Journal+-+Kimberly

=Instructions=
 * For your first entry, double-click the text below and replace it with your content
 * Place each new entry at the top (in reverse chronological order)
 * Begin each entry with the day's date

=Entries=

January 30, 2010 Before being a part of the Teacher's Alliance with Phoenix Country Day School, I was constantly contacting veteran teachers at my school who were designated as technology consultants. I needed help with everything. From connecting cables, to loading new software, I clicked off an e-mail to the technology department as the student's in my class suffered a technological drought. Now, things are different. I've had success with MovieMaker, used a video camera to make my own movies with two other teachers, my students have collaborated with autistic students from another classroom, I have taught my students how to use the video camera, and taught my students how to edit their own movies. When the opportunity came to apply to be a core technology teacher in the district, I took it. This means that I will learn about podcasting, sharing live video, and will have the opportunity to create new and meaningful projects in my classroom. When filling out the application, I had my experiences with the Teacher's Alliance to write about. The Teacher's Alliance got me off to a great start in the marriage between technology and education and it brought a new lap top to my classroom.

December 12, 2009 I read the first paragraph of the Storytelling and new media narrative Part II The Art of Storytelling by Jason Ohler. He says, "No matter what kind of approach to storytelling I am using, I always begin by focusing on the story, not the technology. To do this I usually tell stories and show stories created by other students (on DVD), then "find the story core" in each of the stories." As I was watching the video footage captured directly after the student's time in the general education in the class, footage captured by the aide in my classroom during some one on one time with that student, I see that dialogue in the form of naration is missing. This may be the next step. The students need to identify the next problem in a series of problems. The obvious problem is that they are not in a general education clasroom, they are in a self-contained special education classroom but they do not have any physical disabilities. Their disability lies in their own mind and in their actions. So how do they change that? It's nothing they can see. A transformation has to occur, according to the Story Core - Basic Configuration in Ohler's model. This transformation must come from the child's own understanding of their problems, and by learning social skills and trial and error based on reali life experiences and examples, finding solutions in the short term that ultimately equal solutions to the long-term, thereby finding a resolution.

SEPTEMBER 19, 2009

Contrary to popular opinion, students with emotional and behavioral disabilities thrive with complete structure and rules. Problem behaviors can be anticipated with more frequency, thus providing an opportunity for intervention by manipulating the antecedent and consequence associated behavior. This helps the teacher to positively shape the behavior. Spontaneous behavioral issues are decreased and failures are lessened.

Many students with emotional and behavioral disabilities have had so many failures. Their dreams of winning have already been smashed at a young age. These students have experienced significant failure in one area of their lives if they have already been placed in a special education program. They have hope of success up to the very last second. When they realize someone else may stop them from possibly experiencing an instant of success, they have feelings of failure and resentment. Thus, the behaviors start.

Once these students learn that the overall picture of who they are matters, they can relax into becoming the person they always wanted to be instead of relying on unreliable flashes of success.

The process of realizing their successes starts in a smaller “self-contained” classroom environment. With the help of the video camera associated with the Teacher’s Alliance program, students can see the triggers, or antecedents, leading up to their behavior choices. They see the way they deal with the trigger, and the resulting consequences, whether positive or negative, of their actions. Over time, students learn to anticipate their own behaviors and can work on changing their actions for better results. This provides the teacher of students with emotional disabilities with a very powerful intervention tool. The door is now open to communicate probable outcomes related to either positive or negative behavior choices and to visualize and brainstorm alternative choices they have at their disposal.

Taking video also allows for positive reflection on good behavior choices Often times, when the video camera comes out during class and students struggle to sit up straight in their chairs and follow directions to the letter. Students who have a history of behavior problems at school and at home often struggle with a negative self-image. Seeing themselves make good choices on camera helps them to change that image of themselves.