How do/would you utilize support staff in the classroom?

Respond to the first two student posts in 75 word

Jason post

 

One way the environment might negatively affect my health is through second-hand smoke from the air. Secondhand smoke comes from “burning tobacco products such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes” (CDC, 2018). Secondhand smoke increases the risk for heart disease, lung cancer, and stroke (CDC, 2018). One step I can take to protect my health is to reduce the chance of exposure. Avoiding areas where people are allowed to smoke cigarettes will significantly limit my exposure to tobacco smoke.

Another way the environment can negatively affect my health is through hazards at my workplace. I work in a hospital which deals with infections on a daily basis. In order to reduce my risk for acquiring an infection at a hospital, I must be diligent with sanitation and sterilization. Hand washing is the best way to reduce transmission of infection. Maintaining precautions with patients and sterilizing tools between use is also very important.

Eating undercooked food is another way my health can be negatively affected. Many foods, especially meats, need to be heated to a certain temperature, usually 165 degrees Fahrenheit, before they are deemed safe to eat. Failure to do so may result in acquiring some microorganism that has been cultured on the food; this microorganism could then enter the body and cause damage to the immune system and other organs (CDC, 2019).

Bethany post

There have always been some obvious hazards in our daily lives that we take certain measures to avoid, but after reading this week’s resources, I was enlightened on some different hazardous exposures that I was not initially aware of.  Working in the medical field, we pride ourselves on being sterile and clean to prevent the spreading of germs and diseases.  This also comes along with daily exposure to highly chemical induced cleaning supplies.  In my medical clinic we specifically use Sani-Cloth germicidal disposable wipes to wipe down all of our equipment daily.  This product specifically contains dimethyl ethylbenzyl ammonium chlorides and dimethyl benzyl ammonium chlorides, both which have the precaution of being hazardous to humans and animals. The biggest protective measure I use with this product is donning personal protective equipment, or basically wearing gloves before handling the wipes to limit direct contact exposure and dermal absorption.

Water quality is another important factor in our daily health because we all need water to survive. I feel that it is always difficult to determine the quality of water you are getting from different sources and what they claim to be clean or purified. Public water fountains are usually connected to public water systems that have the potential to contain additional fluoride pollution or run-off from chemicals and pesticides used near water sources. The best way I have found to protect myself from water pollution is to carry my own water with me when going out.  We also took the extra money and effort to install a reverse osmosis water system in our home to ensure a good filtration system with our drinking water at home.

Second hand smoke is another health factor that can affect our air quality on a daily basis. Even though society has limited many public access buildings from allowing indoor smoking, it is still possible to be exposed to the negative health effects even with minimal exposure. The chemicals released from tobacco smoke can travel and linger throughout the air into whatever area you may be waking through and be inhaled without purpose. Even though my workplace does not allow smoking within a certain range of the building, I still have times where I can smell someone smoking in the parking lot or while I’m walking to my car without even being near the person smoking.  In order to protect my health from these type of exposures, I try to avoid the obvious person that may be smoking if I can see them.  Other times when I start to smell smoke, I usually try to hold my breath to avoid direct inhalation the best that I can.  I also often see people smoking in their cars with the window down that will pull up beside me at a light.  When this happens, I will quickly roll my window up to avoid any potential inhalation of the smoke chemicals.

Another potential health hazard that I come in contact with on a daily basis is food safety.  In a society where I feel more people are trying to eat healthier foods, we are becoming more aware of the potential exposure to pesticides and chemicals used to enhance our farm grown foods.  The best way I have learned to prevent food contamination is to properly wash and rinse produce after bringing it home from the store.  I also try to buy certain produce and meats only in the organic version.

When responding to the next two post comment on their postings and what these postings suggest to you about additional opportunities for collaboration between teachers and support personnel.

Nicole post

 

Support staff is a huge component in making the classroom a successful place for learning. When I observed Amanda’s kindergarten summer school classroom for the previous assignment, she had two others supporting her in the room. One of the adults was focusing on helping the students and the other was cleaning things up and preparing materials for the next thing. It seemed that the three of them had a good working relationship; they were friendly, well spoken, and seemed to have the best interest of the students in mind. While I believe it is important to keep the classroom clean and safe, I feel as though the other adult in the classroom should have been working with the students instead of cleaning. Because this was a summer program, many of the students required a lot of assistance as they are still working on mastering skills necessary when entering Kindergarten. I think the more help they receive from adults is better.

In my experience working in Kindergarten, most of the other teachers who have instructional assistants use them for prepping materials such as laminating, making copies, and cutting things out. While I do feel that sometimes they are needed for that, I do not like to utilize my aide in this way. I like the aides that I work with to be directly working with the students. I ask them to circle the room and help students who seem to be struggling or who are off task. At times, I have my aide take a lower group of students during whole group activities. I also have them work with a guided reading group every day. The instructional assistant knows the students as well as I do and are capable of being a positive influence in their learning. All the IA’s who I have worked with have been amazing in making sure students are excited about learning. “A teacher’s enthusiastic support becomes a major motivation to wanting to learn more. Every child, regardless of his or her capabilities, is quick to catch enthusiasm for almost any activity from a patient, skillful teacher who rejoices with the child over each step forward” (Allen & Cowdery, p. 292).

How do/would you utilize support staff in the classroom?

