http://www.nea.org/home/46469.htm?utm_medium=email&utm_source=nea_today_express&utm_campaign=20110817EducatorsAttackedOnline&utm_content=RightsWatch
This article makes me a little bit worried about becoming a teacher. However, this summer, whenever campers called me names or swore at me or anything like that, I just accepted it and said "yep."
One such example was a 58 year old man who told me that I was like a monkey (this was after I had gotten him out of the cafeteria, so he was not happy with me). I looked at him with a smile and said, "Yep, I'm a monkey, and don't you forget it." The look on his face made my day, he was so confused and didn't know what to do now that someone did not yell at him for calling them a name. So, for the rest of the week, he called me monkey as a sign of humor, friendship, and rapport between us (I think that the truest form of rapport is a blurry line between being both friends and a teacher, many people probably are confused and hesitant of allowing this true rapport because they think that being friends means that you can't be a teacher anymore, but I think you can).
This act of accepting and allowing the name calling would definitely be considered offensive to some. But I feel that if I would have started fighting with him, or arguing with him about calling me a monkey, it would have become a battle of power. He would want to win, so he would keep doing it, and I would want to win because I am offended, and it would keep going and it would be a big power struggle. But, I accepted it and then it created a rapport between us that I could get him to do things that nobody else could.
So I think that if a student creates a fake profile of me, I will just look at them and make a comment such as "I like the picture, though you got the part about me having a big nose wrong, because I have a gigantic nose." It is unconventional to say in the least, but I don't care about winning or being thought of highly by anyone. What I care about is creating a rapport with my students and teaching them...with them very possibly calling me names and swearing at me.
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Choices
I want to blog about something that many teachers may be afraid of. That topic is giving choices to our students. I recently had someone tell me that I should not give any choices to students with regards to taking a test of any kind.
Let's seemingly take a sidenote. Imagine that you are walking down a darkened hallway and someone comes out and backs you into a corner and says "You are going to take a test for me...AND YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE ABOUT IT" (Insert, if you will, an evil and maniacal laugh here). How would you respond? You are being backed into a corner with no choices and no idea what you are doing, except that you are taking a "test." What kind of test, what happens if you fail it?
That may have seemed like a sidenote, but in all reality, it is what we are doing to these kids if we don't give them any choice. A logical and excellent question is "Then what do we do?" Because obviously we have the students take them or else we will get into trouble and they will probably get into trouble. What I suggest is letting the students know what the test is all about about a week in advance. Then, we can ask them when they would like to take it.
Then the question becomes: what if they want to take it on different days? I say, let's let them, it gives them an advantage over the test. They can get themselves mentally ready and know what is going to be on the test and then they may want to take it. The other option, should the school district refuse to let you do this is asking the student: Do you want to this test now are in a half-hour. Because in all reality, a half-hour is not going to destroy their test because the test is still going to be there in a half-hour.
What do you think? Should we just shove a test at a student and expect them to not freak out or get stressed or lash out?
Let's seemingly take a sidenote. Imagine that you are walking down a darkened hallway and someone comes out and backs you into a corner and says "You are going to take a test for me...AND YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE ABOUT IT" (Insert, if you will, an evil and maniacal laugh here). How would you respond? You are being backed into a corner with no choices and no idea what you are doing, except that you are taking a "test." What kind of test, what happens if you fail it?
That may have seemed like a sidenote, but in all reality, it is what we are doing to these kids if we don't give them any choice. A logical and excellent question is "Then what do we do?" Because obviously we have the students take them or else we will get into trouble and they will probably get into trouble. What I suggest is letting the students know what the test is all about about a week in advance. Then, we can ask them when they would like to take it.
Then the question becomes: what if they want to take it on different days? I say, let's let them, it gives them an advantage over the test. They can get themselves mentally ready and know what is going to be on the test and then they may want to take it. The other option, should the school district refuse to let you do this is asking the student: Do you want to this test now are in a half-hour. Because in all reality, a half-hour is not going to destroy their test because the test is still going to be there in a half-hour.
What do you think? Should we just shove a test at a student and expect them to not freak out or get stressed or lash out?
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Autism Brains Alike; Very Different From Normal Brains
http://www.webmd.com/brain/autism/news/20110525/autism-brains-alike-very-different-from-normal-brains
I am just going to mention this at the outpost and not mention it again...this article uses very flawed person first language.
