2/21/2022
Topic:
Tools And Strategies
Joanna James
|
I used scaffolding to teach a deaf student how to make a concrete Kachina totem 30" high. His preference for tactile materials led to a series of scaffolding exercises which included painting Kachina forms, experimentation with wire armatures, and learning to work with concrete. I modeled the steps so that he could learn visually. It was helpful that I learned sign language terms since his reading level was about 2nd grade. He was first described to me as a student with behavioral and emotional problems secondary to his deafness. His previous art teacher reported that he would paint with great energy and enthusiasm which resulted in finishing a canvas very quickly. Then he would become very disturbed when asked to leave class. Observing his process, I realized that the painting was his only voice, a vivid and expressive display of his inner world. His disruptive behavior was his reaction to being 'silenced.' I purchased a roll of Kraft paper and set up a long painting station outside so that his time working would not be shorter than the hour alloted. This allowed him to begin to trust me and become open to other forms of artwork which I introduced through pictures of finished art, 1-D, then 2-D and finally 3-D representative work we did together. The school director could not believe that this cooperative and industrious student was the same as the one with the reputation of disruptive outbursts: "untrainable." This impacted my determination to get more tools under my belt so that I would not set up my students for failure. Finally, the director explained that the parents rejected and neglected him as an infant to such an extent that emotional disability manifested as his primary disability. When I met him, he was about 20 years old and aging out of the programs available. He clearly understood that his concrete sculpture was admired when it was placed prominently in the school gallery and presented at a local art fair. Even if it had taken 20 years for him to find his voice and feel success, it did happen for him. No one could take that away from him. |
2/21/2022
Topic:
Students with Disabilities
Joanna James
|
I had an enclosed ESE class with a student who had been injured, traumatic brain injury, during the birth process. Reading his previous medical documentation was an important step to understanding that my student was performing beyond expectations. His mother requested homework for him and as a result of his determination, he was the best math student in the class. At a meeting with the parent, it was revealed that his key medications were withheld by his physician's office. I teamed up the parent with the district's social worker/advocate. After this I begin to see the student's recent outbursts in a new light. We worked out a series of hand signals so that he could let me know the degree of anxiety he was experiencing. I would give him a kneading ball to squeeze. Finally, I would take him out to the basketball court and throw the ball to him to give him the opportunity to release the pentup energy. This bonded our relationship and allowed him to feel in control of himself. He pushed himself academically when others in the class were not motivated to do so. I told him he had the heart of a lion. |
2/21/2022
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Joanna James
|
I had two student with developmental learning disabities and profound intellectual disabiities. They were assigned their own curricullum which was covered with the assistance of an aide. This was participation scored pass/fail. They also had duties that carried outside of the classroom which gave them task completion and responsibility along with social skill practice. These were scored pass/fail also. One of the boys began to retain his math concepts but the other did not. Previous teachers had recommended a transfer to a ESE school for the second boy but the parents lived across the street from his current school which he attended with his siblings. It is a helpless feeling to realize that a child has gone through the system for years and is adrift developmentally. |
2/22/2022
Topic:
Tools and Strategies
Joanna James
|
I really like the examples given of Tiered Lessons with Task Cards. Combining these with Task Analysis break down cards for the student with profound learning disabilities, gives them graduated steps and an amount of independence. I remember the SRA reading program which allowed me to demonstrate my preference for reading and accelerate my reading level at my own pace. At that time, it was one of the few ways that teachers had to measure student potential. Only when I reached the 7th grade did the literature teacher point me to differientated and level appropriate reading materials. I also like the use of Elearning to create interactive remedial skill centers. In my enclosed ESE classroom, I discovered the general curricullum placed on the computer lab became a guessing game with no real learning taking place. Hurray for great lab techs who shared this with me. However, in my classroom were two computers on which I could have placed my own remedial powerpoints, etc, that would have kept the computer component in the learning realm. Instead of the wasted time in the computer lab, I formed three levels of reading groups which were assigned appropriate level materials. I remember the resistance of my class paras who lost time to check their own emails during lab time! |
2/22/2022
Topic:
Assessment of Learning
Joanna James
|
I had an enclosed art classroom of all students with learning disabilities. Now when I think back, I realize that my lesson planning would have benefited tremendously from pre-assessment of my students who ranged in ages from 6 to 16. As it was, my evaluations were weighted in favor of the older students, who had longer focus times and more skill sets. All students participated and their portfolios were studiously collected. Differientiated rubrics would have aided those that struggled to see that they were progressing along as well as the older students who had more elaborate projects. While the ceramics was the most enjoyed portion of the curricullum, it was also fragile product-wise. Beautifully constructed ceramics would crumble after firing and this was dispiriting for the student. Their grades were not affected by kiln incidences, however. Overall, the children really loved the art-class because they had struggled academically in their previous schools and were adjusting with varying degrees of success to a new remedial school. |