Week 10

If you are having a student who is struggling to pay attention in their regular education class, what are some strategies you can use to help the student attend?

I have a student who is struggling to pay attention in their regular education class room I will first have a discussion with the regular education teacher. Together we will assess what might be causing the problem. I will make sure that the child is sitting in an appropriate spot based on their hearing loss. We will then assess whether or not the child is understanding the material. This could be an underlying reason for the child's difficulty to pay attention. If all of these things are addressed then I will then give the teacher strategies she can use to help the child pay better attention such as capturing the student's attention before the lesson begins. This can be accomplished by using a motivating introduction. Another way to ensure that the child pays attention is providing lots of opportunity for the students to participate. Praising students who are being attentive will also motivate the inattentive child to do so as well.

Positive Behavior Supports or PBS is a program some districts or schools implement. Complete a mini-research regarding this program. Do you think this is a beneficial program? Why or Why not?

I think the PBS program is beneficial. I think it is beneficial because it really focuses on what is causing the undesired behaviors. It is important to understand the underlying reasons the behaviors are occurring before we can correct the problem permanently. In order for this program to work the techniques must be feasible, desirable, and effective. I really think this program is beneficial for not only the students but the educators as well.

Week 9

While I was searching for strategies to teach Science and Social Studies I ran across several ways to teach vocabulary. One strategy I found was having the child look up the word and then use it in their own sentence. This ensures that they not only know the definition but also understand how to apply it. When teaching these subjects I think it is very important to pre-teach the vocabulary so that the students are not lost during the lectures. It is important to incorporate vocabulary activities using the new words before prior to teaching the actual material.

I think one of the most important ways you can prepare to teach these two subjects is to know the subjects yourself. We cannot expect to teach students to understand something if we do not understand it ourselves. I think we as teachers need to know the material well enough that we can alter and modify it in ways that our students will better understand.


I think a good way to expand on similarities and differences and get our children to the level of creating metaphors and analogies is providing lots of modeling. It is important for the children to see this kind of language being used. I think our students will require more explicit teaching of these things than children without a hearing loss. I think a good way to start this could be making a list comparing two things and then plugging those words into a sentence. The teacher could provide several examples and then ask the students to create their own.

Week 8

The authors noted the lag in development of mathematics concepts is due to delays in language development, lack of exposure to life-based problem-solving, and inadequate pre-service teacher preparation in the area of mathematics. Do you agree or disagree.

I agree with this statement. The language used in mathematics is sometimes difficult for us as hearing people to understand and it is especially difficult at times for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. I also think that children who are deaf or hard of hearing do not get as many opportunities to problem-solve in real life. Some of this is due to over protective parents and lack of incidental learning.

 I think teaching math to students who are deaf or hard of hearing requires a lot of pre-teaching of vocabulary terms and concepts. This isn't always possible in larger classes and many of these students are mainstreamed into the regular education classroom. I think teachers need to be made aware of this language barrier that our students face when it comes to math and provide individualized instruction whenever possible or consider sending these students to the deaf education classroom for math.

Week 7

The CAEBER sounds like an awesome program. I had never heard of it until I went to complete this assignment. From the research I did it seems to be a program that teachers attend and at the end they are qualified to be on-site ASL/English Bilingual Professional Development (AEBPD) mentors at their respective schools/programs. According to www.gallaudet.edu CAEBER promotes a national collaborative effort among educators, parents, and researchers who work together to respond to the educational needs of deaf and hard of hearing children through these strategies

Promotion of the appropriate use of scientifically research-based language planning in educational settings

Promotion of the acquisition, development, and use of both ASL and English for academic purposes for deaf and hard of hearing students as well as their parents and educational staff 

Training for educational staff in the strategic use of ASL and English as languages of instruction in educational settings 

Promotion of an understanding and appreciation of language and cultural diversity

These strategies could be easily incorporated into any deaf classroom. I think it is important for children to have a good solid foundation in English for academic purposes even if they use ASL as their main mode of communication. I think this is what we have been taught to do all along. However, if we do have a child who uses ASL I think it is important to be fluent in both and to have an appreciation for the language and the culture itself.

