After reading the two articles about learning and literacy. I have learned so many new things, about teaching and learning. While reading Marcus' story about his quick development in language and sense of humor, I thought that he would have no problems adapting to school and that environment. My natural reaction to his early development was that he would be picked on for being the "nerd" in his class. In (Marcus: Children with Special Needs)his mother stated, " Our son was very verbal, stringing words together at an early age. He walked by 10 1/2 months". As a reader I looked at Marcus' case and thought nothing about Special Needs. This story made me think about as a teacher I need to be aware of many different things with my classroom as well as my students. Though Marcus succeeded in speech, later on in the story his family and teachers found out that he had a difficult time learning to write. This reminds me of my focal student in a way, she was first put into special education a few years back, because she was said to have a hard time understanding concepts in subjects such as math. Now, in the fifth grade my student is mostly in the classroom more than the special education room. Though now she tries to use this as a crutch and says she cannot so her work because she is "special ed." Through this reading, I have learned that students grow and learn in different ways, though some students may succeed in one area they may struggle in others. As a teacher I know to watch out for different signs to work with all my students.
In the other reading, was very interested in the topic of learning and literacy. In the article "Quick and Easy Adaptations and Accommodations for Early Childhood Students", I learned so much information in a little piece. This article was very benefical to my learning and will help in my future teaching. Literacy used to be such a define concept to my learning and understanding, now I feel more expanded in my learning as well as teaching. I really enjoyed reading an learning how to incorporate pictures and activities with pictures to accommodate students with autism, learning disorders, as well as students with ADD/ADHD. Both of these articles were beneficial and fun. I felt like I could look back to students in my field placement and understand a little more about certain students learning and background to an extent. I would definitely recommend both articles to any teacher or student going into this profession.
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I was also very surprised when Marcus was considered for special needs. Like we discussed in class, it is interesting how schools and teachers tend to look at what students are lacking or struggling in and not what they are excelling in. Marcus was a very intelligent kid, especially when it came to hands-on manipulations like working with clay. However, this was overlooked because he struggled with following directions and writing. I think it is interesting that you have the chance to work with a student like Marcus at your school. I also think it is interesting that she uses special ed as a crutch and does not try to succeed because she was in special ed. This might be something to think about in the future as a teacher when it comes to consider whether or not a student should be in special ed. Is focusing more on the students struggles than strengths going to cause him or her to feel like they don't want to try in the future because they were put into special ed?
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