5/10/09

Counted posts and this is the last one!

Mrs. White:

Well this is it.....though I will still look at facebook. Hope your day is groovy! Heading to Lexington to meet up with Andrew....and start the process of packing up his apartment...we have 2 weeks so we will be doing a little at a time. Then off to my art studio...I have a show in July and I need to start painting. Thanks for everything see you next week.

5/9/09

Still Here!

I'm still here...Oh no.....I think I have to post 2 more times so I guess I will say "How is the grading going Mrs. White." Megan and I are getting ready for bed, she is so excited that I get to open the present she made me in the morning. She is funny....she keeps checking the table in the foyer to make sure it is still there. I wonder what it is!

I guess I will let you knowin the morning. Don't stay up to late and Happy Mother's Day!

THE END

The blog is getting pretty bare and it looks like it will end on Monday so this will probably be my last post. I really enjoyed the class this semester and am glad that I have been able to experience things such as the BTC and having the experience of all the new people. I always love meeting new people and learning new techniques that will be able to be used later in my career. This was my first blog and it was a good experience, I am usually shy and not as outgoing as I would like to be in class, so the blog allowed me to tell everyone what I thouhgt about the class and interact with more people, getting me out of my comfort zone some what. So thanks for a great semester and the experience of the blog.

A FEW MORE POSTS TO GO!

Hi Mrs. White:

It may be that you and I are the only ones left around here. So I guess I can say.....it is so weird being a non-traditional student. I sure received a lot of looks when Audrie and I were at the library the another night. I went to the bathroom and a girl asked if I was studying with my DAUGHTER! I didn't tell Audrie because I was ____ that I looked that old. Go figure! Well I'm over the moment and Audrie if you see this I guess I could be as old as your MOM. If that is the case....you can drop off my Mother's Day present next time you are in Danville.

I have a few more posts left so I will update you and see if anyone is going to ask if Megan is my Grandchild!

5/8/09

anyone gonna be around here for summer

i ll be around.so feel free to get a hold of me so that way we can hang out and i ll be able to polish your signing skills! holla me via thur pager, josh_slone@tmail.com. hope you all have a wonderful summer! whoot whoooo

Break to Blog - Maybe My Last for Spring09

I'm taking a quick break from grading to perhaps post my last blog for Spring 09. Not sure how many of you are still reading the blog. For some of you it seemed a great place to come and share prayer requests, fun stories, a question about class, etc. For others I know it was a "have to" just to get some points. Yet, I know for many it was a beneficial way to connect with others when the face to face venue was difficult.

For me...it was a way to learn WHO you are in another light. It was a way for me to connect with you and build relationships with you in a different way. It was a way for me to get to know my students in a way that helped me learn how to teach better.

I said some of the sappy stuff in class last week. This group of students - BOTH Monday and Wednesday night has been an incredible JOY. In a cold, dark, stormy winter - you have been my mug of hot chocolate, McDonald's coffee, Starbucks hot apple cider with caramel...YOU of all people understand that. It's what I pick up and hold on to when I want a reminder of what is really WARM, GOOD, REFRESHING AND WONDERFUL in this life.

You know I go to Jesus for strength, for courage, for guidance. He's my rock. God is my provider! He provides me with a wonderful family, friends and a church. He also gives me more than that. . . not only the cupcake and icing on that cupcake...

In the midst of what litearlly started out as an ICY, cold, dark winter. . . God gave me YOU, SED260 Spring09...Mymug of hot chocolate, McDonald's coffee, Starbucks hot apple cider with caramel! I love you! Have a wonderful summer!!!

Mrs. White

5/7/09

Have a happy and safe summer

I would like to wish everyone a happy and safe summer! Good luck next year!

Keri's List of Life Advice

One of my good friends from HS passed away during finals last semester and she was the most amazing person I have ever met. Keri would smile and talk to anyone and everyone that came her way or anyone she randomly went up to. Everyone loved her and I truly mean that, you couldn't not love her! When her parents looked on her computer they found a list of life advice that she had written. She loved to write and was such an inspiration. Her parents printed off the list and had copies at her funeral for us to take so we could take it, remember Keri, and keep her alive by each day smiling and living through the eyes and heart of her! So I came across this list, had a good cry, and thought I would share this list and keep her spirit alive!
Keri's List of Life Advice
*Dream big
*Laugh often
*Hug tightly
*Listen. It will do you wonders.
*Surround yourself with people and things that make YOU happy.
*Each hard moment will pass with time
*You are not responsible for other peoples feelings
*Find people you admire and respect and let them guide you
*Take care of the body you have; you only get one.
*Savor every moment with your friends as those times will go too fast.
*There will never be enough time to get everything done, so choose wisely as to what you spend your time doing.
*You will do things you regret. Learn from them and move on.
*Most people are doing the best they can.
*There will be times in which you will have to be the big person, and it will be hard. But it's always worth it in the end.
*You're much better at being you than trying to be someone else.
*In this world, we all crave to be loved and understood.
*Every experience, good or bad, helps you to grow.
*By comparing yourself with others, it becomes easy to overlook what you have.
*Never forget who you are.
"Know what's weird? Day by day, nothing seems to change. But pretty soon, everything's different" ~Calvin and Hobbes

And one final thing that Keri always said, " When satan comes knocking on your door, just say, hey jesus? can you get that?"

I hope everyone has an amazing summer and good luck in life's journey!

:(

My roommate just left. I won't see her until Saturday :(

haha... I'm glad I had a roommate I knew from home. I don't think I could have made it. I'm a real homebody. When my parents dropped me off the first day, I cried and called them about ten times. This experience has been so great for me. Although I'm a little shy... Okay, ALOT shy, I believe this has helped me open up a little.

Even though I am SOOOOOO happy to go home, I find myself crying because I'm leaving. I've met GREAT people, had GREAT times and GREAT classes. I'm so glad that I chose EKU. So although I can't wait until tomorrow to go home, I also can't wait until next year to make more memories with my GREAT friends!

I hope everyone is having a week. good luck! I love you all!

Audrie

Goodbye

Just wanted to say goodbye to everyone and I hope you all did well on your exams. I wish you a best in everything you do!!

Be safe this summer
=]

5/6/09

Final is Done!

We are leaving the EKU library, Audrie and I have spent 4 hours and have just finished the final. Yeah!

Final Goodbye

Bye everyone,
I will be leaving soon, my last final is done and all my things are packed! My freshman year is over and I am moving on but I will always remember what a wonderful time we had in Mrs. Whites Monday night class in SED 260!!!!!! :) Thanks for all the help and the encouragement!!!! With your help Mrs. White I am proud to say that I believe I will make a wonderful teacher yet I will never be a GREAT as you, I won't even come close, but I hope to get just close enough to make a difference!!!
Thank You and Have a Wonderful Summer!!!!!!!!!
I Love You All!!!
See You Next Year!!!

After Finals

After my finals tomorrow my summer begins, first with a reds game tomorrow night and then a trip to Florida on Monday, I hope we have a safe drive and DON'T see any sharks, Adam is driving which could be scary seeing as the longest he has drove is maybe TN lol, I'm sure it'll be great. Then I have the big day on August 1st which may be scarier than the ride to Florida lol just playing. Anyways hope everyone has a great summer. I pray that my wedding is all that I'm hoping for.

I HATE Math

How did I screw up again??? I even put my questions in Excel and put the points on one column. I did an auto sum so I made sure I had 50 points. I guess somehow when I was fixing the questions I must have deleted them.

So, the total appears now to only be 47 points with 4 bonus points. That's just screwy.

I wish you had a REAL professor instead!

We'll see how final grades come out once everyone has taken it and I'm finished grading them. I may go in and give everyone 3 points for putting up with me this semester!!!

HOW'S THAT FOR DEMONSTRATING UNDERSTANDING!

Whats your personal mission statement?!

So, as I sit here and procrastinate finishing my final exams I thought it would be interesting to ask everyone.. What is your personal mission statement? Have you even thought about this? How do you want to live your life and how do you want to be remembered?!
Here is my personal mission statement… I hope to read yours soon!!

"To live each day with gratefulness and a kind heart. To keep an open mind, and be willing to learn about new ideas, remembering never to judge others. I will strive to always show kindness to others and appreciation for everything".

the final

i just finished the final and i feel i did well lol go easy on me lol

Test question #7 HELP

I need help on question 7 and the different areas of semantics. I know semantics deals with vocabulary but I am lost of the different areas. If anyone can direct me to a site or anything to help that would be great. Thanks.

5/5/09

Grading Your Projects, Finals & Blog Posts

I am enjoying reading your work and the demonstration of your understanding of language development!!! So many of you should be proud of yourselves for the incredibly hard work you put into your language project as well as what I'm seeing thus far from the Final.

Because you worked so hard on the project I do not want you to open it up and see a 48/50 or 41/50 and a Good Job! Or, "This is a great project! You worked hard! 50/50." I heard loud and clearly this semester that you value feedback and that it helps you learn. I will be TAKING THE TIME to provide feedback on your projects. Since we pushed back the due date they are here now with the Finals.

