4/13/2017
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
James Miller
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I have 2 students in the same class,both in Kindergarten. One student a girl, has orthopedic impairment of of cerebral Palsy and the other a boy has health impairments. Having just had open heart surgery, including other health issues being monitored based upon a early child birth. What I find in both cases is that these particular student do not wish to treated any different than any of the students in my class. Lets be clear in Kindergarten you have everything that is considered normal child development mentally and physically. From runny nose syndrome (I like to call it )with mucus that seems to swing like the germs are having a circus performance just for my queasy entertainment. To the wining crying tantrum that results in pee on my art stools and a trip to the nurse for fresh pants ahhh the joys in clean up. Yet somehow we produce art...I kid but actually I am very proud of my students. However, the students I stated above are not that way. The girl with CP has fallen several times in my class which her homeroom teacher had to reassure me happens often. However she simply gets back up and joins the group I have however adjusted the tables to accommodate her as moves through the class so she does not hit her head. She is very determined little girl, refusing assistance regarding materials, washing her hands or transitioning from class to class and the same goes for the boy. I have to constantly watch him because he just had the open heart surgery just a few months ago. He is smaller than any one else about the height of a 6 or 7 month old. So the only thing i do for him is put a pillow over some books and he goes at it without hesitation just as happy as he can be and one day he show off the scar he has to friends not realizing how close he was to the unmentionable . Professionally I am grateful for the clarity regarding my students disabilities but that is all it is... clarity. Because when I see them creating in my classroom and how they move getting their brushes or crayons or cutting paper or when I see them around the school in the cafeteria or walking in line, I see just students. Because for them it is not anything more than being a child and their kind of courage motivates me to be a better teacher and a better person. |
5/7/2017
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
James Miller
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Two strategies that would be most effective in my classroom is peer partners and technology components through out the school year.Peer partners would give higher achievers and opportunity to share their approach to the various mediums and techniques they are exposed to through out the year. Technology using various websites to assist the students grasp visual arts concepts in a fun and interactive way. Those methods put together i fell creates a environment of self confidence and non competitive atmosphere ensures the students visual arts experience will a pleasant one. |
5/14/2017
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
James Miller
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My classroom students tend to have more mental disabilities is throughout the grade levels k-5. Pr-assessment is essential especially when you are replacing an art teacher and you do not know what levels of mastery or comprehension of techniques that are needed for any student to work with confidence.
For ongoing assessment, I like to use magnet shapes and dry eraser boards. The students feel safer when they are figuring out the concept of the unit without committing to their own paper first. I also find computer interactive programs give students a chance to understand the concepts in an arena they feel comfortable. The assumptive assessment is a given in the arts because the proof is in the pudding so to speak and who doesn’t love pudding . |