Sheldon cooper

My little brother has Aspergers and as we have learned in class this sometimes means brutal honesty. If you watch the show The Big Bang Theory then you know that Dr. Sheldon Cooper is possibly the most brutally honest person on the Earth. Yesterday I learned that my brother loves the show and his favorite character is Sheldon because he has noticed that they are very similar in how they interact with people. Now all he needs is a PHD when he turns sixteen and we will have our very own Sheldon!

Finishing STRONG!

I loved Emily's thought about "finishing strong."  Here's the updated schedule for your reference and planning. 

Date	Time	Activity
Sunday, December 1	Midnight	All November blog posts submitted.
Monday,  December 2	6:00 p.m.	Class - chapters 15 & 16.  Come prepared for individual, pair, small group and whole group activity.  It will all be included as we ensure we're learning the critical aspects of these two chapters.
Monday, December 2	9:00 p.m.	After Class OPTIONAL Language Project Review Anyone who has questions about their projects, their transcriptions or analysis is welcome to gather with Mrs. White.  We’ll grab a cup of coffee or bite to eat and go over any questions or the work you’ve completed up to this point on your project.
Friday, December 6	Midnight	Language Project Due
Saturday, December 7	Noon	Final Exam Opens
Wednesday, December 11	Midnight	Final Exam Due
Monday, December 16	Noon	All grades will be posted

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope everyone's had a great Thanksgiving day! Mine has been filled with family time, and eating entirely too much food! But that's how it's suppose to be, it's crazy that next week is dead week and the following week is finals! This semester has seriously flown by. Ready to finish strong, see you all Monday night!

Hunger games

Who has seen the second one yet? i absolutely loved the first one and im trying to finish the second book so i can go see it!! Any fans?

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is always my favorite holiday, not only because of all the amazing food but i get to see all my family and nothing makes me happier then to see them. Sadly this year i dont get to go home for thanksgiving because i have to work on Thursday all day. so my family is going to come visit me on friday so i can at-least see them. Im not really that upset im working because i know by doing this i gave one of the older moms that work with me a day to spend with their family and cook for their kids.

Class is cancelled tonight!

Hey guys, Dr. White sent out a group text that she is stuck in traffic on her way back from Louisville and can't make it to class. So class is canceled. Have a great Thanksgiving!

what's everyone doing?

Thanksgiving break is coming up, thank God. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, and always has been. It's one of the few that everyone gets together for in my family. So I will be enjoying good food, good football, and good company with family in Virginia. If anyone feels the urge comment and let me know what you all are getting into.

-Justin Bivens

Ready for snow?!?

According to the weather channel, we're supposed to get some bad weather. Seems like I'm the only person who enjoys the snow. Anyone else looking forward to it? Hopefully it holds off so I can make it home for thanksgiving break. Hope everyone enjoys their time off! Be careful traveling! 

-B 

English Learners

As you read through this post regarding third grade assessments and English Language learners what thoughts and questions come to mind?

Instructional Suggestions for ELLs: PARCC Assessment Task (Part 2)

Monday, Nov 25

Class on Monday, the 25th will begin at 6:45 instead of 6:00.  I will be in Louisville speaking at the Council on Exceptional Children conference in the afternoon.  The final session concludes at 4:45.

We will also be switching the final two chapters and doing chapter 16 on Language & Cultural Considerations this week.  I encourage you to review the resources in Blackboard and the chapter prior to coming to class.

We wrap up November this week which means I'll be looking forward to reviewing all of the blog posts for the month.  If you've not shared some of your personal thoughts, reflections on classes or commented on a peer's post, now is the time to do so.

Thanksgiving Break

I'm so excited Thanksgiving break is finally so close! I can't wait not only to have a break from school but to spend time with my entire family and eat lots of yummy food.  Hope everyone has a good break :)

Family

Two of my brothers and one of my sisters are homeschooled by my step-mom.  This past week I was able to go over and help her out since she also has an 8 month old baby on her hands.  It was awesome to see them learning so well and seeing how my step-mom choose to teach them.  Although homeschooling is probably not the decision I will see for my future kids, I understand why she chose to do so and how it helps the children.

My family

Watching the video about Keith Jones made me think about my cousin Timmy. He has had cerebral palsy ever since he was born. He is now almost 50 so he has faced a lot of discrimination during his lifetime especially growing up when lots of people were still ignorant about disabilities. He was adopted and my aunt and uncle didn't know he had cerebral palsy when they adopted him, the adoption agency even told my aunt and uncle that they could return him. How demeaning is that? That you could return someone like a toy someone didn't want at Christmas. My aunt and uncle refused to give him back and raised him. They fought hard for him to be able to be included in schools. They fought the board and the government and he ended up being the first kid with disabilities in his school district to be included. This story has been a huge factor in determining my career path and I wouldn't trade him as my cousin for the world.

