Sunday, December 6, 2009

Misunderstood Minds....

Wow. I was really shocked at how incredibly frustrated I felt during just about every simulation on the website. I found myself feeling irritated as I was unable to concentrate, decode or keep up with each "assignment." I was often confused. I felt disconnected and wanted to give up. During the writing simulations, I would second guess myself on the new sets of grammatical and structural rules and it seemed to take me an unnecessarily long time to complete the assignments. The math simulations were particularly hard to handle, and I found myself wondering if perhaps I had an actual mathematical disability after all....

The Misunderstood Minds simulations were really eye-opening. I would have never guessed at the exact types of struggles children with disabilities were dealing with, and I think this exercise has really given me a basis for patience and understanding that will be helpful in the classroom.
As a soon-to-be special education teacher, these examples of disabilities can help me assess the level and classification of specific learning disabilities, which will in turn help me to prepare a tailored action plan for the student, ultimately connecting with him or her in the most effective and beneficial way possible.

3 comments:

  1. It was totally insane what they were simulating. I have an appreciation for anyone that has a learning disability. It was so hard for me to follow along with the attention exercise, add to it my 1 year old jabbering in the background and it totally threw me into a tizzy!
    I work with special needs students daily and it really made me think about what they may be going through at any given point during their day. I need to remember this when working with them. I cant imagine being a child with a learning disability and having to sit in a noisy classroom trying to concentrate. It is no wonder kids that have disabilities act out in frustration. I did too (with the simulations)!

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  2. I totally wanted to give up on the simulations as well. I felt defeated and it was hard to keep going. I agree that these exercises were very eye-opening. I've always really felt for the students with disabilities who I work with but now that I've done this it just gives me even more compassion for them. I think that many of us who work with students with disabilities feel that we know how the students feel but it is not until we do activities like this when we really open our eyes to what the students are actually experiencing. We certainly need to make a connection with these students and provide as much support and patience as we can!

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  3. WHen you stated, "I felt disconnected and wanted to give up" You hit the nail on the head! Nice blog and reflections!

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