Anyways, besides that, it sounds like a very interesting study. I am very interested in the neurological aspects of autism and if you are, then keep reading. This gives a very short description of the study but from the sounds of it, it sounds like the studied two different brains. One of the types of brains was that of a person with autism and the other type was a person who did not have autism.
They looked at the RNA (which they describe as the blueprint of the DNA read aloud...basically the RNA is what the DNA is asking for) of a bunch of different brains from both types. They found that the brain of a person with autism has a severely lowered neuron speed. What is meant by this is that our brains are neurons, which are electrically charged things that shoot information to each other. In this way, the information of a memory will be in a certain part of your brain and it will shoot over to another part of your brain which deals with emotions and you will remember the feelings that you had when that memory had occurred. The neurons are really fast, that is how we think.
Apparently, according to this short story on the study, the brain of a person with autism has a lower neuronic speed (I just made up that phrase, there is probably an actual name for it, but I don't know what). This means that it takes longer for their brains to remember what they were feeling when that memory happened...and it could be that the neurons don't get there and that could be why many people with autism seem unemotional.
I am looking forward to keeping on looking for different neurological studies and trying to just let you know what could be their impact on education. Enjoy!
I am just going to mention this at the outpost and not mention it again...this article uses very flawed person first language.
Anyways, besides that, it sounds like a very interesting study. I am very interested in the neurological aspects of autism and if you are, then keep reading. This gives a very short description of the study but from the sounds of it, it sounds like the studied two different brains. One of the types of brains was that of a person with autism and the other type was a person who did not have autism.
They looked at the RNA (which they describe as the blueprint of the DNA read aloud...basically the RNA is what the DNA is asking for) of a bunch of different brains from both types. They found that the brain of a person with autism has a severely lowered neuron speed. What is meant by this is that our brains are neurons, which are electrically charged things that shoot information to each other. In this way, the information of a memory will be in a certain part of your brain and it will shoot over to another part of your brain which deals with emotions and you will remember the feelings that you had when that memory had occurred. The neurons are really fast, that is how we think.
Apparently, according to this short story on the study, the brain of a person with autism has a lower neuronic speed (I just made up that phrase, there is probably an actual name for it, but I don't know what). This means that it takes longer for their brains to remember what they were feeling when that memory happened...and it could be that the neurons don't get there and that could be why many people with autism seem unemotional.
I am looking forward to keeping on looking for different neurological studies and trying to just let you know what could be their impact on education. Enjoy!
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Kaspar the Friendly Robot Helps Kids with Autism
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory?id=13081832
The idea behind this robot is great. The story is about a doll robot that is supposed to help children with autism (notice I said children with autism, unlike the article...grrr face!) to understand facial expressions and different rules in social interactions.
However, there is a part in the article on page two where it says that they hope that the children can take what they learned in the situation with working with the robot to home. This, from what I have learned, is much harder than it sounds. To us neurotypicals, we have the flexibility to understand that if I cross the street one time in my hometown, I can cross the street anywhere. However, people with autism have a very difficult time with flexibility. In a video talk given by Temple Grandin, she talks about how if you are trying to teach a child with autism something, you need to give it in a whole bunch of different settings.
She uses the street example, but she says that you need to teach them where there are inconsistencies. For instance, not all streets have crosswalks, and sometimes there is a crosswalk, but the paint is very faded. In these examples, you need to teach them again the same way you taught them with the first street crossing. In time, they will begin to recognize, realize, and remember what they are supposed to do in these situations.
Therefore, hoping that what children learn in the environment where they are interacting with the robot will transfer and show in the home life is flawed. So, like I like to do, what can we do to help bring the things that they learn home.
First, I want to talk about the problems and then I will attempt to solve them. The first problem is that when they are interacting with the robot, they can begin to recognize that the robot is consistent. What I mean by this is that if they slap the robot, the robot will start crying. The next time they slap the robot, the robot will start crying again. They begin to recognize that there is a pattern and that the robot is consistent. However, if I would slap you, you would probably do more than just cry. And you might cry the first time and then yell at me the second time. This inconsistency is what causes many people with autism anxiety. Therefore, they can come home and slap someone and the person will yell at them and they might get very anxious or confused because they had learned that people cry when you slap them, not get angry.
