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izz aty

School Behavior Strategies: Helping ADHD Children with Impulse Control | ADDitude - Att... - 0 views

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    "For children with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder who are ruled by their impulses calling out in class or pushing to the front of the line comes naturally. These kids live in the moment, undeterred by rules or consequences. Lack of impulse control may be the most difficult ADHD symptom to change. Medication can help, but kids also need clear expectations, positive incentives, and predictable consequences if they are to learn to regulate their behavior."
izz aty

Equity, democracy, and neoliberal assaults on teacher education - 1 views

  • Although in the long run, neoliberalism has a track record of undermining equity and democracy, in the short run it has directed attention to education needs that have been inadequately addressed
  • what teacher education in the US can do to advance equity and democracy in five areas: recruitment and admission, early fieldwork, professional coursework, student teaching, and on-going professional development
  • three neoliberal pressures teacher education: (1) away from explicit equity-oriented teacher preparation, and toward preparing teachers as technicians; (2) away from defining teacher quality in terms of professional knowledge, and toward defining it terms testable content knowledge; and (3) toward shortening university-based teacher education or by-passing it altogether. It concludes by emphasizing the importance of collaborating with underserved communities as a way of pushing back against neoliberalism.
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  • Although in the long run, neoliberalism has a track record of undermining equity and democracy, in the short run it has directed attention to education needs that have been inadequately addressed.
  • neoliberalism has a track record of undermining equity and democracy, in the short run it has directed attention to education needs that have been inadequately addressed
izz aty

Social Networking ProCon.org - 0 views

  • Are social networking sites good for our society?
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    The popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Classmates.com more than quadrupled from 2005 to 2009. Many users say the sites are good for our society, but others contend that the dangers of social media outweigh the benefits. Proponents of social networking sites argue that these online communities promote increased communication with friends and family, familiarize people with valuable computer skills, and allow contact with people from around the world. Opponents argue that social networking sites expose children to predators, increase vulnerability to computer viruses, lower worker productivity, and promote narcissism and short attention spans.
izz aty

How Television Has Changed | Reading Comprehension Text - 0 views

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    Can also use this as a dictoglass (read everything) + comprehension (give out the text with gaps) combo activity. It's good to test their listening skills as well as help with their vocab. Use self-correction so that they can pay close attention to their own writing. The text: "You really have to get very old before you realize you're old. I'm in my middle fifties and I don't feel old yet. However, sometimes I look back at my childhood and __1__ things to the way life is for __2__ kids. Some things have certainly changed. One area of change is television. Some changes have been improvements. Some changes, on the other hand, have been __3__. When I started school, most people didn't have a television; TV was just beginning to get __4__. My father decided to go all out and buy a 16 inch black and white Motorola set. I still remember watching the Lone Ranger save people from the __5__ guys on that awesome electronic machine. That was exciting! Now, __6__ have larger pictures in full color. The pictures are clearer and the sound is much more realistic. The new high definition sets are made to rival __7__ screens. The variety and quantity of programming has __8__ greatly. There are hundreds of channels and more shows than one person could ever watch. There are many fine entertainment and educational __9__. There's also a lot of garbage, stuff that most parents don't want their kids exposed to. Overall, we have more choices, and that is good. I wonder what __10__ will be like when today's kids are my age."
izz aty

