The Oxford Dictionary defines theme as the subject of a talk, a piece of writing, a person's thoughts, or an exhibition; a topic. In preparation for your culminating project in this class, I would like you to begin to reflect on the themes from this class that resonate for you. This conversation will begin to frame for you the creative presentations that you will design and present on the last day of class.
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One topic that seemed to be a main point within the class was motivation. Motivation is obviously a large part of any classroom whether inclusive or not. I really enjoyed the book because it really explained what motivation was, the different forms it comes in and why it is so important in the classroom. One line I will never forget is “without motivation, there is no learning.” I believe without reading that book I would have been that teacher that believed the boy in the back of the room with his head down, wasn’t motivated, not realizing that its actually the complete opposite. He’s motivated but, his motivation lies in NOT participating. I guess I never really realized that everything we do is motivated by something. As teachers we need to find what motivates our students in order to be able to successfully teach them. Another topic that resonated with me was the lesson on effective teachers and creating independent learners. As a teacher our jobs are both to motivate students as well as helping them become independent learners. While parents may want IEP’s and accommodations for their children, teachers wouldn’t be doing their jobs if there was no progression with their students. In order to measure the success of a teacher, you need to look at how his or her students are doing. A student becoming less dependent on accommodations is a student succeeding.
I believe that motivation and differentiated instruction are two main themes of this class. I believe that these two themes are connected in some way. Everyone is different, no matter what the difference is between students, all students are unique and have their own way that they are motivated and own way that they learn. As teachers, we must have many different motivation styles and many different teaching methods in order to reach all our students. Teachers must learn about their students in order for them to get an idea about which method of teaching and motivating will work with their students. One motivation style, even if it works for the teacher, will not work for all the students in one class. The same goes with the teaching style. In order for all students in a class to learn it is the job of the teacher to motivate them to want to learn. When differentiating the instruction, I believe that it might be difficult for each lesson to reach all the students in one class but if the teaching method from day to day changes this might just work.
A few main themes of this class that continue is co-teaching (different forms), utilizing all forms of technology in the classroom, and connecting and motivating. I'm not sure how I'd incorporate this all in a creative presentation but I'll work on it. I think these themes are going to stick with me forever in terms of teaching children with special needs because it is important to remember that each child can learn. They may not be able to learn the way you want them to but if you teach them through they'll strengths, they'll understand and enjoy learning.
Felly + Love2Teach = Felicia Singh. Sorry for the endless confusion!
Some important themes I learned in this class were motivation, common planning time, effective adaptations, technology and meeting the needs of all students.
The book, "The Motivation Breakthrough" really opened my eyes to what or how a child is motivated, and also the ways I can adjust my teaching styles to accommodate the child's motivational pattern.
I also believe common planning is very helpful in a classroom with special needs children. Students should be the focus of any curriculum. If both the general education teacher and the special education teacher work together to plan and modify a curriculum based on the needs of the students, the lessons would be much more beneficial for the students.
Effective adaptations are important for a students independence and success. Teachers should first recognize that some instructional materials present a barrier for students. They need to change the content or the format of the materials to better approach their goals for the student.
Technology is so important in the world we live in now. So we don't want to deprive students from assistive technology, and just simply have them read from textbooks. We want to use technology in the classroom for the benefit of the students. There are several inquiry-based websites and other practical tools to use in the classroom.
However, we can have all of this technology and all of these programs but if schools don't have good teachers then we are depriving our students from the best education we can give them. We need to be dynamic and creative teachers, who are open to changes.Teachers should be able to meet all of the needs of the students in their classroom.
Note: I'm not a fan of this blogspot site because once I sign in, I lose everything that I have written down. I should have copied and pasted it before signing in but there should be an alternative.
The two themes that I'm leaning towards in discussing are Motivation and Technology in the classroom. Both themes are related in several ways. We are living in an era where technology is surrounded by us. These are the devices that has these student's attention. Why not incorporate this into our classrooms?
One reoccurring theme in this class is motivation. Every student is motivated whether if it is motivated not do their work or motivated to pay attention in class and try their best. It is the role of the teacher to find the way in which they can motivate their students to become interested in learning. We as teachers must find ways to engage the students so that they can be motivated to learn and become fully involved in the class. In order to do this, we must understand that all students are different. Each student is motivated in different ways, learns in different ways, has different interests and so on. Therefore, in order to capture the interests of students, we must try to connect with them as individuals. One way we can motivate and engage our students is by using their curiosity to our advantage. For example, using those “teachable moments” that occur in the classroom will effectively help teachers pass on new knowledge to the students. Learning about something that has sparked their interests will make this new information stay in their mind and it will make them want to ask more questions so they can learn more about it. So we must find ways engage our students even if it means changing our method of teaching or modifying our lesson plans. Teachers must be open to trying new things and new ways in order find effective ways for teaching their students.