Week 6

Several approaches and suggestions were mentioned by the authors, however challenges continue to impact educating students who are D/HH. In thinking of your classroom, what components of reading and writing do you feel are important to teach and how will you teach them?

The subject of teaching reading to D/HH students is something that is talked about a lot in the field of Deaf Education. Research shows that it is a struggle to get D/HH students reading on grade level after the third grade. This is something that needs to be remedied. I personally feel that all components of reading and writing are important to teach these students. I feel that if these components are being taught to children without a hearing loss then they also need to be taught to children with a hearing loss. These children deserve the same education but it just needs to be delivered in a different way. Children who are deaf and hard of hearing need more explicit instruction when it comes to reading and writing that children without a hearing loss do not always require. I think it is extremely important for these children to get this direct and repeated instruction for letter sound correspondence. This is the beginning of learning to read and if they do not have a solid foundation here then they will continue to struggle throughout the reading process. Comprehension is also a component of reading that is often difficult for children who are D/HH. I think read-alouds and repeated readings could both be strategies that could help in this area.

Writing and editing their own writing is something that children who are deaf and hard of hearing also struggle with. I think this too can be fixed with direct teaching and repeated practice. These children take longer to process things than children without a hearing loss and sometimes all it takes is for a teacher to spend more time on things and give them more opportunities to practice.

Actual Week 4: Just Realized I Wrote Week 5 Where Week 4 Should be...#Fail

Stages of Development vs. Common Core Standards vs. Curriculum Scope and Sequence vs. Hierarchy of Skills

I think all of these have their place when it comes to teaching children with a hearing loss. I would start with stages of development since children with a hearing loss are sometimes behind developmentally in certain areas such as speech and language. If a teacher of the deaf and hard of hearing were to start with common core the child may lack some of the prerequisites that are necessary in meeting those standards. Another way to begin with a child with a hearing loss that may be behind developmentally would be a hierarchy of skills. After one skill is mastered move on to the next. If a child is functioning at the appropriate level developmentally then I think it is important to stick with the curriculum that his/her peers are being taught in the regular education classroom. I think it is important to assess the child's present level of performance before deciding where to start.

When the child expands and progresses in skill then we will shift our focus on to the next skill in either a hierarchy of skills or meeting the next common core standard. No matter which method is used all of the skills build upon each other and it is important that some be mastered before moving on to others. However, some skills can be taught simultaneously. I believe that all of these methods have a place but it is important to assess where the child is academically and developmentally before deciding on which method might be most important for that child.

Week 4

In teaching a lesson, when should you use cues, questions, and advance organizers? What adaptions might these need in working with students who are Deaf/Hard of hearing?

Cues, questions, and advance organizers can be used when further engaging students in new content. These things help students to access prior knowledge and promote better understanding. The more a child knows about a subject the more engaged that child will be in the learning. There is a place for these tools in every lesson. However, as educators of the deaf and hard of hearing we are often faced with modifying teaching techniques for our students. A few ways these teaching tools can be modified is maybe having the teacher fill out the advanced organizer while the student tells them what to write and providing lots of visuals for the cues and questions.

What are your thoughts on homework? Will you assign homework? How often do you think students should have homework? Do you agree with the authors in CITW? Why or why not?

I am really torn on this subject. Part of me thinks that the children are in school eight hours a day five days a week and home should be for family. Another part of me thinks that it is beneficial. The book says that the amount of homework assigned is directly related to the grade level which I agree with. I do not believe that homework is necessary or even beneficial for lower elementary students other than maybe getting them used to having it for the older grades. At the high school age there is so much content to cover sometimes it seems that homework is the only way. I think my assigning homework will depend on the grade level. I do not think I will assign homework for elementary aged students. I think if I do assign homework to middle school students it will be minimal and I will assign high school students homework but it will not be as extensive as many schools do. I believe that education is almost the most important thing, but it is not more important than family and the experiences you get when spending time together. I know not every student goes home to be with their family and a lot of them play video games, watch movies, or hang out with friends but I wouldn't want to eliminate that possibility. All in all I do agree with what the book has to say regarding homework.