5 Tips on Spoken Word | Power Poetry - 0 views

  • Choose a subject and have attitude. No attitude, no poem! Feelings and opinions give poetry its “richness.” Each poet has a unique perspective and view of the world that no one else has. It is important that a spoken word poem embodies the courage necessary to share one’s self with the rest of the world. The key here is to build confidence. We must acknowledge ourselves as writers and understand what we have to say is important. Practice. Practice. Practice.  
  • Pick your poetic devices. Poems that get attention are ones that incorporate simple, but powerful poetic elements. Repetition is a device that can help a writer generate exciting poems with just repeating a key phrase or image. Rhyming can enrich your diction and performance. (Check out other poetic devices while you’re at it.)
  • Performance. Spoken word poems are written to be performed. After your poem is written, practice performing the poem with the elements of good stage presence in mind.  It is important to maintain Eye Contact – Don’t stare at the floor, or hide behind a piece of paper/phone. From time to time, look into the eyes of people in the audience to capture their attention. Projection  is also crucial, so remember to speak loudly and clearly so that your voice can be heard from a distance. Enunciation helps the listeners to hear exactly what you say. Don’t mumble. Speak clearly and distinctly so that the audience can understand what you are saying. Facial Expressions  help animate your poem. You’re not a statue: smile if you’re reading something happy. Look angry if your poem is about anger. This might sound silly, but using the appropriate facial expressions help express various emotions in your performance. Gestures such as hand motions and body movements emphasize different elements of your performance. Choose the right gestures for your poem.
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  • Memorization. Once you’ve memorized your spoken word piece, you can devote more time to your performance. Memorization allows you to be truly in touch with the meaning and the emotional content of your poem, even if you forget a word or a line you can improvise (freestyle), which is one of the most important elements of spoken word.
  • Power Poetry. Spoken word must be, well, spoken. To create an online performance (so that you can share it on Power Poetry, of course) check out our multimedia tip guide to bring your work to life.
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    "Spoken Word is writing that is meant to be read out loud. Some examples of spoken word you might be familiar with are stories, poems, monologues, slam poetry, rap and even stand-up comedy. Spoken word is written on a page but performed for an audience and since it is performed, this poetry demonstrates a heavy use of rhythm, improvisation, rhymes, word play, and slang. It is more animated than more traditional forms of poetry. When writing a spoken word piece use words and phrases that project onto the minds of the listeners like vivid images, sounds, actions and other sensations. If your poem is rich with imagery, your listeners will see, smell, feel and maybe even taste what you're telling them. Here are some spoken word poems from our Power Poets."
izz aty

Adult ADHD: 50 Tips of Management « Dr Hallowell ADHD and mental and cognitiv... - 0 views

