IEP

I know that IEP stands for an individual education plan but I was interested on how one was obtained and what that meant exactly. As I researched an IEP I came upon a detailed manual that was put together. I found out that a student is referred to an evaluation team to see if they need an IEP. Within ten days a team made up of qualified personnel by the state review the referral. If the referral is denied the parent can try to change that or they are referred to a TST or 504 process. If the referral is accepted they decide they type of evaluations to perform and get parents consent. Then they request to evaluate within 15 days. Then after 45 days the evaluation is completed and a report is written. If the parent does not agree prior to this a 504 is suggested. Then after 15 days an IEP meeting is scheduled. They share the evaluation report with the IEP team and a notice is sent to the parents. Then a meeting is held to create IEP. Each IEP lasts 12 months and then is re-evaluated. An IEP is very helpful for students who need them in order to learn effectively. 

Art In The Classroom

Art is a way for many people to express themselves. This is a perfect outlet for a student who is not as strong academically. I think art is important in the learning process. I almost upsets me to think how some schools are trying to cut back on the arts. When I was in the younger grades I was always deeply involved in the arts and to see them be taken away is awful. Art allows students to grow as a person and as a learner. Today it is harder, as a teacher, to choose what is taught and how in class. I was speaking to a teacher in a second grade class and the principal has taken complete control of her school and will not allow anything out of his guidelines. He recently brought up the idea of eliminating history and science out of the curriculum until third grade. It is amazing how strict schools are getting. I think art is important for students because they do not realize they are learning. if it is incorporated in an accurate way, it can teach students more than learning from a book. 

Kliewer: Citizinship in School: Reconceptualizing Down Syndrome

1.) "Shayne, however, did not see Isaac, or any of her students, as defective. In her classroom, which contained 6 students clinically identified as disabled (3 with Down syndrome, including Isaac) and 10 students considered nondisabled..."
I think this quote is powerful. It shows how a teacher should treat students with and without disabilities. It is important to treat them equally. Each student is different even if they do not have a disability and this needs to be recognized. All students interact and learn differently, therefore the classroom needs to be flexible or the students will not be able to keep up. I love how the teacher in this classroom is so open minded about the students. I will aim to be like this when I become a teacher.

2.)“According to Shayne, the notion of Down syndrome often obscures our ability to recognize the child as a child.  She or he becomes a walking pathological syndrome, a mobile defect on the loose.”
This is another quote I found powerful, especially "our ability to recognize a child as a child." I think we need to learn to treat every student equally to give them a chance. If we automatically treat them different others will to and this will not help the way they feel. Also if we treat them differently they may not try to achieve goals because they are babied and almost told it is fine if they give up. No matter what differences people have, we are all human and need to be treated that way. Treating students with a disease or disability as a disease or disability can, in no way, make them comfortable.    

3.)"Community is not a location within circled wagons configured to keep out those charged with having the differences that matter. It is instead a web of dynamic, constantly shifting relationships that encompass the individual with Down Syndrome and all other human beings. To eliminate a single person through any form of banishment, no matter how benevolent the logic, reduces the web and makes the community a less democratic, and less rich place."
 This quote is important because it shows how important communities are. It points out how people with and without disabilities make up a community. By talking about banishing a person from the community for whatever reason makes the community, less of a community. This is saying that everyone needs to be treated fairly in to community for it to stick together. Communities are constantly changing because of the people in them. It is important to accept all changes going on in order to keep the community together. 

Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work: Jean Anyon

1.) "In the two working-class schools, work is following the steps of a procedure. The procedure is usually mechanical, involving rote behavior and very little decision making or choice. The teacher rarely explain why the work is being assigned, how it might connect to other assignments, or what the idea is that lies behind the procedure or gives it coherence and perhaps meaning or significance."

I chose this quote because it shows how in the working-class school the students are not pushed to go beyond what is asked. They are not even given a chance. I think it is extremely important to know how assignments connect to each other or how it will help them further in their education or career. These schools prepare the students to become part of the working class. They do not give the students a chance to grow and aspire to obtain a more prestigious profession. I think this is a poor way to educate students, I think the complete opposite should be taught.  

2.) "In the affluent professional school, work is creative activity carried out independently. The students are continually asked to express and apply ideas and concepts. Work involves individual thought and expressiveness, expansion and illustration of ideas, and choice of appropriate method and material."

I chose this quote because I think it is important to ask students to expand on what they say. This school forces the students to be more creative which is important. I like that this school prepares the students better for what will come next. The students are never limited as to how far they can go which allows them to grow. This quote shows that students are prepared to do what is asked of them.  

