Rachaell+The+Great

= ED 571 Inclusion Strategies Thursday =

= Welcome to Rachaell's WIKI! =

I find most topics interesting though my favorites are as follows: I love the outdoors, I love climbing mountains, I love traveling, I love adventure!

I have wanted a dog my entire adult life and- unless I move to a foreign country- plan on adopting one when I finish my Masters degree.

I am not sure where I will end up teaching when school ends. Part of me is intrigued by the idea of moving somewhere completely new, and part of me would like to stay near the beauty and comforts of Southern Oregon. I would like to return to Tasmania (one of my favorite places in the world) and teach there for a year or so. The energy that kids have for learning and being alive gives me joy. I hope to teach in a varied range of circumstances and places and to foster diversity within my classroom. .

Being as I have no idea where I will teach, I fear that I may teach in a community that may be quite different from places I have lived before. Although being a newbie in a culture is very exciting, I fear the transition phase where I will have to meet new friends, locate my favorite grocery store, discover new trails and seek out where the wild things are. With that said, I am looking forward to the transition phase!



__** Disability Community Based Learning Project **__


 * **__ Shadow a special education teacher in a school setting. __**


 * OBSERVATION: **


 * Students in Mrs.Smith’s classroom sit quietly in their seats. She directs them to get out their work and begin to work on a reading packet. The students take out their work and begin to read. Some students appear nervous and confused, while others seem confident and prepared. After providing instructions, the teacher walks around and assists students individually. This particular class appears to work much like a study hall. **

** Mrs.Smith attempts to provide a flexible and encouraging environment. We discussed the logistics of disability programs within the school. Mrs.Smith explained that her students are generally diagnosed with a disability at a young age. Different students will need varying amounts of individual assistance and varying amounts of skill classes. **
 * INTERVIEW: (I am unable to remove the red font below- sorry) **

** Students do not always need an additional skills class. If a student is struggling in a traditional classroom or does very poorly on a skills test, the first step is for a traditional teacher to create an intervention plan. Occasionally, a different teacher will be able to work with a student and the student will move to a different traditional classroom. If the student is not making improvement within the revised traditional classroom, they will be placed into a different program. All students with low skills and IEP’s have continuous monitoring. **

** There are varying levels of skill classes: Skill two classes pertain to English as a Second Language students or students with low skills, the Skill one classes are designed for students with very low skills. All students receive continuous assessment. **

** According to Mrs.Smith, the number of students with learning disabilities and/or low skills, have increased in the last ten years. Mrs.Smith believes this is the result of an increase in ESL students and students from low socio-economic conditions. Apparently, nearly half the school is eligible for free or reduced lunch. ** ** I was also able to administer six reading tests for students with low reading skills. All of the students had taken this test before and were familiar with the process. **

** REFLECTION: ** = = =// __** WIKI RESOURCE PROJECT: STUDENT MOTIVATION **__ //=
 * I am glad that special education students are offered an environment with few restrictions. The classroom seemed happy, smooth and productive. While interviewing Mrs.Smith, I could infer that she cares very much for her students, is very competent, and enjoys her job. **
 * While administering the reading test, it seems that some students had accepted that they had low skills and a few felt confident that they were improving. The majority, however, appeared very nervous and expressed that they wanted to be out of a special skills class. I found it interesting that the last reading prompt- a short story- was a story about a student with test anxiety. Each student that I tested, scored the lowest on this section. **





I chose the topic of motivation because student motivation is a crucial aspect of any classroom. As teachers, our goal is to motivate students to be if-long learners.

__Top 5 things I learned:__

1. Engagement, Engagement, Engagement. 2. Create an interesting environment. 3. Create a positive/supportive environment. 4. Relevance- make connections to students lives. Attempt to tap into your students inner drive/gratification. 5. Build relationships with your students. 6. Be firm and consistent

Other interesting information:

Statistically, students from low socio-economic environments have drastic lower graduation rates.

Resources:

1. Book review: [|http://www][|.npr.org/books/titles/138454174/a-mind-at-a-time-americas-top-learning-expert-shows-how-every-child-can-succeed?tab=excerpt#ex][|cerpt]

2. NPR article. Motivating first-generation college students.

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3. NPR article. Motivation and the poverty gap. Fascinating article.

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4.

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5.

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6. NPR article on paying for education.

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7.

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8. NPR article on student motivation in college.

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9. Video on motivation in the classroom:

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10. Video from Yale University. Beware... this is a 2+hr video.