Sooo I am still grading your Projects (that means 45 of them).

I also will be grading Finals (that means 45 of them).

I will also be counting posts on the blog (that means a gazillion of them).

I appreciate your patience as I do that over the next FIVE days. Final grades are due Monday, the 11th. My goal is to be finished by Saturday, the 9th. Let's see what I can do . . . if I don't have to answer 23 emails and blog posts about "When will you have our Finals graded?" "When will you have the Projects graded?"

If you have questions about the Final don't hesitate to hit me up on email or FB. I will have it open most of the day tomorrow while I am grading (and cooking for Virgil since I am home on vacation until next Tuesday - yeeehaw!).

blog

When is the deadline for blog paste

Test question..

On our final on number 11, it says choose from the pragmatic checklist, is that the checklist that we used on our language project that is located on blackboard?

Expressive and Receptive Vocab and Abstract Language

Edward and I are sitting in the library going over our test and we are a little stuck. We want to know what exactly Expressive and Receptive Vocabulary is and what Abstract Language is. We can't really get ahold of what it is. I'm sure it's something easy, but we're not really for sure. I think our brains are tired from all of this studying!!!! =]

Kayla

Midway College

I was just wondering if anyone had previously attended Midway College or had heard any good or bad comments from anyone else about the college. I have talked to people who have completed their online program, but I'm skeptical.

finals

Well i just finished my CMS100 final and now all i got to do is finish my SED final, after that I will be heading home for the summer.. But hopefully everyone is doing great on finals!!! And drive safely if your heading home for summer and have a great break, and hopefully see you guys in other SED classes.

Final Exam Question 4

Ok....I think I missed the classs when we discussed CP and the Adapt a book program. Can someone help me out w/ question 4 on the final? PLEASE???????

End of the Year

As another semester comes to and end, I wish all my classmates further success in their endeavors and hope the God blesses you all with health and happiness. Thanks to all of you for a great semester and class.

5/4/09

Im going to miss some comments on the blog. Some of your comments guys were educative. Will this platform be still available after ...... and Madam White apart from being a good teacher she is also the best author of motivational articles.
I thought Autism is just a minor disorder until I watched the Radio movie. I was able to identify most characteristics of Autism. Its real fun to watch it.

OBVIOUSLY OPTIONAL - I still have homework!

This is obviously VERY optional (can something be "very" optional - I mean either it IS or it ISN'T, right - that's a semantics lesson for you).

As you know I have also been TAKING a class this semester while I've been teaching. It's WHIPPING MY BUTT! I still have homework!!! If you still need a post :) or out of the goodness of your heart are willing to share...Here is ONE OF FOUR of my assignments for this week.

Ask your students (or colleague) to reflect on something that is very important in their own learning process. They might share a particular learning approach, or unit/project, or lesson, or particular time in their education, or something they continue to find very important for success in as they try to reach greater understanding of what they are learning.

You may answer it generally as it is stated above or...
more specifically...
What has been important in your learning process in SED260 that helped you be successful?
THANKS!!!!

The End

Hi everyone!! I just wanted to wish everyone luck on their finals. Today was the first day and I hope everyone did a great job! Continue to work hard, you only have one week left at the most. Keep your head up and don't let finals stress you out too bad. I hope everyone does great and finishes the year strong. I also wish everyone luck on packing everything up and having a safe drive home. Please be careful driving and don't be in too big of a rush to get out of here. Have a great summer! I enjoyed being in class with everyone. Thank you Mrs. White for the amazing semester.
Best of wishes!
Brittany

Woo Hooo! It's almost over!

Hey everyone! I just wanted to say Good luck on finals. We are almost finished and I can't hardly wait! I'm taking a summer course at UK in July (Ugh) but I am sooooo glad to have a little break! I wish all of you the best and hope we have other classes together soon!

Good Luck to Everyone

Hey nice to have meet all of you in Wednesday's class and I am very relieved that school is almost over for a few weeks. I have 12 hours this summer of which 9 hours are a practicum.....so my summer will be short and sweet. I am doing two special education art workshops for special needs kids in Danville. If anyone would like to help you can email me @ andrea_cass@eku.edu. Enjoy your summer and have a blast!

Thank You!

I just wanna thank you Mrs. White for a great semester, and for teaching me (im sure with everyone else) soo much! I know we can all tell how greatly you care about your students and their success from even the little things you help do. So I just wanted to thank you! Have a great and safe summer everyone and good luck on finals!!

luck

Good luck to everyone on their finals!

DONE!!!!

The test opened up yesterday (Sunday) and Dani and I stayed up to about 11:00 pm working on it (Only b/c Dani's test got deleted and she had to start over) I AM FREE!!!!! Not really I still have 3 more finals *cries* but at least I have one down!!!! So here we go!!

GOOD LUCK EVERYONE ON FINALS!!!! AND HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER

GOOD LUCK :)

Hey everyone!! I just wanted to wish you all good luck on your finals!! Study hard but don't stress out too much!

Oh & have a wonderful summer :)

FINALSSSSSSSSSSSSS

It's 1:51 in the morning and I'm still up studying for my HIS 203 final that is at 8:00 am . . . yay for gen eds that don't really matter in life!!! Blahh!! Anyway, good luck with your finals, everyone!! Only one more week of hard work and then it's SUMMER TIME!!! =] Keep your heads up . . . the finish line is in view!!! =]

5/3/09

speaking of batman can anyone tell me who said that "if you are good at something never do it for free"
omgi cant belive yall took a picture of me in that shirt (batman)
i was just wondering how many other people when to the blue grass tech center and if they liked it

5/2/09

Question on the Final - Adapt A Book Project

There will be a question on the Final about the Adapt A Book project at the Bluegrass Technology Center. Everyone who went on the field trip had an opportunity to experience this in a hands-on way in one of the "centers" we did. Those who volunteered worked with this project. If you would like to share what you remember about it here on the blog - or discuss THE PROJECT itself here, that would be GREAT. This will help you in answering the question on the Final.

Once the Final opens you will not be able to discuss the test question itself - but you may continue to discuss what is involved in the project.

45 Lessons Life Taught Me

Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone...

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others.You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41.. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift."

My Mother Said. . .

My mother has taught me some incredibly important lessons over my lifetime. I wanted to share one she recently shared with me via email...

A holy man was having a conversation with God one day and said,
' God , I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.'
God led the holy man to two doors..

He opened one of the doors and the holy man looked in. In the middle of the room was a large round table. In the middle of the table was a large pot of stew, which smelled delicious and made the holy man's mouth water. The people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles, that were strapped to their arms and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful.. But because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not getthe spoons back into their mouths. The holy man shudde red at the sight of their misery and suffering. God said, 'You have seen Hell.'

They went to the next room and opened the door. It was exactly the same as the first one. There was the large round table with the large pot of stew which made the holy man's mouth water. The people were equipped with the same long-handled spoons, but here the people were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking. The holy man said, 'I don't understand..'

It is simple,' said God . 'It requires but one skill.

You see they have learned to feed each other, while the greedy think only of themselves.

Finished Project!

So can I just say that I feel super relieved to have the language project over and done with! It seriously felt like a weight off my shoulders! I feel like summer can come now haha! I hope everyone studies hard for their exams and does well! Have a wonderful summer everyone!

5/1/09

Create Your Own Final

My status on Facebook states that it would be interesting to have students create their own Final. I AM intrigued by that idea. Students submit questions and collectively create the Final. As teacherwannabes if you were creating the the Final what would the questions be. I seriously AM considering taking YOUR questions to make the Final. Of course, if I don't get any questions from YOU then I'll be forced to create my own.

You don't get this opportunity every day...what questions would you like to see on the Final? Worth how many points? Submit a question . . . or two . . . or three :)

spelling seems to be a challenge as well!

good luck to everyone on finals

o.k. guys....good luck to everyone on you finals....I am still not comfortable about posting! I always think I am saying the wrong thing. I am challenged in the world of technology....could it be that I am in my fifties! That is most of yout parents ages! I promised my children that I would master my lap top, facebook and my iphone over the summer.
Take care and I have 3 more posts to go.

4/30/09

Dinner Last Night

Thank you Mrs. White for meeting with us........I know how busy your schedule is so I really appreciate the time you have spent with us. Good food, good coversation makes it the perfect end to a hectic day.

4/29/09

Wednesday Dinner

Yeah it was a lot of fun to eat dinner with Mrs. White and some of the students from class. But i want to thank Mrs. White for giving us the chance to meet with her and talk about our projects, most teachers could careless about their students. But tonight showed some really good characteristics to take time out of her day, to eat and help us. Thank You 

BTC

Today me and Ryan headed to Lexington and went to the BTC and did some fun stuff together. WE first listened to books and made sure all words were in the audio as in the book, made sure they didn't leave a word out. THen we scanned pages of books, which actually took forever. And one of the pages i scanned will always have my hand in it, because she said she would either not bother it or cut it out... But overall it was a good volunteer experience.

The semester is almost over.

