The Reason I Want To Teach

I have always loved helped others and uplifting them. I am a very caring, patient, loving, and creative. I have 6 brothers, 1 sister, 3 nieces, and 1 nephew. My family looks up to me! I am the first to go to college and my mothers last girl. I have a lot of people depending on me. I have a brother that has an IEP and I am not the one to choose favorites but him and I are very close. I also have a diva little cousin who has down syndrome. I have always had passion for working and helping someone else but high school brought out the best in me!

Looking forward to Week 3

Hope you are each enjoying a great three day weekend!  It comes at a great time for me.  Monday was a RARE evening for me to not have the technology support that I typically have.  I apolgoize for the lack of having a back up plan. I so appreciate your patience, support and participation in the activities.

Spelling out your names phonetically can be a bit more of a challenge than originally you might think.  Thanks for your great attitudes as you thought through the various sounds as to exactly which phoneme it would be.

Trading papers and seeing how others were thinking about morphemes also gave us the opportunity to reason out "how" and "why" would we break down words the way we do.  Remember to look for the smallest units of meaning.  Each part you break apart has to have meaning within it as it stands alone.  Here are some of the words from the exercise we didn't discuss in class:

1.  uneaten - 3 morphemes

• un - not
• eat - to consume or injest something
• en - derivative or part of making it a verb

2. gradually - 2 morphemes

• gradual - slow or deliberate
• ly - suffix used to show time
• This cannot be broken down to use grad as a morpheme because "ual" is not a unit that contains meaning.

3.  preregistration - 3 morphemes

• pre - before
• register - to record something
• ation - suffix making an action a noun "the act of"

4.  apologize - 2 morphemes

• apology - sorry
• ize - make into a noun

5. nationality - 3 morphemes

• nation - a country
• al - a suffix meaning of or pertaining to
• ity - a suffix to make a noun

We can see how phonemes are smallest units of sounds that certainly go together to form words.  We put these letters together in ways that create units of meaning, morphemes.  Once we have words we can then develop sentences.   

The key will be now to deepen your understanding of how the structure of sentences, the syntax and the meaning of them, the semantics, play a key role in the learning process for students with various exceptional learning needs.  How students use this language to interact with other children and adults through conversation demonstrates their pragmatic skills and abilities.  Often times chlidrens ability to interact with others can often impede their learning as well and need to be intentionally taught appropriate conversational or social skills in order to not just cope but succeed in the classroom setting.

Questions, comments and your feedback on this post is welcomed!!
Mrs. White

Daniel Boone Elem.

Today was my first day observing at Daniel Boone Elementary. Before today, I always thought I wanted to teach 1st grade or kindergarten. I was set in the lower grades. I believe my opinion is starting to change after the experience I encountered today. I assisted a third grade class and it was excellent. I helped tutor. I answered questions for the students. I grade notebooks. it was a very interesting day for me and the students, I  know. The students listened, they were engaged, they already knew the basics, they can tie their own shoe, but they are still loving and respectful. Overall, more independent students. When the teacher was covering new material the students were excited to learn. My teacher supervisor used a ton of formative assessments and engagers to keep the students on their toes and eager to learn. Starting this oberservation process has really got me looking forward to what the future holds, whether it be kindergarten or a higher level and brainstorming about activities I will have in my class.

Facts about KB!

Some random facts about myself.

• I honestly would be lost without my cell phone (sad, I know!)
• I am a total family girl.
• Very active member at Calvary Baptist Church
• I'm a woman after God's own heart. 
• Cheerleading and gymnastics coach
• I've cheered since I was 3 years old.
• Cheered, played softball, and golf in High School.
• Softball, and cheer at Alice Lloyd College.
• I could stand and talk to a wall. I love to talk!!!
• Shopping is just not my thing.
• My Gran Jan was my biggest hero.
• I am a chevron freak! Anything chevron...I want it!
• I absolutely can not wait to have my own classroom.
• I've been told that there's never a dull moment around me. (Hint: I am a blondie!)
• I'm just getting used to the whole blogging thing! Twitter is my life. haha! 

