Week 11 Learn n Serve

Today in learn and serve I had to come at a later time on the same day. Which I was excited about because I was able to see the students in a little bit of a different setting. When I got there they were just about to start a Social Studies lesson as a class. They had a booklet on the pilgrims arriving to America. I walked around and made sure that everyone was on the right page and doing what they were supposed to. For the most part everyone was paying attention and following along with the teacher. Then they had lunch and during lunch they were able to watch a christmas movie of Rudolph and the Misfit toys. Some students were watching and paying attention and others just wanted to talk to me and the aid. They were all well behaved and lunchtime had no problems. After lunch they had a math lesson and all of the students were being taught the same thing. I sat between the two students that struggle the most with math and was there to help them out. The lesson was on subtraction. The teacher taught subtraction as a "take away" and had the students use a numberline to help them. All of the students caught on very fast, which was a little bit suprising to me. The two that I sat between were doing it like it was nothing, I was very excited. He was doing the problems without my help at all. At first I had to guide him to point to the number then go backwards but once he got it, he really understood and I had him do a whole row by himself without my help and he did it and got every answer correct. He cannot do that with addition. At the bottom of the worksheet there were mixed problems of addition and subtraction which he did not catch at first, but once I circled the sign on every problem, he started to understand. I had him tell me on every question what sign it was and which way the problem would go. He ended up finishing the worksheet by himself and getting every question correct. Also,a big step for him was he never became frustrated while working on the worksheet either.

Today they had music while I was there and the students play a recorder and a kazoo and use props such as large candy canes and bells to sing and make their music. They were put into a formation as a class and told to remember where they stand. The students were well behaved they listened to the music teacher and were able to sing and play the music very well. One student I noticed during the Kazoo song that he had trouble blowing into the kazoo. He basically just was holding it in his mouth. This student has a disability that makes it hard for him to keep things in his mouth such as food and I think that this affected his ability to hold the kazoo correctly and play it correctly. In their concert they play their recorders and bells and dance using the props and all of the students did really well. I will have to find out when the concert is and come watch them.

Week 10 learn and serve

Today the teacher was not in class so the class was run by the aid and a substitute aid. I was interested to see how the students would act in this setting. During free time I sat next to a student who was working on the computer. She was doing a puzzle on the computer, it seemed very hard because the pieces were very small. I was helping her to get the idea of finding all of the outside pieces first. The puzzle was very hard because not only were the puzzle pieces small but to put it together on the computer screen is very difficult, for anyone to do. She did not quite get the idea of finding the pieces with a straight edge to make the sides.

It was a student's birthday today and he had cupcakes to hand out for lunch. He is usually a student that behaves but will act out by speaking. He verbally gets in fights with other students by saying things under his breath or just out loud right too them. Today I was hoping that he would behave so that he didn't get his cupcakes taken away. He was doing good for most of the day but another student seemed to be having a very bad day. She was just not doing well. She was not listening very well, she kept having minor tantrums and everything she did seemed to be wrong. I think she was trying but it was just a bad day.

During Library the Librarian brought in two books and a movie and the idea that they talked about was past and present. They had to identify which books were talking about the past or the present. The students did very well actually with determining which was which.

Blog Nov. 5th

Today in class we first came up with ideas of things that are good and bad work habits. As groups we picked out certain things that we wanted to display as good and bad work habits. We did this by taking pictures or videos demonstrating them with our new friend, she is from the group Opportunities Unlimited. Then we went back to the classroom and there were different stations that we were rotating between. The station we started out at was a mulitple intelligence sheet. We each filled one out then compared them. Another station that we didn't get much time at was playing with play-doh. This is good because it is using your fine motor skills as well as your imagination to create a design of something that represents yourself. The two stations that we did not have time for were writing a story, this is another creative thinking station and building a fort. Building a fort is obviously using more bodily movement and coordination, as well as puzzle making because you had to figure out how to get it together and which way you wanted it. The chapter talks about having multiple intelligences and by filling out the worksheet we were able to see what Melissa's were. By building a fort and allowing the group to put it together and by making up a story it shows off the creativity and creativity is a big process
Describe your experience: The friend that joined our group was Melissa. She seemed very sweet but she was very very quiet. It was hard to get her excited about the activities that we were doing because she was so quiet. We walked around campus taking pictures. We took Melissa to some new spots that she told us she had never been too. Since she was so quiet it was hard to tell if she really enjoyed it but she seemed to be interested in the new places.
What did you notice: I noticed that Melissa was very quiet compared to the other guests that came along with her. We really tried to talk to her and get her to open up and feel comfortable but I think that even though she was quiet she understood the activity and learned something from it and had fun.
How did you feel: I felt comfortable but a little disappointed that she was so quiet. It was hard to get to know her and talk to her and learn something from her or the experience because she was so quiet. But for the most part I really enjoyed it and was glad that we were able to join together with them.
In Chapter 9 "Children who have gifts and talents" it talks about that gifted people do not have to show their excellence in the same way or even at all. I think that some of these people that joined us in class showed us that. They were all special in their own way. There is such a thing as "gifted underachievers" and for these adults just because they are not above and beyond in academics for their level does not mean that they can't have gifts as well.

Week 9

Today at learn and serve the students ate breakfast in the cafeteria and were coming back in the room just minutes after I arrived. The aid went to the cafeteria with them and when she came in, she told Mrs. Drennan about a problem between the two girls, but unfortunately she did not see what happened. So Mrs. Drennan had to call the two girls to the front table to find out what happened. It was very interesting to watch the girls and see who was willing to tell the truth. But neither girl really came totally out and told the truth, so they both were given two checks. While the students were in library I talked with Mrs. Drennan about their way of discipline for the students. She explained that to me but she also said that this year's class is very mild and she has not had any problems with the students, there are two that they have to watch. Then I observed the reading lesson with the group that is more advanced and I noticed that she was teaching to the top, like we discuss in class. The book that the students were reading was fairly difficult for their level, but she told me that she really felt they would be able to handle it if they were pushed. Which from the work that I saw they had done well with writing about the events of the beginning of the story. Then I worked with Ronald on his math problems again. He did much better on the few problems he started before I was helping him. The only problems that he really struggled with were the ones that were adding numbers higher than 5 because he had trouble figuring out how to show 6 or 7 fingers on one hand and seeing the two different sets of numbers.

Quiz 8

Today in class we got in groups and came up with ideas for videos to make to help students understand the play She Stoops to Conquer. We had to come up with ideas and make videos taping each other. As a group we walked around campus to video tape. Our group decided to make our video a commercial and we used the idea of an e-Harmony commercial and we talk about the different characters. By having the characters describe their profile it showed their personality and qualities that contributed to the play.

I noticed that groups decided to use different ways to portray the play. I noticed that some students that may not always really speak up in class really seemed to like this activity. Its a different way to learn and show that you know something.

I wonder how these videos will turn out and if we really showed them to high school students if they would really help them out. Hopefully they will help students learn and understand the poem.

I am really excited to learn about the Opportunities Unlimited program. It is very interesting and it sounds like a great organization to help people in the Niagara area. There should be more organizations like this.

As far as I know the only time that I have ever worked or spent time with an adult with a cognitive or developmental disability has been at work, at Clarie's. There are some regulars that come in a group and I help them find some fun accessories that they are looking for. In the group they come with two to three adults. They look for a hair accessory or maybe earrings. I love asking them what they want exactly and I try to find the closest thing we have to what they are looking for. When they come in they are so sweet and friendly, I always go up and help them find what they are looking for.