Autism and Music?

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Benefits-of-Music-Therapy-for-Autism&id=432566

This article provides some great insight into how music therapy helps autistic students. Music therapy has a main purpose-to help exhibit positive change in human behavior. Music therapy includes listening, playing, moving (dancing) or singing. Kids with autism like to keep to themselves, I know this because my nephew has autism. Music therapy allows for autistic kids to engage in human contact without threatening outside interferences. It helps kids with autism interact without necessarily knowing they are doing so.

Music therapy helps in a variety of ways:

-Increased and improved socio-emotional development
-Assists in verbal and non-verbal communication
-Encourages emotional fulfillment
-Teaching social skills
-Improving language comprehension
-Encouraging the desire to communicate
-Encouraging creative self-expression
-Reducing non-communicative speech
-Decreasing echolalia (uncontrolled repetition of words spoken by others)

All in all, music helps!

What Came First The Rage or The Machine?

What was created first: the internet or our need to create and share information?  Does technology shift the people or do the people shift technology?  According to Clive Thompson “Brave New World of Digital Intimacy”, founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg developed web site in which users could exchange information, “Facebook became the defacto to public commons – the way students found out what everyone around them was like and what her and she was doing.” (Thompson 2008). In my opinion users of any new technology drive the shift in “Brave New Worlds”.  From the beginning of our civilization people have been trying to create ways of communicating to larger numbers of people in the fastest way possible. Yet like any other new technology it has its share of draw backs.  For instance, during the beginning stages of Facebook users had problems trying to find information on hundreds of friends and posting information publically.   Zuckerberg gave into large demand and upgraded Facebook to meet the demands of the user.  Essentially technology shifts because of the users demands.

To Blog or Not to Blog: Your Child and ADHD

There are many parents who do not want to share their child’s information about being diagnose ADHD.  I have located many web sites where parents of children diagnosed with ADHD can find an outlet to freely express their thoughts and emotions. Many blogs include testimonials which bridge the gaps between parents, creating a supportive community. Blogs are a way to share information about treatment, resources and personal tips.  At the web site www.addtitudemag.com there is a blog for especially for created by a dad who has ADHD children and who is himself diagnose as ADHD.  Here are more web sites of parent’s blogging about ADHD: www.blogs.webmd.com and www.everydayhealth.com

Supporting Parents of Children Diagnosed with ADHD

When I was first introduced to David (a child diagnosed with ADHD), I had already read his IEP and medical records.  However, I did not read about the struggles David’s parents were dealing with trying to manage his behavior at home.  Often times went I speak to parents about their child they are overwhelmed with the child’s behavior and possible learning disabilities.  As a way to encourage parents in their struggles, I often suggest speaking to the resource teacher to learn different strategies for behavior modification and stress management.  Below is a link and video of encouragement for parents whose child has been diagnosed with ADHD

www.truthbehindADHD.com

Diagnosing Your Child with ADHD

Over my thirteen years working experience with children and families, I’ve learned that diagnosing a child with ADHD is not the job of the educator.  Much of the time as educators we work with a variety of children with disabilities which causes us to believe that we can diagnose a child through mere observations.  Observation alone cannot determine if a child should be diagnose or classified as ADHD. As educators we may observe behavior which maybe similar to ADHD but true diagnoses should come from a license professional.  Parents need to become more aware of the educators role and the purpose of their observations.  Additionally, parents must educate themselves more about ADHD. 

www.doesyourchildhave.com

Questions Teachers ask before becoming a teacher????

How do you discipline? What will my students be like? How do you keep them engaged? How to provide resources? What can I do to better myself? How to I help those with special needs? Am I cool enough for the kids? Will there parents like me? Should I drink coffee or soda? Do I ask older teachers for advice or my colleagues? Am I really ready this?

 

These questions are normal for a teacher to ask and this illustrates what a a future sucessful teacher worries about. If the were no worries and  the teacher thinks everything will be perfect, then he or she is not ready for the profession. A sucessful teacher finds the answers and apply it to their classroom culture.

Teacher’s hidden thoughts shhhhh

I knew since the age of ten I wanted to be a teacher. But I didn’t know what kind of teacher. I didn’t know I had to choose a subject to teach until college. I just thought teachers just stood in front of the classroom and taught from the book. It’s more than that. Teachers have to take the Praxis and basically go to school all year round to keep up with technology.  I think I want to teach special need students but then that fear of me being able to handle inclusion class creeps up. Then my mind switches up and wants to teach language arts but i remember my grammar, mechanics, and spelling is not up to part. I wan to teach so bad and better myself but what if  I can’t complete the challenge.

Hip hop+ Children+ Literacy= Successful Students

Hip-hop and literacy are two elements that mix well together. What is literacy? What is hip-hop and how do the two help increase the literacy in today’s children. Many people tend to stereotype hip-hop music by associating with only African Americans and children living in the inner city. Because of the ignorance of not knowing how hip-hop can increase literacy many children are missing out on a great opportunity to learn in a fun and creative way.

Many people believe that literacy just written text. Wrong, literacy is the ability to read and write. It is also the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. The word refers to reading and writing at a level, which allows us to communicate or understand ideas in society. Hip-hop can do all the above and more. Hip-hop can help students identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, and compute through literacy. Hip-hop literacy can enable students to achieve their goals, develop knowledge, and understand their word through their experience.

 

There is  evidence that Hip- hop and literacy can be mixed and create a fun and learning environment. There is a new music based learning called Flocabulary and it produces educational hip- hop music to teach children how to use different kind way to study or understand their academics. The art helps students to build critical thinking and writing skills. It also point out to students that hip-hop artist use metaphors and personification to get their point across. Artist such as Jay-z, Kayne West, and Lauren Hill. It covers math, history, SAT, and reading. It has an outstanding goal and its goal is to help to use hip-hop as an effective and culturally relevant way to teach today’s children. Not just black children, all children. It has created a program called The Word Up project and the project teaches children vocabulary, reading comprehension, and critical thinking. The project provides workbooks, audio CDs, and test. It has three reading levels, which are for the third, sixth, and eighth grade level. Flocabulary also provides help for the SAT by providing students with a CD and workbook. Teachers have realized that this learning tool motivates students and that literacy scores are increasing

Hip Hop and Literacy is a Great Mix!!!!!

Naked on the Web

Many people in the world have a Facebook or a Myspace page. They show their fake personality through there pictures. Pictures that show them either drunk on the street or partying. Pictures that show them at their favorite baror simply them doing a fake photo shoot. Many people expose themselves on the Web and don’t realize that anybody and everybody can see them and get what they want. That want is called information. Information that can lead up to them losing a job or simply embarrassing their love ones. Embarrassing meaning those fake phot shoots can turn into advertisement for all sorts of things. The crazy part is that a person would never know. I looked up my name and found a poem I wrote in high school published on the web. I didn’t do it, so who did? I questioned is their anything else on the web about me that I didn’t know about? What about you? Are you naked on the web? Are you being exposed without knowing? Be careful what you you put on the web because you dont  want anyone to see you naked.

How do I handle Inclusion?

Each classroom has different students that teachers must be able to handle.  From one year to the next a teacher is going to have different types of students.  What worked one year may not work the next year.  As a future teacher I worry about controlling my classroom and being able to reach every student including the special needs students in my classroom. 

As a teacher I must be aware of all of my students abilities and I must be able to teach each one of them.  This article is a great resource for teachers and furture teachers about how to manage disruptive behavior in the classroom.  As teachers we must be able to asses the situation and figure out how to manage it.  Children need to feel safe in the classroom and as a teacher I must be able to make my students feel  safe.

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/classroom-discipline/resource/2943.html