The presentation was very interesting. It was amazing to hear Barb's story and actually experience what she was thinking. Often times people who have autism and nonverbal are such a mystery to others. I have heard many people say, as well as myself, "I wish I could get in their head and see what they see and think the way they think." The fact that Barb wrote a book and allowed us to enter inside her mind is amazing. When Barb talked about admiring the condensation on the side of a bottle to me was wonderful. It makes you learn to look at things differently and not take things for granted like we do every day. I like very much how Barb and Lois talked about how autism is just a different neurological way of thinking. Many people hear the word autism and think, "Oh that poor thing. That has to be so hard for them and their family." This is the wrong way to look at autism. People with autism are capable of achieving great success, Barb and Temple being great examples of achievement. When I graduate I would actually love to work with kids with autism. I have been looking into grad schools for ABA certification. I have worked with people 'with different neurological ways of thinking" for a few years and absolutely love it I am actually very excited because I just got a job at Breakthrough (an organization that works with adults with autism) here in Knoxville. I think that people need to open their mind up when it comes to people with autism or other disabilities. People who are close minded to this group of wonderful people are only harming themselves. I encourage everyone to work with a person with disabilities, they will make you see the world in a whole new light. I was fortunate to see Temple Grandin a few weeks ago and seeing Barb today was a wonderful treat. It is fascinating to think that she wrote the book even though it took her ten years to complete. Many people would have given up. I believe that Barb has accomplished more in her life then some people who are considered "normal" ever will in their life. I hope that all the soon to be teachers in room today took to heart what Barb and Lois had to say and hope that everyone will take a second and try to see the world from a different perspective at least once a day. 

Today in the discussion I learned the idea of a "model minority". Prior to today I had never heard of that term before. I knew the stereotypes that Asian Americans fall under but did not think of it as a model structure that we as educators almost push on these students. My thoughts about this were more based on the idea of the cultural back grounds of the different ethnic and socioeconomic groups. I strongly believe that many teachers follow stereotypes about their students because of the heavy undertones of society. I know that in the article my group read about multiculturalism and racism, it discussed the idea that the educational systems and processes continue to promote racism, sexism, and classism in the schools and in society. I am a strong believer that as educators and adults working with young impressionable minds, it is our responsibility to model tolerance of every individual. If we are aware of the issues of racism, sexism, and classism within the structure of society and fail to address the issue and model behavior that combats these problems, then we have robbed the students a chance to shape their future in a more positive light. 

I like how the forum articles linked together in a relevant way. I think that all the issues discussed today in class build off one another. I do not think one issue has stronger ties to educational issues more than any other. These issues have been always been present in society which transfers into the schools. Personally, I grew up without a real religious presence in the home. My parents are religious but never pushed the matter on me and my brother. Even though I went to public schools, it seemed that all my classmates were extremely religious to the point that I felt like an outcast because of my views on the institution of religion. I cannot count how many times people told me that I was going to hell because I did not have a religion. Which I always responded with, "You have to believe in God to believe in the devil and considering I do not then I am not too worried," or when I was not in the best mood, "I'll see you there." It was strange to me because in my first elementary school, an inner city school, actually promoted the tolerance of different cultures. Then I moved into the county schools where there was intolerance of any other religion that was not Christianity. I think that it is important that teachers try and promote the tolerance of others. Not only does this build a sense of school community but I also think that is helps reduce the issue of bullying. When students feel that they do not belong within their school then they are not going to want to learn. 