  • the single most powerful treatment for ADHD is understanding ADHD in the first place. Read books. Talk with professionals. Talk with other adults who have ADHD. You’ll be able to design your own treatment to fit your own version of ADHD.
  • It is useful for you to have a coach, for some person near you to keep after you, but always with humor. Your coach can help you get organized, stay on task, give you encouragement or remind you to get back to work. Friend, colleague, or therapist (it is possible, but risky for your coach to be your spouse), a coach is someone to stay on you to get things done, exhort you as coaches do, keep tabs on you, and in general be in your corner. A coach can be tremendously helpful in treating ADHD.
  • ADHD adults need lots of encouragement. This is in part due to their having many self-doubts that have accumulated over the years. But it goes beyond that. More than the average person, the ADHD adult withers without encouragement and positively lights up like a Christmas tree when given it. They will often work for another person in a way they won’t work for themselves. This is not “bad”, it just is. It should be recognized and taken advantage of.
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  • it equally if not more important for those around you to understand it–family, job, school, friends. Once they get the concept they will be able to understand you much better and to help you as well.
  • Try to get rid of the negativity that may have infested your system if you have lived for years without knowing what you had was ADHD
  • Listen to feedback from trusted others. Adults (and children, too) with ADHD are notoriously poor self-observers. They use a lot of what can appear to be denial.
  • Consider joining or starting a support group
  • Give up guilt over high-stimulus-seeking behavior. Understand that you are drawn to high stimuli. Try to choose them wisely, rather than brooding over the “bad” ones.
  • Don’t feel chained to conventional careers or conventional ways of coping. Give yourself permission to be yourself. Give up trying to be the person you always thought you should be–the model student or the organized executive, for example–and let yourself be who you are.
  • what you have is a neuropsychiatric condition. It is genetically transmitted. It is caused by biology, by how your brain is wired. It is NOT a disease of the will, nor a moral failing. It is NOT caused by a weakness in character, nor by a failure to mature. It’s cure is not to be found in the power of the will, nor in punishment, nor in sacrifice, nor in pain. ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS. Try as they might, many people with ADHD have great trouble accepting the syndrome as being rooted in biology rather than weakness of character.
  • External structure. Structure is the hallmark of the non-pharmacological treatment of the ADHD child. It can be equally useful with adults. Tedious to set up, once in place structure works like the walls of the bobsled slide, keeping the speedball sled from careening off the track.
  • Make frequent use of: ◦    lists ◦    color-coding ◦    reminders ◦    notes to self ◦    rituals ◦    files
  • Color coding. Mentioned above, color-coding deserves emphasis. Many people with ADHD are visually oriented. Take advantage of this by making things memorable with color: files, memoranda, texts, schedules, etc. Virtually anything in the black and white of type can be made more memorable, arresting, and therefore attention-getting with color.
  • try to make your environment as peppy as you want it to be without letting it boil over.
  • Now that you have the freedom of adulthood, try to set things up so that you will not constantly be reminded of your limitations.
  •  Make deadlines.
  •  Break down large tasks into small ones. Attach deadlines to the small parts. Then, like magic, the large task will get done. This is one of the simplest and most powerful of all structuring devices. Often a large task will feel overwhelming to the person with ADHD. The mere thought of trying to perform the task makes one turn away. On the other hand, if the large task is broken down into small parts, each component may feel quite manageable.
  • Prioritize. Avoid procrastination. When things get busy, the adult ADHD person loses perspective: paying an unpaid parking ticket can feel as pressing as putting out the fire that just got started in the wastebasket. Prioritize. Take a deep breath. Put first things first. Procrastination is one of the hallmarks of adult ADHD. You have to really discipline yourself to watch out for it and avoid it.
  • Accept fear of things going well. Accept edginess when things are too easy, when there’s no conflict. Don’t gum things up just to make them more stimulating.
  •  Notice how and where you work best: in a noisy room, on the train, wrapped in three blankets, listening to music, whatever. Children and adults with ADHD can do their best under rather odd conditions. Let yourself work under whatever conditions are best for you.
  • it is O.K. to do two things at once: carry on a conversation and knit, or take a shower and do your best thinking, or jog and plan a business meeting. Often people with ADHD need to be doing several things at once in order to get anything done at all.
