Week 15

CSD 764 Notebook

The notebook created in this class covers a wide variety of areas and includes many instructional strategies to help me in the future with my teaching career.  It not only includes instructional strategies but many other articles, handouts, and resources all covering topics that deal with teaching students who are deaf/HH.  My binder includes the following topics:

-Getting started: Setting up the classroom, etc.
-Instructional Strategies- Reading, Writing, Spelling, Social Studies, Science, Math, and Behavior Management
-Assessments
-Hearing loss degrees/Audiograms
-Websites and lists of apps
-Common Core standards
-Transition Process

All of these topics have a wide variety of information included in them.  All of the information in my notebook will be useful one day.  Everything in my notebook is of easy access and I can refer to it whenever I need.  It will come in handy when I need new ideas for teaching or other information regarding my students.  I know I will keep adding information to my notebook as I continue in my career. 

Week 13

3 Pointers

I have learned many strategies and more from Instructional Strategies: D/HH.  It is amazing to me how much information this one class has provided me.  There are three major pointers that I have learned from this class.

The first pointer is when teaching students who are deaf or hard of hearing we must think about their needs. When using strategies we need to think about adaptations we need to make in order for the strategy to be the most beneficial it can be. If a child is struggling through a lesson, we need to know how to adapt and use differentiated instruction to help them.  With all the strategies I have learned during this course, I want to make sure they are actually helping the child learn. Along with this tip, I just would like to mention that I have learned  we should push our students.  We want to encourage them and use higher level thinking skills with them so they can continue to grow in their education.

Secondly, I have learned a lot about behavior management from this class.  I know behaviors from students can be a challenge to deal with.  However, this class has provided me with many strategies and tips for working with the behaviors and minimizing them. I have learned there are a tremendous amount of resources out there to look at for help with behavior management.  Trying out different strategies on different behaviors may be what the student needs. 

The last and most significant pointer for me that I have learned in this course is all the different types of instructional strategies and the categories they fit in.  What I wanted out of this class was to learn when to use certain strategies for specific subjects. This course has definitely fulfilled that.  I have so many strategies to choose from and know exactly what could work for subject areas across math, science, social studies, writing/spelling, and reading.  There are just so many new ideas I have attained from this class. 

My Viewpoint on Teaching

My viewpoint has changed tremendously.  Before this class I thought about how I did not feel prepared to start teaching in a classroom. This class has definitely changed that.  I think I now have a very good sense of direction and know that I could take on curriculum and at least have a starting point on what to teach and how to go about teaching it.  I know it will take a lot of practice and planning to feel comfortable with the curriculum, however I think this class has prepared me so much for it. 

Week 12

How to Prepare for Transition

Transition is a very important process for students who are deaf or hard of hearing.  In order to prepare for the transitioning process I will need to look at all of my resources and try to see what may be the best choice for my student.  I will make sure I get input from the parents and the student.  I will use the many resources available to me and let the student look through resources as well to see what they may want to do with their future.  There are many resources out there that we can use with our students to help them learn more about their transitioning process and what it will include. We need to make sure we set realistic goals for the students and discuss the goals to determine if they are appropriate for the student and how they will go about achieving them.  Overall, it will be important to look at the transitioning process as a team and work through it together and make sure all the necessary steps are being taken in order to ensure a smooth transition.

What is important for students to learn as they prepare to graduate?

It is important that students learn what all of their options are after graduation.  It could be transitioning into further education or into a working position.  They will need to know what work is involved with each option and what they will have to do in order to transition into the next stage in their lives.  They will need to know that is expected of them.  It is important that they are educated on what they need to know in order to be successful in their future wherever it may be.  They need to know the transition is for them and about them so they need to be actively involved in the process and voicing their opinions on what they want out of their transition.

Week 11

Socialization with Peers

Deaf or hard of hearing students often have difficulty socializing and making friends with their peers.  In order to help with this situation, I would make sure to address the issue at the beginning of the year.  I would want to inform the whole classroom about hearing losses - if the student wants.  I would let the student have the opportunity to talk about their hearing loss and maybe show their hearing aids, or CIs to the class.  I would share with the class some suggestions on how to best interact with the student.  This way the students are all aware of the student with a hearing loss needs and hopefully it will improve the socialization aspect.  In regards to making friends I would encourage the student to interact with other students as much as possible.  I would make sure the student with a hearing loss hears everything the students they are playing with are saying.  If the student does something that is not okay when socializing I would stop them and explain to them that it is not okay and what they need to do to fi it.  I would encourage the student to tell their peers when they need something repeated. 