3.) "In the executive elite school, work is developing one's analytical intellectual powers. Children are continually asked to reason through a problem, to produce intellectual products that are both logically sound and of top academic quality. A primary goal of thought is to conceptualize rules by which elements may fit together in systems and then to apply these rules in solving a problem. School work helps one to achieve, to excel, to prepare for life."    

This quote is similar to the affluent professional school. It states that students are continually asked to reason through a problem. i think this is extremely important because it gets them thinking. The most important part of this quote is the last sentence. I think it is very important to prepare students well for the next year and years to come. I know I was very well prepared in high school for college and being unprepared would be much more stressful.



I chose these three quotes to show the difference between each class school system. I do not think students should be treated or taught differently depending on their social class, or that of their parents. They should always be taught to do their best and set higher goals. It is important to prepare students for what will come next.

Race, Class, and Gender By Peter MClaren

“School learning in white-controlled institution often is equated with abandoning the imperatives, values, and collective solidarity of black culture. Specifically, blacks and similar minorities (e.g., American Indians) believe that in order for a minority person to succeed in school academically, he or she must learn to think and act white. Furthermore, in order to think and act white enough to be rewarded by whites or white institutions like the schools, a minority person must give up his or her own minority group attitudes , way of thinking, and behaving, and, of course, must give up or lose his or her own minority identity.” (Page 227)

I chose this quote because I do not think it is fair that people of the minority feel like they have to abandon their values just to fit in. I do think it may make it easier if they realize how white people think and act but I do not think they need to do the same. To think  and act white should not mean one must give up their own beliefs. It is not right to ask one to lose their identity in order to fit in.

“At what price to we ask our students to conform to our version of ‘the good student’? For some, the price we exact is obviously too much to bear. That’s when dropping out becomes not so much an option as an urgent and necessary act of survival.” (page 230)

 I chose this quote because I think it is eye opening. It shows how we are pushing students away when the goal was to bring them closer to education. Students have become so overwhelmed their only option is to drop out. This quote talks about how dropping out is less of an  option and more of a need to survive. The quote also points out that students are 'pushed' out because they are expected to leave their culture behind. To be accepted they must change entirely losing all individuality. 

 "The girls in my class were primarily concerned with popularity and physical attractiveness- areas of interest that far superseded academic aspirations. Girls were constantly experimenting with makeup and improvising clothing styles." (page 231)

I chose this quote because it reminded me of the Christensen reading and the media presentation. I believe that girls try so hard to fit in and will do anything. This quote is pointing out how it is affecting students school work. They become more concerned with physical appearance than academics. If they put in as much effort to their school work as they do in their appearance they would all do so well. I think that society is to blame for this. Students try to hard to fit in because they want to be accepted and in the mix of it all lose motivation to do well in school. 

Doll Face

I chose this video because I think it is extremely powerful. I believe it represents how we have become like robots. We see a picture or a video of someone and want to become just like them. In this video when the television screen begins to move back, the robot tries to move closer but gets stuck. She is so insistent on being closer to continue to apply makeup to look exactly like the girl on the television screen that she breaks herself because she cannot move any further. The robot want to be a human being by applying makeup and inserting eyeballs. This relates to the Christensen reading because it resembles how we as humans are always trying to become another person we see, someone we thing we should be. In the end the robot is broken lying on the floor, this is how far some people will go just to be accepted. We want what everyone else has and nothing is ever good enough.

Unlearning the Myths That Bind Us: Linda Christensen

1.) "Our society's culture industry colonizes their minds and teaches them how to act, live, and dream. This indoctrination hits young children especially hard. The 'secret education,' as Chilean writer Ariel Dorfman dubs it, delivered by children's books and movies, instructs young people to accept the world as it is portrayed in these social blueprints. And often that would depicts the domination of one sex, one race, or one country over a weaker counterpart." (pg 127)

I chose this quote because it shows how movies distort peoples views of a perfect life. It is true that our society has been, as Dorfman put it, "secretly educated." We watch movies, read magazines and listen to songs that portray people as what we have come to think of as perfect. Not only that but we live in societies depending on our race or nationality or social status and rarely see outside of them. Similar to what Kozol stated in his article, Christensen says that we have limited opportunities to interact with people who are different than us. This is calling our small community diverse. These books and movies we are exposed to at a young age stick in our minds until we are taught different. These forms of education are powerful but go unnoticed.


