5/9/2016
Topic:
Students With Disabilities
Sawyer Ramsey
|
I have a hearing impaired student that I have taught in my art class while she has been enrolled in first and second grades. Both years she has displayed a great deal of artistic talent, especially in drawing. During her first year she displayed a great interest in art and one of her pieces was chosen for the end of the year county wide Fine Arts Exhibit. I always seat her at a table near the area where I stand for the beginning directions and I give her more confidence by having a best friend in her group. She has never been bashful about asking me a question and we communicate through an adult who comes to class to sign for her. I also place an easel close to her seat where each step of the project is sequenced and illustrated. She and I both refer to the chart when she is asking me a question about the project.
After she received an implant that allows her to hear, I began wearing a hearing device that connects my voice to her hearing aid. And, although she can hear me, she still comes with an interpreter who signs. Unfortunately, she is now often pulled out of art for speech classes and when she is able to come to art she feels lost because we always seem to be in the middle of a project that we started while she was gone. I try to encourage her and cheer her up by giving her a special project that she can do in one class period and I try connect it to the project that we are tackling. I have been very discouraged by her many absences because I feel that her great gift is being put on the back burner. |
5/30/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Sawyer Ramsey
|
I have a third grader who is in the ESE program but mainstreamed into our school's physical education, music, and art classrooms. In my classroom he needs extra encouragement to attempt a project and he needs extra support to focus on a project once he has decided to attempt it. He and five other ESE students who come into my general educational class are accompanied by a para professional who spends much of the class time trying to keep the students in their seats and on task.
The student of whom I am speaking displays off task behavior by leaving his seat and going to other students from his ESE classroom to "play". I try to separate all of his ESE friends by sitting them at different tables and I try to assign a supportive peer to help him with his project. I often stand beside his table to help keep him on task but as soon as I leave the area to help someone else he usually jumps up to go to visit another student.
Our school uses "Tiger Paw" tokens to reinforce positive behaviors and I give them out in his class to students who are on task and staying in their seats. He will try to get a token but seems to not to be able to control his impulse to get up and bother another student. The most frustrating part of this student's behavior is that before he was placed in ESE, he tried very hard in my class. Now, he appears to use his placement as an excuse for not doing his work. |
6/3/2016
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Sawyer Ramsey
|
I would like to use the semantic mapping graphic organizer in my class at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year to compare my students' thoughts and ideas about art. As a beginning of the year lesson I will be able to see many different levels of understanding that the students have regarding art. Some may see art as only drawing, painting, and using clay. Some may name different projects that they have completed in the past. By repeating the lesson at the end of the year, I hope to see growth in vocabulary, concepts, techniques, and or specific artists that they have studied during the year. Semantic mapping can be a form or reflection for the student and a guide for me as to which of my lessons seemed to be the most meaningful or have had the greatest impact on my students.
I think I can be successful with my ESE students by having some work with a peer partner to complete the graphic organizer while others can work with me individually or in a small group. And, if I set this activity up as a cooperative learning group activity, I can get support for my ESE students without them feeling separate from the class. |