Barb Retenbach Reflection

    This was a very eye opening presentation into autism. From this presentation I realized that often times the most important thing a teacher can do is to sit with a child who has autism and just be there. The teachers sheer presence and getting to know the student can give you so much insight into their world. This goes along with the learning from those that we serve as Louis mentioned. It also opened my eyes to the term autism spectrum disorder. It is incredible how much Barb has to say and how the world of typing has opened up her world.

     The biggest thing I am taking away from the talk is that the world is better off with autism. People who have learning disabilities like autism have so much to offer the world and we should not discount their talents.

These are some quick bullets of the highlights that i am taking away and will consider and use when I work with children with autism and other learning disabilities.

• Discover find out who the person is
• Allowing time to be inside their own autism where they will not be disturbed
• Keep an open mind about other forms of communication
• The autistic person should have power and responsibility of their own and they might just take it
• You don't know what your missing when you medicate things away
• Find out who they are and be that on purpose

Group Differences Forum

     I really enjoyed the group differences forum, each group brought up very interesting topics and discussion questions that caused me to think and reflect about how I would handle each situation. Although we only had one class to discuss all the various topics I thought it was ample time. We had previously discussed the topics prior to this class and it was easy to reference the past discussions. I also think it was enough time because most everyone has had other classes address theses issues before so it was not the first time for anyone to discuss these issues.

     Two of the topics that the discussion made me rethink and consider were religion in schools and children with disabilities. Religion although I have thought about it prior was talked about in a different way today.  I think it is very important to be aware and knowledgeable about the various backgrounds that are present in your classroom. I liked the idea of inviting parents into the class to share their own traditions, and I think it is important to not assume anything about a person’s religious affiliation.  We also discussed disabilities and whether it was a appropriate to try to normalize the students or to view them as just different and needing special attention. I think it is very important to treat each child individually and do what works for them and not make accommodations that are unnecessary.  

PLE Post 10

Theories in educational psychology promote the idea that language plays a critical role in cognitive development.  Examine Table 2.2 (p. 51), paying particular attention to the age range that you are interested in teaching.  Consider how you might incorporate or adapt the strategies presented for use with your own students.

Language knowledge can vary greatly when children come into kindergarten. As a teacher you might also have English language learners who might have a solid language base in their native language but not in English. This creates interesting scenarios for teachers but it is very easy for teachers to incorporate strategies to help children gain a better sense of language. One of these is through daily reading both by the teacher and the student. Having a teacher led reading for a book that might be slightly above the majority of the students current level can expose them to more complex sentence structure.

I think that the children gain the most experience by using the words through reading and writing. Having students do creative writing or construct narratives on their own helps them build sentence structure and use their knowledge base. It is also important to give constructive feedback when you notice the children using words that they did not use before as well as give corrective feedback if a child continually misuses a word. I think having a strong language base is a key for a child to be successful in school.