My Teaching Inspiration

I've always said when I got older, I wanted to be a teacher. But it wasn't until recently that I really understood why. My grandmother was a first grade teacher for many years. After 30 something years, she finally retired. I knew that she was a great teacher and all, but I was too young to really realize the impact she had on people. When I was in 5th grade, my Gran Jan was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. From that point on my life was changed forever. She moved into my house with me, and we shared a bedroom. After a few years of living that way, she became too sick to live at home, and moved into a nursing home. She was my best friend. I visited her every day, fed her dinner, read her books, laughed with her, cried with her, held her hand, anything that she would have done for me back in the day. During her stay at the nursing home, I heard comments all the time about how she was so and so's first grade teacher, and that made me feel so good! 

June 25th of this summer, my Gran Jan became a teacher to the Angels in Heaven. She fought the hardest battle of anyone I've ever met, and in my opinion, she won! Anyway... during the 12 day stay at the hospital right before she passed, I heard some women in the hallway of the hospital crying. I overheard this woman say, "I just found out Mrs. Miller isn't doing very well. It breaks my heart. She is the one who taught me how to read, when no other teacher could. She helped me in so many ways! She even gave me my first watch!" It made me feel so good to know that my Gran Jan made such an impact on so many peoples lives. From that point on, I knew exactly why I wanted to be a teacher. I am going to follow in my Gran's footsteps, and be the best teacher I can be. Hopefully some day there will be people talking about how I impacted their lives too!

When Gran was first diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Gran and I in her room at the nursing home, 10 years after fighting her fight!

#ENDALZ

Teaching Outside of the Classroom

To reflect back on last night's class, teaching someone to read is super hard! I am an older sister of 3 but an auntie to 7. I always around 4 out of 7 of those. Three being my nieces and one nephew. I love reading and my youngest niece, 3 years old, knows it. Every time I am free she is asking me to read her a book But teacher her how to sound out letters is the worst. I do not get flustered but I do take breaks. But other the summer I worked for the YMCA and had age group from 6-9. We took an hour every day to read.. So I had kids who could read below, on, and above their grade level. You could say I have had a lot of practice.

Facts of Life

A few random facts about myself: I am an animal lover. I love to read when I have time. I love my family. I am a tv junkie. I am obessed with Netflix but it doesn't consume all my time. I cheered and played softball at Alice Lloyd College. I have a 4.0 gpa. I have never received a B. (hopefully, I can keep that going) I live off campus. I have two Yorkies and a cat. I like to style hair. I love jewelry and all that girly stuff. I work at Planet Sun Tanning. I am an active member and youth leader of my church. I'm pretty easy to talk to. I can't wait to be a teacher someday.

Living in Clay County

        In Monday's night class, the dialect of people from Clay County was brought up. So, considering I am from Clay County, I thought I would add on to that. Clay County is a big county but it is not an advanced one. We have a handful of dollar stores, two IGA's, and a Walmart. Although that is more than some have. It is a very limited area. It's full of farms, ponds, tobacco fields, and plenty of love. No matter where you go, you always see a friendly face. Clay County is loving community. However, it does have downfalls. All in all, the people mean well. One thing that is most common with Clay County folk is our dialect. It's quite different from the surrounding counties and especially from up north.  We combine words that shouldn't be together, we use the wrong verb tense, we add extra sounds, and change the meaning of a word to whatever we want it to be. No matter where I go, I always hear a comment about how I speak followed by "where are you from?". Some find it unique and other think we're just uneducated. Clay County's vocabulary and dialect may sound pretty crazy to most, but it sounds like home to me.

Work

I am an after care teacher at a grade school near campus and being around young children I definitely see a lot of what we were talking about tonight. A lot of the kids have different ways of acting socially. They also struggle at pronouncing words correctly and they try to sound it out. Just the other day a three year old in after care called a basketball a "gratchetball". It was adorable, but is also a good example of what we talked about in class tonight.

Service Work

In high school I spent a week of my summer at Misericordia which is a home for mentally and physically disabled people. I got so much out of this experience and it inspired me even more to go into a profession that helps people with disabilities. It was a really cool facility because it had many different activities and rooms to help its residents. The residents there could work in the laundry room, sing in the choir, work in the greenhouse, work in the bakery, take art classes, workout, go swimming, work at the restaurant, or anything they wanted. They get paid for their work also, which is really neat. They also offer many therapies like swimming therapy, light therapy, art therapy, and more. There are a range of disabilities that show themselves here. They range from moderate to severe disabilities. Many of the residents have lots of life and personality to them, but some of them are in a coma like state. This experience has made me the person I am today.