I don't know if there is a solution to that problem. Because on the one hand, it is good to help people with autism prepare for inconsistencies, but how do you do that without getting them anxious or confused. I don't know about you, but when I am anxious or confused or both, I don't learn very well.
What can we do to help people with autism? Just treat them like we would treat anyone else: with love and compassion. And it would be helpful to let them know in advance if there is going to be an inconsistency in the schedule.
The idea behind this robot is great. The story is about a doll robot that is supposed to help children with autism (notice I said children with autism, unlike the article...grrr face!) to understand facial expressions and different rules in social interactions.
However, there is a part in the article on page two where it says that they hope that the children can take what they learned in the situation with working with the robot to home. This, from what I have learned, is much harder than it sounds. To us neurotypicals, we have the flexibility to understand that if I cross the street one time in my hometown, I can cross the street anywhere. However, people with autism have a very difficult time with flexibility. In a video talk given by Temple Grandin, she talks about how if you are trying to teach a child with autism something, you need to give it in a whole bunch of different settings.
She uses the street example, but she says that you need to teach them where there are inconsistencies. For instance, not all streets have crosswalks, and sometimes there is a crosswalk, but the paint is very faded. In these examples, you need to teach them again the same way you taught them with the first street crossing. In time, they will begin to recognize, realize, and remember what they are supposed to do in these situations.
Therefore, hoping that what children learn in the environment where they are interacting with the robot will transfer and show in the home life is flawed. So, like I like to do, what can we do to help bring the things that they learn home.
First, I want to talk about the problems and then I will attempt to solve them. The first problem is that when they are interacting with the robot, they can begin to recognize that the robot is consistent. What I mean by this is that if they slap the robot, the robot will start crying. The next time they slap the robot, the robot will start crying again. They begin to recognize that there is a pattern and that the robot is consistent. However, if I would slap you, you would probably do more than just cry. And you might cry the first time and then yell at me the second time. This inconsistency is what causes many people with autism anxiety. Therefore, they can come home and slap someone and the person will yell at them and they might get very anxious or confused because they had learned that people cry when you slap them, not get angry.
I don't know if there is a solution to that problem. Because on the one hand, it is good to help people with autism prepare for inconsistencies, but how do you do that without getting them anxious or confused. I don't know about you, but when I am anxious or confused or both, I don't learn very well.
What can we do to help people with autism? Just treat them like we would treat anyone else: with love and compassion. And it would be helpful to let them know in advance if there is going to be an inconsistency in the schedule.
Manga/Anime Comic Books for reading
http://steckvaughn.hmhco.com/en/impact.htm
I recently read an article in an education magazine that I get that talked about boys and reading. This article talked about how boys can enjoy reading if we allow them to read what they desire. For instance, last semester in my first field experience, I worked with a gal who had a learning disability who was really into anime.
If her teacher gave her Old Yeller to read, she might not have gotten into it. However, if the teacher gives her a series of books like this, I think that she would be enthralled and fall over reading because it is anime/manga.
So, what I want to talk about is how we need to accept our students interests, whether we find those interests interesting or not. For instance, last semester, during another field experience that I had, I had a 10 year old boy who really adored tanks. I wanted to get him a book about tanks when the teacher told me that that was inappropriate. Subsequently, he never read during the reading time and would get yelled at by the teacher.
If we don't teach to their interests, then we, as teachers, are screwing up. If they are into something like tanks, we can use tanks to teach mathematics, reading, grammar. Here are a few examples of how you can use tanks for mathematics.
Ask the student to draw a picture of a tank with however many wheels they want to draw. They draw a tank with 10 wheels. You cut the tank in two (draw a line through it) and tell them that you just halved the tank. So how many wheels are there now? Then write the equation 10 (the wheels started out with) divided by 2 (you divided the tank into two).
You can give a kid a book and help them get into reading.
Grammar is an interesting one because you can have a bunch of matchbox car tanks. Show them one and ask them what this is. They will respond with the answer, a tank. Then you bring another tank and ask them what they are and they may respond tanks. You can use them to show that plurals have the morpheme "s" to show that they are plural. You can then begin to branch out and ask them to say "this tank" and then what the plural to that statement is "these tanks."
So, we teachers need to show the students that we truly care about them and we can do this by incorporating what they are interested in into our curriculum. It takes work and energy to try and assess what their interests are and then figuring out how to incorporate it into the lesson plan. But we are teachers and this can help our students succeed where a traditional workbook approach doesn't.
