Reflection On Group Discussion During Micro Teaching Session

range of contexts, purposes and audiences use discussion in order to learn; they should be able to elaborate and explain clearly

At the first stage my group was getting to know each other and coming to a decision on what topic we were going to discuss which was, one of the group members on placement. The second stage was when we all had different opinions about being able to have a one to one with a toddler and we was expressing our opinions such as I thought it was possible to have a one to one, it may not be as successful as talking to an older child but the child would still acknowledge the question asked and show some sort of reaction like smiling, grunting answering yes or no. At the third stage we all listened and valued each other’s opinions and points about having a one to one with a toddler. Finally at performing stage we all came to an agreement on how we agree that one of the group members will be able to have a one to one communication with a child at the age of three.

Many times in my life I believed I could feel someone watching me and had a slight panic attack, I had no idea that at one point in my life I would willingly subject myself to a “Fish Bowl” and volunteer to be watched and evaluated by my peers and a professor. But it happened to myself and my classmates as we endeavored to use our newly practice communication skills to the test. Using Rothwell’s Standard Agenda for problem solving and group discussion, our Fish Bowl groups were able to use group communication skills and critical thinking to arrive at viable solutions for the problems placed before them.

Secondly, we have we with the District Autism Team (Lisa and I are both part of the team). In these meetings we have learned different strategies and resources that we can use when working with students with Autism. We learned the important components of a BIP (what it should look like and include). We have

Should individuals use person-first language or not? Moreover, individuals who have autism and are at the meeting are not able to reach their goals of how they can rightfully identify themselves. This debate, being a controversial subject, makes it more difficult for autistic members to get their opinions heard. Brown wants people to explain carefully what they are arguing for so that they can help others understand the problem with semantics when it comes to person first language. By allowing other people to articulate their arguments rationally, they can inform others to as why they prefer a certain order of terminology. As Brown mentions, “I urge you to consistently use such phrasing everywhere possible, whenever discussing autism and issues that affect Autistic people, and to develop coherent, rational explanations for why you prefer this terminology, so that you can engage in such mutually respectful and civil exchanges with others” (par. 21). Brown shows how being consistent with one’s words in regard to autism allows for other people to rightfully understand one’s opinion as they intended.

Kyle is a high school student that has autism. The main topic of his discussion was why everyone should include autistic people. Kyle talked about how hard it is to be excluded from different things in his life because he is autistic. He gave three reasons as to why everyone should include autistic people. The first reason was evolutionary benefit of self-centered thinking. The second reason was diffusion of responsibility. The third reason was humanities distaste for deviance. The next person that spoke was Ryan Campbell. Ryan is also a young adult living with autism. He talked about what helps him because he is autistic. He mentioned that routines are very helpful to him. He also said that growing up different therapy support was needed, but support was also needed as an adult. Not everyone is the same. Each person with autism has different strengths and needs. Eye contact is extremely hard for him. The next person that spoke was Susan Oliver. Susan has personal experience with her son that has autism. Her son has an oral of movement difficulty where his mouth moves too fast for him to speak. He also has regressive autism. His case was the first regressive autism at Pittsburgh hospital. Regressive autism is when he loses a lot of his developmental skills fast. By the time he was diagnosed he lost almost all of them. He forgot how to use the restroom, how to eat, how to communicate, along with multiple other things. The next speaker was Bonnie Wilczynski. Bonnie has a son with severe autism. He is on the lower spectrum. When it came to finding a place for her son to go to after he turned twenty-one, no one would take him because of how severe his autism was. So, when things got tough, she ended up creating a place where people with severe autism could live. When she started out she only had her son there. Now she is fully booked and cannot take any more

I will be focusing this seminar on children with Autism and how they communicate with family, friends and the wider community and how the families are supported within society by the authority such as social workers, also what role social workers can play within a family with an autistic child.

