Google and Web 2.0 Technology for the Classroom

This Web 2.0 Training was presented by the North Coastal Consortium for Special Education for classroom teachers to become more comfortable with Google's many features, such as blogger. Other topics included how to use Diigo as a social book marking project for teachers. Worlde can be used to display popular topics in a group project, it can also be used to narrow focus of meetings and project topics. GlogsterEDU was created for teachers to create poster sized project displays off of their printers. This is good for open house nights, or as final project presentations. All of these links can be found in my links section. I had previous training with this type of software when I was completing my education technology course at California State University San Marcos.

Response to Intervention

Another course taught at the San Diego County Office of Education's North County Regional Education Center in San Marcos that I have attended was Response to Intervention taught by Lorraine Wyant on behalf of the North Coastal Consortium for Special Education. Lorraine is a very well known special education coordinator for the California Department of Education. She created the California Response to Intervention model I and II and then drove across California implementing it. Her amazing skill at connecting the needs of special education students to general education situations were astounding. she said "think about one of your classes, 30 students in all...10 of those students have documented disabilities let me let you in on a secret all 30 of your students in your class suffer from some form of learning disability and its your job to teach all 30 students with no special education training" Lorraine continued to explain how her RtI model's can be successfully implemented in a general and special education setting for even the most emotionally disturbed students so that both the student and the teacher can be successful in the classroom.

Make-It Take-It Binders

In my continuing professional development opportunities for Instructional Assistants who are wanting to become teachers I have been asked to attend another conference and advanced training session entitled Make-It Take-IT: Communicating Critical Student Information to General Education Teachers course taught at the San Diego County Office of Education's North County Regional Education Center in San Marcos by Tina Aboud on behalf of the North Coastal Consortium for Special Educations. Tina's idea of putting together a "desk reference" as she describes it, for general education teachers to see what the needs of their special education students appealed to me as I was worried about what to ask for from my special education colleagues. for some time I had wondered how to ask a special education teacher for specific information on a student so I would not be overwhelmed with a students special education file. Tina breaks the information down into wonderful digestible pieces so that a general education teacher can simply flip the binder open, pull the appropriate tab, and understand what is expected from them on behalf of the student. Tina puts together in a sample binder with topics such as: Team Contact Information, Background Information, Start of the Year Tips, Previous Teacher Reports, IEP information, Behavior, Accommodations and Modifications, and Notes pages. She distributes these binders to the general education teachers before the school year and again during the school year if for some reason the file has been lost or misplaced. Special needs students are also given the same binders (minus a few important tabs) so that they have the information as well, helping them to advocate for their needs during the school day. I am very grateful that I attended this training as it will help me as a general education teacher to better and more quickly understand what it is that I need from a special education colleague to help a student succeed in my classroom. If I can help implement this binder system within my school I may be able to help other general education teachers understand what it is that they need for a special education student's file.

Advanced Curriculum Adaptation

As I have said I recently have been asked to attended a number of professional development opportunities for Instructional Assistants who are wanting to become teachers. As a result I have been asked to attend a number of conferences and participate in some advanced training sessions with the San Diego County Office of Education. One of the classes in which I took part was the Advanced Curriculum Adaptation course taught at the San Diego County Office of Education's North County Regional Education Center in San Marcos by Linda Dinkle on behalf of the North Coastal Consortium for Special Education. in this lecture Linda explains how general education instructors can modify their curriculum to meet the needs of their special education students. it is said that 10 out of 30 students in each regular education class has some form of documented learning disability requiring modifications to curriculum. This can be as simple as having a student pulled out of class for individual assistants in speech and language or occupational therapy, or as simple as having that student sit in front of the class so they can see the board and teacher, to having a full time Instructional Assistant or behavior specialist sit with that student in the classroom and work with them one on one throughout the day. The point that Linda stresses the most in her lecture is one of flexibility. Teachers must be flexible when they are making decisions about lesson plans, "the one thing that must be lingering in the front of your mind before you sit down to do your lesson plans is 'how can I modify these plans for my special needs students?'" Teachers must also be flexible in the way they deal with these students. She does not suggest lightening up your expectations or consequences on these particular students, but for the teacher to think about how they present classroom consequences in a way that these students can understand what went wrong. This may include something as simple as stickers on a piece of paper taped to their desk to private conferences with the student after class to discuss their behavior to collaborating with the special education team in your school to come up with innovative ways to deal with students behavior. the point she makes is that neither you nor the student are alone in this situation, and for general education teachers to make use of the special education teams within their schools so that both parties are successful and satisfied.

