Google Hangout with Dr. Erica Thieman: Inclusion

Rewind...to October 6th

Inclusion

Objectives of the day:

1. Discuss need for “being inclusive” in youth programs
2. Define potential barriers to involvement in FFA/SAE
3. Identify teacher strategies and resources for inclusion

Dr. Foster had the students put on sunglasses that had vaseline on the front of the lens. He then randomly asked students to read off the screen the well known story of "Who Moved the Cheese?" Through this learning experience some students gave up right away, some tried to move their glasses around to read, and others (sitting up front) focussed in and were able to read. The reactions/thoughts to the activity were:

- I gave up right away and didn't try

- I was annoyed

- I did not like how Dr. Foster kept saying "this is easy"

- I was able to see and it was easy... just not AS easy

We transitioned into watching this video which structured the rest of the class discussion:

Readers: What are your thoughts? How do you use inclusion in your classrooms or youth programs?

AEE 311 Students: Can you share with our readers what your thoughts and reactions were?

Class Reminders:

- Log into AET and post. The minimum is ONE entry per week

- Start planning for your next Pink Time

- Weekly Web Wonders are due every Friday at 5pm

Inclusion 10/8/15

Inclusion

Some barriers of agriculture education:

• "Aggie" label
• After school programs/meetings - availability of students.
• Parents in some ways.
• "Have to be a farmer" mentality
• Resources
• Funding
• Community Support

Now, how can you combat those barriers

as an agriculture educator?

Resources:

• Social Inclusion: https://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/241/24.html
• Teach Ag Day Chat http://communities.naae.org/community/mpa/teachag/blog/2013/10/03/diversity-and-inclusion-dialogue
• Interesting post about inclusion of FFA: http://communities.naae.org/message/8081#8081

Session 11: What Does Inclusion Mean?

Today in AEE 311 we talked all about inclusion!  Ms. Megan Tanaka spoke with us today about making an effort toward "intentional inclusion", a powerful concept!  Finally, we wrapped class up with 6 different lists to help us create a poem based on our own personal culture; as we know, we can't fully understand the culture of our students without first understanding our own culture!

What are you curious about?

• Is the data collected at National Convention made public?
• Lessons that I could use the sunglasses activities for?
• Be creative!  Inclusion is important in any class but maybe an FFA Leadership class would be a great fit for the lesson!  Or, consider this for a segment on inclusion in the FFA during your FFA Officer retreat. 
• How can we get the "We Are FFA" experience at our state convention?
• To see how my poem will turn out
• We can't wait to hear them all!
• The "We Are FFA" program
• Why did the "We Are FFA" program start?
• Can you change a student's views on diversity when they grew up in a racist household?
• This is a tough questions.  I believe that as teachers we may not always have the ability to change a student's circumstances but we can always provide a safe, constructive, culturally rich learning environment for each one of our students.
• Student recruitment ideas
• Is there a proper network for teacher and students to put program information and share ideas?
• Why yes there is!  Check out this blog about using NAAE Communities of Practice as an AEE 311 student!
• Are members or officers supposed to create the POA?
• Officers should consider the needs and desires of the members but the POA should be developed by the officer team, likely at the officer retreat 
• Can we have more peer to peer or big group discussions?

What did you learn?

• More about intentional inclusion at the national level
• Equity & Anti-racism
• About Megan Tanaka's role at National FFA
• "We Are FFA"
• Diversity in the classroom
• Local involvement with the "We Are FFA" program
• Not to put Vaseline on sunglasses...
• Empathizing with students with disabilities

What do you want to learn more about?

• How to use the "We Are FFA" program locally?
• What is an example lesson of inclusion?
• How did Dr. Foster include others and their diversity into his FFA chapter?
• More about Ms. Tanaka's position
• More about reaching the needs of all students
• Strategies for classroom inclusion
• Ms. Tanaka's Contact info
• mtanaka@ffa.org 

This week there was a lot of great questions about inclusion and the "We Are FFA" program!  I think that the resources listed below can answer a lot of these questions and I encourage you to really dig in and check them out!

