Chapter 6

This is a very difficult question to answer. I found very little on CAEBER (Center for ASL/English Bilingual Education and Research). I did notice that the teachers get training but that was all I could find. I would like to get training on BiBi programs if the school I work at teaches with this philosophy. To answer the question you would have to research the family life in general. You cannot base results of a test just based if a child has a deaf parent or not. I think test results would really depend on how involved families are in the child's education. If a parent is involved and helps their child with homework, makes sure they are at school, etc. the test scores should not be different no matter the hearing status. However, if a parent does not care then the test results will suffer. I don't know if I am answering this question correctly but again it is a difficult question to answer.

Reading Strategies

1. Shared Reading Project from Gallaudet University. I know we talked about this strategy in the beginning of the school year but I loved it and wanted to talk about it again. In SRP a deaf tutor visits a home one time a week and teaches parents how to sign a children's story book. The tutor leaves a packet which includes a book, dvd, tips, and a guide with activities. This program is designed for individuals who are deaf so there is no changes to be made. This program promotes language and literacy but is expensive.

2. Reading A to Z. This website (readinga-z.com) is amazing! It has books at all different reading levels and then has lesson plans and activities you can use in your classroom. I use this site all the time at my placement. The activities help students learn to blend sounds which can help them when they are reading and get to a hard word. Also there is comprehension checks and various activities that you can do with your students. The only down side is you do have to pay but I think it is worth it and I want to use this site in my future classroom.

3. Predict. This is a great strategy that is free to use! Have your students predict what they think the book might be about before you begin reading or what is going to happen next while you are reading. This gets the students excited to read and what to continue. This strategy is easy to do and can easily be modified for any student.

4. Comprehension Check. This strategy can be completed in two ways: with the use of a worksheet or just asking questions to the student. This is a great way to assess if the student was understanding the story. I do this is the classroom right now. I use a worksheet so I can use it as a grade. I then know if the student understood the story or if the story was too difficult for them to understand.

5. Retell. In this strategy you have the student retell the story without the use of the book. This will tell you if the student remembers and it helps the student recall as well. I use this is the classroom too. We will ask the student to tell us what the book was about and take notes. Then the student can use the book and tell us more details while they look at the pictures. It helps the student refresh their memory as we continue the story throughout the week.

Week Five

This week was Spring Break! I don't have a lot to say about this week but I enjoyed the break. Now it is back to school and the start of assessment season. I hope the students are refreshed!

Week Four

What a week! All I can say is the students were ready for spring break and so am I! It was a typical week with some added meetings but the kids were out of control! The behaviors were something else this week. I still love my placement though and found out this week that I get to do some assessments. Woohoo! They begin next week. I will be administering parts of the Brigance Employability, Brigance Life Skills Inventory, Woodcock-Johnson, and WIAT. Also, the second graders start Discovery Education Assessment. All I can say is I am glad to have a week break before assessment season begins! During the week I also observed the start of IEP's and I never realized how much of a process they really are...I am so happy I get to experience all of this before I become a teacher. I hope everyone else is enjoying their placement and congrats again to everyone for passing COMPS!

Week Three

Well the week started off with me being sick! I was out for two days. It was horrible and it made me think about how I never want to have to call in a sub teacher. I sent in my lesson plans and I know that the teacher I am with knew exactly what needed to be done but it got me thinking about what if I was a teacher and needed to call in a sub? It would be WAY more work to call someone in than it would be to just work sick. Once I went back it was normal. The only thing that was really crazy was behavior management! I needed practice so this is the placement to be for practice. Wow is all I can really say! Other than that I still really love my placement. This coming week is my practice week before I have midterm evaluations! Wish me luck!

2nd Week of Student Teaching

Sorry this is a little late... I have been super sick for the past few days.
My second week of student teaching was awesome! I am responsible for two students right now and it is fun but hard at times. I think it can be hard because I have to plan out the whole week and try to fit in so many things in just a little bit of time. I enjoy the challenge and I learning so much! I still love my placement and am so excited everyday when I get to teach.