2.) "Personally, handling the dissection of dreams has been a major cause of depression for me. Not so much dissecting- but how i react to what is found as a result of the operation. It can be overwhelming and discouraging to find out my whole self image has been formed mostly by others or underneath my worries about what I look like after years (17 of them) of being exposed to TV images of girls and their set roles given to them by TV and the media. It's painful to deal with. The idea of not being completely responsible for how I feel about things today is scary. So why dissect the dreams? Why not stay ignorant about them and happy?" (page 128)

This quote is from a student named Justine. She is talking about how she realized that what she has been taught previously, and what she based her dreams on was images set by movies and books. To her looking deeper into her dreams in class and realizing this she did not take it lightly, is caused her depression. She realized "what is found is a result of the operation" meaning that movie producers and book authors know hot to manipulate children at a young age causing their dreams and aspirations to be based upon what they create. She realized that after 17 years of dreaming, her dreams were based on others through television. I agree with how this could be painful because what the media depicts as perfect, it almost impossible to achieve, but once it has been a dream for years, it is hard to realize that. I often find myself wishing for what others have and it is still hard to realize it will never happen. Maybe I do realize it but I will never be able to accept it. She says that she is not completely responsible for the way she feels because how she feels is based upon others she sees in movies or reads about in books. 

3.) "Catkin wanted to publish her piece in a magazine for young women so they would begin to question the origin of the standards by which they judge themselves. Most students wrote articles for local and national newspapers or magazines. Some published in neighborhood papers, some in church newsletters. The writing of these articles was tighter and cleaner than for-the-teacher essays because it had the potential for a real audience beyond the classroom walls." (page 137)

Some of the students spoken about in this article have come to feel so passionate about this topic their reflections are much better than their other work. One student wanted her article to be in a magazine to raise awareness. I think this would be a good source for other young women to read because it is coming from someone around the same age that has done research. The students knew their papers could have a chance of being published in some greater place. This, i think, for any student would be a huge incentive to write a stronger piece. I think the topic they were reflecting on is something so real to them that even that would help their paper become stronger.        

Dennis Carlson: Gayness, Munticultural Education and Community

"While Public schools have long been viewed by progressive educators as embryonic communities that should engage young people in building a democratic community of mutual support and respect, gay people have for the most part been made absent, invisible, and silent within this community and at the same time represented as the deviant and pathological 'Other'."
I chose this quote because I think it is important to realize that gay people are not recognized in certain communities. They may not stand out in a bad way but they do not stand out in a good way either, they are just simply over looked. They are in a way silenced like in Lisa Delpit's article. Thy are not supported or respected like they should be in their educational community. They are not accepted and are considered others almost putting them in a category apart from humans. I do not think this is fair when respect and support it promoted but not practiced.

"Aside from being an absence in the curriculum, gayness has been made visible in some various limited and marginalized contexts. To the extent that gayness is recognized in the curriculum, it is likely to be in the health curriculum, where it is associated with disease." 
I chose this quote because I thought it was interesting as well as upsetting. The only time gayness is recognized in school is when it is being taught for a bad reason, disease. This makes students think about gayness as a bad thing from the start if they learn of the illnesses it can cause. I think this is a bad way to teach students. If this is the only way gayness is made visible in school, i do not think it should be made visible at all. It teaches the opposite of what children have been taught "if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say anything at all." I think it would be better to keep them invisible than discuss their negatives.  

"These abuses get tolerated because because gay teachers and students operate in an environment where they feel afraid to stand up for themselves, and because any discussion of gay people continues to be absent in the curriculum so that homophobia is not interrogated."  
This quote really stood out to me because it is so awful. It is talking about how gay teachers and gay students are treated poorly and it is ignored. They are afraid to stand up for themselves so others behavior goes unnoticed. This quote also mentions that gayness in the curriculum is nonexistent silencing the gays once again. I think this quote is terrible because gay people should not feel ashamed or afraid to stand up for their rights. It is not alright that they are walked all over when they are not even acknowledged in their curriculum.  

Terry Meier

"From these book reading experiences, many children acquire an extensive book-based vocabulary and absorb important cultural lessons about things like gender roles, family relationships, and the nature of friendship. They also come to view book reading as a pleasurable and rewarding activity and to see books as an authoritative source of knowledge about the word." (page 244)

I think this quote is important because it talks about what students learn from reading books. Typically most students do not enjoy reading books but when they start at a young age and are not forced they enjoy reading. From reading students learn in a more affective way values that are hard to teach. this quote says they learn cultural lessons, gender roles and family relationships, things that are not easy to teach in another way. When students enjoy reading their knowledge is able to grow a great amount more than if they do not enjoy it.       

"...these early book reading experiences also give children practice in expected book reading behaviors, such as listening quietly and attentively while the story is being read, raising one's hand to answer questions posed by the teacher, and holding on to (and remembering) one's own questions until the teacher signals the appropriate time to ask." (page 244)  

I chose this quote because it points out positive aspects of early reading that I would not usually think of. Early book reading experiences teach students discipline in raising their hand and listening and this allows them to focus more on the story. Often students raise their hand and want to speak so badly they get distracted and do not listen to the story. When students learn at an earlier age the knowledge is stronger. Reading at a early age teaches students not only themes in the stories but also how to pay attention when others are speaking. 