  • Do what you’re good at. Again, if it seems easy, that is O.K. There is no rule that says you can only do what you’re bad at.
  • Leave time between engagements to gather your thoughts. Transitions are difficult for ADHD’ers, and mini-breaks can help ease the transition.
  • Keep a notepad in your car, by your bed, and in your pocketbook or jacket. You never know when a good idea will hit you, or you’ll want to remember something else.
  • Read with a pen in hand, not only for marginal notes or underlining, but for the inevitable cascade of “other” thoughts that will occur to you.
  • Set aside some time in every week for just letting go
  • Recharge your batteries. Related to #30, most adults with ADHD need, on a daily basis, some time to waste without feeling guilty about it. One guilt-free way to conceptualize it is to call it time to recharge your batteries. Take a nap, watch T.V., meditate. Something calm, restful, at ease.
  • Many adults with ADHD have an addictive or compulsive personality such that they are always hooked on something. Try to make this something positive.
  • Understand mood changes and ways to manage these. Know that your moods will change willy-nilly, independent of what’s going on in the external world. Don’t waste your time ferreting out the reason why or looking for someone to blame. Focus rather on learning to tolerate a bad mood, knowing that it will pass, and learning strategies to make it pass sooner. Changing sets, i.e., getting involved with some new activity (preferably interactive) such as a conversation with a friend or a tennis game or reading a book will often help.
  • recognize the following cycle which is very common among adults with ADHD: Something “startles” your psychological system, a change or transition, a disappointment or even a success. The precipitant may be quite trivial. This “startle” is followed by a mini-panic with a sudden loss of perspective, the world being set topsy-turvy. You try to deal with this panic by falling into a mode of obsessing and ruminating over one or another aspect of the situation. This can last for hours, days, even months.
  • Plan scenarios to deal with the inevitable blahs. Have a list of friends to call. Have a few videos that always engross you and get your mind off things. Have ready access to exercise. Have a punching bag or pillow handy if there’s extra angry energy. Rehearse a few pep talks you can give yourself, like, “You’ve been here before. These are the ADHD blues. They will soon pass. You are O.K.”
  • Expect depression after success. People with ADHD commonly complain of feeling depressed, paradoxically, after a big success. This is because the high stimulus of the chase or the challenge or the preparation is over. The deed is done. Win or lose, the adult with ADHD misses the conflict, the high stimulus, and feels depressed.
  •  Use “time-outs” as with children. When you are upset or overstimulated, take a time-out. Go away. Calm down.
  • Learn how to advocate for yourself. Adults with ADHD are so used to being criticized, they are often unnecessarily defensive in putting their own case forward. Learn to get off the defensive.
  • Avoid premature closure of a project, a conflict, a deal, or a conversation. Don’t “cut to the chase” too soon, even though you’re itching to.
  • Try to let the successful moment last and be remembered, become sustaining over time. You’ll have to consciously and deliberately train yourself to do this because you’ll just as soon forget.
  •  Remember that ADHD usually includes a tendency to overfocus or hyperfocus at times. This hyperfocusing can be used constructively or destructively. Be aware of its destructive use: a tendency to obsess or ruminate over some imagined problem without being able to let it go.
  •  Exercise vigorously and regularly. You should schedule this into your life and stick with it. Exercise is positively one of the best treatments for ADHD. It helps work off excess energy and aggression in a positive way, it allows for noise-reduction within the mind, it stimulates the hormonal and neurochemical system in a most therapeutic way, and it soothes and calms the body. When you add all that to the well-known health benefits of exercise, you can see how important exercise is. Make it something fun so you can stick with it over the long haul, i.e., the rest of your life.
  • Learn to joke with yourself and others about your various symptoms, from forgetfulness, to getting lost all the time, to being tactless or impulsive, whatever. If you can be relaxed about it all to have a sense of humor, others will forgive you much more.
  • Make a good choice in a significant other. Obviously this is good advice for anyone. But it is striking how the adult with ADHD can thrive or flounder depending on the choice of mate.
  • Schedule activities with friends. Adhere to these schedules faithfully. It is crucial for you to keep connected to other people.
  • Find and join groups where you are liked, appreciated, understood, enjoyed. Conversely, don’t stay too long where you aren’t understood or appreciated.
  • Pay compliments. Notice other people. In general, get social training, as from your coach.
  • Set social deadlines.
izz aty

