Group Forum

Something I learned from out group forum is how important self-concept is to all students but students with disabilities in particular. The article my group had posed a lot of questions and reasons why self-concept and self-esteem change throughout a students life. It is my job as a teacher to help students develop and have a positive self-concept. Students with autism have a very low self-esteem in social aspects and students with EBD do not think highly of themselves. The article was difficult to read because of all the numbers so I felt like it was hard to talk about. Our group focused a lot on the numbers and I think it confused the class. I would like to learn more about helping build self-concept. I have some ideas but I want to help the students with disabilities and I am not sure that I know how to do that. The forum was helpful for me because we all have our own opinions just like how it will be when I am working in a school. It was nice to hear others suggestions about my article along with everyone else's. A classmate can give me advice that I wouldn't have thought of. I liked the atmosphere that we had. It was nice to talk to my classmates. I can't think of anything that would have helped me learn more. The questions the classmates posed were thoughtful and everyone gave great suggestions. I liked the disabilities group but I wasn't crazy about the articles. I know we had freedom to find another article. I thought the forum was a good experience.

Ch. 2

I am in a kindergarten placement right now. I chose to look at the K-2 grade level from Table 2.2. A suggested strategy is to read age appropriate books as a way to enhance vocabulary. I learned this in my Reading education class also. In that class it was suggested to read books that are a little bit over the kindergarten level so they are getting exposure to new words. Another suggested strategy is to give corrective feedback when students' use of words indicates inaccurate understanding. I will use this in my classroom but not in a negative way. I don't want to discourage the students from using new words but just fix what the problem might be. I could use it in a sentence the correct way or help them learn the word that they meant or needed to use. A suggested strategy is to work on listening skills. This is important in all classrooms but at the younger grades such as K-2, it is our job as teachers to teach this skill. I think sometime this is expected but not taught. Listening isn't just sitting quiet but it is asking questions and trying to understand what is being said. Once students are listening and appearing engaged the teacher needs to ask follow up questions to make sure they understand and there aren't misconceptions from the lesson. The last suggested strategy from the table is to ask students to construct narratives about recent events. I would like doing this to start the day or to get focused after lunch. I think it is important for the students and teachers to talk. This doesn't have to be about school but having conversations about their weekend or plans helps them with conversation skills and narratives. I found a great source that helps clarify what is normal language in the classroom and what the teacher should try to address and fix. There are about 15 questions this website addresses. I think it will be useful in the future when I am trying to solve a language problem in my classroom. http://www.cal.org/resources/digest/0006fillmore.html I have tried several different ways to link this website. I will copy and paste the URL.