Blog F

SED really taught me everything that I could experience in a classroom. I didn’t realize until the class that there are so many children with different kinds of learning disorders and physical impairments. It was really helpful to learn about how to deal with these kinds of children because most of us have never been involved with them. To also get a background on each disorder helped because it’s good to know what they experience and that way you can try to make class time more manageable for them. Plus all the stories she has from her experience are just amazing because in other states there are really out of control children and I’m surprised she still teaches after some of the stories I have heard.

EDU filled us in with the history of education and how the patterns have taken place. It’s interesting to know where education came from and how much it has improved. It was also helpful to have the opportunity to go to the autism conferences because it just gives you a glimps of what life is like for them. With our guests coming into class gave us a introduction to what teaching is going to be like. With the first year students, it seems like lesson planning is going to be the hardest part of the job because you need to decide to what you want to cover in your class. With the teacher who has 40 years under her belt of teaching, it was interesting to see how she viewed things differently from the first year teachers. With so many years of experience, there must be something that makes her keep coming back to teach. I have a feeling it’s the kids themselves and the relationships you develop with them.

It makes me realize that there are so many other things that go along with teaching that I didn’t think about before. I’m glad I had these too classes because they brought up subjects that I didn’t even think about when I said I wanted to be a teacher. Although, after learning about children and disabilities and the history behind teaching, it still doesn’t change my mind about my major. So this probably means that I chose the right major after hearing all these stories about different types of children.

Blog E

Webster dictionary defines diversity as, “ difference, and variety.” What does that really mean though? My own experience with diversity has never really come up and hit me in the face. Does it mean different people from different places? Or different in general?
I’ve had an African American cousin all my life. Her father lives in Granada and she lives with her mother in Maine. They divorced when she was around six years old. She now has a stepfather and stepbrother.
All through our childhood it never even occurred to me that she was different than my family and friends. We would play together every day either at my house or at her’s. She made my childhood very memorable and was a very big part of it. I was a year older than her. She was my best friend up until middle school when I moved up into a different school, and left her behind. Our bond is still strong today, but not even close to what it used to be. Now that I think of it, I haven’t seen her in a long time, yet I’ve come home every weekend. I didn’t even get to see her during Thanksgiving break because I was so busy. To me, people who have different backgrounds, religions and heritage have a story to tell and an opportunity for me to learn something threw their eyes.
Teaching a diverse subject would be hard because you would have to be careful of how categorize things. Making sure that any of your diverse students wouldn’t get offended by something you said. So teaching a diverse subject with diverse students in it, you would have to teach with caution and plan your lessons accordingly.
As for just teaching for diverse students, I wouldn’t think twice about it. Since I’ve grown up with someone who is different than me, it’s hard for me to even notice. However, if I did notice it would make me curious to see how their life is like outside of school. I would want to develop personal relationships with my students, so that way, if they have a problem at home, they could come to me without feeling uncomfortable.
When I see diverse students, it wouldn’t make me want to treat them any differently than any of my other students, it would actually just make me even more curious to know how much differently they do daily tasks from me.

Blog C

Marian Wright Edelman was born on June 6th 1939 in South Carolina. Her father was a Baptist preacher and taught children about christianity.Before he died when she was only fourteen years old, he said to her "Don't let anything get in the way of your education." As a student, she embraced her fathers words and attended Spelman College and Yale. Edelman is now the founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund.
"In the mid-60s, she was the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar and directed the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund office". Overall, she has received over 100 honorary degrees along with many awards. Later, in the 1990s, Bill Clinton was elected president, which gave Edelman's Children Defense Fund even more recognition because Hillary Clinton was involved with the program. Outside her work, her main joy is spend time with her husband, Peter Edelman and their three sons. Edelman now is currently 64 years old and still going.

E.D. Hirsch was born on March 22nd 1928.Raised in Tennessee, yet went to Cornell and Yale. He was the University Professor of Education and Humanities and the Liden Kent Memorial Professor of English at the University of Virginia. Hirsch has written many books through out his life including Wordsworth and Spelling, Innocence and Experience and Validity in Interpretation. These books, among others, to promote fairness in early education.
In 1986 he was the founder and chairman of the nonprofit Core Knowledge Foundation, which he has also written a series on starting with "What your Kindergartener needs to know and finishing with What your sixth grader needs to know. His writing became so popular that it appeared in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Hirsch is now considered to have an expertise in educational issues, reform and cultural literacy.


