Resources that promote my teaching beliefs

I agree with the Focus on Teacher Thinking (Yero, 2002) article which states that how we teach does reflect our beliefs, values and our personal thinking processes. I also agree that we need to be constantly mindful of that so that how we teach is a conscious reflection of this and not just habit or convenience. Here are three of the resources I would employ in the classroom which would reflect some of my views on teaching and learning.

1. YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/) I believe this site presents unlimited opportunities for learning, teaching, discussing, evaluating, and connecting content area with real life. I believe most students are visual learners to some degree, either primarily or as a confirmation of instruction. I also believe students learn best within the mode they are most comfortable using. YouTube represents the manner in which most kids receive their information: short, sensory-stimulated, soundbites. For better or worse, I feel this is how to get their attention. Good teaching should not ignore the mediums and contexts in which students learn best, even if they are not what teachers are used to. In other words, good teachers must be open to new ideas and resources. YouTube would probably not be my first source for information but I realize that for many of my students, it is. As far as content area is concerned, YouTube would be a valuable resource because of the vast scope of subject matters. No matter what the topic, there would be something relevant to be accessed.

2. Wrightslaw (http://wrightslaw.com/) This is a website developed by a husband wife team (special education attorney and educator, respectively) that provides information about special education, special education law, education law, and advocacy for children with disabilities. As a special educator, this site would be indispensable to me for several reasons. In order to be a good teacher, you need to be informed. Special education is an area in which the legal and educational landscapes are changing constantly. This site not only provides up-to-date information, it also links to other highly relevant government, legal and advocacy organizations. Another characteristic of an effective special educator, I believe, is empathy. We need to be able to put ourselves in the shoes of students, parents and colleagues to better understand the particular challenges of raising and teaching a child with special needs. Wrightslaw includes articles, blogs and links to perspectives of the families of special needs students. I have already gained valuable insights from the stories, struggles and experiences of special needs parents through blogs and articles on this site. I think this ongoing process of learning about the "other side" will make me a better teacher and certainly a better advocate for my students. In fact, I believe all learners can understand an issue more completely if they are exposed to more than one perspective or viewpoint. WrightsLaw does a commendable job of presenting information from all sides: parents, students, educators, legal and legislative. Lastly, this site includes information and links to many teaching and instructional methods which, in turn, could help enhance the content area instruction of my future special education students. For example, linking to article about effective note taking strategies for students with ADHD could improve how I teach a child to better understand and retain what's being taught in his or her social studies class.

3. Scholastic (http://www2.scholastic.com/browse/learn.jsp) As a former reading tutor (and life-long reader), I strongly believe that reading constitutes one essential element of successful learning. For most special education students, however, reading consistently remains an obstacle and will be an ongoing focus in all content areas. While I support the inclusion of all forms of literacy into a student's daily life, I still find great value in books. I also strongly believe that the more a student reads books for pleasure, the stronger those reading skills such as comprehension, inferring, summarizing, analyzing, etc will develop and carry over into all their learning experiences. Great teaching involves successful scaffolding. One way for reading teachers to scaffold is to "guide" students in their book selections. I think students learn better when they have choices and some ownership in the material. Usually, they resist being told what to read. However, simply being told "just find a book and read" can also be a daunting task, especially for struggling readers. Reading level, content, author style, etc all need to be considered. Scholastic.com is a fabulous site for selecting, promoting, summarizing, and organizing books. The site is a great resource to find books about particular topics or issues that span reading levels, to preview books, to find multi-cultural books and topics, to explore author purpose and craft, to develop corresponding lesson plans, to link to dynamic online activities such as blogging and interactive games that supplement the reading. Great teachers constantly find new ways to keep their students excited and engaged in material. I will rely on this site not only to maintain a differentiated and diverse approach to the books I promote, but for ideas and methods to help my struggling and reluctant readers become excited about reading.