A few weeks ago, I was talking with a lovely woman at my church. She asked me why schools pour so much money into special education when “we could be giving more money to the gifted students who will actually solve big problems like cancer.” I had a very long list of reasons to give her. I did not mind explaining my passion, but it made me so sad to know that she does not understand that individuals with special needs are just as valuable as the next person. Unfortunately, many people focus on differences, IQ scores, and challenges. One way to help us all to see our similarities and strengths is through movies like Intelligent Lives. Through watching the film, I realized that sometimes the best way to advocate for individuals with disabilities is through experience. While it would be ideal for everyone to get to work with an individual with a disability in person, movies that highlight the value of these individuals is a good second. I enjoyed many things about the film, but I would say that my biggest takeaway is that if we simply take the time to watch a movie like this with someone, we can give them a new perspective on individuals with disabilities. In order to show a movie for the purpose of education, it is crucial that it is a realistic representation. I have mixed feelings about how much of a realistic view the film Intelligent Lives conveyed. The portrayal of IQ testing was very accurate. I particularly liked how in the film, Chris Cooper explained that his son would not know the answer to the question on his IQ test that asked about dusting a dresser because he refers to dressers as bureaus. I also think that the film did a good job of demonstrating that IQ tests are not what measures the value of a person. The movie realistically showed the strengths of Naomi, Nairee, and Micah and it showed how their particular skill sets fit into the world. In addition, the history of special education was accurate. It provided true information and cited key individuals like Howard Gardner. It also showed the detriments of places like Willowbrook and made the audience aware that the people were treated inappropriately in those institutions. Overall, the value of individuals with special needs was clearly emphasized, and I liked that. On the other hand, however, I felt like the film was unrealistic in the way that it glossed over the challenges of the individuals. I know that the focus of the film was to show the strengths of individuals with special needs, but I think that in order to realistically portray that, there does need to be some inclusion of challenges as well. When I think about the conversation I had with the woman at my church, in order to help her to understand the strengths of individuals with disabilities, I had to acknowledge the challenges as well. While I am very glad that the film has such a focus on strengths, I believe that in order to be realistic, the film should have addressed some struggles as well. As I consider using this film in the future, I love the idea of showing this movie or something similar to every student. Around the holidays, almost every high school class shows a movie of some type. Every high school student has seen Elf enough times to have it memorized. Instead, what if teachers showed Intelligent Lives or something similar? I think that this would be a great way for everybody to learn more about students with disabilities. If everyone was informed, the students would become advocates for each other, and maybe when our students grow up, they will be the ones to change IQ testing. This movie could also be used to encourage our students with disabilities. For a child to be given a low IQ score and a label, it can be scary. If they believe that they are only what their IQ score or label tells them they are, they will be cheating themselves. Films such as this one can be used to help our students see that they are a masterpiece, a child of God, and so much more than a number or a label. As the film asks, “how can any score of intelligence measure the value a person will have?” I want all of my future students to ask this question. #GCCEDU
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I have been to many educational conferences. This time, however, I was on the other side: the planning side. As Dr. Patricia Scheffler's student assistant, I had the opportunity to help her and the Midwestern Early Childhood Council plan and put on a Conscious Discipline training.
One per month, I attended the council's meetings and took the minutes. Prior to this, I had never taken meeting minutes, and honestly did not even know that meeting minutes existed. After attending many meetings this year, I feel confident in my minute taking abilities. I really enjoyed the time that I spent in these meetings as well. The educators on the council are extremely impactful, caring, and wonderful people. We shared many laughs, as well as lots of great ideas. During these meetings, I could really see the power of a bunch of powerful educators joining together. Alone, planning this symposium was overwhelming and truly impossible. Going into the meetings, I would think that we had thought of everything. As soon as we began talking, however, the council members thought of so many things I never would have. If it had not been for everyone's hard work, this symposium never would have occurred. Planning this symposium also helped me to fine-tune my organizational skills. There were so many moving parts in this event, between 135 participants, 13 volunteers, a speaker, council members, and maintenance, it was hard to keep track of everything that needed done. Our team ended up discovering the magic of a whiteboard and we had multiple whiteboards covered in to-do lists. On the day of the event, it was almost magical to see everything come together. Everything slid into place, and we were able to quickly answer and resolve any unexpected questions or problems. For example, we ordered an equal amount of ham and turkey sandwiches for lunch. What we did not expect, was the proportionate amount of turkey orders. Thankfully, all of the early childhood educators in the room were gracious and some were willing to switch their orders to ham. Next time, however, we will take lunch orders BEFORE we order the lunches! I learned a ton from listening to Conscious Discipline trainer Amy Speidel, but I think that planning this event had an even bigger impact on my learning. I think my biggest takeaway from this opportunity was the value of teamwork. In the past, I struggled to open myself up to allow other people to help me. During this process, however, I was able to work alongside an amazing friend, a wise professor, and some incredible educators. We were all able to support and lift each other up, so that nobody felt as though they were alone or doing all the work. And the results were pretty awesome.
Padlet is a fantastic tool for collaboration in the classroom. Previously, group work was limited to physical meetings. With the use of Padlet, however, students can collaborate on a wall without having to meet. This tool kind of reminds me of digital sticky notes. Students can post questions or comments, and can add a colorful background, personalized pictures, and can edit the font of their post. This allows for individual design, but also much collaboration. In addition, there are many themes to choose from to help students organize their wall in the best way possible. Students can attach their name to their post, or they can leave it anonymous, which can prove to very helpful in certain situations. To share, a QR code can be scanned, or a link can be followed. Finally, a great feature for teachers allows the creator of the wall to select an option so that if any profanity is posted, it will be replaced with an emoji.
Padlet can also be a great tie-in into the Danielson Framework. For example, a teacher could use Padlet at the end of every exam to get student feedback on the lessons leading up to the exam. This would fit well with component 1e: Designing Coherent Instruction, as an important element of this is getting student feedback on lessons. Students could do this anonymously so that they could be honest in their feedback. Another use for Padlet could fit into component 2b: establishing a culture for learning. Teachers could create a Padlet for students to post ideas for classroom rules, so that students could help establish clear expectations for behavior. Another use for Padlet is in relation to component 4c: communicating with families. Teachers could open a Padlet for families in which they can post suggestions, homework questions, or teachers could post about activities done that day. Finally, Padlet could help teachers use component 3b: using questioning and discussion techniques, as it allows for students to post questions and responses. Padlet also fits with the create level of Bloom's Taxonomy, as it allows students to work together to create a wall or create discussions based on the wall. One thing I really like about this tool is the anonymous feature. For example, in one of my education classes, some students gave a presentation about LGBTQIA+ students. Throughout the presentation, we all had access to a Padlet, where we could post anonymous questions. This allowed us to get all of our questions answered without the fear of the presenters knowing who asked the question. I also really like the idea of using Padlet to get student feedback on lessons. It is crucial as teachers to get student feedback on our lessons, but many times students are fearful to give honest feedback. Therefore, an anonymous Padlet could eliminate this fear, and the feature that replaces profanity with emojis would allow for a g-rated space. Overall, I believe Padlet is an easy to use and inviting site that allows for communication between students, teacher, and parents.
Below is a sample wall that I created on test taking strategies, to see how it worked. Padlet is most effectively used as a communication tool, so my demonstration is not the best, but it gave me the ability to explore the tool.
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AuthorHello! My name is Kylee McLafferty and I am a pre-service elementary and special education teacher at Grove City College, near Pittsburgh, PA. Archives
January 2020
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