Veggie Soup

So, I've always been raised to eat veggie soup with roast as the meat. Recently I discovered that hamburger works great too! What meat do you all use in your vegetable soup? I thought about trying turkey burger.

One Week!!

One week until we finally have Thanksgiving break. I don't know about you all but I definitely am in need of a break! Not to mention, this is my favorite time of the year. I love getting together with my family, playing games, laughing, and just enjoying each other's company. Oh and did I mention all the foooodddd!!!!! After thanksgiving dinner, we always stay around my nanny's house until the morning hours playing rook. It's a family tradition.  Its something so simple like playing cards that makes me realize how blessed I truly am. I absolutely love my family and the time we share together. Do you all have any traditions or family events your family does around this time of year?

-B

Cheer Competition

This weekend the team I coach competed at a competition in Lexington. All my girls are 11 and under. During the middle of the routine, one of my girls feel in her round off backhandspring and broke her arm. It was just dangling!! We had to pull her off the stage and her parents took her to the ER. By far the scariest thing that's happened to me since coaching those sweet girls. The team kept on going, and performed their best. I was so proud of them!!

Test 3

After finishing test 3, I feel it was the hardest one we've had. I don't feel confident at all! I don't know if it's because we only had three classes over the content, or if it just wasn't "clicking" with me. I couldn't really understand what Mrs. White was wanting out of the questions.

How do you all feel?

Language Project

I have conducted my language sample. Now, I am trying to decide if I want to analyze semantics or pragmatics. Any suggestions??

-B

Traumatic Brain Injury Survivor Briana Precious!

Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) corrects brain-injury.

Keith Jones Featured in Film Including Samuel

Impacts of TBI on Memory and Functioning (+playlist)

Substitute teaching

At the school I work at I have had two amazing opportunities the past couple of weeks. I have gotten to substitute teach preschool as an aide and I have gotten to substitute first grade all by myself. It was definitely an eye opening experience to how language and pragmatics is involved in teaching. The way I talked to the  preschoolers was a lot different than the way I talked to the first graders. The discipline methods were also a lot different. It was really awesome to see that I could handle being a teacher even if it was just for a day. I really loved this experience and I am very grateful for the opportunity.

Language project

I really enjoyed doing my language project and actually analyzing what the child is saying and looking in depth on the conversation.  It is something that I have never done before and it was really neat!

Service

I like to do service projects. One that is very close to my heart is God's Outreach, they are a food bank in Richmond that provide groceries to several families in the area. They are doing God's work everyday. If you are looking for a place to volunteer or donate, please check them out! When you volunteer you get to directly interact with the people you are helping which is really great.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xoeZAXUZbqQ
When I get bored or think about changing my major, I always look up videos to remind me of why I choose this calling. This video made me rethink about the teachers that are in this field and why they are there. I always ask a teacher after observations: Is this what you want to do? Do you LOVE being here?

I mentioned yesterday in class that I attended Louisville Central High School, which also The Great Muhammad Ali also went to high school. They quoted in the youtube video "As a high school student, many of my teachers labeled me DUMB... I could barely read my textbooks"

That statement with me raised questions. Why did your teachers let you graduate? Why didn't you receive the help you needed? Some teachers just want to pass a student to give the student or "the problem" to the next teacher.

But that's all I wanted to share. (:

The sweetest video

http://www.godvine.com/You-Need-to-Hear-What-a-Little-Girl-Says-About-Her-Brother-With-Down-Syndrome-4188.html

Praxis!

 Has anyone had to take the Praxis 1 test yet? I am nervous about it and I have to take it on Thursday!!!! I don't use math anymore so I am horrible at it. Everybody say prayers and send good vibes for me because I don't want to have to spend another 85 dollars to re-take the math section :)

Question 10

I am having difficulty on Question 10 on the online assessment.  Maybe I am overthinking it, but I am having a hard time understanding what exactly the question is looking for.

Amazing Video!

My question from class

What is the greatest challenge or need for students who are deaf as it relates to semantics?

Language Projects

It was really interesting to me when I collected my language sample how much I miss out on when I am having a conversation with a child normally. I guess I never had paid that close of attention to the little details and what they use in their language. It was nice to really pay attention to what they were saying and what that means in regards to the development of their language.

Texting - Language - Communication

I was very intrigued by how John McWhorter discusses texting in this,  TED-Talk Texting.   Found the connections between his Talk and our course content interesting!

UK

Im so excited for this season! This is by far my favorite time of the year. Who else is a Cats fan on here?

Sports

Sometimes i really miss playing basketball for many reason one it kept me in awesome shape two this was one thing me and my dad could really connect on and share together. Nothing makes you love something more then when you can share something you love with someone you love. I also loved the way it helps you build character and helps you learn how to work as a team which is something everyone should know

Halloween (a little late)

I hope everyone has had a great weekend so far! Did anyone dress up? I was laura croft and a pirate what about you?