Well, I am truely going to miss this class. It was nothing like all of the other ones.. I really feel like I got more out of this one than I did any others. I just wanted to thank Ms. White publically for being there when we needed you and being so understanding of some of our crazy problems. I'm going to miss you! and I'm sure I speak for everyone else as well!

MLU

Does anybody remember how to calculate MLU?
I can't find it!

Pragmatics Sample

So, anyone doing a pragmatics sample know how to do number two, function of language sample? I remember talking about Halliday in class, but I don't know how we are supposed to incorporate him into our sample. Any help would be greatly appreciated, as usual!

Thanks guys!
SED Love!
Mackenzie Whalen

Question??

I receieved the emial that we have to have 8 posts before the end of the semester, but i already have 4 posts done for the month of April, so do i have to do 4 more posts or am i done with blogging? please let me know!

Amber

People with Semantics

I've got two questions! =]

One: Do those of you doing semantics have a lot of utterances that are going under action? I know that everyone is doing a different sample, but I have a lot that are action and I didn't know if that was normal.

Two: This one is for Mrs. White. How do you know that where I put the utterance is right or wrong without seeing the tape. I mean depending on the tape, certain utterances could go in a lot of categories. For example,

Grandma: It's slippers to go with your jammies.

Tyler: Yea Right!

I put this as denial because he uses it like "Yea right, that's not what those are for," but without the video, someone else might think he is agreeing with her. I was just curious as to how that works.

-Kayla

Obama leagalizing weed ???

If you have been watching the news, you will see President Obama, is allowing states to individually harvest marijuana ? I personally do not smoke, but feel this would be a great source of revenue for our state.(Kentucky's # 1 cash crop is already marijuana, why not leagalize it and profit from it.) With the taxes earned from the sell of this product the state could fund more schools, pave more roads and offer more financial aide to those who need it ? I would just like to know what your opinions are on the issue, and how you think it should be dealt with ?

Please Pray For My Mother

If you don't mind at night when you are praying will you please remember my mother, Sherry. She has been diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, we were lucky because she caught it so early. However, she is in an immense amount of pain, and her kidneys are starting to fail, and currently she has had a transfusion, and is on dialysis. It's a very stressful time for my family, if you could remember us in your prayers I would be eternally grateful. Thank you, Michael

Question about Semantics

Okay so if you are doing an MLU, how would you count Mr. , Mrs. or Miss ? Im confused anyone have any insight ?

The Weather

I hope everyone is enjoying this Kentucky weather . . . hot and sunny one day, and the next rainy and humid. Gotta Love Kentucky !!

Question for semantics

Does anyone have any idea which semantic phase the word "ouch" would fall under? Any help would be great! Thanks =]

Kayla

4/28/09

Help with pragmatics analysis of project

Hey! I am working on my project and there are a few utterances I am not sure of how to label.... I am going to copy and paste a few and if anyone has any suggestions of what category on the checklist they would fall under.. the advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Krista: You like to wear glitter nail polish?
Camryn: I like you wear glitter too (15)
Krista: Okay, you can paint mine with the glitter
Camryn: Is this glitter? (16)
Krista: Yep.. okay there ya go
Camryn: Ah (17)
Krista: Are you going to paint Rosies with glitter later on?
Camryn: No (18)
Krista: No..why?
Camryn: I want to do my mommies later on (19)

(Camryn is my subject, so I am needing help with the things she said and where to put them on the chart!)

Thanks in advance!

My Handsome Nephew

I just wanted to share a cute video of my nephew. He will be 1 year old on June 7, and he took his first two steps today!

Question regarding finals

Does anyone know if the final will be online like any other test? If so, will it be only available at 6-8 or sometime before that? This may have already been answered but I'm not sure. Thanks.

I am no longer a rookie observer :)

I had the opportunity to observe nine deaf and hard of hearing students from the ages of eight to nine doing a hands on activity led by two teachers on a sunny afternoon at Kentucky School for the Deaf. Two of the students wore hearing aids, four students wore cochlear implants, and three students did not have any assistive listening devices. They communicated with each other using mostly total communication and American Sign Language. The teachers used a lot of visual resources such as a huge map of North America with bold labels on it. They also told their students where they were. They all sat in a circle which is common in deaf educational settings. All of the students tried to grab teacher’s attention by violently waving their hands. The teacher allowed students to take turns pointing to where they thought Kentucky was on the map and had them explain why. Most of the students correctly identified where Kentucky was and explained how they knew which most knew based on the state’s shape they saw from somewhere else. This activity lasted 45 minutes as students were able to understand the whole map of United States.

I was told that most of these students entered the school with no language and often times had no communication in their hometown. This school was the only place for them to be exposed to and acquire language. They all have shown tremendous signs of improvement in their communication skills since they first entered school.

Blending what I observed in the classroom and what I learned at Eastern Kentucky University, the students are lagging behind their hearing peers in vocabulary acquisition. For example, they do not understand that United States is a country so the teachers have to go back and explain where Kentucky is on the map, then explain its relationship with other states. Once they understand, they will able to gain the knowledge and understanding of the United States as a country. This is a result of the student’s delay in language acquisition.

I was inspired by the students I observed because most of them arrived at the school without any language, and they are learning quickly to express themselves. Despite this improvement, they still need some work in conducting themselves properly. Once they acquire language, their lives will be easier as long as they keep being exposing to language as much as possible. If it wasn’t for the signing environment that the school for the deaf provides, they would have a difficult time expressing themselves and it could change their emotional and behavioral patterns as they get older. Better late than never, I always say. 

FUN!!!!

Last night was so much fun, not only did we talk about our language project but we also talked about the summer and ourselves!!! I loved it!!! Thank you all for such a wonderful time! Oh and thank you Laura for the ride I appreciated it :)

HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER!!! HOPE TO SEE YOU NEXT SEMESTER :)

4/27/09

Thank you

Thank you all for your prayers this past week. It was a horrible shock and the worst week of my life. I have come to understand that I can do nothing on my own; God is carrying me right now. I still feel overwhelmed with sadness so I still need your prayers.

I'm sorry that Josh and I didn't go out to eat with you all tonight. I just prefer to be alone or just be with him especially now. Its hard for me to be in crowded areas. I truly appreciate the sympathy card and the Cracker Barrel gift card from both the Monday and Wednesday night classes. I'm thankful for you all as classmates this semester.

Please keep me in your prayers. Me and my mom were so close. We talked every day or every other day on the phone and we had so many plans starting with Mother's Day weekend for this summer. It will be so hard to go back there. I want Josh to see his mom though, so please remember me during that time. Thank you.

"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit."-Psalm 34:18

language project

Well on my way to finishinig project. Hope everyone is almost done as well....see you on Wednesday night. Are we doing dinner afterwards? Hope someone will tell me! Thanks!

winding down

Hey Everyone:

This is a post test.....I have been having trouble posting but my oldest son is a computer analyst in Chicago and he was able to fix the problem. Thank goodness we now know the money spent on his education at Wheaton College is paying off! Thanks to you Mikey.
Oh! And, I hope you had a great birthday, Mrs. White!

Pragmatics Analysis, anyone?

Alright, so I'm STILL not so sure what we should be counting for an analysis of pragmatics. The worksheet says to section off all turns, so does that mean we should have 100 turns of the child talking. So, for example the child says:

Play... and all kinds of things. Hey Daddy! That's where my dog's gonna sleep. Right by me. Hey! you can sleep by my dog. Right here.

Alright, so if I count utterances, it was 8 total utterances. But, if we're counting 'turns' like I think she means, than it's 1, and I don't think I have 100 turns in my sample.

Anyone know what I'm doing wrong? Because I've already counted all the utterances and coordinated them with the conversation skills and I think I'm going to have to start all overrrr! :(

for those students who are majoring in special ed deaf/ H/H, based on my observations thanks this course for opening my eyes on many areas!

I have been attending to various deaf social events mainly to socialize with other deaf individuals from different backgrounds.  Any networking event where deaf people convene, has implications on deaf individuals:  It promotes greater awareness of deaf people from different walks of life and allows for exchange of their struggles and frustrations, which in turn, creates a positive environment where they acknowledge each other’s existence and find common ground which they first thought would only happen in their dreams.  My deaf twin brother and I naturally developed our own sign languages since our parents received information from “well-established” oral-oriented institutions making handsome profits by manipulating hearing parents of a deaf child that to be able to speak orally would elevate our “status” and to prepare us to become “career-oriented” in the real world.  Thus to be able to speak orally means we are not primitive.  I was suddenly very much aware of what it meant to be a minority in a pre-dominantly hearing school and community.   That kind of attitude has become a norm and it has become a subconscious one in each one of us.  There were some events that have had a lasting impact on my personal growth, especially about how to work with deaf and hard of hearing students with ADHD.  These students get distracted easily and have a difficult time learning since they did not receive proper services/resources available which would enable them to thrive in a learning environment regardless of their deafness.  

