Language

Suggested strategies I plan to utilize in the classroom:
Teach irregular word forms
Begin instruction about parts of speech
Use group discussion as a way to explore academic subject matter
Have students create short stories that they present orally or in writing

I think language is a huge component in any classroom, but specifically a deaf classroom. Since the teacher is working on teaching the students two different languages, it is essential that strategies to facilitate language exist. I would be sure to educate my students about the different time tenses in English. In working with hard of hearing kids, I've learned that this is a very difficult aspect for them to master. I would have them do worksheets that include different tenses. I would also have them create stories that I would turn into a book for them. They would write their story, and I would proofread it, then we could create a creative cover for it. I think a good way to make sure they understand the different parts of language is to have them write journals. 

This is a website full of worksheets for working on different tenses in language.
http://www.englishforeveryone.org/Topics/Verb-Tenses.htm

#9

I think both self-efficacy and self-regulation play a very important role in the case involving Lisa. It's possible that Lisa is acting out of turn because she does not have high self-efficacy. As her teacher, it is important that I help her to be more confident. I think an efficient way to go about this is to use reinforcement. I would praise her every time I observed her behaving or doing work well. I think with young kids, stickers also work very well. They get excited their work/behavior was good enough to earn them a sticker, and then they become motivated for it to happen again.

Self-regulation definitely plays a role in regards to Lisa. I've found that when working with kids with behavior problems, the best thing to do is to have them fill out a self-monitoring chart. There could be different categories like "working with others, doing fair share of work, raising hand, etc." and for each category, she would choose how she behaved by choosing a smiley face, neutral face, or a sad face. At the end of the activity, I would look it over to make sure she wasn't just giving herself all smileys. I would also know if she was lying, since I would be monitoring around the classroom. Then I would ask her what she thinks she did well, and what she may need to work on. And then I would ask her how she thinks she could improve, so she realizes that she is in control of her actions.

http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/182/over6.html

Numero Ocho

I think there are certain tools from a behaviorist view that could help with Lisa's behavior problems. Lisa is unhappy with her role in her group, and thus acts out. I would probably use positive and negative reinforcement, and negative punishment to improve her behavior. For negative punishment, I would remove her from the group and have her work all by herself. As a positive reinforcement, I would praise her for behaving and working well in her group when appropriate. As negative reinforcement, I would tell her that if the group behaves and gets along, I would assign them less work to do. 

As for a cognitive or constructivist approach, I would use neither reinforcement nor punishment. I might ask her questions about the situation privately. I would ask her why she thinks these breakdowns are happening, until she comes to the conclusion that the problem is her behavior. I would then ask her what she thinks would happen if she were to change her behavior. That way she can come to conclusions on her own, and learn for herself. 


I found this website about what a teacher could do instead of using punishment.

http://tigger.uic.edu/~lnucci/MoralEd/practices/practice1devries.html

#7

When working on developing reading skills, I think that metacognition and problem solving play a major role. I think a good idea may be for students to read a story together. In the deaf classroom, they would all have the story in front of them, and when called on they would have to share information with each other about what they had just read. Then I would ask them questions about things that happened in the story to assess how their reading performance and comprehension. I would have them write down their answers, and we would go over them as a class.

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/21160/

Constructivism

I once did a lesson on George Washington for fourth graders, so I will discuss the sequence of skills necessary for ultimate mastery of the content. In terms of constructivism, they should be exploring and discovering information about him for themselves.

First I would ask them  if they knew anything about George Washington. I would include vocabulary and new signs into this step. After making sure they know that he was the first president of the united states, I would ask them why he is important to history, and why we should learn about him in school. Then I would give each of the students a sheet with information about him on it, and they will share with the class what they learned about George Washington. After this activity, I would ask the students to write down what their favorite thing about George Washington is.

I think this activity is good for the group, since they have to pay attention to learn trivia about the first president. Below, I just found a little site that has information about GW.

http://thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com/trivia93.html

Chapter 6

The essential skills I would like for my students to have is proper communication, and intellectual skills.   Since my students are simultaneously learning two languages, I think memory and organization is crucial for learning. Maybe by having them learn words by what they look like on the mouth, and what the sign is in relation to the word. Then this can contribute to learning materials and topics. Like with math, memory is essential in order for students to understand it. 

I think a teacher's knowledge of the memory process is very influential for giving instructions to students. I think learning is best when it can be connected to something personal. So when I'm teaching, I might try to connect it to my students, then explain it piece by piece, and let them do some exploring of their own, like constructivism. 

Assessments

I think assessments are a very effective way to gage how much the students are actually learning. It's very important to ensure that my students are learning not only the information, but also the new vocabulary. It's important that they understand the vocabulary, know the signs for it, and are able to read and write it. Since deaf students tend to want to write the ASL translation of whatever they are working on, it is important that they learn the correct way to use their new information in english.

As a informal assessment, I would probably give them spelling tests. I could sign a word, and have them write down what that sign is. This helps with their vocabulary and spelling skills. I could also have them write a little journal about the subject. That would help their ASL to english grammar, and use of their new vocabulary.

As a formal assessment, I might have them do projects where they get up in front of the class and present. This would be a good way to grade them based on their use of the material. I could also give them a test like any other teacher would. I could do half be based on signing aspects, the other half on the english vocabulary of what we covered.

This website sort of shows how many other aspects of assessments can be used for deaf students. It goes beyond just educational assessments for the students.
http://www.ohioschoolforthedeaf.org/assessment.aspx