Is That Supposed to Be Funny? Using Humor in the Classroom and Avoiding the Pitfalls - 1 views

  • generational differences are really cultural differences in societies that undergo rapid change
  • humor is so dependent on culture, on a shared context, and why jokes that have to be explained are probably not going to be funny.
  • Culturally and context specific
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  • There is the old apology, “You had to be there” when a “funny” story falls flat. Most of the humor of stand-up comedians is on very specific cultural phenomenon.
  • In one of my reading classes, the text had a reading about the lifework of movie actor/writer/director Woody Allen, who, not surprisingly, the students were not familiar with. So to give a sense of Allen and his work, I explained the synopsis of one of his short films, “Oedipus Wrecks,”
  • The students were able to see the humor in this as overprotective mothers are a cultural universal
  • If the teacher can lighten the mood with humor, some of the tension dissipates, leaving students more ready to learn.
  • When you laugh with someone, even a stranger, you bond with that person, if only momentarily
  • A class that laughs together develops a feeling of goodwill toward each other and can work more productively together.
  • When you learn a society’s humor, how it conveys humor and what it finds funny, you’ve learned quite a lot about its culture
  • the sources of humor are also sources of anxiety; the laughter is to dispel anxiety
  • Sometimes culture and language itself can be sources of humor
  • a favorite short play I like to teach students is Kaufman and Hart’s “The Still Alarm.
  • hilarious in its use of overly polite, inappropriate language, as in the hotel manager knocking and announcing something like, “Pardon me for intruding, but the building is on fire.”
  • Methods for Including Humor in the ESL Classroom
  • Include humor from the beginning
  • Lighten the mood
  • Call attention to humor
  • Share a joke from their cultures
  • Humor is a tool
  • humor, especially sarcasm, should never be directed at students. Sarcasm can be hard to understand, even from someone within one’s own culture, and “mean” humor becomes a barrier to, not a tool for, learning. Direct humor at inanimate objects or situations, not people.
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    ESL students don't share the same cultural context as their instructor in most cases, making humor in the ESL class dicey.
izz aty

50 Things Everyone Should Know How To Do - 0 views

  • 1.  Build a Fire
  • 2.  Operate a Computer
  • 3.  Use Google Effectively
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  • 4.  Perform CPR and the Heimlich Maneuver
  • 5.  Drive a Manual Transmission Vehicle
  • 7.  Tell a Story that Captivates People’s Attention
  • 6.  Do Basic Cooking
  • 8.  Win or Avoid a Fistfight
  • 9.  Deliver Bad News
  • 10.  Change a Tire
  • 11.  Handle a Job Interview
  • 12.  Manage Time
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    Self-reliance is a vital key to living a healthy, productive life.  To be self-reliant one must master a basic set of skills, more or less making them a jack of all trades.  Contrary to what you may have learned in school, a jack of all trades is far more equipped to deal with life than a specialized master of only one.
izz aty

TheBananaKing comments on People with ADHD, what ADHD is like, how does medication affe... - 0 views

  • Pomodoro technique for productivity
  • High-stimulation, reactive tasks (Quake 3 is perfect) to relax. What you need is not less input, as you just bounce off all your inner thoughts, but to stop trying to filter.
  • Personal whiteboard
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  • Don't overload the short-term memory of an ADDer. Give them a string of tasks, and they'll forget all but the last one. Give them a list, and ask for their full attention when they can give it, instead of asking them to pause for your request.
  • If we are managing to be productive, don't for god's sake interrupt us unless it's urgent. You can totally derail us for five times as long as the interruption/break itself.
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    "ADHD is about having broken filters on your perception. Normal people have a sort of mental secretary that takes the 99% of irrelevant crap that crosses their mind, and simply deletes it before they become consciously aware of it. As such, their mental workspace is like a huge clean whiteboard, ready to hold and organize useful information. ADHD people... have no such luxury. Every single thing that comes in the front door gets written directly on the whiteboard in bold, underlined red letters, no matter what it is, and no matter what has to be erased in order for it to fit. As such, if we're in the middle of some particularly important mental task, and our eye should happen to light upon... a doorknob, for instance, it's like someone burst into the room, clad in pink feathers and heralded by trumpets, screaming HEY LOOK EVERYONE, IT'S A DOORKNOB! LOOK AT IT! LOOK! IT OPENS THE DOOR IF YOU TURN IT! ISN'T THAT NEAT? I WONDER HOW THAT ACTUALLY WORKS DO YOU SUPPOSE THERE'S A CAM OR WHAT? MAYBE ITS SOME KIND OF SPRING WINCH AFFAIR ALTHOUGH THAT SEEMS KIND OF UNWORKABLE. It's like living in a soft rain of post-it notes."
izz aty

Who Is Dangerdust? An Exclusive | Columbus College of Art & Design Blog - 0 views