I will never forget how I felt on the day I missed a lab assignment my high school chemistry teacher assigned me. It was a two-page report on a video I had watched. To my dismay, that video did not contain closed captions, and my interpreter had to translate the video.  I was furious knowing that there are videos that do contain closed captions and my teacher chose one without any and did not show any understanding about my deafness.  This is one example of a wide variety of levels of discrimination I have experienced since I was a young boy.  I finally understand that I must pursue my own path to educate hearing people about how to better accommodate deaf people’s needs for communicative accessibility. 

 

From my experiences working at the camps, schools, and at other events, I have observed a pattern, that is: deaf and hard of hearing students with ADHD are able to learn just like other peers.  From my newly found interest, I’ve become intrigued by them to the point that I would like to focus special attention to that field, providing right services/resources to those deaf kids with ADHD.   Since my childhood, I have detected in myself a certain compassion on innate desire to help other deaf students who are largely disadvantaged and face discrimination unconsciously on a daily basis. 

Every time I had conversations with these kids, I used American Sign Language and it easily transformed into a story, full of facial expressions, 3-D effects, and other special effects came in picture (ASL has this capability).  If I signed plainly, did not incorporate facial expressions, or if movements of my hands were “limited”, these kids would have been more likely to ignore me and go back to their regular routines.  So whenever I expressed ASL artfully, the kids found me very fascinating and their eyes were totally focused on me as my stories unfolded.  They then started to learn on their own and played around with different ways of how to express themselves through sign language.   The result was astonishing, they started to learn some classifiers in which later contributed them to be able to express openly in morphological and grammatical structures.   These kids looked at me as an influential person who understands their sufferings and frustrations.  Some would come to me and say that I’m an inspiring person and without my guidance and wisdom, they would still be in the shadows of this society.  I have to teach them to be proud of themselves and remind them that they are ambassadors to the hearing world.   Through education, they would eventually come to appreciate others without allowing their handicapped status to conquer their “free thinking”.   It has always been important to me to help younger deaf students achieve in their education.  This begins with promoting self-esteem among deaf students as they experience continued obstacles and it is my goal to encourage them to be proud of their deafness and view themselves as valued members of our society.

 

4/26/09

want to understand this, if a kid repeat words such as "and and I do these" or "please please I need that" in and utterance. Do I count these repeated words as single utterance?

Quote

I love the quote, "Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for life."

It's almost time to start packing up my tackle box. . .

Langauge Project/Thank you

I think I am finally getting this language project, and I think the after class meeting with everyone will just be the cherry on top!!!!

I would have NEVER been able to do it without Dani Wilkerson (if I spell your name wrong I am so so so sorry) She has really helped me out!!

I would also like to thank Mrs. White she also helped me. . . . a little but I plan on asking questions tomorrow!!! LOL

So yep thanks to everyone who helped me!!

Samples of Analysis

Child's Language

Jennifer- No, I am not going. Do you want to play cars?
Nathan- I want red one. 1
Jennifer- You can play with them all.
Nathan- Want the red one. 2
Jennifer- Ok, here it is.
Nathan- vvvvvrrrrrrmmmmmm. You play cars. 3
Jennifer- Ok what do you want me to be?
Nathan- You police car. 4
Jennifer- I am gonna get you.
Nathan- I too fast. 5 You not catch me 6
Jennifer- I’m gonna get you.
Nathan- Fast. 7 Too fast, you never catch me. 8
Jennifer- Nathan, you wanna chase me?
Nathan- I be police. 9 I rest you. 10 Put you in jail. 11
Jennifer- You not catching me. I ‘m getting away. Oh, you caught me.
Nathan- You in jail now.12
Jennifer- Ok. Nathan you want something to eat?

BTC I need help!

Hey guys, I was wondering if anyone had a number or name that I could call to volunteer at the BTC. I am wanting to do it this Wednesday and I have called and left a voicemail but they still have not called me back. If anyone can help me or give me a name or number to call so I can volunteer that would be great. Thanks.

Project/wed night

I was absent Wed. and was just wondering if there was vital information that I need to know for my language project, I'm always worried when I miss, that I will miss instructions or tips on how to complete the language project, I have got a great majority of it finished but any tips or suggestions would always be helpful.

Outside class meeting

I am so glad we all decided to go out after class wednesday to work on the projects. I think this will really help us benefit from eachother and to finish our projects with a bang for the end of the year!!

lanugage project

Ok, so I finally started to understand most of the project. If anyone is doing pragmatics and would be willing to explain to me the second part, function of language, on what we need to do for that part that would be awesome. Like do we just need to write a summary of what we think?

Dani Wilkerson

hey

Mrs White.
i really wish you the best of luck on winning that award. Good Luck

Relevation

As I sit here and work on my language project, I am realizing that I have very poor language and communication skills. I always thought that teachers were supposed to provide proper tools to have well educated students with communication skills to match. Thanks to Mrs. White, my eyes have been opened and I realize that these skills are either rusty or nonexistant for me. I'm slowly struggling through the language project, and I just hope that it is up to par!

4/25/09

ouch!!

ok guys
This is just a social message!! I am visiting my Aunt this weekend and she is a big health nut!! SO I decided that I would go to one of her workout classes I mean why not, I know I am not in the best of shape but hey a little workout wouldn't kill me! WRONG!!!!!! OMG my butt hurts lol I went to a class called spinning which is an intense cycling class! So at first all was good, until Resistance was added and then it got hard. . . . duh! Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the work out lol but my knees and my butt did not! Yeah I am going to be sore for a week! lol so here is a TIP never go to a cycling class if you have a big butt, have bad knees, and are out of shape! Wait to get in shape to do that crap! Ok well I thought it was funny and wanted to share it, I really don't mind making fun of myself lol
:) :) :) :)
Peace

4/23/09

Is Anyone Doing Semantics?

Hey guys I was doing my language project and I've completed part A for the most part except for a few utterances I was unsure about labeling a few of them. But for part B it says Lexicon, I was wondering if there was an easy way to do this part or if you had to go through and actually count out each different word. Or is there a function on microsoft word that can do this for you?

Final

Hey guys, I may be the only person wondering this, but does anyone know when our final is in this class, and is it an online final, as well? I've been stressing like crazy and not knowing when our final exam in this class is for sure, is driving me nuts! Thanks for you help!

Language Project

OK I am having trouble with my language project!!!! Nothing too serious it is just that I am still unsure about counting the utterances and the morphemes!! Maybe I am putting too much into this I don't know but I really can't wait for the dinner next week maybe that will really help me get things in gear! Does anyone have any suggestions to help me! I don't know why my mind won't wrap around this!!
Im slowly getting used to my new environment. thanks to those who made me comfortable and feel at home.

Anyone using Pragmatics?

I had a question about it. I was wondering if when filling out the checklist if an utterance could fit into two of the skills if you put it in both or just the one it best fits into.

4/22/09

Dad Update

If I've already posted or shared . . . you already know I've lost my mind this semester.

Dad finished his third round of chemo last week. They removed the pump from his port on Thursday. He arrived home from Cincinnati to his home in Indiana. . . climbed on his John Deer with his ROUND UP! He was told he couldn't lift more than 10 pounds. Therefore he couldn't use the weed eater. So, he decided to kill those suckers with Round Up . . . around the yard he went spraying every weed he could find.

The very NEXT day after chemo and after his weed eating expedition he climbed back on the John Deer and mowed the whole yard - an hour's worth of mowing.

Yesterday back to Cincinnati to check blood levels. All look readings look great and they are going to give him another chemo treatment next week. He continues to respond well.

And I say. . . THANK YOU SED260 students who have prayed for my dad (the weeds don't thank you too much). He is ALIVE and doing well. Virgil has his up days and down days. Even during this week which started with a trip to the ER on Monday we are counting our blessings.

As the semester winds down I'll post here and there a sappy message. This one is to say. . . thank you for praying for my family and me. I'm praying for you as you face the next two weeks. Just as my Dad's out mowing his yard . . . you, too will make it through this challenging time!! I am confident that you can do abundantly more than you ask, think or imagine!!

Grateful to be your teacher!
Mrs. White

?

i am just wondering how do i submit my language project

Language Analysis Project

I was wandering if Mrs. White put any examples of projects up on blackboard. I looked around for them and couldn't find any. For some reason I thought she said in class she was going to. Maybe I heard it wrong. Anyway....I was just wandering.

4/21/09

Watch this!!

=] I liked it!! http://www.bluefoot.tv/videos/video/75

Bloggers

I just wanted to get on here really quick and ask all of you to keep me in your prayers. I am a freshman this year at Eastern and before arriving to attend school here i became very sick all summer. I was in and out of the hospital for my stomach. I got on medication and was fine for the most part for a couple of months, but within these last 2 weeks my conditions are coming back and my stomach is going back to it's old ways. If it gets any worse within the next week or so I am going to have to go into immediate surgery. I am very tired all day, i have sharp stomach pains, and i become very sick often. It is not a fun thing to have and i would just like to ask everyone to keep me in your prayers. Thank you!!