I recently read an article in an education magazine that I get that talked about boys and reading. This article talked about how boys can enjoy reading if we allow them to read what they desire. For instance, last semester in my first field experience, I worked with a gal who had a learning disability who was really into anime.
If her teacher gave her Old Yeller to read, she might not have gotten into it. However, if the teacher gives her a series of books like this, I think that she would be enthralled and fall over reading because it is anime/manga.
So, what I want to talk about is how we need to accept our students interests, whether we find those interests interesting or not. For instance, last semester, during another field experience that I had, I had a 10 year old boy who really adored tanks. I wanted to get him a book about tanks when the teacher told me that that was inappropriate. Subsequently, he never read during the reading time and would get yelled at by the teacher.
If we don't teach to their interests, then we, as teachers, are screwing up. If they are into something like tanks, we can use tanks to teach mathematics, reading, grammar. Here are a few examples of how you can use tanks for mathematics.
Ask the student to draw a picture of a tank with however many wheels they want to draw. They draw a tank with 10 wheels. You cut the tank in two (draw a line through it) and tell them that you just halved the tank. So how many wheels are there now? Then write the equation 10 (the wheels started out with) divided by 2 (you divided the tank into two).
You can give a kid a book and help them get into reading.
Grammar is an interesting one because you can have a bunch of matchbox car tanks. Show them one and ask them what this is. They will respond with the answer, a tank. Then you bring another tank and ask them what they are and they may respond tanks. You can use them to show that plurals have the morpheme "s" to show that they are plural. You can then begin to branch out and ask them to say "this tank" and then what the plural to that statement is "these tanks."
So, we teachers need to show the students that we truly care about them and we can do this by incorporating what they are interested in into our curriculum. It takes work and energy to try and assess what their interests are and then figuring out how to incorporate it into the lesson plan. But we are teachers and this can help our students succeed where a traditional workbook approach doesn't.
Monday, August 15, 2011
The First Commandment
I find that commandments of "thou shalt not" don't work so well. The reason that they do not work so well is because it does not truly tell you what you are supposed to do instead.
So, I'm going to tell you how to follow the first commandment. You can keep reading if you want to, if you don't, that's fine. First things first and this will be the last thou shalt not that you will read in this post. "Thou shalt not touch unless absolutely necessary." What I want to talk about first are those times that you feel that it is absolutely necessary. What constitutes, in my mind, absolutely necessary is if they are about to walk onto a street and there is no crosswalk and they might get run over. There are other people who that is literally the only way that you can get them to go anywhere.
So how can you get them to some place without touching them. This is where it gets a little bit tough. You have to figure out where they are going and step in front of them and turn yourself in a way that brings them to the place where you need them to be. For instance, my last week of camp, I had a camper who walked around all day long and he would always overshoot his destination. I realized this and any time that I felt that we should turn I would stand in front of him with the body turned in the way that I needed him to go.
Is this the simplest way to do it? Yes and no. No, it is not because you may not go directly there and you have to figure out what they are going to do next. Yes, it is the simplest way because if you touch them and they get anxious, then bad things are probably going to happen and you are not going to get them wherever you need them to be.
This way is tougher for us, however, I feel that this is the way that works best with helping lower anxiety in the person with autism. And in my mind, that is the most important thing that we can do. If we lower the anxiety of the person with autism, they cease to be a possible exploding helium balloon. If we lower the anxiety of the person with autism, we help them calm down and be themselves. If they know that you are not going to touch them, then they realize that they can trust you and a bond forms between you and them.
So, I'm going to tell you how to follow the first commandment. You can keep reading if you want to, if you don't, that's fine. First things first and this will be the last thou shalt not that you will read in this post. "Thou shalt not touch unless absolutely necessary." What I want to talk about first are those times that you feel that it is absolutely necessary. What constitutes, in my mind, absolutely necessary is if they are about to walk onto a street and there is no crosswalk and they might get run over. There are other people who that is literally the only way that you can get them to go anywhere.
So how can you get them to some place without touching them. This is where it gets a little bit tough. You have to figure out where they are going and step in front of them and turn yourself in a way that brings them to the place where you need them to be. For instance, my last week of camp, I had a camper who walked around all day long and he would always overshoot his destination. I realized this and any time that I felt that we should turn I would stand in front of him with the body turned in the way that I needed him to go.