Works Cited-
Marian Edelman
Book:I can Make A difference:A Treasury to Inspire Our Children By: Marian Edelman
http://www.childrensdefense.org/site/PageServer?pagename=People_MWE
http://womenshistory.about.com/od/marianwrightedelman/p/m_w_edelman.htm
E. D. Hirsch
Book:The Knowledge Deficit By: E.D. Hirsch
http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/Hirsch.html
http://www.hoover.org/bios/2812076.html

Blog B

On January 8th,2002 President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act which is intertwined with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The act was made to focus on the academic achievement gap between minority students and disadvantaged students. There are four main focuses within the act including,"stronger accountability for results, expanded flexibility at the local level, expanded options for parents and an emphasis on teaching methods that have been proven to work".(38 of Special Edu. For all teachers, 4th edition) It requires teachers to be highly qualified with a list of requirements such as, completed the states certification and licensing requirements, received at least a Bachelors degree and has demonstrated professional knowledge of their subject. Over 100 times the act uses the phrase, "scientifically based research" and according to NCLB this means, "It applies rigorous, systematic and objective procedures to obtain valid knowledge relevant to reading development, reading instruction and reading difficulties".(wikipedia)

This act was produced to ensure that the state is requiring teachers to have all their students at the reading and writing levels they need to be at. It's focusing on the requirement for the teachers and make sure they are eligible or at least being taught a way that can fulfill the children's needs. It's giving children with disabilities a chance to live up to higher standards then expected. Being able to be looked upon as 'normal' will mean a lot to these students because probably all their life they have had lower standards.

Works Cited:
www.edweek.org/rc/issues/no-child-left-behind/
www.ed.gov/nclb/landing.jhtml
www.whitehouse.gov/news/reports/no-child-left-behind.html
Book-Special Education for All teachers.Fourth Edition.

Blog A

I learned that I am prone to breaking bones. My first sign of my unlucky bones was when I broke my first one at the age of two years old. I was at my day care with my older sister just sitting on the floor playing with building blocks. A kid comes walking by me and ends up tripping, and sitting on my leg. The only problem with him sitting on my leg was, that there was a block underneath my knee. So when he landed on my leg, he broke it. Few years later, my aunt and my younger cousin and I decide to go to McDonald's for lunch. This particular McDonald's had this playground for kids. There was this ladder you were to climb up and when you got to the top you were inside this hamburger. Where the meat would be were bars every two or so feet. My cousin manages to squeeze through and jump out and land on her feet. Since I wasn't so coordinated, when I tried to jump, I fell flat on my face and broke my arm at the age of 5 years old.

I learned that I am a person who enjoys natures view and sound. I often go outside or take a walk when I feel stressed of just because I am in the mood. My favorite times to go outside are spring and fall-like weather. Back during the summer I used to take my boyfriend out to this beach that had a wall of rocks along the road. We would sit on one and just look out towards the water and there was a shooting star one time we came. A lot of times when I am just outside, depending on the day, I'll take a picture of the sun setting or ocean crashing against the rocks and admire how nice some of my pictures that come out.

I learned that I am lost without my cell phone. My dad travels up and down Maine often because of his job. My first attempt to drive myself back home from Farmington by myself. I tried to remember his directions and best as I could. For some reason something went wrong with my cell phone and when I got lost I couldn't call him, so I had to drive somewhere to get signal. Afterwards, my dad figured out that I was in Gray and had missed the turnpike sign along the way through Jay. I was finally able to get home but taking a little longer than expected. If I didn't have my phone with me that day the trip probably would have taken me a lot longer.My cell phone is how I get in contact with people I bring it everywhere I go, literally. That way, if anyone ever needs to contact me I'm almost positive to answer. I once asked my mother if she could bring my cell phone to work because I had forgot it at home. I told her that I felt naked without it, but she didn't bring it.