SEAN)

IN YOUR EXPERIENCE IN EDUCATION, DESCRIBE A SITUATION WHERE YOU HAVE SEEN ASPECTS OF CRITICAL PEDAGOGY EMPLOYED

          Children find their models first in their parents and second in their teachers. It is very correctly said that the influence of the teacher is immense, that’s why our decisions and behaviors inside the class are so important.

          Nowadays, we live in a ‘cosmopolitan world’ where there is a great variety of cultures, religions and styles of life. The class is like a small society, that’s why is possible to find pupils with a lot of different characteristics. Due to globalization we can find different cultures inside the class, and our duty as critical teachers is to try to avoid cultural categories. We should imply in our class the fact that all the cultures are situated at the same level, there isn’t better cultures than others.

         If there is one child who comes from another culture the teacher should reinforce this, showing to the rest of the classroom that to have people in class with different cultures is something really positive that can help us to understand how is the world where we live.

         According to my personal experience, I think that the Spanish educational system it’s not really critical according to cultural diversity because symbols and social practices that express culture (as for example dresses or burkas) are not allowed in class. I don’t agree with these measures because in my opinion every person should be allowed to wear the clothes that he/she prefer.

        To sum up, there’s a lot of behaviors about our teaching styles that are not included on the curriculum, but they are transmitted to the pupils through the “hidden curriculum”, and that’s why it’s so important to avoid the stereotypes about the different cultures and try to integrate all of them in order to create a “mini” intercultural society in our class where respect and coeducation are really important values.

                                                                                                                                                     MARIA