Communication with Parents

Communicating with parents is very important.  What are some ways to communicate and is there a better way than another?  There are many ways in which a teacher can communicate with parents.  One way is by email.  In the beginning of the year the parent should receive the teachers email so they know they contact the teacher with comments, questions, or concerns.  Another way is through phone.   The teacher may give the parents the option of contacting them through their personal phone.  Another option with the phone is through texting. If the teacher and parent have a close relationship they may decide on texting because it is quick and easy.  Another possible way for communicating is by sending home information or notes with the student.  This should be used with caution because the parent may never go through the student's backpack or the student may do something with the note before the parent gets the chance to see it. 
When it comes to which option of communication is the best, it all depends on the people involved.  I think it should be established early on how the parent wants to be contacted.  For very important things I think there should always be an email sent so there is evidence of contact happening.  But overall I think it depends on how the people want to be contacted.

Week 10

Difficulty paying attention?? What can a teacher do for their student?

If a student is having trouble focusing in their regular education classroom there are many strategies that can be used to help with this problem.  It is important to look at all possible reasons for this to be happening.  Are they close enough to the teacher? Are they bored? Do they have the necessary background information to understand the concept being taught?  There are a variety of strategies that can address each of these questions.   The teacher may need to remove the student from the regular classroom and directly teach some background information to help with the concept being taught. One strategy that comes to mind are redirection.  Encourage the student to complete a task by getting their attention and redirecting it so they come back to the material.  The teacher can make it into a game so the student has some motivation.  Another strategy is just moving closer to the student to be nearby so a simple tap can help them see they need to start listening again.  Another strategy could be giving them a little extra something to do during the lesson.  This may include highlighting or writing things down multiple times to give them something to do.  A teacher will learn many things about their student as the school year progresses.  Knowing the students interests and learning styles will increase the strategies used to help them focus in the classroom.

 

Positive Behavior Supports

This program seems like it would be very beneficial for a school or district to implement.  The information from nasponline.com describes it as a function-based approach to eliminate challenging behaviors and replace them with prosocial skills. Its approach is to not just focus solely on the child and their behavior but to look at all aspects such as the task demands, curriculum, instructional pace, and individualized reinforcement. The website states that harsh punishment and zero tolerance has not been effective, thus this program is a possible solution.  This program is successful in promoting positive behavior. It uses different strategies to maintain appropriate social behavior. There are many facts that support this program and I believe it would be beneficial for all districts.

Week 9

Vocabulary

Science and Social Studies are two subjects with a lot of vocabulary. In order for students with a hearing loss to be successful with these subjects a lot of pre-teaching of vocabulary may need to happen. This can be done in a variety of ways.  One way that I believe is helpful for students is flashcards.  Flashcards can be very useful for students to have quick access to when looking for a definition and a great tool for reviewing and studying.  Another way a student can learn vocabulary is through graphic organizers.  Students can be responsible for completing an organizer on a specific vocabulary word which will help them gather information on the word.  For science there is a lot of vocabulary that can be covered by watching videos.  Videos help give these students a visual of what is happening and what something may look like.  There is also the option of making a model of the terms used in science for example, a model of a cell. Students can always be encouraged to use these words when writing to help enhance their understanding of the word. 

How will I prepare to teach science and social studies?

I will need to take a lot of preparation to teach these subject areas.  In order to effectively teach these subjects I will need to look at the material ahead of time.  It will be important to look up how to sign various words for the student to understand.  I want to be knowledgeable on the subject as much as possible so I will be able to answer any questions the students may have.  When it comes to vocabulary I will need to think about other ways I can explain it to the student in case they do not understand the definition in the books.

Similarities/Differences to Metaphors/Analogies

The most common way for students to organize similarities and differences among a topic is through a graphic organizer- Venn diagram.  This is a great strategy for student to have a visual on what is different between two things and what they have in common.  In order to take it to the next step, I believe students need to incorporate it into writing.  They need to be prompted with questions that encourage them to relate information to other things.  This is where the higher level critical thinking questions should be used.  It will take a lot of modeling and examples to get these students to think outside the box. 