I 

Children who are deaf follow a similar language development as those children who are hearing. That is, if the children have access to language from the start. What do mothers, family, even strangers do to babies when they see them? They talk and talk to the baby even thought they know the baby can't talk back or understands what they are saying. However, this is how children develop language. If a mother or other family members did not talk to the baby from the start then the child would lag behind in language development. The same goes for babies who are deaf. If a baby is deaf what should the mother and family do with the baby from day one? Sign! Start signing to the baby so they do not fall behind. It sounds like an easy thing to do, however, there are several factors that make this difficult like hearing parents and deaf children. Looking at the chart on page 51, there are some things that differ from hearing children and deaf children in terms of language development. In children grades K-2, conversational norms would have to be modeled especially if the deaf student is mainstreamed and if they have hearing parents. Sign language, of course, relies on visual cues to indicate turn taking. For example, putting your hands down to your side or in your lap can indicate that you are finished conversing. Also, ASL does  use -ed or -s to modify words. For ages 3-5, ASL uses would not use the words -the or -a, no pronunciation (unless they were also in speech class), and no use of rhyming words. For 6-8, may have trouble detecting sarcasm because sarcasm is different in ASL and in English. For 9-12, may have a hard time understanding metaphors, proverbs, and hyperboles without formal instruction. If a deaf student is mainstreamed into the a public school, all of the nuances of English are not going to come naturally or through exposure. These things will have to be formally taught or modeled through the interpreter. Children whose first language is English, will be able to learn a lot of the strange nuances of the language through incidental listening where as the deaf student does not have the same luxury. A majority of the English nuances cannot be incidentally learned through the interpreter either. These are things that need to be formally taught in order for the deaf student to understand.   

If the teacher and interpreter are successfully able to develop a contingency contract with Luke, the best way to keep the corrected behavior constant is to have the motivation become intrinsic. If the teacher and interpreter, and maybe Luke's parents, extrinsically reward Luke's corrected behavior at the beginning and slowly remove the extrinsic reward, then ideally his motivation to continue the good behavior will become intrinsic. Once his behavior is intrinsically motivated it will help build his self-efficacy and his self-regulation. Once he gets his behavior under control, hopefully he can see the goals that is able to obtain when he works together with the interpreter. Hopefully too, through this process, Luke will realize that if there are issues that are troublesome he can talk to his teacher to feel more comfortable. When I think of self-regulation the first thing that comes to my mind is a schedule. If I write out everything I have to do and cross off completed goals, I am better able to measure my progress and over all increasing my self-efficacy. Maybe with Luke, having a schedule and list of goals that he can mark off through the day will help his self-regulation and self-efficacy. He can physically see when a goal is reached and know that completing goals and finishing tasks are attainable. 

In the case study with Luke, I would suggest that at the beginning of each week the teacher and interpreter help Luke write out a schedule for the week of what assignments are due and times he can work on them. Maybe the teacher could give Luke a special pen that is only used to cross off a completed task. Eventually Luke could learn how to write out and organize his own schedule, developing more control and autonomy with his school work. I know it helps me when I can physically see what is completed and what I still need to finish. Considering Luck is deaf, maybe making things more hands on and visual will help his self-regulation and self-efficacy. 

PLE 8 

In the case of Luke (the deaf student who has become uncooperative and unwilling to pay attention to the interpreter) one tool from the behaviorist view could be a contingency contract between all parties involved- the teacher, interpreter, and the student. Once the teacher makes an appointment or call his parents and discusses possibilities as to why Luke has been misbehaving, the teacher and the interpreter can work out a contingency contract with Luke. Hopefully once the teacher talks with the parents and maybe gets more incite as to what is causing Luke's behavior, she can better figure out a way to develop a contract that can help Luke get back on track. Once the teacher and the interpreter figure out the student's antecedent that is causing the behavior then the teacher can figure out what would be appropriate consequence. Also, in the case it might be beneficial for the teacher to partner up with the interpreter to work together on a way to correct the behavior. I really believe that there is no other real way to devise a plan of action without first figuring out what is causing this behavior. 