FFA LifeKnowledge: Check out this link to a list of a ton of lesson plans that include elements of diversity and inclusion.  One of my favorites is the HS.72 : Appreciating Cultural Diversity lesson


Student Recruitment: Check out some of the resources that National FFA provides for student recruitment strategies 

Check out this video on the "We Are FFA" Program for some more info!

Session 14 - Inclusion follow-up

What are you curious about?
Are the due dates on the moodle modules suggested dates, or real deadlines? Can I complete them over Thanksgiving Break?

• You will want to email Deb Herman at dxh271@psu.edu to get the specifics on deadlines, and stick to what she indicates are the deadlines on the moodle modules.

CDE

• I never heard of it until this year. I am excited to learn more.

Is it expected that we log into AET to enter information every week?

• I would think that you could find something to enter each week. Don't make this a stressful activity, but you do need to be able to navigate the pages, and understand how AET is designed.

Do all pre-service teachers have to take classes like WF ED and complete moodle modules?

• All pre-service teachers in the state of PA need to complete 9 credits in working with special needs learners and 3 credits of ESL/ELL coursework. Thus, not all students need to complete moodle modules; however, they do take an additional 3 courses compared to our students.

Do the teachers we contact need to be from cooperating centers?

• No. It can be any teacher in the state.

What will CDE plans include?

• Check out the rubric. There is a lot of information there. Also, check out the example provided in class.

How many chapters are this prepared with POA, CDE plan, etc.? I know mine was not.

• Each chapter has various levels of preparation, but those that are serious about completing these items are often well prepared to serve their students.

At National Convention is there going to be the "Native Celebration"?

• Not that I know of, but check out this site for a re-cap on what has been done in the past https://www.ffa.org/about/nationalffa/diversity_and_inclusion/nativeamericanheritage/Pages/default.aspx

What resources does National FFA offer to teachers?

• Go to https://www.ffa.org/ffaresources/educators/Pages/default.aspx for teacher resources through FFA

How to contact teachers?

• You can access the teachers' email and phone numbers through the PA Agricultural Education Directory at http://go.cas.psu.edu/paaged/ You will need to create an account, but it only takes 2 minutes.

What CDEs are offered?

• Check out https://www.ffa.org/Documents/cde_handbook.pdf for the CDE manual at the National level. This will give you all of the events.

What did you learn?

Tips for inclusion

About CDE manuals

AET login expectations

CDE- massive packets for each event!

That scent-free policy is real

CDEs and inclusion tips (there are a lot of ways to include students into your program)

What do you want to learn more about?

If teachers actually create CDE plans?

• They may not all create CDE plans to the extent that we are requiring, but if they do they will be the best prepared to help train their teams. It would require them to really think about how/why they have students do something related to a particular CDE.

Contacting Teachers about the plans.

• See above for the location of the PA Ag. Teacher Directory

How to train a CDE team.

CDEs

How to do the CDE assignment.

Things that I can do on AET tracker.

• The best advice I can give here is... get on and test it out. Don't worry about "messing" something up. This is for you to get experience with the system.

How to deal with students with behavior disabilities.

• I think this comes with experience, but don't forget to rely heavily on the special education teacher and the IEP, as they can help guide you on what to expect and how to properly handle with the least disruption to your class and other students.

Learning more about CDEs and can you use them as a guide for your units/classes?

• There is nothing wrong with teaching content related to the CDEs. If there wasn't overlap it wouldn't make sense to have the CDE and/or the class content. HOWEVER, you do not "teach to the CDE". If you only teach what the CDE requires, then you are not giving you students opportunities to explore beyond whatever the CDE "permits".

About all of the different CDEs available.

• See above for the link to the CDE manual from National FFA.

There is a lot of events in the CDE. Does a student need to do something in each category?

• I would have to look at what you are specifically referring to here, but yes the students must complete many different tasks for each CDE. This typically includes written examinations, as well as several opportunities for application of content.

How to produce an interest in students to complete the CDE.

• This is where it is important to work with students and motivate them to participate on an individual basis. Also, through your classes you can provide students with examples of past success. There are both extrinsic and intrinsic motivators that you can utilize to get students to participate.

