Blog #10---The Last Blog

It seems that I am either of two things: a) a total movie geek because I have seen (I have read Elephant Man) all of those movies (Including the French Cyrano de Bergerac subtitled in English) b) or I am a dedicated Education student simply interested in A-typical people. I have therefore chosen to write on Cyrano de Bergerac. 1) This movie is based on a 17th Century play written by Edmund Rostand. It begins with a play being performed in which the actors are performing very poorly according to Cyrano's standards. He mocks the performers and eventually chaos and fighting break out within the theatre. It is during this part that the audience see's i) Cyrano's very very large nose ii) his incredible ability of rhetoric and cunning yet humorous speech. As the movie progresses, we see that Cyrano is in love with a lovely young women (Roxanne). Whenever he encounters her, he cannot spout his love sonnets, but acts more as a father figure to her. A member of the local militia falls in love with this woman as well (Christian). Through Christian, Cyrano is able to express exactly how he feels. Roxanne falls in love with Christian and even after Christian's death in battle, Cyrano keeps his love for Roxanne a secret. Years and years later, Cyrano declares his absolute love for Roxanne as he is about to die. When he does die, Roxanne sees that she was in love with Cyrano the whole time and not Christian. 2) Cyrano was extremely self-conscious about his nose even though he pretended to be proud of it. As a teacher, you would have to notice this or address it in some way. If a student is self-conscious about something, it needs to be handled carefully and maybe indirectly handled in class or on a one-one basis. Cyrano also was extremely intelligent and creative. If I were teaching him within a class, these talents would need to be utilized and guided to productivity instead of pride. Pride--another issue that could have been problematic within the class.

Education 3602

A reflection on the course?

Having grown up in a family where four of my siblings are special needs, I am always interested in taking a class that addresses "A typical" students. I had taken a Special Ed class just last semester with Noella and so I felt comfortable and confident with the class content in 3602. I would hate to say it, but for me personally, it was quite a bit of review. I must admit, I didn't know much about assistive technology or gifted and talented students. However, I know that the quick overview of the Alberta Education standards for Special Need students as well as BOATS was helpful to the class. It is so hard to say what I would want more.

I know that time is sparse, and there are a range of things to be covered, however I feel that one thing could be covered more extensively: IPP's. I would have liked to have bigger case studies and maybe a partner assignment to create a short IPP. I think that those are what we as teachers will be dealing with a lot in our teaching career. I liked the Blogs, and I liked the additional reading resources you suggested for our Blogs.

Thank You Maurice.

Assignment 5

As a novice teacher, I have found that I have learned much more about differentiated learning than anything else. Coming into this class I found that my background and knowledge has sustained me well in this class. However, the whole idea, results and reasons behind differentiated learning was foreign to me. I very much enjoyed the activities we have done in exploring differentiated learning as well as the video's we have watched concerning this strategy.

Something that I find myself lacking in is the compassion and understanding a teacher needs in order to fully serve A-typical children in a classroom. I find myself yearning to jump ahead in a class, speed on and keep the pace of a lesson quick. However, I know that I need to slow down and consider the needs of all my students within a classroom. Perhaps it is simply a mindset I need to adopt or work on.

Specifically, I hope to see concrete strategies and examples of ways to fully integrate a classroom as well as teach all of those students to the best way I can. I would like to see situations, or specific circumstances where a strategy or tool would work within a classroom. "If ....... then try this........."

Within a drama classroom and even within a classroom of any discipline I think that some of the techniques of differentiate instruction that really drew me in were:
flexible grouping--maybe placing students in different ability groups and then moving them depending on the rate at which they are going which leads to...

on-going assessment--although formal assessment is not a huge excitement for me, I like the idea of informally assessing along the way (exit cards, small assignments, short presentations etc.) just to make sure my lessons are applicable/current etc. and students are okay where they are at.

scaffolding/meeting the student where they're at--I like the idea of meeting a student where they're ability is currently at and then building them up. Pushing them a little bit further every assignment or every question. I also think that it is important that positive reinforcement is key. Like in the movie we watched where the teacher read out loud the story with "a writer's voice". That student will have that much more confidence in his/her ability.

I think that the first strategy I would try to implement within my class would be assessment. Without that, i know nothing about my kids' where about's. Assessment first, than scaffolding and as I get more confident, and comfortable I would go out on a limb to group.....flexibly.

John Elder Robinson

It seems that at the time John was growing up, children who were not understood or did not "fit into" the norm in classrooms followed the same fate as him. I've heard it from friends, family and it really is too bad. Thankfully, education has progressed a little as well as the knowledge in the Autistic spectrum. I find it wonderful and extremely hopeful that John has become as successful as he is. Not only having one success story but four! I must say I admire his ability to find his niche within the world. My little brother was diagnosed with high functioning autism when he was in grade 1, however we as a family have no idea what the future has in store for him. Perhaps people such as John are inspirations for children like my little brother.
If I were teaching someone similar to John as a youth, I know that today (in relation to thirty years ago) knowing certain characteristics of children with autism or Asperger's would aid my being able to accommodate a student. I would use many tactile and hands on activities within a class. Give opportunities for students to get out of their seats, learn the student well enough to find particular interests, dislikes and strengths. After this, I would try to cater to that student as often as lessons would allow.
It seems that John Elder Robinson was able to understand electronics, machines and moving parts. I was surprised at how natural such things came to him. I think that for someone with autism to realize their strengths is a plus for them. This gives them a direction to head. A weakness was being uncomfortable in CEO/corporate settings. Everyone has their preference. When I look to my brother, I could not imagine him in an office with business people. He would belong as a railway conductor or something like that.

Geesh

Well first of all, can I say how hard it was to get on here? I didn't remember my password, or my user name or anything! I don't even remember what e-mail address I registered on.

Anyway:
The evolution over time of how classrooms are for special needs students has taken a long time. I'm surprised to see that several years had passed in order for students to be integrated within a classroom. I do appreciate the responsibility schools are taking for teaching potential teachers to cater to a ranging classroom in terms of academic needs. The activity that we did within our class (finding the pro's for each specific classroom setting) was helpful to me in realizing the reality of each one. Teachers in the 70's perhaps did not have the tools, skills and strategies to deal with special need students within their class. As time has passed, teaching has evolved, and hopefully only gotten better.
I like how the text says "All children are eligible for public education n Canada..." As a teacher however, I must say that the task of including every single students and their needs seems daunting and perhaps overwhelming. We'll see I suppose.