Mothers Day

I decided to change Mother's Day until the end of the month because two of my three children are out of the country. So to all you Mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day, and to the mothers to be this is a practice run, and for the new grandmother congratulations.

I must say that the space was certainly large and a perfect fit for a class that requires movement, technology and air conditioning. I must say the time in class moves so quickly that it is hard to reflect on the class until the next day. I certainly feel that there is a lot of information and I really want to get my biggest bang for my buck, no pun intended. I know the value in being able to support all students to become independent learners and this assistive technology course certainly has the potential to give me the knowledge and awareness that I need to become an informed educator. I am scared that the information is coming so fast that I might miss something and then I get to a point that my brain can not focus on anything specifically, just the moment.

It is wonderful to have an instructor that walks the walks, talks the talk, and can access the technology and give examples, but more importantly can support her students with experience and prior knowledge. I do not want to miss one minute of the instruction and yet it seems to be coming so fast that I do not feel I have the time to amply process the material.

As I was walking to my car yesterday I was talking to one of my colleagues and we were discussing how nice it would be for every student to have access to technology and provide individual support for specific students. It would allow for better observation and assessment, it would take the stress from the scribing, or spelling and it would allow our children to use their imagination and work with what they know. Not to mention we would not be pressured into specific outcome deadlines we would be expected to ensure success in student learning, by keeping all students engaged in the learning process. What a change this would make in the classroom environment. We would not over stimulate some of our children or disengage other students because we can not support their specific needs in the time allotted so we tend to try and overcompensate for our lack of resources and support which only makes matters more frustrating.

I know that inclusion means we take care of all our student population not just the ones with the greatest needs, that is not our decision to make, we should have the resources and ability to support our school population, whatever that looks like.