On December 4, 2015 we observed the class for which we developed this response plan. Our main objective was to observe the setup of the classroom as well as the different instructional tools the teacher used to enhance her teaching. In addition, we wanted to see what strategies the teacher implemented to help the ELL and autistic students and see if they were similar to what had in our plan. Upon arriving, we observed that the teacher, Ms. Schmitt, had a large classroom with enough space for groups of students to work together. At the front of the classroom, was the teacher’s desk with a smart board behind it. Several other white boards filled the rest of the wall space. The board on the left was used mostly for instructional purposes while the two on the right were filled with vocabulary and important announcements such as upcoming tests dates. The extra space allowed the teacher to interact with all the students individually. Also, we noted that the teacher had placed the ELL students near the front of the room where she could easily help them or ask them to help each other. The students on the Autism spectrum where located near the back of the classroom where they had more room to work with their aids. However, none of these students were completely isolated from the teacher or rest of the class. Rather all of the students were able to easily interact with one another.

To encourage the development of social skills students are encouraged to interact with one another throughout the day in a variety of methods, including partner work, small group activities, and large group activities. These teaching techniques enable autistic children to relate to their peers. As autistic children relate to their peers more they are more accepted and in turn continue to learn and acquire new and improved social skills.

The world needs different kinds of minds to work together to eventually help develop our future generations. Temple Grandin’s lecture was published on a TedGlobal in February 2010. Grandin wants parents, teacher, mentors, and the general public to be aware that the schools need better methods to help the kids get interested in education, so they obtain the path to success. Her main focus is on getting these kids the resources they need. Grandin’s argument is to develop better ways on teaching kids and especially for the kids with autism. Grandin builds her credibility by showing work that she had created, as well as explaining to the audience, that her process of thinking is different than others. Throughout the talk, Grandin used appeals to ethos, pathos, and logos to get her message across on needing all kinds of minds.

There have been many times in my life I believed I could feel someone watching me, but I had no idea that at one point in my life I would willingly subject myself to a “Fish Bowl” and volunteer to be watched and evaluated by my peers and a professor. However, this is exactly happened to me and my classmates as we endeavored to put our newly learned communication skills to the test. Using Rothwell’s Standard Agenda for problem solving and group discussion, our Fish Bowl groups were able to use group communication skills and critical thinking to arrive at viable solutions for the problems placed before them.

The first stragtey to discuss is her use of effective groupings arrangements. For instance, students are part of a whole group lesson, small group, cooperative activity, and partner work. First, Ms. Sullivan starts the lesson with the whole group seated on the carpet. This is when she introduces both the content and language objectives, discusses the target vocabulary, and explicitly reviews the lesson targets using visuals and modeling. Next, students work in partner groups using a “think, pair, share” strategy. To illustrate, students work together in partner work to discuss how they solve problems. At the end of the lesson, students also work collaboratively in a small group to complete a graphic organizer to reflect on what they learned. These grouping strategies are supported by Lev Vygotsky’s Constructivism theory. According to Vygotsky, discourse and interaction are channels for learning

This essay will analyse and highlight on the fifteen-minute micro teaching reflection that is vital for the self-evaluation and professional development of my teaching practice. It will further identify my strengths and weaknesses through my peer assessment and reflect on the teaching and learning theories, methods and strategies that are linked and practiced in my micro-teach.

Effective group communications come in forms of verbal and non-verbal techniques. Essential parts of the entire group’s contribution are that the group contains full participating members, the group is diverse, and that the diversity is recognized and respected (Hartley, 1997). In the videos viewed, three were evaluated on the effective and ineffective communication skills of the participants and suggestions made on how they could improve. The videos are titled, “Planning a Playground”, “Helping Annie”, and "The Politics of Sociology.

Teaching can be a challenge, you never know what to expect and each classroom will be unique. However, you will always have to be prepare for teaching in a situation you may not be comfertable with. Educating students and practicing proper knowledge on subjects such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation and disability are vital in creating a safe and respectful classroom for all. School is often looked upon as a place of security for students and it is our job as teachers to help maintain that status.