Aimee post

When it comes to working with support personnel, I have little experience with them in my own clasroom but have observed them in other classrooms a few times. In my own classroom, I’ve only had experience working with one BSC, and that was 2x a month, for about 2 hours each visit. We conferenced, and then she observed and interacted with the student. They would take notes on progress, discuss suggestions with me moving forward or improvements to the initial plan, and interact wtih the child for the short time she had with the student. This support only ever came in the afternoon, for the last hour of nap where we would talk and she would then do other work, and then stay for another hour during snack when this student was awake. I do wish that there had been more support, because this student needed more support during the day rather than just an hour as she’s waking up and sitting to eat for snack. In the other classrooms, supports were there longer, an provided a lot of 1:1 guidance  throughout various points in the day, which is what I would like. These supports would also have feedback for the teacher, and conference with them during naptime or other downtown.

COMMENT ON THE THESE POST

Jordy post

It seems like each day, the news reports another mass shooting has taken place. Pro- and anti-gun control groups are constantly lobbying against each other in order to accomplish their separate agendas. The question remains: why are these shootings so prominent in our society? It is widely debated that violent video games and other media are to blame. In my opinion, violence should be censored in the media. One study suggested that video games in general can influence aggression and violence, or at least make thoughts regarding these actions more readily available. (Ivory and Kalyanaraman, 2009) This study also suggested that in reference to specific video games, participants had a harder time generating rationale for how that game affected them. (Ivory and Kalyanaraman, 2009) That being said, not only can media influence aggression and violence, but persons using the media may also not realize the specific effects it has on them. Our news stations constantly broadcast violence from small-town robberies, to war-torn countries, to advertising “the most violent movie since…” As a society, we have become desensitized and accustomed to these acts of violence. Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (a recent mass shooting location and whose students are responsible for March For Our Lives) is within the county I work, so this is a topic which is genuinely close to home for me. While I do not believe that censorship is the only solution nor do I believe that media is the single cause of violence and aggression, I do believe censorship can clear a pathway to a more permanent means of preventing the ongoing deaths of children and US citizen.

Karissa post

I do not think that violence should be censored in the media as it violates the First Amendment. There is censorship to a degree throughout all media today because we have regulations in place to guide television, cable, radio and the internet in proper conduct. These censorship regulations according to the law means that there are rules in place, but they cannot unreasonably abridge the rights guaranteed to the people protected under the First Amendment (U.S. Legal, 2019).  I do feel that children under the age of 18 years should be monitored closely on what they are watching, playing and reading. Violence around the globe in the news media for example is not something that I would personally censor for anyone. It is important to know what is happening around the world and parents should sit with their children to allow for context translation when needed. When it comes to movies, T.V. shows, video games and “entertainment” type violence though, children should be of appropriate ages when allowed to watch and/or play them. However, setting a rule for what age groups that should be allowed to watch this content would vary wildly. Some children mature faster than others, have better temperaments and a better grasp on fiction versus reality. I feel that parents and educators have a large role to play when it comes to deciding what is age appropriate for certain children. There is evidence of children becoming more aggressive when exposed to more violent media content. Children model behaviors of others and it is important to set out boundaries and guidelines for them when it comes to appropriate behavior (LoBue, 2018). Making all the bad things go away in the media will not solve our problems with violence through out the world. Having difficult conversations about this type of media content with our children, teenagers and young adults is a good way to ensure that they understand what they are seeing. Allowing them to ask questions about it so you can provide context and understanding is going to be the only protection from it that they have. We cannot be in control of what they see all the time, but we can give them a safe place to learn about appropriate behavior and expectations so they can become well-adjusted, productive citizens.

Becky post

Imagery connects a reader by making them use their senses. When the writer is describing a cold, brisk morning. we use our senses to picture this in our minds to set the scene. “The smell of dew on the grass”, writers want us to connect to their writing. Similes and metaphors are the strongest devices to give us that imagery. For examples, the popular saying “Laughter is music to our soul”, its not literally music, it explains an idea or help us visualize what it compares to. “Life is like a roller coaster”. We don’t actually ride a roller coaster but you picture a roller coaster and we know the basic facts of how it runs. So with that we can compare the literal meaning and the metaphor to find the meaning behind the poem.

I work in a school metaphors are used all day. I also coach and you find inspirational poems or quotes to use to help students or others to visual something that could or may not be. The metaphor I use when I feeling like something bad has happened to me or feel I have been hit by the unlucky leprechaun; “when one door closes, another opens”. This helps explain how you are feeling and try to help view a positive perspective in the event that happened.

Verna post

My understanding of imagery is that it connects you to understanding the meaning of a poem by inspiring and evoking feelings.It allows the reader to create in their mind and own perception the mood of the poem.And imagery in poetry appeals to our senses of sight,sound,taste touch ,and smell.Imagery uses symbolism. In poetry symbolism works to give meaning and qualities to an action.Metaphor and simile create comparison between two or more things.Personification gives imagery to a scene by giving life to things that would not otherwise have it, And any type of detailed description will give rise to imagery. imagery is built on descriptive detail that gives rise to the senses of readers and writers of poetry. I believe metaphor is a powerful poetic device that creates imagery because it creates a mood for the poem and evokes feelings.Yes, I used figurative language in my everyday life.During last week it rained everyday in Clearwater,FL. My response daily after arriving at work was ”It was raining cats and dogs”.Literally, it meant the rain was coming down very heavy.