Barczyk- Class #2 Blog

Based on articles #1 and #2:
1.What are the social and mental implications for children with learning disabilities?
Students with learning disabilities tend to have higher levels of emotional concerns.Some of these include; depression, loneliness, and low self-esteem. Others things students with LD often demonstrate are, more problems in social competence, anxiety, and poor self-concepts as well. Emotional effects of learning disabilities make life in school more difficult for children with learning disabilities than for their peers without disabilities. As mainstreaming and inclusion become increasingly pervasive, it is important for all teachers to understand the interaction of emotional concerns and learning disabilities and the impact of that interaction on children's functioning. Teaching strategies that cater to different learning styles, such as using multisensory methods is essential.If a student is having difficulty in a certain area or is stressed, the teacher can take the time to talk with the student about his or her frustrations. Boosting the students self-confidence is important. The teacher can do this by reinforcing or praising the students efforts and persistence despite his or her struggles.


2.Think back to when you were in school. What strategies do you remember teachers using (academic or behavioral). Think about how a child with a Learning Disability would respond to these strategies. Explain and comment.
When I was in school, and a student misbehaved, the teacher would usually impose a penalty whether it be sending the student to the office, assigning a detention, time-out, or a verbal warning. A child with a LD would probably respond differently to these strategies. They may not understand why and what they did wrong. I work in a classroom with children who have learning disabilities and they get frustrated very easily, especially when given a "punishment." These children need a lot of redirection and patience.



3.How will you refine your practices to address the social needs of students with disabilities?
Students with learning disibilities have difficulty with their social skills. There are several ways to increse these. Planning activies in the classroom as a group will help to have the students interact with one another, giving the students verbal praise, increasing appropriate conversating skills, working on greetings, taking turns, and even manners will help the students socially.

Based on Article #3:

1.How has the evolution of medical technology changed the way we look at disabilities?
The evolution of medical technology had changed the way we look at disibilities for the better.We have a greater understanding of the brain regions and functions involved in typical reading development and in reading failure. With the increased information available, we can use interventions that will help children and adults overcome reading failure.

2.What implications will this new outlook have on teaching and mandated legislation?
With this technology, teachers can identify more effective ways to teach reading and improve the childrens reading skills.



Based on Article #4 and #5:

1.The disproportionate representation of Culturally and Linguistically Diverse children in special education is a significant issue in education. After reviewing the article:
a. List some of the issues surrounding this topic?
The overrepresentation of culturally/linguistically diverse children in special education and the quality of their educational experiences is a major issue as well as under indentification of students.Another issue is the use of Relative Risk Ratios and that there is not a single, recognized approach for determining when disproportionality is large enough to be important.

b. Discuss how legislation has attempted to ameliorate this problem
Through the U.S. Office for Civil Rights the ethnic representation of students in special education at the state and local educational level has been monitored every two years. Where overrepresentation exists, OCR has required many systems to implement corrective plans to reduce that disproportionality.

c. Describe the problem as you see it
These culturally/ linguistically children whom are in the special education rooms are not being identified correctly.

d. Make a suggestion…What is the solution as you see it?
They need to be more careful making decisions and not "mislable" these children.


How Children Learn to Read:
The article about "How Children Learn to Read," had a lot of good information. I do believe that children need effective reading instruction in order to build a good foundation and by giving them this it's important that their parents are aware of these things. There is no one best way to build students reading skills. All children learn differently, and by using different approaches the students will be able to read. In this article, they listed components to an effective reading program. I agreed with all of them and especially think it's important to give each child as much practice to become fluent because, each student learns at a different pace. If the child can read at their own level than they can understand the meanings and like the article said enjoy it!

VIDEO:
I watched the video on Ben. It gave some good information on Dyslexia in only 5 minutes, which was nice. I thought Ben was an extraordinary young man. Seeing that he started off not being able to spell or read properly and than publishing a book was amazing.