Running Head: Final Reflection

Final Reflection Mary Lanham-Bates University of South Carolina Aiken

On my honor as a University of South Carolina Aiken student, I have completed my work according to the principle of Academic Integrity. I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid on this assignment.

Mary Lanham-Bates

December 9, 2013

Final Reflection

Final Reflection Lessons Learned My internship at Saluda High School has afforded me an opportunity to learn new, exciting lessons about what it really means to evaluate special education students writing weaknesses and needs. Using the ADDIE approach really helped me to fully understand how intricate special education students needs are. I learned that to really get a more accurate depiction of their needs that I had to not only conduct a written assessment but also a verbal assessment. After sitting down with each student, I was able to learn that some students weaknesses in writing stem from a lack of self-confidence and more mechanical issues than structure, style, and content. They really had excellent ideas, but problems with motor skills, social obstacles, and low self-esteem hindered some of these students from being able to write an effective paragraph. I learned that once I understood those limitations I could then tap into that students true ability. Difficulties Encountered and Conclusions Reached

Final Reflection Although the experience was very satisfying, I did experience some difficulty during the process. My greatest difficulty was with the number of students I worked with and the time allotted to work with each student. Since the students could only meet with me during school during two class periods, I had to divide up the time among four students. It would have been better if I had focused on maybe two students for the internship in order to give each student more individual time. The

conclusion I reached is that I would have seen greater progress in two students with more time than with four students. With the recording, videotaping, and teaching, I realized accommodating the four students was a bigger task. Although I do recognize this as a difficulty, the students still progressed. Another difficulty I had was teaching the students how to navigate through the VoiceThread website and how to be comfortable with the technology. They thought they were going to damage the computer or delete one of their recordings. I had to reassure the students that they would not damage the computer. I now understand that I needed to give them more time to become oriented to the computer since they do

Final Reflection not use computers as much. Successes Achieved and New Insights There were a number of successes that I can discuss; however, my greatest accomplishment was giving one of my students a voice that he never had before. Coleton is a student who does not speak to anyone and who certainly do not express his opinion on paper or during discussion. He is not mainstreamed but does audit a math class. He wrote a paragraph for me after a few weeks of teaching him some strategies, and he actually created one VoiceThread where he spoke two lines from his paragraph. The other students were so excited for him, and Coleton was also satisfied with a huge smile on his face. It was a moment of pure success for all of his. I realized after this day that all students have a voice,

and they want their voices to be heard. As teachers we must find that ingredient to help all students feel that they are valuable and that their ideas do matter. Things To Do Differently When I reflect on my experiences with this internship, I would have done one thing differently. I would have requested to use the school computer lab where there are

Final Reflection more computers. Each student would have his or her own computer instead of using just one computer. Since I conducted the internship process within my classroom where there is only one computer, I had to divide up the time between the one computer and the four students. If I had requested the lab, each student would have had the entire time to utilize the computer to record the VoiceThread; instead, I had to share the computer with all the students. The other thing that I would do differently is to use a peer partner for the students. A peer partner could

have helped the students maneuver through the technology. For example, there are a few advanced seniors who have early release that I could have asked to help the students during the process. These seniors could have modeled the strategies for the students, which would have been useful for these struggling students. I feel that the seniors would have also been a source of encouragement to the special education students who often look up to these particular seniors. Experiences Relationship to Previous Courses The relationship between the internship and my previous course work is striking. The use of VoiceThread to capture the voice of these students was exactly what was

Final Reflection used in Dr. Wissicks course, where we had to discuss various topics using VoiceThread. During this course, I always thought how exciting it could be to use this technology in my own classroom. Furthermore, it was extremely useful to see how the ADDIE approach, as seen in Dr. Senns course, helped me to analyze, design, develop, implement, and evaluate my internship goal. Once I began implementing the use of VoiceThread, I do wish I had evaluated the first stage before I continued to produce another recording. I believe an evaluation at this stage would have helped me understand the students dilemmas with the

technology and would have avoided the frustration from some of the students. As I used in Dr. Senns course and in Dr. Smyths course, the multimedia presentation of my midterm and final report was more feasible since I was able to tap into my prior knowledge of design. Strong Emotions Experienced I must admit that my strongest emotion occurred when I witnessed Coleton Long speak his first two sentences via VoiceThread. To see him actually click on record and begin his VoiceThread was beyond anything I have experienced in all my fifteen

Final Reflection years of teaching. His voice was finally heard, and he understood what he was

saying to us, his listeners. After I listened to his recording, tears came down my face because I felt his pain released within VoiceThread. To get a bigger picture of Coleton, you must imagine a student who does not even speak for his regular Special Education teacher; however, I was able to give him a voice that he felt comfortable sharing with me. As I move on in my career, this moment will be with me as a motivating factor to never give up on any student. Technology can influence students in a positive way, and the integration of technology within the classroom is a spectacular opportunity that must be embraced by all educators.