The readings on comprehension really interested me this week. Looking back on my own comprehension history has really helped me to understand that there are many different way students learn and think about different topics. I really liked the idea of letting your self as the teacher become a part of the discussion, and not just lead. I know something I struggled with was coming to college and having a discussion about a book with both my peers and the professor, versus having the main concepts told to me while I take notes. This idea of discussion would also be helpful as a teacher to see what concepts the students found to be important or memorable, because this could help draw on their own comprehension techniques.
Along with watching how students answer questions and participate in discussions, I want to address the article on special education. Being a special education major I feel that general education teachers seem to send students out far too often. There are numerous students in my placement classroom that are pulled out for things that could be easily accommodated within the general education classroom, but are not. It is also very frustrating that MSU general education majors do not take any classes on accommodating students or even a basic class on identifying disabilities; it is primarily their job to refer students to special education, and with no formal training that could postpone the process thus putting the student at a greater disadvantage.
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I totally agree with you Meryl. I am a general education major and I feel like I'm responsible for disadvantaging these students because of my own lack of knowledge. It seems that if special education students are going to be incorporated into the main classroom, then ALL teachers should have some sort of training or schooling for that. Every time the special education people in our class talk about accommodating to students, I think to myself...Wow, that could really be useful, How come I've never been taught that? Or how come this wasn't brought to my attention? I think this is a MAJOR flaw in Michigan States general education program.
In my classroom there is a CI student who comes in after lunch and when I first got to the classroom, my teacher didn't even know what CI stood for! She seemed so naive when it came to his situation. How is she supposed to teach him effectively when she doesn't even understand his diagnosis? It just seems crazy to me that we aren't taught more about this in college of all places.
I agree that it is important to remember and understand that students all comprehend and look at topics in different ways. Two students may approach the same questions or readings with a completely different interpretation or view point and that is part of what makes discussions on comprehension interesting. I think it is beneficial for teacher to become part of the discussion rather than just leading because it is more valuable to discuss ideas about readings rather than be told the "correct" answers. Seeing what students thought was important would also give teachers insight into what students were understanding about the story or what interests them as learners. In regard to the special ed article, as a general ed major, I don't feel as thought I am equipped with accommodation techniques for students who may need them in the classroom. I think it would be extremely helpful for general ed majors to take some of the special education classes so we were more aware of what to look for or how to help students who may need extra attention. I could not agree more that if general ed teachers are the ones who are referring students to special ed, but are not receiving formal training on how to identify or deal with these situations that it could be detrimental to the students progress.
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