Reflecting on the Personal Contact Inventory I was not surprised by the results. I was often in contact with individuals with disabilities because I grew up with a twin brother who was diagnosed with Attention Deficient Disorder. After his diagnosis my mother refused to send my brother to another school that was “better equipped to handle students like my brother”. My mother researched the laws and went in front of the Board of Education and argued for my brother to be accommodated in our current school. My mother was instrumental in having the first special education class implemented in our school.
Growing up we were in a rural community in Florida that was predominantly mono-cultural. After I graduated high school my cultural experiences changed drastically, I went from being in a mono-cultural community to being in an extremely diverse environment. For four years I was blessed with the opportunity to serve in the Untied States Navy. From the moment I stepped off the bus at boot camp I realized the community I was going to be in was extremely different from my town in Florida. During my four years in the military I was blessed with the opportunity to immerse myself into cultures that were entirely unlike the culture that I grew up in. I will always be appreciative for my experiences, because I have incorporated my knowledge and experiences into my lessons for my students, making them much more interesting.
I continue to use my experiences with special education and multi-culturalism to shape who I am as a person and as a teacher. As educators it our responsibility to consistently evaluate ourselves and teaching strategies, and to be open-minded to our students’ abilities and experiences. It is our responsibility to teach our students to have the same open-mindedness, one way to do this is to learn about our student’s culture and background so we can incorporate their experiences into our lessons. If we make that connect to our students it will gain their interest and make them want to learn and become more interactive in the classroom.
Although slightly different, our experience with parent involvement in schools is very similar. My mother, being a special education teacher, had to fight for my rights to be included in my districts accommodations. I completely agree with hour ideas on continuously reflection on practices and strategies. I applaud you for your service; you have extreme amounts of strength to take on the US Navy. The closest connection I have to armed services is that my uncle is a Captain in the US Navy. I consider it to be like canned food—it has a shelf life we need to continuously check. Students come in all shapes, colors, and sizes—our teaching cannot be one size fits all!
ReplyDeleteWow! Go Mom!
ReplyDeleteIt's really interesting to think about how far we have come with Special Education programs in our schools. You are only a little older than I am, and your school did not yet have a Special Education program (well, until Mom fought for your brother's rights!). Now, I am subbing in a district that has almost full inclusion for all students with special needs. There are many students that are intellectually disabled, a few with severe physical disabilities, many English language learners, and one boy with Down Syndrome, all of whom are included in the regular classrooms.
It is the brave (although deserving) people like your Mom and brother who are helping us progress in our schools systems, and as a society!
First, I would like to say thank you for your contribution in the US Navy! I can only imagine the sort of diversity that you were surrounded by. The experience you were exposed to will be an attractive way to converse different topics with your students.
ReplyDeleteI am so surprised that your school did not have a Special Education classroom! I am so proud of your mother she is a very smart woman! It is amazing to think of the overwhelming number of students that have and are benefiting from her hard work and determination. In school I was given a 504 plan so, I had one period every other day in the special education room with a resource teacher to give further and thorough instruction. I don't know what I would have done without that extra aid.