Week 8

I agree with the authors and their views on the lag in the development of mathematics.  The authors noted difficulty with the concepts of mathematics due to delays in language, development, lack of exposure to life-based problem-solving, and inadequate pre-service teacher preparation in this area.  I agree that the difficulty is a direct result of the delay in language development.  Students who are deaf or hard of hearing have trouble understanding language in general. The language used in mathematics is even more complex and brand new to these students. There will obviously be a delay in learning the terminology involved in math because the students have to not only learn all of the different names for things but also apply them in order to solve a problem. 

 

I can also see how lack of exposure to life-based problem solving is a cause for the lag in development.  Students, who are deaf or hard of hearing, often miss incidental learning opportunities.  They cannot always over hear their teachers, peers, or parents working out a solution to their problems.  This can also be because these students are often given the solution rather than having them try to work it out on their own first. 

 

Finally, the authors mentioned inadequate teacher preparation.  I would like to disagree with the authors on this one, however I believe this could be true.  I think it depends on the teacher, however I know math is changing rapidly.  The way math is taught now is not how I learned it.  I know if I were to go into a classroom right now and had to teach math the way it is required now, I would not be able to do it unless I took the time to learn the new methods.  I think teachers need to be aware of what level of math they need to be at in order to successfully teach their students. 

Week 7

CAEBER

After researching the CAEBER on the Gallaudet website, I have learned that the goal of ASL-English bilingual education is language proficiency in both ASL and English.  It includes skills in “signacy”, “literacy”, and “oracy”.  What I found interesting is that it focuses on keeping each language separate.  This is so each one can be given the same attention.    The center provides educational leadership and supports the ASL-English bilingual professional development of K-12 teachers, mentors, and deaf education program instructors.  This is an excellent resource.

I think that using CAEBER would help with teaching on so many levels. Using this as a research would allow for teachers to be better qualified to teach English while using ASL, which is important because this is very well can be the primary language of our students. As a future deaf educator I need to be willing to adapt to the needs of my student.  The action framework and the mission are ideal for teachers wanting to provide the best education for their deaf or hard of hearing students.

Week 6

Components of Reading and Writing
Which ones are important and how will they be taught?

 

All the components in reading are very important for a student to have skills with.  These components include: phonemic awareness, alphabetics (letter knowledge, phonological awareness, phonics), motivation, fluency, vocabulary, and reading comprehension.  Background knowledge in all of these areas are necessary in order to continue growing in reading and writing skills.  It is important for a student to practice skills within these components on a daily basis.  I believe all of them are important for a student to develop their reading skills and be well rounded in the area of literacy. I know I will use many different strategies for teaching these components.  I want to practice utilizing many different strategies in order to learn what works best with my students.  Knowing what strategies to use and how to implement them will be developed over time and with more experience.  It also will depend on the learning styles of my future students and on what motivates them. 

One strategy, presented in class, was Reading Recovery. I believe this is a great way for students to practice many components of reading.  The lesson overview includes rereading, running record, magnetic letter work, writing, cut-up sentence, and a new book.  This method helps a student feel confident in their reading by starting with a familiar text and building up to a new one through a series of steps.  It helps the student understand how letters and words work.  The student also has the opportunity to practice their writing and making sentences. The sequence within this strategy is perfect for a child to build their skills and work towards solving reading work independently. 

When teaching fluency, I plan to use a lot of modeling.  Some strategies to promote fluency are choral reading, partner reading, tape assisted reading, and shared reading.  I think all of these will be useful for students in my future classroom.

Vocabulary has many strategies that can be used.  A few that I will make use of and teach to my students will be word hunts, word maps, and word walls.  Vocabulary can be implemented in all lessons in all different ways.

Finally, reading comprehension is a major factor in successful students.  It is very important that students not only learn how to read but understand what they are reading and are able to relate it to other things. Again, there are numerous strategies for this component.  Just a few that I plan to use to teach my students are sequencing, concept maps, summarizing, think-alouds, question-answers, and reciprocal teaching.   All of these will give my students the opportunity to think about what they have read. 

Overall, I believe all the components are important to teach to students.  They need all the components in order to be a successful reader.  With the deaf and/or hard of hearing students the same strategies can be used, however modifications may need to be considered in order for the students to fully comprehend what they are doing and how to do it.  They may need more assistance, direct teaching, and modeling in order to be successful. 

Week 5

When teaching a lesson, when should you use cues, questions, and advance organizers?  What adaptations might these need in working with students who are Deaf/Hard of hearing?