Is this the simplest way to do it? Yes and no. No, it is not because you may not go directly there and you have to figure out what they are going to do next. Yes, it is the simplest way because if you touch them and they get anxious, then bad things are probably going to happen and you are not going to get them wherever you need them to be.
This way is tougher for us, however, I feel that this is the way that works best with helping lower anxiety in the person with autism. And in my mind, that is the most important thing that we can do. If we lower the anxiety of the person with autism, they cease to be a possible exploding helium balloon. If we lower the anxiety of the person with autism, we help them calm down and be themselves. If they know that you are not going to touch them, then they realize that they can trust you and a bond forms between you and them.
Autism
Hi, so as I said in my last post, I worked with Friendship Ventures at Camp Friendship this summer. And I can't emphasize enough how amazing that experience was. One thing that I got to do all summer was work with people with autism.
I saw a movie yesterday with a very good quote,
I adopted what I call the first commandment of working with people with autism (and I would say working with anyone). Thou shall not touch unless absolutely necessary. Some people with autism get very agitated when touched. Think of it this way, imagine that someone is wearing a glove that is solely made out of sand burs. Imagine that they grab your arm and start pulling. Are you just going to go with them or are you going to freak and fight? I don't know about you, but I would freak and fight. This is why some people with autism freak out when you touch them. To them, the touch feels like fire.
I enjoy working with people with autism, they are the funnest people to be around in my mind. I feel that I can truly relate to them and understand them.
If you find yourself working with someone who has autism, the first thing to remember is not the first commandment, but have fun with them and don't be afraid. They will amaze you in ways that you can't even imagine beforehand, and those times when they amaze, it's worth every single second that you spend time with them.
I saw a movie yesterday with a very good quote,
"When you have met a person with autism, you have met one person."I think that that quote is so true after experiencing this summer. Every person who has autism has their own idiosyncrasies just like all of us. Every one of us in this world is unique. I found that I adored every second that I worked with the campers with autism. I worked with people with autism ranging from 15 all the way up to age 80.
I adopted what I call the first commandment of working with people with autism (and I would say working with anyone). Thou shall not touch unless absolutely necessary. Some people with autism get very agitated when touched. Think of it this way, imagine that someone is wearing a glove that is solely made out of sand burs. Imagine that they grab your arm and start pulling. Are you just going to go with them or are you going to freak and fight? I don't know about you, but I would freak and fight. This is why some people with autism freak out when you touch them. To them, the touch feels like fire.
I enjoy working with people with autism, they are the funnest people to be around in my mind. I feel that I can truly relate to them and understand them.
If you find yourself working with someone who has autism, the first thing to remember is not the first commandment, but have fun with them and don't be afraid. They will amaze you in ways that you can't even imagine beforehand, and those times when they amaze, it's worth every single second that you spend time with them.
Summer Job
This summer, I was employed by Friendship Ventures, which is an organization that works with people with disabilities. I assisted over a hundred campers in personal cares and it was the most amazing job that I have ever had. It is funny that I say that because this summer's job was the very first job that I have ever had.
So, I would like to comment on teenage students working jobs. I understand that it is a good idea, however, I took the time that I would have been working to work on schoolwork. I think that students are in school to be in school, so they should focus on schoolwork and learning. However, I think that a really good teacher can work with the student to ensure that they are learning things from that job. For instance, ask the student to come up with all of the different possibilities of things that you can buy when you at McDonalds and figure out if there is a quick way.
By doing this, we can maintain our both/and philosophy of education which is what this generation of students needs. I will be on here more again this semester. This summer I was busy changing lots of briefs and helping campers have lots of fun.
So, I would like to comment on teenage students working jobs. I understand that it is a good idea, however, I took the time that I would have been working to work on schoolwork. I think that students are in school to be in school, so they should focus on schoolwork and learning. However, I think that a really good teacher can work with the student to ensure that they are learning things from that job. For instance, ask the student to come up with all of the different possibilities of things that you can buy when you at McDonalds and figure out if there is a quick way.
By doing this, we can maintain our both/and philosophy of education which is what this generation of students needs. I will be on here more again this semester. This summer I was busy changing lots of briefs and helping campers have lots of fun.
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