How to Praise Students Effectively

Praising your students can be a powerful motivation tool to use in the classroom. Teachers can use praise to improve classroom behavior by acknowledging one students good behavior, and the rest the of the class will will match the good behavior. Praising students can also help boost students academic performance, and speed on an assignment. However, praising your students should not be issued out to much, because students understand when your comments are true to the heart. According to
smartclassroommanagment.com:

Excessive praise:

• Is not meaningful to student.
• It lowers expectations.
• It doesn't change behavior.
• Its so prevalent it becomes a humdrum to students. 

For praise to effective:

• It should be private.
• Make it subtle.
• Make it worthy.
• Make it sincere.

 After learning about how to praise students, all I can think about is my future as a teacher. I plan to praise my students, but only give credit where it is due. Also, I want to motivate my students as an effort boost their self esteem emotionally and academically. My goal is to show my students that I truly care about how well they perform inside and outside of the school.

For more information visit: http://www.smartclassroommanagement.com/2010/11/27/how-to-praise-students-and-influence-behavior/

Advantages of Co-Teaching

All students who are differently abled are entitled to a free and appropriate education (FAPE). This law is authorized under the individuals with disability education act (IDEA). Also, students should be cultivated in the least restrictive environment (LRE). Many parents would want their child’s least restrictive environment to be in the general education classroom, but the general education classroom is not always the best place for a special needs student to be placed. The student needs to placed in an environment that best fits his/her learning needs. Nevertheless, there is another strategy that teachers can use to create a better learning environment for students with special needs who are located in the general education classroom. That other source is co-teaching. According to Maryland Learning Links co-teaching is “An equal partnership between two teachers—a general educator and a special educator—who have equivalent levels of professional licensure. If teachers use the strategy of co-teaching, learning can be very effective for students with special needs.  

Some advantages of co-teaching are:

• Teachers have the opportunity to learn from each other’s knowledge.
• Special need students feel more comfortable around their peers. 
• Special needs students still receive attention. 

For more information on co-teaching and inclusion visit:

http://marylandlearninglinks.org/1006

http://disabilitynetwork.org/education/inclusion-for-special-education-students-advantages-and-benefits/

Why I want to become a Special Education Teacher

The reason I decided to pursue the field of EC-12 Special Education, is because one of my best friends back home was disabled; he couldn't walk. Although he was much older than the rest of the other guys and myself, we never paid attention to that matter. I grew closer and closer to him each and every time we had a chance to hang out. I never looked at him as being different, because he rode around in a wheel chair. He was just as normal as anyone else. He was a very humorous guy, and liked to talk about his childhood memories with the "crew". I learned a lot from this guy about the essentials of life. He encouraged me to get an education and to make something out of myself. Also, he pointed out that I had the heart of a  teacher, because I was patient, and was always teaching people around the community how to do various things. However, I took my friends advice after he passed away on May 23, 2009, just two weeks before my high school graduation. After all the times i spent with my friend, I had been inspired in so many ways without realizing that I actually had passion to help students who suffer with various disabilities, disorders, or other health impairments. In the near future, I want to be able to boost my students self esteem academically and emotionally, it just takes patience and "will" to make things happen.

R.I.P Alvin Earl Gilder Jr. 11-21-78 ~ 05-23-09