Mrs. White

I just wanted to thank you for meeting with me the other night. I feel much less stressed and much more caught up. Also, I wanted to let you know, that I am praying for your husband's full recovery. (I know pneumonia sucks) :] If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask. And I'm sure that holds true for everyone else as well.
See you next week! And I can't wait for our SED260 dinner date. :]

Catie

BTC

I am going to the BTC tomorrow at around 3, and I have one extra seat in my truck if anyone wants to go.
If you're interested call or text me at 502-594-5893.

Project

so i do not know about anyone els but i had of lot of fun doing the language project

Mrs.White

Mrs. White,

I was just wondering how your husband was doing. I hope that he is feeling a lot better. Just wanted to let you that your family have been in my thoughts.

Dani Wilkerson
Hali,

I meant to ask you last night... How did your doctor appointment go?

what to expect

I hear good things from everyone else so hopefully my test will turn out equally as good.. I'm ready for the semester to be over, which seems to cause me to have to work harder to get things finished. Hopefully tomorrow nights class will boost me back into gear.

I love feedback!!!!!! =]

Just a shout out to Mrs. White for giving me such great feedback on my test. I don't mean "great" as in she just told me that my answers were right (because that wasn't exactly the case lol), but that she gave me other suggestions in addition to what I put to make my answers stronger and helped me to look at the ones that I got wrong from a different point of view. You're really detailed and it's awesome for someone to take time to tell me how I can do better. Thanks again!! It really helps me out!! =]

Oh and I'm really excited about dinner next week!!! Yay for a SED 260 dinner date!!! =]

4/20/09

Crystal Corum

It is with great sadness that I share this message. I received an email this morning letting me know that Crystal received news that her mom tragically died last night or this morning. She has obviously left to go home.

Only those of you who have experienced the loss of a parent understand the incredible shock and grief Crystal if feeling right now. I want to ask each of us to take some time today to lift her family and her up in your thoughts and prayers.

Life can be very challenging and overwhelming at times. This is when you pause, take some time to find your support system and lean into where you gain your source of strength. We know Crystal finds her strength in the Lord. He will give her a strength, a peace and a comfort that only He can give. Yet, He will also use those of us that make ourselves available. We can reach out to one another during these times to encourage and help. I am wholly confident you will rise up again just as you have for me and one another all through the semester.

I look forward to seeing you tonight.
Mrs. White

4/16/09

Daily Dozen

As we near the end of the semester with many assignments, projects and tests coming due. . . I encourage you to consider these tips for each day. See if there aren't at least a few you can do each day.

  • Take one day at a time.
  • Pray
  • Eat right.
  • Pace yourself. Spread out big changes and difficult projects over time; don't lump the hard things all together.
  • Talk less; listen more.
  • Separate worries from concerns . If a situation is a concern, find out what God would have you do and let go of the anxiety . If you can't do anything about a situation, forget it.
  • Find time to be alone, jot down thoughts and inspirations.
  • Spend time with someone you love.
  • Laugh, find at least a few minutes to relax and have fun.
  • Develop a forgiving attitude (most people are doing the best they can).
  • Go to bed on time and get up on time so you can start the day unrushed.
  • Every night before bed, think of one thing you're grateful for that you've never been grateful for before.

Tonight as I go to bed I will once again remember how grateful I am that I have had the opportunity to teach each of you and learn from each of you this semester. You are a blessing in my life!

Postings for May

Mrs. White,

You may have already told us but will we need to write four postings for May? I remember talking about it some at the begining of the semester but I didn't remember hearing anymore about it :)

Hands Alive

Just wondering if anyone else was working with Hands Alive tomorrow...

I will be there from 12ish to 3 working with the boat races!
Hi Everyone

I got 2 day sick leave from my doctor and my online assignment is due on the second day of my sick leave. Should I do my assingment during sick leave or I should I email the professor the sick leave form.

BTC

Yesterday before class I went to the BTC and help out Debbie and April. I really enjoyed working with them, it was fun to listen to all the other things they do and how they help out so many different people. I had a good time and I cant wait to go back again.

The Power of Teamwork

You HAVE TO watch this video!!

http://soonereyo.blip.tv/#1826380

4/15/09

Opinions on Test 3!! Let's hear them!

I just submitted my test and I'm actually pretty excited about. I did really awesome on the first one and not the best on the second one, but I feel pretty good about this one. I had a lot of genuine things to says about the questions. A lot of the stuff came from my head and not stuff that I had to look up in the book to get ideas from. Now I just hope that what was in my head was the right stuff!! =] I can't wait to see how it turns out.

Shout out to Mrs. White for helping me again with question 8!! Sorry that I interrupted the Wednesday night class, but I was glad I could assist you with your cell volume problem!! =]

On a side note, I just wanted to tell everyone to keep their heads up during these last few weeks of class. I wrote on here the other day about how stressed I was and I've heard a lot of others saying the same thing. We can do it!!!!! I was texting my Dad today (Yes, he texts!! He's pretty much the coolest guy ever!! =]) about this 500 level SED class I've got to take this summer and how I was nervous about it when I am only a sophomore and that I didn't think I was ready for it. His response was "You've got to take it!! There's no time like the present!!" He is exactly right! And guess what guys, it applies here too. There is no time like the present . . . to learn about kids with language and speech disabilities, to finish up a great semester, to get awesome grades, to rock this SED 260 class, to learn how to be the absolute best special education teachers that we can be!!! So hang in there! We're almost done and we've did a wonderful job thus far!! =]

Okay, that was my inspirational speech for the semester!!! =] Have a great rest of the week everyone!! And smile . . . it always makes you feel better!!!

Remember . . . there is no time like the present!!! =]

Test

Alright, well I just submitted my test. I'm not confident and I don't feel very good about my answers. This semester has been hectic and crazy with all my classes. Each week is like a finals week for me and I think its finally catching up with me. I feel rundown and wore out. On Monday we talked about ways to keep from stressing out around this time. I know strategies to keep from stressing but as of right now...they're not working.

I'm a Christian so I'm reminded of a verse that directly relates to this situation. "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."-Matthew 6:33-34. Also " Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."-Philippians 4:6-7.

These verses were included in the Bible to remind us not to stress and to remind us of where our focus should be. I needed that reminder, so I'm glad I typed this post. I'm not "magically" ok, but once I get my focus back, I'll be going in that direction. I don't know if anybody else if feeling frustrated with schoolwork, but I hope God will use these verses to speak to you as well.

Wed. Class

Tonight was my favorite night class i've had this semester ha... I don't think i zoned out any!

BTC

I am going to the BTC today around 1. If anyone would like to join me let me know.

Jack's IEP

Jack's IEP was a huge success...IMHO!! Of course NOTHING in life is "perfect"...BUT we've come a long way in meeting Jack's needs!! All the teachers and therapist focused on Jack's STRENGTHS which is why I believe this meeting was a success compared to those in the past...(he had a different special ed teacher that really had no expectations in K) Any who...here is what Jack will be working on next year;

Increase vocabulary in the general curriculum - signs, pictures and printed words

Sequencing - using science, reading, social studies other gen ed curriculm concepts

Reading program - Edmark (this is a sight reading program)

Written Expression- spelling using familar sight words Jack will spell words using letter tiles...picture cue given.

Sentence structure. Using word tiles (familar words) Jack will create a sentence using Capitalization and punctuation.

Handwriting without tears program for letter form etc.

Math - We are moving to adding 1 more. ie.. 1+1=2, 2+1=3 etc.,

Speech goals - articulation - final consonants, syllabication (I think that is the right word) multisyllable words

Language - Increasing vocabulary - sight words, pictures and signs as well as functional phrases


Jack will be doing 1st grade again next year. His day will look something like this:

8:00-8:30 General Ed classroom Morning routine...word wall review, calendar time
8:30-10:30 Special Class to work on specific reading, spelling and math goals
10:30 - 3:00 General Ed Classroom for Lunch, Recess, specials (music, art, PE), social studies and science, closure....The special ed teacher will modify the classroom work incorporating his goals. All field trips, assemblies, class plays etc...will be with gen ed class regardless of timing...(this was important to me) He will continue to have an aide during instructional time...not during specials (gym, art, music, library)....Aide will shadow him during recess and lunch time...for safety (recess) and helping him requests food choices in the cafeteria.

We have the school psychologist observing Jack over the next few weeks to help come up with a behavior plan for Jack.

This is kind of a vague over view...if you have questions PLEASE ask...suggestions...PLEASE give them! HA!!

Please Pray for me and my family.

I usually would not ask for prayers like this but i have a very important doctors appointment tomorrow! I am a little worried about it, i believe everything happens for a reason and i am strong enough to fight anything that comes my way but my family on the other hand are having a harder time. I was diagnosed with a brain tumor this summer which causes me to have seizures, loose my eye sight at times, and i have horrible headaches. So the past year has been nothing but ups and downs and new ajustments. Luckily medicine takes care of most symptons as of now but as everyone knows with most medicine comes new symptons haha. My appointment tomorrow is about surgery :-( Yuck. So if everyone could just say a little prayer in hopes that it has not grown my family and I would be soooooo greatful.