  • They’ve been popping up on campus all semester: intricately worked chalkboard messages with one signature, #dangerdust. Dangerdust has captured the attention of students and taken social media by storm. I recently sat down with the artistic duo and, while I can’t name names, I did get a sense of who these artists are and what drives them.
  • the duo is serious about keeping their late-night chalking escapades on the down low even as they were kind enough to talk to me about why they do what they do. “It’s definitely a passion,” they agreed.
izz aty

Free school: Conservatives eye the Swedish model - Education News - Education - The Ind... - 0 views

  • Each youngster is set weekly goals and gets a 15-minute briefing with their own tutor at the end of the week to check on progress and discuss how to reach the targets setfor the following week.
  • The big difference between the education system in Sweden and the UK is that, in Sweden parents are given an educational voucher for each child, and they use that voucher to apply for any school they want to.
  • Bertil Ostoberg, the Swedish Secretary of State for Education, summarised the scheme as "providing freedom of choice for the parents and the pupils, much wider freedom of choice". He added: "They have to compete to provide a high quality to get pupils. We think this competition has led to a higher quality in the system."
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  • a wide variety of providers, with Waldorf Steiner, Montessori, confessional (faith schools) and traditionally-run schools which emphasise the basics and are strong on discipline.
  • Claes Bromander, vice-chairman of the Swedish Association of Independent Schools and principal of Vaxjo Fria Gymnasiet. "They reinvest most of the profit. Swedish TV has done some research: the 60 biggest providers that are run as companies have a turnover of about 10 billion kroner (£804m)."
  • The Swedish government has made a determined effort to make the admissions system for its independent "free" schools fair. They operate a "first come, first served" policy, announcing the date for the start of admissions and closing once they have filled up all the places.
  • Research for the Swedish National Agency for Education shows it has caused increased segregation, with better-educated parents more likely to opt for an independent "free" school place.
  • Mervyn Benford, a former primary school head from the UK who has spent years in Sweden advising ministers on their inspection system thinks there could be another reason for the "free" schools' higher results. "They are smaller than the municipal schools," he said. "They can give pupils more attention."
  • All political parties – the Conservative-led coalition in government at present and the opposition Social Democrats – are committed to maintaining the system, although the Social Democrats have called for a freeze on new schools, with pupil numbers falling. "We have to shrink the system," said Maria Sellberg, vice-principal of Norre Real High School, a top-performing public school in Stockholm. "Shrinking such an organisation costs a lot but the number of students [nationally] is decreasing. You squander taxpayers' money on this over-capacity; there is a great bleed-away of taxpayers' money." As the Swedish National Agency for Education put it: "To provide choice, you have to over-provide."
izz aty

Autism Takes a Huge Leap Forward in Bangladesh | Science News | Autism Speaks - 0 views

  • GAPH-Bangladesh aims to improve services, raise awareness and fund research in the nation. The partnership was launched at an international conference “Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Disabilities in Bangladesh and South East Asia.” In addition to launching GAPH-Bangladesh, those assembled agreed to start the South Asia Autism Network – a multi-national network of governments, organizations, and private citizens committed to combating autism throughout South Asia.
  • the governmental representatives and those gathered agreed to adopt the “Dhaka Declaration” which brings attention to the unmet needs of millions of individuals with developmental disabilities and autism. It calls for coordinated action in the region and globally to raise awareness, improve access to quality healthcare and resources, and encourage a more welcoming community. The Dhaka Declaration will serve as a political instrument to mobilize resources and UN agencies for not only the South Asia region, but the world.
  • a landmark conference that will help raise awareness, improve early diagnosis and expand the range of services and facilities for individuals with autism. “The stronger this movement grows, the greater will be the pressure on governments to provide more services,” said Gandhi.
izz aty

Dhaka Declaration on Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Disabilities 25 July 2... - 0 views