I believe when teaching a lesson, a teacher should use cues, questions, and advance organizers whenever possible.  It is important that teachers use cues and questions appropriately as much as they can during a lesson.  We want to push our students to think critically during lessons so they can gain the most knowledge out of it that they are capable of.  Cues allow for the students to start thinking about what the answers are and how they want to answer a question. It is vital that we get our students thinking for themselves rather than always providing them with an answer.  We want them to learn how to think critically beyond the first stage.  I think graphic organizers should be used whenever possible.  They help organize information.  I think writing down information on graphic organizers helps students remember it better.  Also, they can have a reference to look back at when they cannot quite remember the information.  I think graphic organizers get students thinking because essentially the student has to fill in the blanks with his or her thoughts.  For students who are deaf or hard of hearing, some things to consider might be working with the students on the organizers rather than having them do it completely on their own.   There may also need to be more visuals for these learners in order for them to be successful in completing the organizer and thinking critically through questions given to them. 

 

Homework??

My personal opinion – homework is the worst.  Even though I really do not like being assigned homework, I know it is a major reason why I am successful in school.  Homework is further practice on what is being taught in the classroom.  It helps refresh the brain on material previously learned.  Homework can even be looking ahead at what will be taught in the classroom the following day.  This is useful because students can come prepared ready to ask questions and learn. So I believe homework is necessary.  However, I do believe there should be a limit on the amount of homework given.  I think homework should be given out appropriately.  Students are in the classroom all day and need a break from school as well.  It is important that the homework is actually helping them and not just always busy work. Homework should be evenly distributed so they are not overloaded in one day.  Just like the book says, the amount of work given also depends on the age of the students.  Overall, I agree with what the CITW has to say about homework.  I know that I want my students to be successful so I will be assigning homework. 

Week 4

Stages of development v. Common Core Standards v. Curriculum Scope and Sequence v. hierarchy of skills – which are important when teaching students with a hearing loss?

I believe all of these stages, standards, and skills are important to consider when teaching students with a hearing loss.  There are a variety of skills within all of these.  I believe it depends on the students and where they are developing within their academics.  Although these cannot exactly predict where a child with a hearing loss should be performing and where areas improvement is needed, it is good to have some sort of guidelines.  It is important to have an idea of what the child should be learning and how they should be performing according to their grade level.  A child has to start somewhere.  I believe the hierarchy of skills is one way to discover what skills a student should be focused on. In many cases a student needs to accomplish lower level skills in order to advance into higher level ones.  It is necessary that we make sure the students have these skills in order to be successful in the future. 

Overall, teachers of the deaf and hard of hearing need to be aware of skills that are not yet mastered and work towards providing the child with instruction in order for them to gain those skills. My focus will be on making sure my students acquire the necessary skills in order to move on the next skill.  I want to push my students to see what they can do beyond their grade level as well.

Week 3

Assessments

There is a lot for an educator to take into consideration when assessing a child with a hearing loss.  They need to have background information on the child in order to know how the child may perform on the assessment and what they child may need in order to perform their best. Some things that need to be considered are the type and degree of hearing loss, environment, appropriateness of the assessment, and modifications that may need to be implemented.  The question is: should one use only tests designed for this population?  I believe the answer is no.  This population should take assessments that their typically developing peers are taking.  I think it is a good idea to see where they are at in comparison to their peers.  Modifications can still be made, however I think it is good they experience the same assessments as their peers.  I also recently learned that many of the assessments designed for this population are old and that there are not very many of them. So again, it is good that this population is exposed to these updated assessments.   However, taking the assessments that are designed for them can still provide very useful information.

Communication

It is necessary for good communication in this field. Teachers and staff need to be constantly communicating in order to stay up to date on things.  Today there are many ways to stay in touch with others.  But what is the best way to stay in touch with teachers and staff?  Should it be face-to-face or through email?  I believe that it all depends on what is being communicated and who it is between.  It is important to determine this early in a relationship among teachers. I think everyone has a preference on when to email and when to use face-to-face communication.  There are definitely more appropriate times to use face-to-face rather than email.  This can be determined after getting to know staff members.  I plan on getting to know my staff and peers before determining which method to use more often.  I know I want to make sure I communicate effectively and appropriately at all times.  It will depend on what is being discussed that will help me determine whether to use face-to-face or email. 