4/14/09

Monday Night's class

I really enjoyed our class on Monday. It may be because I am pursuing deaf education and I truly enjoy learning more about these topics. For me, it was the most interesting and fun class of the semester!!

Mon Night Storms

I wasn't in class Monday night because I am terrified of storms. I know to most people that is not a good excuse but I have panic attacks and everything. So getting out in them is out of the question. I drove through the one on Friday until I was almost to Winchester and my Dad called telling me that there was a tornado so I had to turn around and sit and the Loves exit McDonald's for 2 hours until it pasted my home town. That was not fun!

Anyway...

If anyone would fill me in on what I missed I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks,
Katie

4/13/09

Language Project - Due Date - Postponed One Week

Ok. . . Happy Birthday...Happy Easter...Thank You, Amanda for the potato salad...Thank You, girls for going out to Starbucks with me last week . . .

The Language Project due date has been postponed. It is now due on Wednesday, April 29th by midnight for BOTH CLASSES!!!

Do not keep procrastinating, however...keep forging ahead!

Mrs. White

Yes, this did change . . . No, it won't change again! :)

4/12/09

Second Grader

I figured I would share this with you all, I have been volunteering as a tutor at a elem school in Richmond this semester. In the second grade classroom that I have been in, I have watched this one little boy struggle throughout the whole year. He is almost all the time in gen ed classrooms, when he probably should not be. He is quickly falling way behind the rest of the class with no one to help keep him motivated to work. While the other kids are reading stories, he is playing with blocks. I don't know what all the do in intervention when he is in there, but watching him in the gen ed classroom saddens me like no other. Two weeks ago the kids took testing, and I watched as the little boy sat and cried over the fact that he couldn't even read the questions. What kills me is that no one was allowed to help him on the test, and he was told to try. He just looked and filled in circles. I don't know why it got to me so much that day, but I left the elem school calling my mom right away crying cause I felt like this little boy is just not getting the attention and help he deserves. I know I cant change the world, but I just wish that each child with any disability no matter the level of trouble they have, would get all the help and more than is necessary in seeing them succeed.

Question 8 on the test

I know this probably sounds stupid and I'm probably the only one who doesn't get this, but can anyone clarify what the second half of question 8 is asking? I get the first part. The part that I don't really understand is "Describe a way a teacher can model this act and have children use it naturally in the classroom." I'm not asking for answers, just a different way of asking the question. Thanks everyone!!

-Kayla

Is this semester over yet????

Hey guys,

Please send me happy thoughts this week. I have about 27264643334 things to do and no time to do them. It's getting down to crunch time in all of my classes and it's really starting to stress me out. The worst part of all is that instead of focusing in and working harder like I always do when I have a lot of work to get done, I just want to be outside in the sunshine and it's harder to make myself do the work. This language project is really getting me worried too because I just don't know when I'm going to do it. Between class, two jobs, and going out of state this weekend, I am running out of time!! I'm sure I'll get everything done; I'm just beginning to frazzle!!! Blahhh!!!! Hope everyone else out there is hanging on!!

Kayla

4/11/09

Hello, everyone! Just wanted to tell everyone Happy Easter! Be careful travelling, and I'll see you all in class Monday! :)

4/9/09

Communication Technology

Hey everybody! I had a question on my mind the night we talked about intellectual disabilities and autism. I know there is a lot of technology out there that helps people with these kinds of disabilities to communicate. I was wondering if using these kinds of technologies helps these students to become more vocal and to rely less on the technology they use or if the often become more dependent on them. I understand that they would be very necessary when it comes to needing to communicate so I can certainly see why they are used. However, do people who use this kind of technology still work on using voice to communicate if they are capable? Just a thought.

4/8/09

Test 3

Does anyone know if one of the things we used at the BGTC was a communication symwritter. It seems right and I looked it up and it was on their website. Just wanted to make sure it was one of the things that we used while we were there.

Test 2 results

I just saw my test results from Test 2. I done much better on this one! YAY! I love the way Mrs. White gives us feedback on every single question. No matter if they are right or wrong. I have never had a teacher do this before and it defiantly helps. So hopefully I will do even better on Test 3. Good luck to everyone!

*Sigh*

It is 12:43 am and I just registered for all my classes, I am exhausted BUT I got myself all worked up trying to get all the classes I needed! GREAT now I won't be able to sleep for another hour or so!!! So I figured I get on here and just rant or talk, whatever!
So I have been going to the Bluegrass Tech center for about 2-3 weeks now and planing on continuing this little volunteer fun!! I have gotten pretty close to Debbie and especially April they are both super awesome I love being around them they crack me up!!!! I have been working on filing books in alphabetical order, and making up questions and answers for I don't know how many books, I think Berenstein bears are huge cause they sure do have a whole lot of them lol :)
Ummmmm what else IDK guess I will try to sleep now!! They really need to make these registrations at 12:00 noon instead of 12:00 midnight this is killer on my brain!!!!! lol well good-night or good-morning what ever PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4/7/09

Hey guys!! My Mom emailed me this website to watch today. I thought I would share it with you all because I liked it so much. It made me cry . . . If you know me, you know it doesn't take a lot. Anyway, my Dad is/has been a basketball coach for the past 25 years and with an uncle with cerebral palsy and a cousin with CMV, these stories always hit close to home and touch my heart!! Let me know what you think! It kind of inspired me!! =]
-Kayla

Question to anyone about diagnosis.

About a year and a half ago I was diagnosed with Aspberger's Syndrome and since then things have gotten a lot better. I was wondering if a diagnosis has helped anyone with learning how to cope with their disorder. My mom and I have personal problems with my dad because us and my neuropsychologist believe he has it too but he refuses to get help. He does the same things I do to a worse extent. Has this ever happened to any of you?

Bluegrass Tech Center

Hello this is Eric Paycheck and went to do volunteer work at the Bluegrass Tech Center and i loved it. i helped make Questions for 8 different Berenstine Bears books. i plan on going back to do more work there. If you havent volunteerd yet its a lot of fun and you can earn valuable points towards a good end semester grade!

Thanks
Eric Paycheck

Volunteering at the BTC

Hello, everyone!

Mrs. White asked me to post on the blog about my experience volunteering at the Bluegrass Technology Center... To begin, I must say, if you could not attend our feild trip there, you could definitely put in your volunteer hours and get a better understanding of what is asked on the test this week. Secondly, the BTC does sooo much for the community and they really work so hard at what they do, so a few hours out of our busy schedules to give back to them would be a wonderful thing for all of us to do. If you're nervous about the type of things you'll be doing... don't be. Of all the students, I may be the one who has had the least exposure to special education students, so I was terrified of what they would ask me to do. But in the end, all I had to do was "data grab" from children's books and enter them into a database. And, Ms. Sharon will show you exactly how to do your job before you begin. So guys, pleaseeee take this opportunity to give back to the BTC for all of their hard work.

Thanks, everyone! :)

Test 3

Hey I was wandering if anyone else can access test 3. I went in and tried to look at it and it wasn't unders the test links like the others. Thought maybe I might have missed something.

Welcome to Dawn to the Blog

Dawn has agreed to blog and answer any questions you might have! Feel free to comment here for start a new post! I appreciate Dawn coming and bringing Jack to class. It helps all of us understand much better the special gifts and abilities children with intellectual and developmental delays bring to the classroom.

The specific examples of Jack's work with semantics and sight word cards was a great connection for us. The video of Jack reading demonstrated that reading IS a realistic expectation for children with intellectual delays. Another REAL WORLD connection was the idea of speech acts and how Jack has grown developmentally this year in this area. So many ways we could learn from Jack and our understanding of children is greater because of our time with him!

Thanks, Jack! Thanks, Dawn!

4/6/09

lang sample

Hey.. I'm sure someone has probaby asked this question already but I couldn't find it, I was wondering if the transcription that is dues wed. needed to have the utterances already counted or if that was something we would do later. Also I was wondering how many pages everyone else had of the language sample, I record A LOT and was trying to figure out when to stop.(I know every one will differ but I thought this might give me an idea) Thanks.

4/5/09

Observation Report

Hey Guys,

I was just wondering if anyone has received a grade for their observation reports that we turned in a few classes ago. I haven't got a grade for it yet, and I didn't know if I was the only one. Have a great week!!! =]

Kayla

4/4/09

SCEC meeting

Hey fellow classmates! This post is strictly to inform you that SCEC is having a meeting on April 7 at 5:00pm in the Jaggers room of Powell. SCEC stands for Special Council for Exceptional Children (the Special Ed club).

During this meeting, we will be holding a discussion board for parents of children who have Down Syndrome and voting for next year's officers. There will be food. So please come! I am hoping to be voted President and get a lot of things going next semester, so I'd like all the support that is out there.

Thank you!

4/1/09

Looking for SED260 text book

Does anyone know where I can get an SED260 text book. Do I have to special order it or is there a bookstore that carries it? Or does anyone have an extra one for sell? Let me know if there is anything I need to do. Thanks.

