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Edublog AwardsJun
26
Cyber schooling may be a viable option for students with special needs
Filed Under Blogging in and out of the Classroom, Computers In The Classroom, Engaging Assignments and Activities for Students, motivating students, Special Education, The way I see it, underachieving students, Web 2.0 tools and technologies | 6 Comments
Cyber schooling may be a viable option for certain students with special needs. What is cyber school? I think of cyber schooling as form of home schooling where students use the internet and advanced technology, sometimes called Web 2.0, to earn credits toward graduation.
I’ve found that some students with special needs, especially those students who have social and/or behaviour problems, find it difficult to be successful in the hustle and bustle of a regular high school classroom. Usually, students with special needs who have difficulty coping in a regular classroom have the option of working in an alternative setting. At my school, we call this alternative setting the Contact Room. Other schools call it by different names. Students can go to the Contact Room to get extra help, where the pace is not as busy and chances of conflict between peers is reduced. Over the years, I’ve found that this alternative setting doesn’t necessarily meet the needs of all students.
Some students with special needs, despite everyone’s best efforts, still cannot cope in a bricks-and-mortar high school. I can think of some students that I gave support to over the years who were school phobic, had severe anger control or other behaviour issues for whom the alternative setting of the Contact Room and its support didn’t help them cope in the regular high school setting. Eventually these students either avoided school entirely by not coming to school at all or they were asked to leave school because their behaviour was inappropriate in a school environment.
Cyber schooling sounds like a promising option for some students with special needs. Of course, there could be some challenges for students who might want to access cyber schooling. First, students would have to have access to computers as well as high-band powerful internet connections. Some of the applications students with special needs use require high speed internet to function properly. It’s been my experience, that not all families can afford computers and the powerful highband internet connections a cyber schooled student would need. Second, some students are not independent learners and would need the support of an actual person. Who would that person be- a parent, a sibling? Who has time to be there to support the student? Who feels comfortable enough with the advanced technology to help the student? We can’t assume everyone is comfortable with or able to use the the internet and the advanced technology. What if students’ learning styles are such that they hate doing lessons online? I‘ve had students like that when I was giving support to students who were taking online courses. These students were totally engaged by the computer when they were playing games, surfing the net, accessing FaceBook etc, but absolutely hated doing lessons online and actually refused to do them.
The first time a student told me he hated doing lessons on line even though he loved being on line, I was quite astonished. Who knew? I thought because students loved being on the computer most of their free time, they would love using the computer to earn their credits. Boy, was I wrong.The only way these students would do a course online was if sat at the computer with them the entire time they were doing the online course. That one- student- to- one -teacher ratio every day isn’t practical in a high school classroom, alternative classroom or not.
I guess all we can really say at this point is that cyber schooling is another option that could be available for students. Certainly there are some concerns that need addressing. Who is going to pay for computers and the high speed access students need for cyber schooling if families can’t afford computers or high speed, broadband internet access ? Who is going to give cyber schooled students the at-home support they might need? It will be interesting to see what happens as parents advocate for cyber schooling to help meet the needs of their children. Will cyber schooling be an accommodation that finds its way into students’ individual education plans or IEPs? That is an interesting thought.
Reference: Educators Weigh Benefits, Drawbacks of Virtual Spec. Ed.
Jun
20
Sadly listening to music in the classroom using the latest portable media players no longer helps my students focus
Filed Under Behaviour Management, Digital toys, motivating students, music in the classroom, positive climate, The way I see it, underachieving students | 13 Comments
Sadly, listening to music in the classroom using the latest portable media players has become a distraction for my students. I’ve always believed that for some students listening to music in the classroom 
while they do seat work helps them focus on the task at hand. I’ve written about it here, here and here. The idea being that the music my students listen to will create a type of white noise for them that will drown out distracting noises in the classroom like pencils dropping or other students talking. Unfortunately, listening to music on the new portable media players does not reduce distractions and help students focus on their work. On the contrary, the new more sophisticated portable media players have introduced a host of new distractions that lure students away from the task at hand. For example, students who have an ipod touch , can and do surf the web in class, send email, play games, update their Facebook status and text one another as well as listen to music. Less sophisticated portable media players like the ipod shuffle that only play music seem not to be as distracting, but many of my students prefer to use players that let them do more, let them do it all- surf the web, text, play games etc. In September, I’m only allowing my students to use media players that only play music. I found that these players worked well in the past to help my students stay on task.
Let me just say here that I am well aware of the controversy surrounding the claim that listening to music in the classroom helps students better concentrate on their work. More research definitely needs to be done. I can only go by what I see happening in my classrooms. I see students who get distracted easily in class focus better on their work when listening to music. I see students do more work when they listen to music. I agree with Mathew (see post comments) who noted
I’m willing to concede that music does not increase concentration. However, I know that when I have a task to do that I don’t want to do (like cleaning my desk, correcting papers, doing the dishes, etc.) music can wake me up and help me to work faster.
When my students are bored or unmotivated, I find that sometimes music wakes them up and gets them to work for short periods of time.
I too have students who at times are bored and unmotivated- imagine that 
. For example, not all my students have a passion for algebra. If listening to music while completing their algebra assignments helps make algebra bearable and they stay on track and complete the algebra assignments, then I’m all for listening to music while doing algebra. I’d rather they complete their assignments than not complete their assignments. If however, my students become distracted from completing their assignments because their media players enable them to do all kinds of other things they prefer over algebra like surfing the web, texting, or playing games then I’m all for banning those devices from my classroom. I want listening to music to help students complete their work. I don’t want the devices students use to listen to music to introduce more distractions into the classroom.
photo thanks to amyvdh
Jun
13
Sweet little diversion
Filed Under The way I see it | Leave a Comment
I came across this delightful little video and it made me smile. I thought I would share it with you in hopes that it would make you smile too.
“Waiting” – My Robot Friend (feat. Jay Kauffman) from MakeMakeStudio on Vimeo.
Jun
11
There’s no point in staying hurt or angry if someone seems impolite or uncaring.
Filed Under Dealing With Stress, Teacher Support, The way I see it | 1 Comment
I truly believe there’s no point in staying hurt or angry if someone is disrespectful to me or seems impolite or uncaring. Staying hurt or angry simply gives power to the past and prevents me from moving forward in life. It takes too much of my energy to stay angry at someone, energy I could use in more positive ways to do something that is beneficial to me or someone else. Recently, however I forgot what I believe about forgiveness and simply kept dwelling on the fact that certain people I considered friends treated me disrespectfully. These individuals haven’t offered me any emotional support while I continue to grieve for my brother who recently died suddenly of a massive heart attack. As I try to make sense of my brother’s death, I’ve also been trying to make sense of why these individuals have offered no support. Finally, I came to my senses and realized it doesn’t matter why they said nothing to me about my brother’s death. What matters is that I start forgiving them and move on.
Actually what helped remind me about the positive power of forgiveness was Amanda Horne’s article. She writes
Forgiveness is not condoning, nor pretending that a wrong is right. The process of forgiveness benefits us more than the person who has wronged or hurt us. It allows us to see the big picture, and releases us to move into the present moment. It is difficult to look ahead until we begin to forgive and to have a desire to move on. Forgiveness is not easy, nor quick; it happens in small stages. It is a process that transcends the rational mind and calls on our wisdom. It’s not just another way of thinking, it requires a transformed mindset and new patterns of behavior.
For me it’s important to remember that when I forgive someone, I’m not saying what they did was OK. It isn’t, but what is done is done and for my own benefit I need to move on. It also doesn’t mean that I don’t deal with issues but that after issues have been dealt with I move on.
photo of flowers thanks to swami stream
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