Conscious Classroom Management

I recently have attended a number of professional development opportunities for Instructional Assistants who are wanting to become teachers. As a result I have been asked to attend a number of conferences and participate in some advanced training sessions. One of the classes in which I took part was the Conscious Classroom Management course taught at the San Diego County Office of Education's North County Regional Education Center in San Marcos by Grace Dearborn. In this class Grace takes the underlining fear of "how do I lead my classroom successfully?" and puts it to rest. Grace lectures on such topics as: The Inner Authority and You, Assume the best about your students, How to hold your ground, The Recognize Reorient Respond Technique, Procedures Precede Content, Non-Verbal Ques, Establishing Positive Connections, and Assumptions about Consequences. Within the entire class is a feeling of family and collaboration amongst the teachers, and their lecturer. Grace sees us a apart of her lecture, and as such we are her family. After attending this class I can say that I feel as if I have affirmed my confidence in the ability to lead my classroom successfully. At the end of the lecture Grace distributed her book "Conscious Classroom Management" and I encourage all new teachers, student teachers, interns, and students taking their prerequisite courses to purchase this book. I do not typically encourage the sale of one book over another, however if I believe that it will benefit my "family" and colleagues I will recommend that it be given some attention.

About me

Hi my name is Anthony Atwood. I was born in Panorama city hospital, and I lived in Camarillo, CA. for many years. My parents were transferred to Bakersfield, CA. when I was in middle school, and yeah if you have ever been there...you know. Anyway, my parents were fortunate enough to be transferred to San Diego and I finish my secondary education at Rancho Bernardo High School. After my graduation from high school in 2002 I attended Palomar Community college and graduated with both an AA degree in General Arts and Sciences, and Liberal Arts and Studies. After Palomar I enrolled at California State University San Marcos and have graduated with my BA in History. At this moment I am happy to announce that I have passed my CBEST and CSET tests and I have received my 30 Day Substitute Permit. I have been accepted into the CSUSM's School of Teacher Education as a credential candidate. I have been assigned to Rancho Buena Vista High School in the Fall and Valley High School in the Spring. After high school I joined the San Diego County Office of Education as a teachers aid for the Juvenile Court and Community Schools and worked there as a teachers assistant for 4 years. I saw a lot and got to meet some dedicated teachers. About 5 years ago I applied for a full time position at North County Acadamey an Instructional Assistant (yes there is a difference, IA's get better pay and full benefits!) where I worked with Emotionally Disturbed students. I have also worked at Vista Acadamey of Visual and Performing Arts as an after school tutor for the ASES program run jointly by SDCOE and Vista Unified.

My brothers are computer programmers, my older brother works for Fujitsu as a tech support specialist in San Francisco, and my younger brother is a former SDCOE and Poway Unified computer technician. He currently works at Glacier Water Company as an analyst.

I have been in the trenches, as it were, for 10 years now, gosh its been that long?, fighting right along side my students and fellow faculty members for educational equity. I Have taught and reached students who were written off as unteachable, and let me tell you their stories are incredible. Most of my students have a reason to hate education and learning, because the system has let them down, and yet they somehow managed to give me a second chance (and sometimes a third and a forth) to make education a worth while investment. I have seen many students totally turn their lives around and become something great. I have also seen students try their hardest and fall deeper into the ever growing gap in education. I believe that every student regardless of their "abnormality" be it skin color or educational background, has the right to a free public education, and my job as their teacher is to ensure that they receive an education that is well regulated and is in accordance with the states expectations of both myself and them, but at the same time, I have the background to make those standards fun and to teach my students what they need to know, in a way that makes it fun and interesting for them...at the same time I also know how to create a safe, inclusive environment with proper structure and appropriate boundaries so that my students will want to learn.