In the constructivist view point, one tool that could be used is to ask more question instead of telling. Instead of telling Luke how he must act maybe the teacher could use the interpreter to ask Luke why he is acting up. The only problem with this is the fact that Luke is not paying attention to the interpreter. I think that the only thing that will work in this case is by using behaviorist method. Especially since the student and the teacher more than likely cannot communicate directly. The benefit of a contructivist tool, asking the student and getting on his level, might make the student feel equal and not less than. However, the communication barrier is a problem considering he is not paying attention to the interpreter. Using social cognitive theory the teacher could use punishment in order to try and get the point across that his behavior is undesirable. Again, the issue of the communication break down causes a problem. If he is not paying attention to the interpreter then he might not understand why exactly he is being punished. It might not make sense to him. I think that using the behaviorist tool of a contingency contract once the teacher figures out what the issue is with Luke will be the only way to solve the misbehavior. 

(8.2)
In a case like this I would inform the deaf student, as well as the hearing student, that they need to work on the assignment themselves. I would encourage the students to try their best to do the assignment. I would tell them that they can do it, they are capable of figuring out the problem. It would be very important for me to encourage the deaf student and the hearing students to collaborate with each other, even if they get the answer wrong, because this type of work is very important for deaf students. Often times deaf students have weak or no conversational skills because there are not a lot of models for them in school or at home. Also, often times in a public school, deaf students will only talk to the interpreter because there is the common language between the two. Encouraging the deaf student to converse and with hearing students will help develop the deaf child's conversational skills as well as build a sense of community in the class between the all the students and allow the deaf student to feel included. So, in this case, it would be extremely important to encourage the students to work together. I would tell them to keep trying and tell them that I will interpret what they think between everyone in the group. Sometimes though, in groups with an interpreter, students tend to shut down a little bit because there is an adult in the group and see the interpreter as a monitor in way. Even the hearing students tend to do this when there is an interpreter in the group. I have to do my best to make sure that when redirecting occurs I need to do it in a positive way and make sure I make every student, deaf and hearing in the group feel comfortable.  

PLE 6

Constructivism- theorectical perspective proposing that learners construct, rather than absorb, knowledge from their experience 

This is the definition that the book gives for constructivism. If I were an interpreter in a classroom where this was the main theory used in practice, what strategies would I use to make sure the spoken message of the teacher and classmates are being accurately conveyed to the deaf student(s)? Well, my role and responsibility as the interpreter is to make sure I follow what the IEP requires for that deaf or hard of hearing student. That means that if the student's IEP requires ASL as the primary source of communication then I will use ASL to convey the material of the teacher and conversations of the students. If the IEP require I use SEE (Signed Exact English) or signed English, then I am required to use those modes of communication to convey the material. Also, it is my responsibility and role to match the signing ability that the student is currently at in their language development in order to make it where they can understand what is being taught in the classroom. In a consrtuctivist classroom, I can assume that the teacher will more than likely implement a lot of social interaction -group work- within the class. Also, I can assume that the teacher will also use discussion as a main part of his/her teaching style, too. In cases where the teacher does a lot of group work and discussion within the class it is important to stress that the teacher enforces the students to raise their hands and be respectful when it comes to turn taking (speaking wise that is). It takes a minute for the interpreter to process the spoken language and then produce that into sign. Giving enough time for the interpreter to get the message out and the deaf student time to process the information will ultimately help the deaf student understand the material better. Also, by giving enough time for these processes to happen, the teacher can encourage the deaf student to participate. Another reason raising hands and turn taking is important is because the interpreter also has to sign whatever the students are saying in discussions or when asking questions. I think working in a classroom where the teacher encourages group activity is beneficial for deaf students. It gives them a chance to work with others and maybe teacher their fellow classmates a few signs here and there. Often times in a public school, the interpreter is the only other person in the entire school who know sign language. Many times the deaf students only has the interpreter to talk to and has a difficult time interacting with their peers. Encouraging the deaf student to participate is very important. And a teacher can do this by structuring the classroom where the deaf student has equal opportunity as the hearing students. If a hearing student can hear something, then it is the responsibility of the interpreter to make that spoken language accessible to the deaf student.