About me

I was born and raised in Hebron, KY which is super close to Cincinnati. I have one sister who is a sophomore in high school. I also have a dog that I love dearly named Theo. I am a super active person and I love to run and hike. I also am an avid baker and I love to bake new and creative things. I have always been interested in helping people with disabilities, which is why I chose my major. I have a cousin that is autistic and another cousin with cerebral palsy, so I have been around disabilities my whole life. My cousin with cerebral palsy is almost fifty so I have grown up hearing his stories about how hard it was for him to get into school and be given the right to learn. I have grown up hearing how hard it was for my aunt and uncle to get him into school. They fought school boards and other parents. My cousin was the first student with disabilities at his high school. My cousin is also adopted and when he was diagnosed the adoption agency told my aunt and uncle that they could return him. Hearing all of this always inspired me to make things easier for other kids with disabilities and their parents.

My roommates

My freshman year, I was placed in a dorm with a random roommate and beside two more girls that were also random.  After a few weeks of constantly being together, we all became best friends.  This year, we are roomed together again.  The easiest part of being roommates with these girls are that we are all education majors.  Myself and another girl are Special Education/LBD elementary, one is a middle grade English and Science major, and the other is an elementary education.  We all have similar classes, if not the same, and we help each other out a great deal.  If one of us doesn't have the answer to a question, another one of us does.  We keep each other in check on our classwork and observation hours.  My friends and I make a great team and we compare stories of our observations. 

The reason why I want to teach...

I have had a love for children ever since I can remember.  I have been blessed with five younger siblings that I adore more than anything, and also love watching them grow and learn.  My passion for children started there.  All throughout my teenage years, I babysat during the summers for many families of young children and furthered my love for them by being around them on a daily basis.  I've helped out with bible school at church and even worked as a part time nanny a few summers ago. I have always wanted to be a teacher but often times have had my doubts.  Some of my family members have teaching degrees and they constantly encourage me and help me realize how much the positives outweigh the negatives. This past summer, I worked full time at a daycare/preschool in my town back home.  That experience is definitely one that has helped me truly understand what it takes to care and teach children day in and day out and confirmed I am on the right career path.  When a child is struggling and they finally break through, the feeling I get knowing I helped them do that, is when all my doubts about this career path disappear.  I  hope that someday I can become a great teacher and truly make a difference in a child's life!

The reason I chose my major and minor.

These two boys are the reason I decided I wanted to work with people who have disabilities.

The first picture is of a young boy named Dylan who I had the privilege of meeting on a missions trip I took in high school. We were painting his house as part of our trip, and he could not speak very well, and we were told he tended not to associate with the volunteers. However, for some reason Dylan followed me around, talked to me,showed me his home and wanted to help me do everything. His mom said he normally did not interact that way with people because he had Autism and he was very shy. I will never forget this little boy, he truly inspired me. 

The second picture, is my brother and I. My brother Gabe is now 18 and just graduated. Due to his extensive IEP he has had a rough time in school. He was projected not to graduate at all, and he even had to leave his private grade school for a public one due to the fact that they could not meet his needs properly. My brother and I grow closer with age, and I have gained a personal insight to how his disabilities truly effect his life. After growing up with him and helping him through school,homework, and his daily troubles with other students, I learned a lot from him, and that I wanted to continue working with people like him, because you truly learn so much.

Hello!

I am Jessica Fouts, and I am a senior Recreational Therapy major, with a minor in special education. I only have one semester of classes left, and my summer internship and I will be home free. I am from Hamilton, Ohio (near Cincinnati). I love to go camping, hiking, and canoeing/kayaking. I love music, and go to as many concerts as I can. I also enjoy photography ( I am kind of picture crazy), and being surrounded by friends and family. This past summer I interned for the Butler County Board of Developmental Disabilities at their adult day location along with volunteering for the Madison County Special Olympics. I have known I wanted to work with people who have developmental disabilities since I was a freshman in high school, although the age group keeps changing. I am excited for this class, and hope that I learn more about special education.

