Post #6 What things would you change about schools and why?

When looking at the school systems and the way they are set up now there are several different changes that could be made. The three most important changes I would make would be with the atmosphere in schools, the way curriculum is taught and what is being defined as successful.
The atmosphere in schools needs to become a warm and inviting place. School should be seen as a place were students can come and freely express who they are with out being worried about what others think and a place that students can feel safe where bullies and bullying are not tolerated. I also think that students should not be concerned with what other people are wearing and how much money someone else has. These issues are big stressors on students’ lives. If a child is worried about what other children are thinking about them, they are not concentrating on their studies and learning. The same goes for students being concerned about what others are wearing and how much other students have. I feel that when a student comes to school, the rest of the worries they have should be left outside of the school yard. This way students are more open to learning will get a better understanding of what is being taught.
The way curriculum is being taught is slowly changing in a positive way. Slowly but surely teachers are making learning more interactive. Also, teachers are applying what students are learning to the students lives much better. For so long teaching has been about sitting in a desk and with some one telling you what is important and what you need to do. I think that learning needs to be interactive. Students need to explore Math, Science, English, and Social Studies. By allowing the students to “figure things out” they will learn much more than just being told what to do.
Lastly I think that what is being defined as successful in a school should be changed. I think that standardized testing should be done away with and we should measure a student’s success by looking at where they were in the beginning of the year to how much they have accomplished by the end of the school year. Some students will achieve more and some will achieve less but as long as the student was able to get the most they could have from the class the student should be successful. Now I do have to say that students who are struggling should not just pass. Students should have reached the state standards of each grade level before moving on.

Post #5 Why do you want to be a Speech Language Pathologist?

When I first entered college I had no clue what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I figured that I would take several different introduction courses of different areas that interested me and go from there. The introduction to communicative disorders was a class that my mom suggested I take. Had no idea what was involved with communication disorders. After taking the class I fell in love with the different aspects of the job. I love that there are so many possibilities of places I can work and people I can work with. I love being able to work with people and help them overcome something that is challenging in their life. Whether it’s a fluency problem, word finding issues, swallowing difficulties, or just articulating the sounds correctly, I will be able to help. Another aspect of Speech Language Pathology that really drew me into the field is that there are different age groups you can work with. I won’t only be working with 1st graders or 7th graders. I will be able to work with anyone from birth on up. I believe that variety is the spice of life. And this career path gives me so much variety that my life will be trying a new foreign meal every day, no two days will be the same and no two clients will be the same.

Post 4: What makes a teacher successful and who should be the judge of that success and why?

A teacher’s success is marked by his/her students’ success. If their students are not learning the material, then the teacher is not doing their job. In every class there will be students that struggle to understand the concepts; the true test of a good teacher is how they react to the students struggles. A successful teacher will welcome these challenges and help their students overcome the difficulties. People that would be a good judge at measuring a teacher’s success should be the students, parents, and fellow teachers. The students and parents should measure the success of a teacher because they are directly affected by the teaching. Students can judge how well the teacher adapted their teaching to meet the student’s learning style. The parents can judge the success of a teacher by looking at their child’s success. Also, the parents can judge success by how much their child enjoyed going to school or how frustrated their child was while at school. Fellow teachers would be a good judge of a teacher’s success. Fellow teachers in the same school are familiar with the teaching environment and the students. Other teachers would be able to judge how well a teacher is teaching to their students, and adapting the curriculum to meet the class’s needs. A combination of off people should be used to judge a teachers success. The success of a teacher is a multi-dimensional measurement that would be measured well by the people who are directly affected by the teaching.

Why does society hold teachers to higher standards of moral and ethical behavior?

Society holds teachers to higher standers of moral and ethical behavior because we are the people responsible for the next generation. As a teacher (or SLP) we will be role models for the children in our classrooms. As a role model we need to teach our students right from wrong. We will teach our student our morals and values by demonstrating them. They are apart of the invisible curriculum and they will be visible for all our students to see through our actions and reaction to situations. Students will learn from us how to or how not to act in similar situations. It is important that we as teacher show our students how to respond in a way that is appropriate. In today’s society children are getting mixed messages as to what is right and what is wrong. The media and many of the “stars” that children look up to are not holding themselves acting in a way that is moral or ethical. For example there is a lack of right holding oneself accountable. An example of this could be Paris Hilton going to jail. She blamed everyone else but herself. It was everyone else’s fault that she was going to jail even thought the reason she went to jail is because of her own decision to drink and drive. She knew that drinking and driving was wrong and against the law, yet she made the simple decision to do the wrong thing and drive anyways. Children see this example and think that it is okay to do what is wrong and blame everyone else but themselves. We as teacher need to show and teach through example the morals and values such as right from wrong. If the children in our classrooms see us acting in a manner that is not moral or ethical, they will learn these faulty morals or ethical behaviors. If the children learn the faulty morals and ethics our society will be constructed of individuals may not even understand the difference of right from wrong.

Why is collaborating with other teachers, or integrating courses or curricula, a matter of importance to you or your students, or to their futures?

It is important to integrate other course work into therapy because it allows for a greater opportunity of generalization. Generalization occurs when a skill is in the final stage of the learning process just before mastery of the skill occurs. When including other course works into therapy students it not only gives students a chance to practice with other course work but they also become aware of their errors they are producing in outside the therapy room. Therapy time is very limited and if we as Speech Language Pathologists can encourage speech and language therapy outside of our room, it will maximize the students learning abilities. One of my professors once told us, “What happens in the therapy room is a big who cares, what happens in the outside if therapy is what’s important.” If we can help students generalize what they are learning in therapy to areas outside of therapy, the student will practice more and learn the skills faster. The faster the students learn the skills, the sooner they will be dismissed and no longer need services.

What experiences have you had that you can say with a level of certainty to your clients, “you will need this skill in the real world.”

Communication is the foundation for education. In order for us to learn we need to be able to understand and to be understood. Communication effects every aspect of our lives, whether it is written, gestural, or verbal. In order to effectively communicate with eachother we need to know all the processes involved. It is important to know the rules of our language system. If a person does not know proper grammar, others will not understand the message that is being conveyed and they may be perceived as being unintelligent. Another aspect of communication that is important is being able to produce the sounds of a language correctly. For example, if a person is substituting a T for the K it is difficult to understand what is being said. Is the person saying can or tan? Mis-communications that occur because of a lack of language structure or inability to produce the proper sounds can lead to a lot of frustration, for all parties involved in the conversation. I believe that as my students grow older they will gain an understanding and have a desire to correct their speech and language skills.