Jan 9

How will this change of models affect your classroom?
It will make it more challenging but if handled well with aid and training can be an extremely rewarding experience for all. Yes the work load will increase but the difference I can make as a teacher wil be that much greater.

What are your thoughts with regard to these changes?
I think inclusion is a wonderful thing for all students disabled or not. It will create awareness and will help everyone to learn to grow together into a more accepting and understanding society.

Do you have initial ideas on how you will accommodate these changes?
With the help of aids and inclusion of these students needs into lesson planning; hopefully in a way so it does not take away from the education of any other students. Equality would be the purpose of inclusion in my classroom, not slowing down or completely changing the learning process of the entire class for one student.

Today in class we did a most interesting station group workshop of sorts. We were in groups at our tables and had to go through several stations. In these we were given simple tasks with difficult restrictions. These tasks helped us to get a better feel for what it is like to be disabled or have a learning disability. We a station that had us doing eye tests with disabling goggles on. We had a station that had us trying to cut shapes out with our off hands while wearing heavy gloves.
I think the station that hit me the most was the reading station. At the reading station we had to read several different types of material that helped use understand how reading disabilities made students feel. It has always been hard to understand how students have so much trouble with reading and understanding what they are reading. I have never been much of a reader myself but I have never found it hard to do. Struggling through some of these reading exercises really helped me gain insight into these students. I only hope I can keep this understanding with me as I go out into the teaching world. Then among these reading challenges I found one that I had always heard about and seen throughout my life, it was braille. I had never actually tried to read it before this time though and I was fascinated by it. I tried really hard to read it but my group had to move on before I had read the whole passage. This was a little upsetting cause I really wanted to continue trying. I will have to go to the curr lab and see if I can find some learning braille books. I should have figured that I would like braille though since I have always liked sign language as well. As a teacher and an actor learning how to communicate in more ways then just seeing and hearing is very interesting to me and I hope to explore these further.