Pregnant Turkey???

So... I've always heard you can help someone remember you by telling something embarrassing about yourself. Well, here it goes.

My Junior year of High School, I was 16 years old. My uncle who always loves to play tricks, and joke around, brought his wife and son to my house to visit for Thanksgiving. While walking through Kroger he gets the idea to buy a cornish hen, and stick it inside our Turkey that they were cooking for Thanksgiving Day. I was at home at this time, so I had no idea any of this planning was going on.

Thanksgiving Day rolls around and my mom walks into my room saying, "Kara Beth, GET UP!! We have cooked a pregnant turkey!!" I jump out of my bed, run to the kitchen (all of this is on video,btw!) open the oven and see the cornish hen inside the turkey. I was so excited! I called all my friends, "you will NEVER believe this! We cooked a pregnant turkey! This is so crazy!!" I asked my mom if we could call LEX 18 and get it on the news. Then I turn around to see her fake calling Butterball to ask if it would still be okay for us to eat. They really made me believe that we had something no one else had ever done.

After about a half hour of this going on, my uncle finally looks at me and says, "KB, you DO know that turkeys lay eggs, right?"

Kara Beth then exits the room, feeling about as small as an ant. Haha!

Just call me Pregnant Turkey girl.

Hi Everyone! :)

Hi! My name is Allie. I am a junior this year and my major is Recreational Therapy with a minor in Special Education.  I love everything about my major and minor.  I have been working with Special Needs since I was in middle school and I couldn't imagine doing anything else with my life.  I room with 4 of my best friends and we have so much fun.  I really enjoy going to concerts, playing sand volleyball and all other sports.  I'm so happy with my college choice!  I hope to do an internship for Recreational Therapy in California either this year or next year and hopefully live there.  I'm very excited for this class and to meet all of you!

Getting to know KB!

Hello! My name is Kara Beth Singleton. Often times people refer to me as KB. I am a transfer student from Alice Lloyd College where we had a total of a whopping 600 students. So needless to say, I knew everyone in all of my classes, which makes very excited to get to know each of you. I am currently double majoring in Special Education Learning and Behavior Disorders and Elementary Education. My family is full of educators and I can't see myself doing anything but following in their footsteps. 

A little more about my every day life...

I am a student worker here at EKU in the Workforce Education Department located in the Perkins Building. I also work in the evenings as a cheerleading and gymnastics coach for Cheer Cats at Andy's Gymnastics in Estill County. I absolutely love both of my jobs! I am a 5th and 6th grade Sunday School teacher, as well as a Youth Group Leader. I love my God, and I love serving Him. :)

 I really love getting to know knew people, and I'm excited to meet new friends at EKU! I hope this class helps me do that. Have a GREAT 2nd week of classes! 

Hello there

My names Katie Creekmore I'm a junior this year and I love it.  I work at Walgreens and am majoring  child development. I'm from northern Kentucky but I consider Richmond to be my home. I love to play and watch basketball UK is my favorite team! I'm excited about this class and can see myself really enjoying it.

My biggest accomplishment so far in my life was going to the Dominican Republic on a medical mission trip.  I went with some of my family and some other doctors and nurses.  We were there for 10 days and we mainly set up medical clinics and saw hundreds and hundreds of people a day, mainly women and children.  Not only did I assist with urine testing, but I also kept the children entertained while their mothers were being seen.  We played numerous games, most of which the children had never heard of, did face painting, and my cousin did magic tricks.  This was an amazing experience and I would give anything to go back.

My family is a very non- traditional family. My mom and dad and divorced and are both married/soon to be married.  I have 5 sisters and 1 brother ages 19,17,16,16,14, and three months.  My mom is engaged to the man she has dated for 9 years and is getting married this Thanksgiving break and all 8 of us are going to Cancun to celebrate which I am extremely excited for!  In the first picture, that is my family on my moms side.  In the second picture that is me, my twin sisters (my real sisters), and our new baby sister the day she was born.  In the last picture that is the most recent picture of my baby sister.