3/31/09

Language Sample

I am not going to be in class tomorrow because I am going to Louisville to conduct my language sample. If someone could let me know what we did in class, and what I missed I would really appreciate it!!
After Jacks Mother presentation in our class, Now I support those scholars who says, started "some parents take their children disability and convert them into family happines". When I study this in my In 104 class I did believe it but after getting first hand information. Now I believe that sometimes disability can unite members of the family to make health family.

3/30/09

Language Transcription Question

The little boy I am doing my language project on sang a song (grease lighting) along with the soundtrack while I was recording him. I did not include this as part of his speech because I felt like it didn't really represent his speech so much as his ability to memorize lyrics and sing along. Another problem is that he really couldn't sing it. He would just hum along and when he got to a part he knew and could say he would sing it. It was also hard to hear these parts because the music was louder than he was. I was just wondering if I need to include what he sang or not, and how I would go about doing that.

Language Transcription

Hey guys..hope everyone has had a great day! Just wanted to let you all know that I asked Mrs. White if we just had to type up the transcription or if we need to include the number of utterances also and she said to only do the transcription!

3/27/09

Illness

Hey everyone,
I missed Wednesday class cause I unfortunately have mono :( so I'm hoping that I will be getting much better as I rest for the weekend and try to just lay around. My question is can someone take a few minutes to send me what all was talked about in Wednesday night class and what all I need to know or do for class next week? I think I remember something for the language project due, which worries me as I have yet to start that. I was going to get around to it this week until I got so sick.. just my luck! Anyways if someone could help me out that would be AWESOME! Thanks so much,
Sam Riffle

prayers please

I don't usually like sharing my personal life with a whole bunch of strangers but this time is different. I find out this afternoon that my cousin was found dead. He was a year older than I am and it is starting to hit me hard. His car slid off the road last night and was found in a creek this morning. It is really hard to understand how something like this could happen to someone so young.

Applying Content

I started baby sitting for someone my mom works with. She has four kids. Ages 5, 2, (going on three) 2, and 1. I also babysit for someone my dad works with and they have three kids. Ages 12, 9, and 4. Ever since we started talking about language and communication development, I've become more aware of the language development in the younger kids I babysit. I already knew they were just developing language, but I began to notice where they are in their development and the errors they have in syntax, semantics, or pragmatics. I thought that I would share that with you.

3/26/09

CATS Testing

Mrs. White,

My mom is running a Christian school that a few of her friends and her started about 2 years ago at my church. They have several children with special needs and need a lot of extra help when they do CATS testing. They are a private school and teachers do not have to be credited but they only take teachers who are. My mom was asking me to look up and see if I could help out during that time or not since we will already be out of school. I cant find any information on it though, so i was wondering if you know anything or know of somewhere I could find something.

Thanks!

Prayer

Hello everyone. My Nanny called me last night and told me that my grandpa has been sick all week so they went to the doctor. He sent my grandpa in the hospital for his gallbladder. He needs surgery. He will be fine I know but I was asking if you all will keep him in your prayers. Thank you all!

"Right Answer"

In today's society kids have been programed on all levels to find the "right answer". Sometimes students have no idea what the material really means or how it relates to their future jobs, but they do know how to get the right answer. In the end, saddly, the "right answer" is what we are judged upon as students. Most instructors, financial aide institutions, scholarship programs, and everyone else for that matter, decide our worthiness based upon how many "right answers" we gave to get the best possible grade. It's hard as a student to take the time to really get indepth with your study's when you are pushed so hard to move fast and retain what you can. In a few years from now when we are looking for jobs, the employers will not look at our understanding of material, but instead how many "right answers" we got on our way to our diploma's. Right or wrong this is why I feel students in todays classroom are more worried about getting the right answer than knowing how and why it's right. However, I do feel that those of us who truly try to understand will be able to one day change this trend and teach our students to be more concious of understanding and applying knowledge as opposed to just memorizing.

3/25/09

TEST BABY

SOOOOO i just got done with the test and i believe that i did very well. thank you Mrs White for the help, i wouldn't have done so well without your help


ALL RIGHT GO ME

3/24/09

Feeling Generous - More Bonus Points

A wonderful colleague, Donna Eustace, recently shared a URL with me.

I'd like to share it with you because it has a DIRECT connection to our course. The URL is:

http://udltechtoolkit.wikispaces.com/

If you would like to earn some additional bonus points for SED260 take some time to explore the many wonderful resources and tools you'll find here.

How do you earn the bonus points, you ask? That's left up to YOUR creativity - since this is EXTRA. You have to explore the website and then determine HOW it relates to the course, your area of interest, etc. You can even determine a meaningful way to share that with me without creating "busy work" for yourself. I'm open to your ideas.

The extra credit will be added to an assignment or test of your choice that you feel like you didn't do as well as you would have liked.

You want bonus points? I'm willing to work with you . . .

3/23/09

Bluegrass Technology Center

Hello, everyone!
Tomorrow morning I will be leaving Richmond to volunteer at the Bluegrass Technology Center. If anyone wants to come, I'll be glad to give rides there and back. Shoot me an e-mail tonight or tomorrow morning with your phone number and I'll get a hold of you. I can be pretty flexible with times, so let me know if you're at all interested... I'd love to help anyone out! :)

jessica_whalen4@eku.edu

Test

I finished the test and I feel like i answered the questions to the best of my ability. Hopefully I have improved on the first test. What did everyone think of Test 2?

3/22/09

Observation Report

So, I just had a quick question. What are we turning in the night of our class? Our we turning in a copy of the report as well as our grading rubric for ourself? Or are we just turning in the grading rubric?

Also, did anybody else feel disappointed with their observations?

3/21/09

Book...

Hey I was wondering if anyone knew of a person who happened to have an extra book or one for sale, I was in the library a few days ago, I left then when I went back my books were gone, I have checked several book stores and they do not have this book. Thanks.

TEST and LECTURE

Ok guys I just submitted the test, I worked twice as hard on this test really looking at every question more than once!!!! I vote we get a prayer group together lol jk

Oh and guess what??!!!! I got a three point lecture from Mrs. White through e-mail lol!!! DON'T EVER, EVER ASK HER FOR A PHONE NUMBER!!!! lol :)

Here is the e-mail: Take it to heart :)

You did not just ask me for a PHONE NUMBER you can look up on the BLOG, in a PHONE BOOK, on their WEBSITE or in WHITEPAGES.com!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Rule #1. . . never do FOR students what they can DO FOR THEMSELVES. . .whether they be special ed OR COLLEGE STUDENTS. . . teach them to be independent and EXPECT THEM TO BE!

Rule#2. . .never hesitate to help a student do what they can not do for themselves or what they need assistance in doing!!

Rule#3. . .never email Mrs. White and ask her for a phone number that I can easily get somewhere else unless I want a 3 point lecture from her!

Language Project

Hey guys, I'm going to be doing my language project Tuesday night. I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions for fun activities that worked for you all during your recordings. I was thinking that maybe we could play a game of some sort...

3/20/09

Freaking out..

I have been freaking out since wed. class becuase I thought that we had the test, observation and transcription of the language project due wed.. I guess that will teach me to look over the syllabus more often.. So to make sure I am correct the lang. transcription is due april 8th?? I won't let that happen again.. haha

Language Project Again..

Hey everyone I am at home working on my project and was just wondering how many pages everyone had on their projects I know this is no indicator as to what I should have but I am just curious.. Thanks

Identify - - Question 2 on the Test

If I asked you to identify all of the food groups listed below how would you accurately answer?

1. bananas
2. dairy
3. fruits
4. French fries
5. Egg
6. Fats & Oils
7. hamburger

Now on the test question that is asking you to identify the grammatical morphemes. . . what type of answers will be accurate for that question? Feel free to identify the type and even list those words (not the answers for the test) here. I have passed out that list in class. The list is in the book and is on Blackboard.

If banana is NOT the correct answer above, think about what words can NOT be the correct answer for your test. I encourage you to share this information with your classmates if they do not regularly read the blog.

Observation/Interview

Do we need to have anything from the school saying we were there w/ the teacher?

3/19/09

Language Project

Hey everyone, I am working on my language project, trying to get the transcription part of it finished. I was looking over the link on BB that gave instructions for the language sample. It said to write down word for word, I was wanting to see if we needed to write down utterances as well. I thought we had discussed that in class but it wasn't on the paper. Thanks

Just a little Story

Hey guys!!! I hope your alls week was great! I justed wanted to share a little story with you and i needed 1 more post for this month. Well i babysit a 2 year old little boy on wednesday and he is absolutely adorable! He doesnt say many words and the words he does say are radom like Flowers.... that word does not tell me what he wants! haha! Well anyways he has started to go to a school for a few hours a week and they have taught him sign language. I was so impressed he showed me he wanted more, thank you, i love you and much more. I was so happy to see him communicating with me in some way!!!! Its amazing what kids decide to do. I thought it was so cute :-)

Had tons fo fun!!

I had so much fun on the trip. I thought it was great finding out all the tools we use to help students. I really enjoyed the poeple and all the information. I cant wait to go back!
Thanks for taking us.

Office Hours?!?