"...the sooner children forge a deep and authentic connection to books- the likelier it is that they will be successful in school. There is no more essential task for teachers in preschool and kindergarten classrooms than to help make books meaningful in children's lives." (page 246)

It is important to get students involved in reading but it can not be forced. Students need to enjoy reading at a young age otherwise it will hard for them to ever like it. Also forcing them to read when they do not want to will not benefit them. If students do not enjoy reading in the beginning of their education, it is important to find a way to get them involved, possibly through acting out stories. Once students enjoy reading their knowledge expands which allows them to be more successful.  

Still Separate, Still Unequal: America's Educational Apartheid By: Jonathon Kozol

"My attention was distracted by some whispering among the children to the right of me. The teacher's response to this distraction was immediate: his arm shot out and up in a diagonal in front of him, his hand straight up, his fingers flat. The young co-teacher did this, too. When they saw their teachers do this, all the children in the classroom did it, too. 'Zero noise,' the teacher said, but this instruction proved to be unneeded."
I think this quote shows how much power a teacher can have over students. Some teachers are unable to control their students. This teacher only had to raise a hand to gain control and attention of the students. I remember when I was in elementary school some of my teachers had hand gestures or claps to gain the students attention. The teachers in this school were trained to use this signal to get the students to be silent. I hope to have techniques such as this one to maintain a calm, well behaved classroom when I become a teacher.      

"Schools in which as few as 3 or 4 percent of students may be white or Southeast Asian or of Middle Eastern origin, for instance- and where every other child in the building is black or Hispanic- are referred to as 'diverse'."
This quote shows that there is still segregation in schools. Most of the white students attend private schools. Many of these schools are named after people such as Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks and this turns white parents away. They have a prejudice and do not think their students will get a good education so they send them to private schools. These schools are sometimes in middle class neighborhoods and the white students wait for the bus to their private school when they could walk to public school. This quote calls these schools diverse, when they are far from it. The meaning of the word diversity has changed for these people because the opportunity for diversity is avoided.

"...she was still afraid she would be criticized because she knew the pumpkin would not really help her children to achieve expected goals on state exams."
This quote was from a student teacher in California who wanted to bring a pumpkin into class around Halloween. She knew the teacher would not approve unless it was related to what they were learning about. The school she was teaching at had certain standards, most that aimed at teaching the students to the test. I chose this quote because I disagree with teaching to the test. I feel that all students gain from this is knowledge. If they are taught, not strictly to the test, they learn as well as form their personality. What they learn helps them become who they are as a person. Teaching to the test restricts their opportunity to grow as a learner and a person. 

The Silenced Dialogue: Lisa Delpit

"All of the white respondents, except me, have wished to talk more about the question of skills versus process approaches-to support or reject what they perceive to be my position. on the other hand, all of the nonwhite respondents have spoken passionately on being left out of the dialogue about how best to educate children of color."  (page 2)
I chose this quote because it shows how different people of different races think. It is showing how people responded after reading Delpit's article. It shows that the nonwhite people do not feel children of color are getting the best education they can. I believe this is because teachers are not open enough to different races. In this quote, the nonwhite people are upset because they seem to feel children of color are not being treated the same as the white students. The white respondents seem to want more information on what Delpit is saying. It seems as if they may be willing to work with the nonwhites to fix the problem. 


"The teachers role is to maintain the full attention of the group by continuous questioning, eye contact, finger snaps, hand claps, and other gestures, and by eliciting choral responses and initiating some sort of award system." (page 5)
I chose this quote because I think it is important to keep students attention, which is difficult when working with young students. The teacher at the school I go to for my service learning project uses some of these techniques. To get the students to be quiet she has a hand clap that the students obey. She has a reward system where if the students are behaving properly or give correct answers she gives them a ticket and puts it in a jar. If the students are misbehaving she has them write their name down on a clipboard. These techniques are very effective and keep the classroom in order.  

"My kids know how to be black- you all teach them how to be successful in the white man's world." (page 6)
I think this quote is important because it is important for teachers to understand different students backgrounds but not try to change them. Their job is to teach them and help them be successful in the future. I think teachers should realize that all students are different and come from different backgrounds even if they are the same race. The teacher needs to put the background aside and teach as if all the students are on the same level unless told otherwise. It is important to not have a prejudice against any student so they all receive the same education. 

The Start

Hello,
My name is Laura. So far my semester is going well. In the short time we have been in classes, they have already gottn better! When I am not in class I love to hang out with my friends, scrapbook, take pictures and take dance classes.
Laura