Over the summer I worked for Lexington Park and Recreation in their Therapeutic Recreation department.  I worked with adults with disabilities at a summer camp.  We did arts and crafts, swam, and played games making for a fun, but exhausting day.  Now, I work Lexington Park and Recreation still, but I help out with their programs during the school year for adults with disabilities such as: adult fitness, horsemanship, and bowling.  Every day is different in its own way and even though sometimes it is challenging i enjoy every moment of it.

Hi my name is Sydney Straub.  I am a Junior majoring in Park and Recreation with a concentration in Therapeutic Recreation and minoring in Special Education!  I am from Cincinnati, Ohio and I love to be outdoors and fish, hike, white water raft, and I have been skydiving.  I am super excited for this class!

Taylor Domidion

Hi! My name is Taylor Domidion and I am a sophomore.  I am majoring in Special Education Teaching with an emphasis in LBD Elementary Education.  I have many siblings and love working with children of all ages.  This semester, I hope to learn about special education in general and am excited to start learning and working with everyone!

Hello my name is Kendall Noel and I am an IECE major; and one day hope to one day be a special education teacher for all ages. I do believe I am the oldest person in this classroom as I will be turning the big 2 9 next Thursday!aaaaaaaaaaaa! I work as an assistant manager at a convenient store, a full time student, and a full time mommy to the most handsome 2 year old baby boy :) In the midst of all of that I am planning my wedding for next year! I have a lot on my plate, but I am loving every minute of it.

The Life of Bridgett

Hello!
       My name is Bridgett Leanne Hibbard. I have just recently transferred to EKU this semester from Alice Lloyd College. I am currently a junior double majoring in Deaf and Hard hearing and Elementary Education. I am from the small town, Manchester, Ky, where you know nearly everyone's name. I consider myself to be very blessed with a big and extremely close family, although, I only have one sibling. Also, I have a loving church family that have helped me stay positive through the whole transfer situation.
       I am very excited about this class and the others that will instill the qualities I will need to become an effective educator. Looking back, I have always known that I wanted to teach. Recently, I have added to those plans by realizing I would like to broaden my abilities and begin working with children who have diverse needs. That's it from me! I'll keep it short and sweet. I look forward to this semester and getting to know all of you!

Get To Know Me

Hello everyone! My name is Takisha Mack. I am sophomore and a special education major. I have many siblings and I am very family oriented. I believe this class will help me reach out to different students with a variety of disabilities and personalities. I look forward to working with you all and making this semester a great one!

Jameson

Hey, my name is Jameson DeBord. I am a transfer student from the University of the Cumberlands and I will be majoring in Special Education with an emphasis in middle grade math. I am excited to get this class going and see the new things I will learn at a new school.

Hi my name is Rachel and I am super excited for this class this semester! I am a pre communication disorders major with a minor in special education and I hope to become a speech pathologist that works with children with cleft lips and palates. I would also like to travel and help kids around the country and the world. I love working with children and I work an after care program so I am always around children.   I think that this class will definitely help me reach that goal. I have family members that have severe disabilities and that is what inspired me to go into this field! I am excited to learn more about the subject and get to know everyone!

Creating A New Post

If you are looking for how to create a new post - look to the top right hand corner of the screen.  Simply click on the link that says, "New Post."

Texting a Post

You can also text your message or question to the blog. This was sent from my phone - Mrs. White

Mrs. White, Instructor

Hi, I'm Mrs. White, the Instructor for SED260.  This is the 6 year I have taught this course.  Each semester I teach it I learn something new about the content, the students, teaching and myself.  That is one of the best things about teaching - how much you learn!

I started my career in 1987 teaching deaf and hard of hearing students.  I've taught regular education, worked in the instructional technology field, been a coach/consultant in school improvement, as a consultant in differentiated in instruction and am currently serving as the Branch Manager for the Teacher & Leader Effectiveness Branch at the Kentucky Department of Education.

My late husband blessed me with many gifts and among them I count my  step-children,  grand children and great grand children!   My youngest step-son is a graduate of Gallaudet University and is currently working as a Behavior Coach and the High School Basket Ball Coach at the Mississippi School for the Deaf.

Tell us about you!