I agree with my colleagues that MOTIVATION has been a major factor this semester. I would also agree with Alvin that technology and our understanding of its uses and benefits has also been a constant. Our ability to see things through the eyes of our students will help us reach those who may have yet to be motivated. Prof. Smith has reminded us often how kids these days are "wired" differently from us. My initial thought with this project is to create something that allows for rapid change and transition. If it is a struggle to keep a student on task for more than 5 minutes consecutively, than I would look to change what he or she is doing every 5 minutes throughout class. I realize how impracticle this sound but its just a thought for a starting point.
The themes that have really impacted my thoughts are divergeht thinking is necessary in every aspect of life and students are much more than children and they most certainly are not numbers or IEPs. I find it most important to remember that students are all different, whether they are special needs or not. We must let them find their own way and our job is to facilitate this. Every child will look at an addition problem and solve it but how they solve it is what should be important. We must not force them into a mold, into our mold, and expect them to feel any pride or interest in the learning of every topic. It is also important to remember that each student looking back at us has different goals, desires, interests, learning styles and we must cater to this. If we treat students as if they are numbers they will never be proud of having likes and dislikes. I want my students to look at everything as a new possibility and be proud of who they are.
The theme that resonates most with me from this class is self-reflection. Too many professionals in all fields blame others when things do not go as expected. They blame other circumstances, other people, for their own shortcomings. However a true professional, and the kind of teacher I plan to be, will look within when problems arise. If a student is just not “getting it” despite his classmates getting it, it is tempting to say, “Well it’s clearly him, not me.” The true professional asks, “What else can I do to reach this student?” I think this theme underlies many of the other themes listed here, like differentiated instruction and motivation. Likewise, many of the techniques in “Motivational Breakthrough” require a healthy dose of self-reflection.
I also think the realization that not everyone thinks the way you do, or learns the same way as you, is essential as a classroom teacher. Before you can hope to adapt your lessons and differentiate instruction to reach each student in your class, you must commit yourself to a lifetime of self-improvement and self-evaluation. As quoted by Prof. Smith, Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
Some common themes through the semester class discussions that have stood out to me are technology, the importance of dialogue between the teacher, student, and parent; as well as adaption. I would like my final project to focus on the importance of dialogue and/or incorporate the use of technology. I want my students to feel comfortable talking to me, and I also want to establish a dialogue for success between myself and their family. I personally think talking can help avoid and solve many problems. Secondly, I choose technology because I think it will capture the interest of my students. Throughout or lectures on co-teaching, IEP’s and even motivation one common theme has always been that as teachers we must be willing to adapt. So finally my last option would be adaption.
I agree with my classmates that motivation is a key point of any classrom. But, as Lavoie mentioned in his book that "in order to foster motivation, teachers must inject variety and creativity into their lesson planning".Today's students live in an ever changing technollogically based world where the parameters of knowledge are redifing themselves almost daily. The Internet has given even the youngest of children access to information that at one time they could only obtain within the classroom or in a library. Therefore, I believe that teachers are being called upon to develop more creative approaches in order to teach this new generation of students.The learning process has changed and teachers have been challenged to change as well, or left behind.
Even before being introduced to Professor Smith, I heard that Mineola Middle School was aquiring IPADS for their classrooms. Professor Smith consistently incorporates ways in which technology can be used to make our lives easier, but also reach a new generation of students. This is a major emphasis in the course only because new teachers must prepare environments that relate or connect with students. Kids today relate best to technology. Because the course focuses on inclusive classrooms, differentiated instruction is a major theme. Though I don't believe we've even scratched the surface of methods on modification for individual students, perhaps a final project that includes extensive research on adapting curriculum for students with needs would make the most sense. Thirdly, motivation should be something we are all familar with by now though other classes use disimilar names like "hook" - how do we engage the student, or "motivate" them to participate in the lesson. This is an integral component of the course. Lavoie's book was essential to anyone looking to develop solid relations with their students, or even kids.
A major theme of the class that stood out to me and that I am going to attempt to achieve is the use of technology in classrooms. Since I decided to become a teacher I have always stressed about how to keep the attention of my students. Being that they are in a media and technology saturated world, using media and technology is a great way to keep them focused and interested. Since they also enjoy being on the computer or facebook or twitter, the way out class functions with assignments I think would be a great way to get feed back from adolescent students. This also ties to the idea that many of my classmates brought up, motivation. This system, I think would be a great way to motivate student to actually do the work. They spend most of their lives on the computer anyway.
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