Hello again, Friend!
Today was section review for Literature as Historic Documents and The Star-Spangled Banner. It was very encouraging! I had thought that at least half of the students overall had been ignoring the DVD yesterday, and when I started by asking "What did you learn from yesterday's DVD?", I was surprised at the different responses! It was almost as if those students who seemed to pay the least attention got the most information. This led to a lot of very good discussion and questions from the students on the material, and fed into the overall review very effectively.
During the review of what constitutes Original Source Documents, I was able to show the students that every day, they each generate informational public records that are original documents in and by themselves. They were particularly surprised to learn that the letters they wrote to President Obama will become Original Historical Documents and that they will become a part of the Obama Presidential Library one day.
Also reviewed the format for tomorrow's quiz: 5 matching, 10 fill in the blanks, 5 multiple choice and a short essay, with extra credit questions available. I explained to them that if anyone gets less than a 100 on the test, it is because they chose to.
More soon!
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ReplyDeleteTough call on grading essays with a degree of personal interpretation. I always tell my students that they can write on whatever topic they want...as long as they can offer specific support. And that's with argumentative writing. Creative is another issue. I think you can pass/no pass based on effort, but can also offer encouragement to those who really go above and beyond.
So you went back to the K-4 level for SPED observations. What's your view of inclusion? I think some special things can happen, like what you saw with the "typical" kids helping their peers during music (which, btw, is an excellent special area for working with all kinds of special needs kids--so much can be done with rhythm, movement, etc as you point out), yet it's so challenging for the teachers to give kids what they need. I guess you saw this as well when the teachers talked about the IEPs.
You say you don't know if you could handle it day after day...what do you do if a student with behavioral based IEP lands in your class? Any strategies in mind to handle it?
If you want more info on Lit as historical documents, contact Dr. Stacey Graham at the Center for Historic Preservation on campus. She's running a project encouraging teachers to use the Library of Congress site as a resource. Seems right down your alley with this. I like how the SSB materials were incorporated in English--synthesizing is the key. Why just do history in history class??
How were the historical poems?
The reason I am not certain I can handle a special needs class daily based entirely on my own level of awareness and if I can work without taking out frustrations brought about by the number and magnitude of needs all at the same time on a constant basis. I have been wording with students with special needs on a one on one basis throughout the last 2 semesters in FOED practicum, and that I can handle. I am also working with Dr Khan in the Special Education Training at MTSU with a project on Positive Behavioral Support Programs, and am getting a lot from this as well. Inclusion is definately helping all of the students I am observing at Scales, and I have also seen it at work at the high school level. I am always surprised by the level of compassion shown by other students when they have a student with a disability in the class. Its a far cry from when I was in school and Special Ed was being ridiculed by the majority. There may be hope for the future after all!
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