PLE #9

How might self-efficacy and self-regulation contribute to the intervention plans you use in your case study?

If Luke felt he had high self efficacy in his subjects then he would be less likely to act out, and more motivated to pay attention. I would plan to use interventions with the goal of raising his self efficacy. As his self efficacy rises Luke would also be more likely to self regulate. Self-regulation would be extremely important for Luke to learn. It is hard to learn when you don't set goals for yourself or if you are not intrinsically motivated. 

The ability to self-regulate is not only important for learning, but is also important in life. The marshmallow test is just one example of how setting goals and learning to work towards those goals can be important. It also shows how some children posses this ability and others do not.

PLE post #8

This is your first week as an educational interpreter at Brown Elementary School. One of your students, Luke, has completely shut down and is not engaged in learning. During instruction, he refuses to look at you for communication. He has not completed any assignments that would help him demonstrate an understanding of material and has, on several occasions, put his head down on his desk and gone to sleep. On the second day of school, you tried to talk to Luke between classes to find out if there was a problem and he walked away from you. Yesterday, when you attempted to facilitate communication with his math teacher, Luke crossed his arms and turned his back toward you. His math teacher got angry and requested that you contact his parents, who are both hearing, and set up a meeting to discuss Luke’s behavior.

Based on a behaviorists understanding of cognitive development, conditioning would be beneficial for this student, particularly positive reinforcement and removal punishment. Because the behavior is already occurring removal punishment, such as taking away time at an activity that Luke likes to do, would be effective. This could lead him to become more isolated, however, if that event is social in nature. For this reason I would think that positive reinforcement would work better over all. This could be done by finding out something Luke likes, such as candy or computer time, and giving that to him if he does actions like paying attention or staying awake. 

In contrast, from a constructivist understanding it would be helpful to alter the activities the student is doing. In the case study it says that Luke has shut down and is not engaged in learning. This could be because he is not involved in creating or constructing his own knowledge. This link contains ideas for constructivist lesson plans for various age levels. 

Behaviorism would be helpful in teaching the student the behavior that is desired, while constructivism would help engage Luke. In this case it may be easier and less disruptive for a teacher to employ a behavioristic model for changing behavior. The constructivist model would allow for Luke to be more integrated into the classroom. However, it would be much more difficult to do. 

PLE post 7 EI question

(8.2) The student for whom you are interpreting must complete an activity that requires him to solve a complex problem with a partner. Rather than collaborating with his partner, your student asks that you just tell him and his partner the answer. How would you re-direct this student and encourage him to work with his partner and persist in the task?

I can see how this type of situation may be intimidating or uncomfortable for the deaf student. However, this would be no excuse for the deaf student because being to work with others is an important skill to have whether the student is deaf or hearing. I would remind the student that he must do his own work, and that I am there only to help him communicate. One suggestion that I would give the student's is to start by making sure they both understand the assignment and agree on what needs to be done. It would also be imperitive that the students ask questions of each other so they can find out what prior knowledge exists. 

This link is to pamphlet put out by North Dakota School for the Deaf about the roles of the interpreter, teacher, and student in a mainstream classroom situation.

PLE post # 6 Chapter 7

(7.1) You have been assigned to interpret for a student in a constructivist classroom. What strategies would you use to make sure that you accurately interpret all spoken messages and convey the students’ questions or replies to the teacher and to other students?




In a constuctivist classroom there is a lot of hands-on learning, so as to allow the students to construct their own knowledge. Often times hands-on learning lends itself to discussion, which can be tricky for an interpreter to successfully and accurately interpret. It is important if group discussion is going to happen that only one person talks at once. This can be achieved easier if their is one person in charge of facilitating the discussion. Another thing to consider with discussions is that there is lag time between what is said and what is interpreted. Because of this it is helpful to allow for extra time for the comment or question to be interpreted, and then time for the deaf student to formulate their answer. This website contains more useful information about working with interpreters, and specifically working with interpreters during group discussion.

Post 5 Chapter 6

(6.2) If you interpret for a student throughout the course of a school day, what strategies could you employ to help your student become increasingly independent and to develop long-term memory storage of things like signs for course specific language, class schedule, etc. Identify at least one strategy for long-term memory storage to: (1) promote metacognition, (2) encourage meaningful learning, and (3) make use of mnemonics.

There are many strategies that an interpreter can employ in order for a deaf student to gain independence and develop long-term memory storage. One strategy is to teach deaf students and hearing students how to communicate through an interpreter. The hearing students can also be taught some sign, which would promote communication and interaction between the students. There are also benefits to hearing students learning sign language, which are are listed in the link. Doing these two strategies will help the deaf student to feel more involved in the classroom. These feelings of involvement allow a student to feel higher self efficacy, more independence, and make it easier for them to store information in long term memory. Allowing for a student to be more involved in the classroom encourages meaningful learning.

Interpreting in Elementary School

Post 4: Chapter 6 EI question

The gold standard for teachers is to get students to store information in their long-term memory. What role do interpreters play in what is stored in the student’s sensory register? working memory? What are some potential issues that may arise?


Educational Interpreters are one of the main people that a deaf child has interaction with throughout the school day. Therefore, interpreters play a large role in helping a student with storing information in long term memory. The student may be a very visual learner so this would change how you could interpret. For example, when interpreting a mnemonic device instead of just interpreting the words into signs, fingerspelling can be utilized. An interpreter could set up the device by spelling the device word vertically, and then going back and spelling the meanings horizontally. Another way that an interpreter could help a visual learner is to write it down so that the student could see the concept. If the child were more of a kinesthetic learner then the interpreter could have the child sign the concept with her.An issues that may arise in storing memory may be that if the concept relies on hearing a deaf child would not understand or would have a harder time understanding. An example of this would be using alliteration for a concept, which would not work at all for a deaf student. Songs could also pose an issue for deaf students and the interpreter meaning that they would not translate well into ASL.
This link is to a review on research that has been done regarding working memory and deafness.
   

Chapter 14 EI Topic

I chose to use the Educational Interpreting case study. It is about the misbehavior of a deaf elementary student named Luke. There are many theories that could explain his misbehavior. It may be that Luke does not want a female interpreter. There are many more female interpreters in the field of interpreting than male interpreters. Particularly with younger boys, I can see how it may be embarrassing to have a female interpret for you. Luke may also feel isolated from the class. Sometimes when children feel isolated they may begin to also isolate themselves. Depending on his age, he may not yet have learned how to effectively communicate his thoughts and feelings, and therefore, acting out in this inappropriate way. It is important that an interpreter use the mode of language that is most effective and beneficial for the student’s comprehension and learning. This link is a good overview of an interpreters role in the classroom according to IDEA. It contains some information about the role of an educational interpreter that I had not previously seen before. I did not realize that providing communication according to the student's language abilities fell under this law.