CEC+6.+Communication


 * 6. COMMUNICATION **


 * CEC Standard: **

__**6. Communication **__

//**a. Special educators understand typical and atypical language development and the ways in which exceptional conditions can interact with an individual’s experience with and use of language. **//

Typical language development comes from the understanding of speech, including grammar contexts, literacy, which includes reading and writing, and other communicative interactions. Atypical language developments can be realted to things such as phonology, morphology, syntactic systems, pragmatic systems, and semantic systems. Some types of students with ELN include dyslexia, autism, down's syndrome, etc. Most of these developments require monitoring of dates and times of emergence, duration and frequency of behaviors, observance of language and fine motor activities, the settings of those activities, and student interactions with peers and others. Atypical language development is best studied during critical periods for language acquisition.

In order to enhance this development for all students I have provided contexts that allow for the inclusion of speech, literacy, and other communicative interactions within my lessons. During my placement at SWW I had students conduct scientific investigations that surrounded the topic of shrinking our ecological footprint. The students choice one of four investigations to conduct that reflected the topics of wind energy, ethanol creation, household chemical use, and home insulation. The students were grouped based on their investigation of choice and then each group asked their own testable question, designed their own procedures and carried out their data collection, analyzed this data and make evaluations of the results, which the students then presented to the entire class. Inside of all this we see group interactions that require speech and writing skills, students had reading skills developed in their use of technologies and websites to understand their investigation, and students also used technologies to collect data and make quantifiable results that they critically analyzed and evaluated (6.a.1).

//**b. Special educators use individualized strategies to enhance language development and teach communication skills to individuals with ELN. **//

My lesson plans from my innovative unit on acids and bases show multiple individual strategies that I have implemented in my lessons to help communicate with individuals with ELN. For instance, one student who is not a native English speaker requires written instructions, visual instructions that align with those written instructions, as well as class demonstrations and run-throughs in regards to these instructions. I provided these contexts for this student in my lesson on acid rain (6.b.1). Students were able to see visuals regarding labeling the cups, and what materials to place in each cup. They also received step by step demonstration of the procedure before they had to conduct the investigation, which was provided by student volunteers and myself.

I also planned a lesson that allowed students choice in their assessment. One particular lesson allowed students choice in multiple ways. For instance, my assessment of students understandings of acid and bases had students choose from a list of questions the ones they would want to be assessed on. Then the type of assessment was also chosen by each student. For instance the students could choose to answer the question in written form, as a presentation or a poster, they could write a comic strip, they could draw their answer, etc. (6.b.2). This autonomy allowed the students to effectively communicate their understandings in skillful and motivational ways that reflected their strengths and interests.

//**c. Special educators are familiar with augmentative, alternative, and assistive technologies to support and enhance communication of individuals with exceptional needs. **//

During my summer class I participated in a field trip to the Monroe County Boces. At this field trip we were presented with instruction surrounding several pieces of assistive technologies that support their students and enhance communication between individuals. One such example was students who used low tech AT like pencil grips and slant boards which helped them in their writing. For some students, assistive technologies or augmentative or alternative technologies may be able to support or enhance communication of individuals with exceptional needs. After learning much about assistive technology, I have become aware that they range from low tech to high tech, from different things such as pencil grips, slant boards, special pens, koosh balls, highlighter tape, all the way to specific computer programs that can type one’s speech, or read aloud one’s text. After a class in ED 451, I now feel very aware of all the different types of assistive technology that are available to people who need them.

In one of my classes we were able to video conference with a student with ELN. This student provided us with knowledge about their assistive technologies they used, as well as why they feel those technologies help them learn. The purpose that this student provided showed me that every student has a natural reason for needing these accomodations and often times these technologies can be beneficial to all students and not just those students with ELN.

//**d. Special educators match their communication methods to an individual’s language proficiency and cultural and linguistic differences. **//

Each student has different cultural and linguistic styles and needs. Some students require proximity and closer physical contact with interactions These differences may arise in the vocal effects of speech, emotion presented, use of time for inflection, and communication through touch. All students vary in their learning styles, some are auditory learners, some are visual, and still others a kinesthetic. In order to provide contexts for students with cultural and linguistic difference a teacher must incorporate communication as dialogic and interactive. This means a teacher does a lot of listening to students views and ideas and incorporates them into their planning. In order to effectively communicate among these differences there must be a sense of environment that collaborates and works together to bring all their knowledge to build a community of knowledge (6.d.1).

Teachers have to elminate teacher bias, eliminate curriculum bias, teach about prejudice, and improve group relations and help resolve conflicts in order to be more culturally and linguistically communicative. I have made steps to do this in my classroom through the use of group work that emphasizes a collaborative team and community of learners. For instance students conduct investigations in small groups to understand the concepts of science that we are aiming to achieve. These groups provide opportunities for students to manipulate materials, use technology, and communicate observations and ideas with peers (6.d.2). At SWW I have also allowed students to perform a rap to answer their understandings of adaptations (6.d.3). These types of activities allow students to include their own personalities and interests, and provide the context for others to learn those cultures and linguistic diversities.

//**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;"> e. Special educators provide effective language models and they use communication strategies and resources to facilitate understanding of subject matter for individuals with ELN whose primary language is not English. **//

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">During my placement at East high school I received a couple new students who had just moved to the United states from Nepal as refugees. These students did not use English as their primary language, and when presenting them with instructions for lab procedures they often were confused. Although they were not students with ELN, the strategies I employed with them would possibly work well with students who do have a ELN. To help them understand I effectively was able to present visual aids along with the written instructions and establish a collaborative community of students that assisted these refugees. For instance, visual aids were presented in the acid rain assessment to help the students see what cups to label and what materials to place in each cup. There was also a demonstrational run-through provided to the entire class before the lab was started to allow these students to see which materials will be used for what purpose and when (6.e.1). <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; font-size: 110%;">Another method for effectively communicating knowledge to students with ELN whose primary language is not English is to show video clips. Video clips are often used to reinforce concepts for students, but in the case of a student who does not speak English as a primary language video could be useful to translate captions for that students particular language, or a language they are more familiar with. I have used video in my classroom a couple times in order to show chemistry concepts that are not observable by our eyes and technologies, but do show a theoretical model of our understandings. One example is a video on atomic structure and the theory of the atom, which included visual models and words to express the ideas of what we have investigated and talked about in class (6.e.2).

[|20100330-EastHighIU#5&6-MSaunders.doc] [|20100327-EastHighAcidRainLab-MSaunders.doc] || Acids bases differentiated assessment || [|DSC00412_2.JPG] || Group activities ||
 * **EVIDENCE #** || **EMBEDDED OR LINKED OBJECT** || **DESCRIPTION** ||
 * 6.a.1 || [|20091214-SWWLesson2-InvestigationTopics-MSaunders.doc] || SWW investigations ||
 * 6.b.1 || [|DSC00568.JPG] || Acid Rain investigation ||
 * 6.b.2 || [|20100331-EastHigh-MSaunders (2).doc]
 * 6.d.1 || [[image:http://www.wikispaces.com/i/mime/32/application/pdf.png width="32" height="32" link="http://comprehensiveportfolio-msaunders.wikispaces.com/file/view/448talkcommunication.pdf"]] [|448talkcommunication.pdf] || EDU448 - Talk the talk ||
 * 6.d.2 || [|DSC00419.JPG]
 * 6.d.3 || media type="file" key="MOV07552.MPG" width="300" height="300" || student choice assessment - rap ||
 * 6.e.1 || Reference 6.b.2 || Acid rain differentiated assessment ||
 * 6.e.2 || [] || Rutherford's gold foil experiment (youtube) ||

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