Module 2
There were many good topics that were discussed during this weeks reading. Chapter four revolves around the idea of learner differences and specific learning needs. One topic that really stood out to me during this chapter was the section about 504 plans (144). What really confuses me is that the vocational rehabilitation act was passed in the year 1973, but I haven't heard about 504 plans until three years ago. My entire family is riddled with ADD and my brother, in particular, had issues when it came to testing. Based on this act being passed over 40 years ago, my brother should have fallen under the status of this bill and gotten extra time on tests and what not, yet my family didn't know this existed.
Chapter five is titled Language Development, Language Diversity, and Immigrant Education. Many things are discussed in this chapter that has to do with the development of language in native English speakers. The chapter also talks about the development of a second language in immigrants. One topic from this subject that stood out to me is the idea of language loss (188). Language loss the name for when a person picks up a second language other than their native language, but they lose the use of their native language in the process. A buddy of mine growing up spoke Spanish when he came to America in the third grade with a speckle of English. Without focussing on learning Spanish alongside English, his Spanish skills have essentially gone down the drain. He still understands it for the most part, but his speaking skills are supposedly horrendous. Language loss stood out to me in this chapter because I saw it happen first hand with my buddy I just talked about.
Chapter six is all about culture and diversity in the classroom. This chapter goes into different topics such as race, gender, and culture. The one thing that stood out to me in this chapter is a paragraph that was labeled the "Dangers in Stereotyping". One thing that was mentioned is that students of Asian descent are not called Asian Americans, they're just referred to as Asain. What I didn't realize is that this can cause people of Asain descent to become discouraged about fitting into the American dream because they are not Americanizing. These types of little things never really came to my attention because it has been so normalized in our everyday culture.
Chapter eight is focused on behavioral/cognitive views of learning and memory. The term in this chapter that grabbed my attention the most is the process of reconstruction (323). Reconstruction is the process during memory retrieval where the memory is not found. The brain will try to reconstruct this memory by filling in parts that seem to be missing. I find this to be quite interesting because the memory that can not be fully retrieved has its blanks filled in with other memories that the person has. This can completely change how memory is remembered and it makes me wonder if this is one of the reasons why so many people remember traumatic events differently.
Chapter five is titled Language Development, Language Diversity, and Immigrant Education. Many things are discussed in this chapter that has to do with the development of language in native English speakers. The chapter also talks about the development of a second language in immigrants. One topic from this subject that stood out to me is the idea of language loss (188). Language loss the name for when a person picks up a second language other than their native language, but they lose the use of their native language in the process. A buddy of mine growing up spoke Spanish when he came to America in the third grade with a speckle of English. Without focussing on learning Spanish alongside English, his Spanish skills have essentially gone down the drain. He still understands it for the most part, but his speaking skills are supposedly horrendous. Language loss stood out to me in this chapter because I saw it happen first hand with my buddy I just talked about.
Chapter six is all about culture and diversity in the classroom. This chapter goes into different topics such as race, gender, and culture. The one thing that stood out to me in this chapter is a paragraph that was labeled the "Dangers in Stereotyping". One thing that was mentioned is that students of Asian descent are not called Asian Americans, they're just referred to as Asain. What I didn't realize is that this can cause people of Asain descent to become discouraged about fitting into the American dream because they are not Americanizing. These types of little things never really came to my attention because it has been so normalized in our everyday culture.
Chapter eight is focused on behavioral/cognitive views of learning and memory. The term in this chapter that grabbed my attention the most is the process of reconstruction (323). Reconstruction is the process during memory retrieval where the memory is not found. The brain will try to reconstruct this memory by filling in parts that seem to be missing. I find this to be quite interesting because the memory that can not be fully retrieved has its blanks filled in with other memories that the person has. This can completely change how memory is remembered and it makes me wonder if this is one of the reasons why so many people remember traumatic events differently.
It seems that learning has come along way and it is unfair that your brother did not have a better opportunity at a good education. I think there were a lot of kids throughout my time in school that could have been diagnosed with ADD but at the time the schools were not as proactive as they appear to be now. Even though ADD was a thing I do not think people paid attention to the possibility that their child was struggling in school for a reason other than intelligence.
ReplyDeleteI like your view on memory and find it interesting how some people block out traumatic experiences and other people have great memories. I feel like I remember so much about my life and my childhood. I often think of the block I lived on 30+ years ago and can remember every house and every person that occupied those houses but I cannot remember all the teachers I had throughout the years. It is funny what we remember and what we forget.
I am glad that I had a chance to read your post and your experiences growing up. I think that you are correct and that I don't recall there being much modification for those students who were diagnosed as being ADD or ADHD when I was a young student. I attended private school growing up and I recall there being Speech class or a pull-out Reading class for those who needed extra support. I recall one student having ADD growing up, but he was treated like most of the other students and was not given extra time with projects or tests. He took his medication and we never thought of him as being different from the rest of us. I am not sure if the teachers had any other training regarding students who needed special accommodations. It's really sad knowing that he could have had extra support given that the Vocational Rehabilitation Act existed that long ago.
ReplyDeleteYour thoughts regarding Chapter 6 are also some of the same things I have experienced as well. I always wondered why some cultures are treated the way they are and how easy it is to disregard some of them we are less familiar with. Stereotyping is dangerous for so many reasons and yet people can't stop labeling people according to their culture or background. They make assumptions based off of characteristics and associations without thinking about how that might affect someone else. I can only try to see my students as individuals and not associate them with one particular group or culture and treat them how they should be treated: fairly and with respect.