Significant Postings

Thanks to Annice, because I was surprised and pleasantly so, to find we had someone contribute to our blog! I feel this is THE MOST significant posting we could ask for...a comment from a parent of a child with a disability. I personally view ADHD as something that most definitely affects a child's school performance. Many of them are not challenged enough, as Annice said was the case with her son, and so behavior quickly turns away from academics and into a stimulating behavior of sorts. Often times, this leads to something negative, as the child either roams the class, talks out of turn, or makes some action that the teacher finds negative.

I agree with Jessica that it has been difficult to find contributors for our blog, through no fault of our own....we have invited them! However, I believe this one post alone (from Annice) is enough to put things into perspective for some people. Children with disabilities face alot of obstacles just in attending school every day. Sometimes just the thought of these obstacles makes a child NOT want to go to school. I feel educators and parents alike should find more compassion for these children and their families, and try to see and feel the things the child is seeing and feeling. I hate to think that our special poster's son has already given up and thinks he will end up in alternative school instead of rewarded. Frustration is an obstacle we can prevent for these students.

ADHD Whoas

This seems a good forum to vent, so here I go....
I am a special education teacher and the parent of two ADHD boys. I teach at the same school where my sixth grade son attends and it's been a rough year for both of us. He is very implusive and often in trouble. He has good days and he has bad days. He is very smart, but often not challenged enough. It feels as if my regular education colleagues, whom I respect very much, do not view this a a legimate disability. My son has started having headaches, insomina and anxiety. I know about medication side effects. We have had no recent medication changes. I beleive that the anxiety is the result of the expections to be good all the time. He really wants to be good, but sometimes he just can't control himself. My Assistant Principle gave him a new point sheet recently....If he does good he gets rewards. If he does bad he goes to alternative school. When we got home he cried....complaining that he couldn't do it...it was impossible to earn enough points, "just go ahead and send me to alternative school". He sees a behavioral pedatrican and a counselor. Our alternative school is a joke and not an appropriate option for him. Yesterday, during a movie in science class, he flicked his shoe off sending it flying across the room. (His Daytrona patch (ADHD) came off when he was getting dressed that morning and he did not tell me). So now he is suspended pending a tribunal. I understand that the school has to do what is in the best interest of the school, but as a parent I have to do what is in the best interest of my child. I want him held accountable for his behavior, but in a more appropriate manner. So I am fighting for him.

Significant Postings from the Blogging Experience

This blogging has been a real learning experience. Since our contributor list was low, there was a lack of postings. I do however really like the posting that Anna added regarding the link for National Council for Exceptional Children. I also like the response that this psoting got from Robert. This one example shows that a blog can provide educational information for people.

Insights About Myself Given This Blogging Experience

I believe that I have learned how dedicated a blogger must be to keep information relevant and organized on a blog of this nature. Also, a general knowledge of layout and adding certain aspects must be had. I still do not know that I can add an image to a post...a blogging mentor may be required!

Also, I definitely commend my classmates on knowledge and know-how in their areas of expertise!

Application of Blog to My Practice

This blog relates to my practice in that, as a speech-language pathologist, I encounter children with disabilities on a constant basis in the school system. Understanding the obstacles and daily events of these students/clients enables me to empathize and relate to them more. Sometimes, as a teacher outside of the general classroom, I may be a break during a challenging day, or a listening ear to something that happened at home. I believe that the advocacy and knowledge of children with disabilities applies to anyone in education or with a child in school, disabled or not.

Insights About Myself Given This Blogging Experience

I have learned a few important things about myself in the process of creating and managing this blog. I have learned that being a blog author requires a lot of time and effort, and you have to be dedicated to the blog. I admire those who can do this and teach. I have also learned that I really dont like relying on other people for things. My partner in this project was great! The issue was getting people to be contributors.

Applications of Blogs to My Practice

Since I will be a 6-12th grade teacher, the application of blogs could include various things. Social Studies will be my area of focus in teacher, therefore the main application for blogs would be in social networking or online disucssion. The blog can act as a virtual classroom, where students can post any problems or concerns that they are having about the class. A blog could also be a place where I ask students to have a discussion about a specific topic and do a class project with the information. The most obvious use of a blog for my practice could be an introduction arena. I could use the blog to introduce myself to the students and have them introduce themselves to me.

New Link!

I wanted everyone to note that there is a new link on the sidebar! Regarding what I posted about Atlanta Public School's information on the Council for Exceptional Children, this link is to the national website for the Council for Exceptional Children. Alot of useful information can be found here to help one understand the challenges and events that one may experience with a child or children with disabilities in their classroom. Please check it out!

Initial Posting

Hello to our new members, as you can see Anna has posted a welcome and a very interesting discussion on her view of the topic. I wanted to let the blog members see my take on the topic and where I will be trying to implement any and all information posted from our members. My degree will allow me to teach grades 6-12. As a teacher I understand that each child is unique and he/she comes into my class with their own set of issues. Some children have severe disabilities that require me to have some kind of background knowledge about. I hope that through the postings on this blog, I will gain a better understanding about students and gain strageic solutions to better help.

Welcome and New Information

I join Jessica in saying welcome to our blog! We hope to inform readers of struggles that children with disabilities face in the public school system and steps to overcome some of those obstacles. Also, we hope to include some strategies and technologies that could be integrated into the classroom to benefit these children.

Today, I wanted to make readers aware of our state of Georgia's Program for Exceptional Children through Atlanta Public Schools. I am personally involved in this through employment by APS to implement early intervening speech and language services in K-2 classrooms. The following site is APS's Program for Exceptional Children page. It offers information about services and what Atlanta Public Schools offers its children with disabilities. Also, the site explains briefly the process a child must endure to receive special education services. This is important for parents and teachers to be knowledgeable of.
Take a look: http://www.atlanta.k12.ga.us/content/osps_pec.aspx.

Welcome to Blog

Welcome to MacNeill & Acker's blog site. We are glad you have chose to visit our site. We hope that you will feel free to post your comments and reflections about our topic.