Session 13 - Inclusion

What are you curious about?
North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

• Check out their website at http://www.ncat.edu/

What can I do to be the best to accommodate all of my students?

• You will learn more about all of this as you take WF ED 413, and complete the Chapter 49-2 requirements associated with the AEE coursework. As we talked about with our guest speaker, the classes help prepare you for the experiences that you will have in the classroom.
• Seek out experiences now to work with students with special needs.

AEE 311 Final Exam scheduled time.

• Let's discuss in class.

If you have an officer that is a special needs student, how do you do what is best for the student, but also for the program? 

• I believe this is determined on a case-by-case basis, but the main thing is to consider the person and what is best for them. If you do this, then the rest of the program will take care of itself, and you would be amazed how other officers and members "step up" to help when needed.

Legislation dealing with inclusion?

• Check out http://www.education.com/reference/article/mainstreaming-inclusion/ for a good read on special needs and legislation

What percent of students in agricultural education classrooms are special needs? (The following link answers about 3 different questions that were asked on the ticket out)!

• Check out https://www.ffa.org/FFAResources/Publications/ffapulse/201303/advisors/Pages/How-advisors-can-support-special-needs-students.aspx for a good read, and just one percentage (23%) that is probably typical in agricultural education/other career and technical education areas. Fourteen percent of students nationwide are covered under IDEA as special needs.

What did you learn?

What state supervisors perceive to be barriers to inclusion.

Why inclusion is important.

That agricultural educators can implement various strategies to be inclusive.

This class session connect to other classes that I have taken!

I learned that there is actually legislation connected to working with special needs students in our classrooms. I learned that I should serve on IEP teams in the future.

The importance of working with guidance counselors.

Strategies and opinions.

Inclusion and mainstreaming

What inclusion is and other factors dealing with inclusion, mainstreaming, and tracking.

Socio-economic status factors are a major factor of experience conflicts.

What do you want to learn more about?

Opportunities to gain experience with special needs learners.

• Check out http://www.volunteermatch.org/search/orgs.jsp?r=20.0&l=State+College%2C+PA+16801%2C+USA You can type in keywords such as special needs or disability and find organizations that you can partner with to help others. Also, you can search in areas other than State College. I just used this in my example.

Dealing with parents who question my decision.

• We do some work with this in AEE 413, and you have an opportunity to communicate with an upset "parent" in one of the assignments in that class.

Fundraising for students that can't afford official dress.

• We also talk about fundraising in AEE 413, and there are many models out there to help students "earn" their jacket and/or official dress through fundraising. There are a few examples/stories at ffa.org

Different adaptations and accommodations for students, and how to follow a student's IEP.

• The IEP will help provide specific strategies to support the student; thus, the importance of getting involved in IEP teams so that you understand how the paperwork is developed, and utilized.

Can we include 49-2 modules on a resume, or is it just assumed by employers that we have had done something like this?

• Hmmm.... very interesting thought/question. I would think that it would be fine to list these, as long as you were specific in your description of the modules. School administrators will understand the regulations through PDE; thus, they would know that you complete coursework and/or associated modules, but they would still probably like to see that you have not only been trained, but that you felt it was worthy to list on your resume!

How are IEP meetings run... what are the roles of various people, etc.

• Here is what is required by law... http://idea.ed.gov/explore/view/p/,root,dynamic,TopicalBrief,9,
• Here is an easier one to read/understand :-) http://www.readingrockets.org/article/211/

How much do teachers tolerate from a special needs student prior to removing them from the class?

• Read the following blog. It may help you understand this question. You, as the teacher, have the responsibility to educate all students in your class, so you do not need to think that a student with special needs can't be taken out of your class, especially for disruptive or dangerous behaviors. http://www.wrightslaw.com/blog/?p=3212

How do teachers minimize the negative perceptions of other students towards a student with a disability to make inclusion successful?

• While the entire article at http://www.readingrockets.org/article/26319/ is a good one, I would suggest scrolling down to "Intervening with Students" to get a pretty good response to this question.