Reflection Journal #5

Several approaches were mentioned by the authors; however, challenges continue to impact educating students who are deaf or hard of hearing. In thinking of your classroom, what components of reading and writing do you feel are important to teach and how will you teach them. 

For a beginning reader or a reader with a lower skill level, I want to start by building their phonemic knowledge with structured input and lessons. In class we talked about visual phonics and when it is appropriate to start. If I was working with a young child I would want to use visual phonics to help add a visual to the phonemes. If the student was older, I would probably not use that strategy. I would want to use shared reading and rereading strategies in my classroom and also at home, if the family is involved, which is sometimes not the case. I really liked the Dolch reading videos and strategies for vocabulary development. Also For vocabulary, I would have a class word wall no matter what the age of the students. In the book it states, "D/HH students' knowledge of signs and their meanings can be associated with printed words without the students' having knowledge of the sound-print relationship." If the student signs, focusing on things like multi-meaning words and the variations associated with function words. I also want to motivate my students to want to read and will try to match my selected readings with their interests if I can or to work with the mainstreaming teacher to peak their interest. I would want to focus on the the ending sounds, plurals, and function words, because I know that those are trouble areas for our deaf and hard of hearing students. I know that reading comprehension requires prior knowledge, so I would hope to incorporate skills and lessons that help to build that knowledge base. I would like to incorporate fluency skills and lessons, reading out loud or in sign, but I know that is secondary to other factors while teaching reading. Chaining is a method of teaching the I would want to incorporate into reading because it takes all the steps and reinforcing what was already learned as well as what needs to be learned. This is such a complicated issue and I think that experience will be the best way for me to understand how to teach reading. Right now I feel like I don't have a great grasp of how to teach reading effectively yet, but many of the ideas and reading programs we covered in class gave me some good ideas.

Journal Reflection #4

Stages of development v. Common Core Standards v. Curriculum Scope and Sequence v. Hierarchy of skills-which do you think is important when teaching students with a hearing loss? 
In my opinion, the most important thing to start with is the stages of development. These goals are the most in line with how a student will progress. I think that you want to take into account the common core standards and the curriculum scope and sequence; however, when first working with a student start slowly and work your way towards the more demanding goals. Working with a student who may already be delayed, I would think, a teacher needs to focus on what they need to improve on to get them developmentally appropriate. I would try to incorporate the CCS and the CSS, bit by bit, assessing how the student responds to the objectives. As the student progresses, I could incorporate more of what the students at grade level are doing until, hopefully, the student is able to mainstream with ease.

What will be your focus as the student expands and progresses in skill?  
As my student expands and progresses with the skills, I would try to mirror the pace of the mainstream class as much as possible, modifying as needed. Some students may not be able to fully mainstream, unfortunately, but I would hope to have them as close as is appropriate for that student. Statistically speaking, our students are not age appropriate in grade level, becoming stuck at a third or fourth grade reading level. I would hope to break through this "ceiling"; however, helping our students to be successful even if they have a literacy issue seems to be a deaf education staple. I will let the student's needs be my guiding compass and determine my course of action. The ultimate goal for me is to be unnecessary to the student. Having them be successful in a mainstream classroom, as is the trend, or age appropriate in a school for the deaf or private, whatever the case may be.  

Journal Reflection #3

Educational placement for students with hearing loss has been a long debate. What are your thoughts about educating students within the "mainstream" versus in a centralized school program/school?

The debate on educational placement has been happening for many years. The question at the heart of the debate is whether to place a D/HH child in a mainstreamed classroom with hearing peers or whether  they should go to a centralized program, like a school for the deaf or a program with many deaf students. I believe that both choices have merit and that they both can have consequences. A mainstreamed classroom can be the best place for a D/HH child who thrives in that setting and feels more comfortable with hearing peers or identifies as a part of the hearing world more. A school for the deaf or a centralized program, like CID or Moog, could be better suited for a child who requires more specialized instruction or identifies as part of deaf culture. In my opinion, what is best for the child should hold the most credence when making this decision. I try to imagine what I would do in this kind of situation. Would I be able to send my child to a school where I wouldn't be able to see them everyday? Would I want my child to participate in a mainstream classroom, even if it was more challenging, because it is what they will have to contend with on a daily basis outside of school? No matter what the scenario, the biggest factor is what my child would need or want.

How do you plan to take data? will you take data everyday vs. once in a while? when is it important to take data?

I would hope to take data in many different ways and from different source materials. I would plan to take data everyday knowing that sometimes that will not be the case and that I need to be flexible. I would also want to have a portfolio for each of my students. I think this is a great way to show progress the student is making. Data is the most important when making decisions about the child's current academic levels and also when their placement is being considered. Anytime you have a IEP meeting, data is one factor to helping you make the right decision for the child.

Reflection Journal 2

When planning for assessment of a student with hearing loss, what considerations should you keep in mind? There are many things to consider when assessing a child who is deaf or hard of hearing. The goal of assessment is to find out what the student knows. I would consider language skills of the child, their literacy skills, and the mode of communication preferred by the child. The child’s receptive and expressive language skills would be the first thing I would consider when choosing what assessment would best fit the child.  Secondly, I would take into consideration that child’s mode of communication. Is that child oral? Do they use manual communication? If so, do they use ASL, signed English, C.A.S.E., etc… For an older child, I would hope to have some knowledge of their literacy skills to know where to start from; however, I know sometimes that information isn’t available to the teacher, and may be the reason for assessment. My experience has been with preschool age children, where this information was vital to understanding how to administer an assessment. 

Should you use only tests designed for this population? Why or why not? I don’t believe that you should only administer tests designed for the deaf and hard of hearing population.  There is still important information that can be gleaned from a test that is not normed on D/HH students, even if modifications are needed to assess properly. It would be great if all the assessments normed for hearing children where also normed for D/HH; however, you can still get an understanding of the child even though the test results are not as valid.

Communicating with teachers and staff is a vital part of Deaf education Do you think face-to-face is better or email? Why and how do you plan to communicate with staff? I think that face-to-face communication is the best for teachers trying to create a rapport with one another. I also think it is important for personal communication when a teacher has never had a D/HH child, and is perhaps apprehensive or unsure. I don’t think that email is inappropriate, and can be a great way to work around busy schedules. I think both means of communication have their appropriate place and time. I would hope to get to communicate with teachers and staff by having meetings or conferences, but I would use email if that were the only means to reach out to another professional. I would hope that any staff I work with would feel comfortable enough to bring questions and concerns to me face-to-face; however, some people feel more comfortable doing that through email. I’m glad that we have that option to further communication.