Week 2

Educational Placement

There are many types of schools and programs for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. But which placement is the best for the child?  This is an incredibly important decision to make when it comes to appropriate education for the child.  There are many factors that play into this decision.  It takes a lot of time and thought on the parents’ part to determine what placement will be best for their child.  Input from child’s educators and other individuals that know the child well, can help start the parents in the right direction.  This input comes from close interaction between the educators and parents.  It also is discussed at the child’s IEP meeting.  Information from every individual or service that works with the child is necessary to make the most appropriate decision on placing the child within the “mainstream” or in a centralized program/school.  This decision needs to be determined after all of the child’s learning styles and skills are assessed.  The goal for the child is to be placed in the least restrictive environment.  It is ideal to have the child in the regular education classroom with typically developing peers.  This way the child has the opportunity to grow in their academics and stay on track with their peers.  If the child is not quite ready for this option there comes the concept of “push-in” and “pull-out”.  This is a little of both mainstream and centralized.  The child can be pushed into regular education classroom for particular subjects and then be pulled out for others.  This can be very beneficial for the child.  The child has the opportunity to experience education with peers and also has the individual time with the educator to learn material that may need more attention.  Overall, it all depends on the child’s needs and what the parents feel is most fitting for their child. 

 

Attention Span and Problem Solving

Attention span can be a very difficult task to control as an educator.  Of course educators want the attention span to last for a whole lesson. It would be wonderful if a child could have full attention for the entirety of a lesson.  However, this probably will not happen.  It is so easy for a child with a hearing loss to become distracted.  It is our job to bring the child back into the lesson to make sure they are engaging and learning.  I know I have used redirection techniques to try to bring students back into my lesson.  It is also important to have movement incorporated into a lesson so the children are more likely to be engaged.  There are a variety of techniques that can be utilized in lessons in order to keep the child participating and learning. Attention span will be something, I will have to pay close attention to for all of my students and learn how long each of their spans are in order to develop and implement a successful lesson.

Problem solving is another area that can be tricky for educators. When should we step in and help? And when should we let the child problem solve on their own?  This is difficult because we always want to help the child learn.  However, we need to decide when our help is absolutely necessary and when the child needs to figure it out on their own. It is important that children who are deaf or hard of hearing learn to problem solve for themselves. They often are being helped and things are done for them.  We want to create independent students that know how to ask for things on their own and figure out how to solve their own problems. We always want to push our students in order for them to grow into independent learners.

Week 1 Reflection Questions

1. What have you learned about instructional strategies? What would you like to learn during this class?

I have learned that instructional strategies are the approaches used by a teacher in order to accomplish learning objectives. There are 5 categories of instructional strategies.  These include direct instruction, indirect instruction, experiential learning, independent study, and interactive instruction.  Throughout the school day many instructional strategies within these categories are used. Each instructional strategy has its own benefits for the learning of the student. I have also learned that more than one instructional strategy can be used at the same time.  Throughout this course I would like to increase my knowledge on strategies that can be used and when is the most appropriate time to use them. I would also like to learn which strategies might be more beneficial to use for particular subject areas.  I am hoping that everything I learn in this course will provide me with “tools” to use in my practicum course. 

2. Research has shown that students with a hearing loss often times do not achieve higher than a 3rd grade reading level. What are your thoughts about this and how do you plan to face this?

I have heard this statistic many times throughout my courses in deaf education.  It is unfortunate that research has shown students with a hearing loss often do not achieve higher than a third grade reading level.  I understand why this can happen.  There are a variety of factors that play into how a student with a hearing loss learns to read.  In the future I plan to handle this with confidence.  I plan to incorporate reading strategies that will be most helpful to my students.  I hope I can push my students and allow them to build their reading skills as much as possible.

3. In looking at the first 3 chapters of CITW what are some ways you can provide feedback and reinforce effort? Do you plan to use verbal, tangible, or both?

Providing feedback and reinforcing effort supports learning. The book states that there are four recommendations in regards for providing feedback.  These include: providing feedback that addresses what is correct and what students need to do next, providing feedback appropriately in time to meet students’ needs, provide feedback that is criterion referenced, and engage students in the feedback process.  Reinforcing effort is a strategy that can be used in order to promote motivation in students. It involves teaching the students the relationship between effort and achievement. One way of reinforcing effort is through praise.  This motivates and encourages the student.

I plan to use both verbal and tangible feedback and reinforcing effort because this will be the most helpful to my students.  This will motivate the students to continue to work hard and see what they are doing well.  It will encourage them in all of their school work.   I believe doing it both verbally and tangibly will benefit them the most and they deserve both.