Oh Yeah? Oh Yeah!! Ok, folks...since I am a part time instructor I do not have an office on campus which means I do not have real office hours. But, one of the coolest things I've now discovered is that I have unofficial office hours . . . ON FACEBOOK! It's just the coolest thing in the world to feed my addicition.

I've had a test question "talk through" session this week, discussed a class absence, reviewed a class event and reflected on the class experience - - - all on FACEBOOK! I think the Wednesday class might be the Facebook Crowd, though!! Of course they think I like Monday night better - which is NOT true!! I sincerely - you know I'm SAPPY (not other adjectives some may suggest) adore both sections - even when I'm INTENSE with you ;)!

I am also offering to everyone the "stop by the office" one-on-one, face-to-face sit down chat that some of you also have already requested and had. We've done this over Starbucks or the table in the classroom after class. Please let me know if you want to sit down face to face to go over your project or any aspect of the course as we've just passed the mid-point. You can comment here or email me privately.

PS . . . you all made me soooooooo proud this week. I can't wait to hear you in class tell me your impressions of the WONDERFUL commentaries that were added to the large group discussion. This was so rich and true to your future lives. We were blessed for this EXTRA part of the experience.

The Bluegrass Technology Center

I had a great time on the field trip to The Blugrass Technology Center! And I loved April...she was so opionated, and I loved that! Anyway, I work at UK, and I have sent out some emails this morning to some "big dogs" asking if we can donate our old printer cartraiges and mice. I havent heard back yet, but I thought if I could get everyone to donate from here, that would be a big help to the center. Also I am very interested in volunteering at the center, but have a very limited schedule...does anyone know if they are open on weekends?? That would be a perfect time for me to volunteer.

Thanks,
Tonya

Test 2 - Sample/Model Questions

Looking at language - is the focus of this class. What does it mean to "compare and contrast" is something we have discussed. When/how do we teach students to do this? We continually refine our skills comparing and contrasting based on the complexity of objects, concepts or philosophies we are analyzing.

Last test you were asked to demonstrate your understanding of phonemes and morphemes by comparing and contrasting them. On this test I have asked you to compare and contrast syntax and semantics to demonstrate to me how well you understand how they are similar and how they are different.

I am going to share in the comments section of this post student answers from the first test that most demonstrated to me a clear understanding of how phonemes and morphemes connect to language.

I encourage you to review these to deepen your own understanding phonemes and morphemes. I also encourage you to use these as models as to how to answer a compare and contrast type of question. There are various ways they answered the question - but each one showed how the two concepts were similar and how they were different.

Feel free to post questions here that you may have on these topics or start a new post.

3/18/09

BTC Observation

My observation trip to Blue Technology Center was an eye openner and it has widen my horizon on working with the people with disability. There were so many things that surprised me and that improvising can also make life easy such individuals . The eye gazing computer was so amazing. This computer can help someone who is physical and verbal disable to communicate using eye ball.

Field Trip

I had fun on the field trip tonight. :) I never realized how many different tools there are for teachers who work with students with special needs. My favorite was the computer with the camera :) That is a great idea! I also never realized how you can use common household items to make everyday tasks simpler for people with special needs. And I love how instead of buying expensive tools, the center helps to show teachers and parents how to make some items out of cheaper objects. It's great and I had a great time. I hope everyone else did as well!

Test 2 due date

Mrs. White,

I know I wrote this down in class when you went over it the week before spring break, but I cannot find it-When is our test due??

See ya tonight!

Tonya

3/17/09

i need a ride

is there any one who can give me a ride to lexington tomorrow (i can pay for gas) call me at 859-516-3742. if you can!!

Observation Report

Mrs. White,

I know on the observation we are to choose a setting close to what we are thinking we will be in after graduation. So is it okay for me to observe a regular ed classroom which I know two particular students whom have language barriers so that I can discuss with thier teacher how she deals with them?

Jenny

3/16/09

Tonight's field trip

Okay Monday Nighters,

What did you think about the field trip to the Blue Grass Technology Center? I thought it was a blast. I actually wished I could have stayed longer! It really got me thinking about materials that I can use in my classroom to help my students. I particularly enjoyed the section on switch toys because my cousin, who's one of many issues is motor skills, has a ton of them and it was cool to relate to that part specifically. I'm going to try and contact the lady in charge to see if I can volunteer there. I don't need any extra credit or anything, but I think it would be a rewarding thing to do. Overall, I really enjoyed this trip!!! =] What did you guys think??

Kayla

Observations...

I have tons of observations this semester, I finished my observation for this class in January, but I still have 18 hours of observations for various classes left... I was wondering how easy it is for everyone else to combine observations, like do one observation and count it for class A and class B, I am one who gets side tracked easily so it seems like it might be difficult when you're trying to look for seperate things in the same observation. What do you all think is best, to combine and save time or do you get more out of your observations when you actually do different ones for every class?

----

need help on 'texthelp'

Got a problem with loading my "texthelp software" anybody who has managed. can you give me some tips.

Observation report

Does anyone know when our observation report is due. I know the syllabus says next week, but I was just wondering if that is still the due date.

Thanks,
Tonya

the trip

Does any one know exzactly when we are haveing that trip

Go Cards

Hi everyone I hope everyone had a good weekend. I'm a huge Cardinals fan and can't wait for the tournament. Go Cards!!

3/14/09

Official Field Trip Information

Class Meets this week at: The Bluegrass Technology Center

Location:
961 Beasley Street
Suite 103A,
Lexington, Kentucky

Time:
Class will START at 6:30
I encourage you to arrive between 6:15 and 6:25

Directions:
Take I75 North
Get off at Exit 110
Turn Left and go towards Lexington
You will go through 2 stop lights and at the 3rd one (possibly 4th - but it IS Fortune Drive light) you will turn LEFT onto Fortune Drive.
Turn immediately RIGHT onto Beasley.
It is on the LEFT. The name of the center is on the outside of the building.

Here is a map:
http://www.mapquest.com/maps?city=Lexington&state=KY&address=961+Beasley+Street&zipcode=40509

Call my cell if you have questions or get lost 859-338-4822.

Yes, this is a required class. All of the students who have attended this in the past have enjoyed the class and were glad they made the trip!

Spring break

Hi guys.

How was you spring break? During my spring break I took a long journey to Washington DC. The journey lasted 24hrs in a greyhound bus. I enjoyed watchin landscape and beautiful buildings various cities; Philadephia was the most intreseting one especially at night. At least the journey managed to refresh my mind.

Field Trip

Does anyone know what the Field Trip will be like, and what we are doing? 

3/11/09

Language Analysis

I recorded my nephew today for an hour and a half so I could make sure to get the correct amount of utterances. I have to admit that this transcribing is very difficult! It's so time consuming and tiring even though I'm not doing much-LOL. I think I've transcribed 24 minutes of what I recorded. I may not have to type it all because he talked a lot! I just wanted to see if anyone else has started on this and what you all think about it. Hope you're having a great spring break. See ya next week.

Question about my observation

Mrs. White,
I am observing a collaboration special ed teacher tomorrow. She pulls her students out of their regular class when they need more help with fluency in reading. I just wanted to check with you and make sure this would be ok for my observation. Thanks Mrs. White! I hope your having a good break.

3/10/09

Raising Small Souls

I watched the video "small souls". I have fell in love with the concepts in this video. If we stereotype the children in our class we are belittling them. We develop the children into who they become by how we make them feel. I would like to show this video on orientation night to parents of the children I will have in my classroom. The website is in the weekly resources. Here is the link:
http://www.raisingsmallsouls.com/

Observation

So I am trying to get ahead a little while im on spring break and reazlied I had totally let the observation slip my mind. So i got online tonight to look at the rubric, and saw that the observation should be in our home town. I was wondering if its ok if I do it in the school I am working in down in richmond (Kirksville Elem.) because I am firmiliar with the building and know some of the faculty. I would have done it at home with no problem, but now that I let it slip my mind, I think it may be a little late to try to observe somewhere this week! Any help would be great!

3/8/09

I remember Spring Breaks!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun one! As for me I will be tackling my third week as a long term sub at an elementary school. I have been at a high school the last year and a half so this is a new thing. Elementary Teachers so earn the money they make, I haven't sat down since my first day and the 30 minutes I get is enough time to check my messages and go to the bathroom! I am going to get my observation in and video tape my child for the language project. So that is my break....sounds exciting, huh! I will have my break in April and think of all of you when I am in Paris......especially in the cafes in the late afternoons!

Observation Report

Hi guys,

I hope that everyone is having a great spring break!! Since am spending this week at home, I am going to do my classroom observation tomorrow. I've pulled up the rubric to check out what I need to be aware of when I go in the morning. I think I've got everything done for tomorrow, but I was wondering if anyone had any idea about how long our report should be. I do not want it to be too short.

Kayla

Have a wonderful week and be safe!! =]

New little nephew!


Ok...so my brother just had a baby and he of course is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. Im posting a pic for all of you to admire. His name is Braxton Wesley and he loves his Aunt Jenny already! :)