Today in class we watched a video called, " How difficult can this be?; The FAT city workshop." It was teaching people what life might be like for a child with a learning disability. I have never had the opportunity to work with children with learning disabilities, but I am related to a few. I have a cousin who has been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder. I am sure that he had a difficult time trying to make it through the public school system, but as he is quite a bit older than I and we grew up in different provinces, I can't say for sure. What I do know about the man is that he is absolutely brilliant. He excels at anything he puts his mind to and he has several degrees from several schools around Canada. He has an art degree from NSCAD, a carpentry degree from Olds college, and he almost has a film degree from RDC. He is also thinking about going to school to become an architect. I have met few people more intelligent than this fellow. Some of the things I heard in the video I kind of figured, but I was also shocked at how much I didn't know. I am finding the video incredibly informative and I know it will be beneficial for me and my career. Following are some points made in the film that I thought were particularly interesting and my thoughts.
- 69% of American children (in 1989) had been diagnosed with a learning disability. That was shocking for me to hear! I had no idea that they were so common.
- The man in the video has a slight speech impediment. I really enjoy listening to people with lisps talk. My thoughts strayed seldom during the film.
- One thing that the fellow said was, "using sarcasm with children creates a victim". I think it's really good for me to hear that. I find myself to be a very sarcastic person sometimes, and I would hope that it wouldn't come out with my future students. It makes complete sense that it would create a victim, but I had never before seen it that way. For younger kids, sarcasm is like a slap in the face, and it happens in front of all of your classmates. I can imagine how traumatizing that would be, and I have seen it with some of my teachers. When I was in grade four, I had the unfortunate opportunity to be taught by a mean spirited, stout woman. One day there were a few students that hadn't completed their assignment the night before and it involved some coloring. The way that this teacher dealt with that was to have the kids write her a letter explaining themselves. One young man named Shaun wrote that he had "forgotten his colors". Instead of speaking to Shaun about this in private and possibly giving him some one on one instruction, she decided it would be appropriate to read it aloud to the whole class. I still remember the sarcasm, and I remember everyone laughing at him. The actions of this teacher was borderline abusive, and I look back on that teacher with utter disgust. There was nothing that I found admirable about that woman, and she stands out in my mind as a great example of what not to do.
- Children with learning disabilities hold to the belief that "if I can't see the teacher, the teacher can't see me". I'm quite certain that I don't have a learning disability, but I certainly agree with this statement. I find it to work fairly well in certain situations, as well.
- The man in the wonderful haircut also mentioned the difference between distractibility and attention spans, which I thought was bang on. Children that have short attention spans pay attention to nothing, while children that are easily distracted pay attention to everything. Everything in the room catches their attention and draws them away from the teacher and the lesson. I can relate to these types of students, because I think that I am a very easily distracted person. Quite often what a teacher says will spark my memory and I am off. Usually I catch myself after a few moments and try to return my attention to the teacher and the lesson. While I am speaking, I often am reminded of something more interesting that I wanted to share, so I'll take a break to tell that story, and then try to remember the first story and return to it. Cleaning my house is quite challenging as well. I always think that I'm going to start in one room, finish it and then move on to the next. It just seems to be the most logical route for me to take. I start with one room and I find something that takes me to another room. Perhaps there is a cup in the living room. I take the cup to the kitchen and then get distracted by the mess there. This usually happens more than once per cleaning, and I am constantly surprised to enter different rooms, see my half finished work, and continue on. I'm not sure whether this is normal, but my husband assures me it isn't.
- I found it quite interesting that when he accepted "I don't know" as an answer, it was immediately used by the next three people he called upon. I can completely understand this. I was in a kinesiology class last semester, and for a component of the lab we had to run a track. I am not an extremely active person, and I certainly don't enjoy running. My husband has forced me to run the trails with him, and that I enjoyed. There's so much to distract you from the toiling of your body. That day on the track, we were to run two laps and then pause to take a reading of our heart rates. I was doing spectacular! I didn't stop anymore than was required, and I was sure getting tired. This went on for about 15 minutes, and I was doing well tricking my mind into continuing. The only time I stopped was when I saw two others walking. The second I saw them, my resolve shattered and I walked a quarter lap. People tend to follow examples provided for them. I hadn't realized how this was relevant inside the classroom before.
- The man also noted the difference between vision and perception. Vision is simply seeing something, while perception is the meaning that you attach to that vision. If a child is having trouble with perception, then there is no amount of bribery or punishment that can help them sort it out. They need to be taught, oddly enough.
No comments:
Post a Comment