  • Recalling the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as well as resolutions adopted by other forums, in particular the United Nations General Assembly on autism
  • Reiterating the provisions of Constitutions of our respective countries safeguarding against discrimination and social exclusion of people on grounds of any disability or condition, and securing the provision of the basic necessities of life, in particular education and medical care, and the right to social security to public assistance in cases of undeserved want arising from illness and disabilities,
  • Noting that developmental disorders are being increasingly recognized all over the world as disabling conditions which seriously influence everyday functioning of affected children, severely interfere with their developmental, educational and social attainments, and bring significant economic costs to families and societies
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  • Aware that autism is a lifelong developmental disability that affects the functioning of the brain, and characterised by impairments in social interaction, problems with verbal and non-verbal communication and restricted, repetitive behaviour, interests and activities,
  • Concerned that, despite increasing evidence documenting the effectiveness of early interventions in improving the overall functioning of the child and long-term outcomes, children and families in need often have poor access to services and do not receive adequate treatment and care
  • Deeply concerned at the prevalence and high rate of autism in all societies and regions and its consequent developmental challenges to long-term health care, education and training as well as its tremendous impact on communities and societies
  • Recalling that children with developmental disorders and their families often face major challenges associated with stigma, isolation and discrimination as well as a lack of access to health care and education facilities
  • Recalling further that even the basic human rights of children and adults with developmental disorders are often abused, in many cases in flagrant violation of existing UN declarations and treaties
  • Recognising the public health importance to address mental and developmental disorders and autism in children, based on their prevalence, disability burden, long-term health consequences and the associated human rights violations
  • Recognising further that attention received by policy makers and public health experts and consequent allocation of resources have so far been inadequate to address the treatment gap for developmental disorders, and stronger concerted efforts are required
  • Acknowledging efforts undertaken by governments and international global health actors to tackle the problem, including the commemoration of the UN World Autism Awareness Day, which led to increased international public concerns for autism and other developmental disorders
  • Inspired further by a vision that all individuals with autism and developmental disorders ought to receive adequate and equal opportunities to enjoy health, achieve their optimal developmental potential and quality of life, and participate in society
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      ACTIONS TO MEET VISIONS awareness and social responsibility, healthcare specialised care services allocation of resources family-centred provisional support service quality assurance socially inclusive legislations effective networks and collabs regular conferences for knowledge-sharing and checking  progress
  • Endorse the following priority actions for realizing our vision to meet the health care needs of children with developmental disorders:
  • 1.         Adopt this Declaration with the objective of promoting stronger and coordinated actions in the region and globally towards the improvement of access and quality of health care services for individuals with autism and developmental disorders.
  • a. Increase awareness of the rights of children with developmental disorders and to highlight social responsibility to persons with such disabilities.
  • b.   Strengthen health systems’ capacity to address the needs of children with developmental disorders and their families.
  • c.   Improve capacities of professionals involved in provision of integrated care services for children with developmental disorders at various levels, from primary health care and communities to specialized services.
  • d.   Mobilize and allocate increased human and financial resources for the health care of children with developmental disorders and for stepwise implementation of the identified priority actions.
  • e.   Support provision of care as close as possible to families' homes and schools and promote participation in family life, education and society.
  • f.    Establish measures for assurance of quality of services.
  • g.   Promote a supportive national legislative and policy environment to ensure social inclusion.
  • h.   Ensure effective collaboration mechanisms across sectors and particularly, among health, education, and social services, and promote adoption of a holistic approach to care provision for developmental disorders.
  • i.    Hold regularly scheduled regional conferences to continue to share information and best practices as well as monitor progress.
izz aty

School of Education at Johns Hopkins University-Inclusion of Students with Autism Spect... - 0 views

  • if the regular classroom teacher is not fully equipped to provide accommodations for a student with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), then why discuss the need for inclusion? Why not continue the previous trend of sending all of those students to the "resource room" to be educated by the special education teacher? What can be gained in a larger setting?
  • Individuals with an ASD are often recognized first by their ineptness in social interactions with others. They often say things that are inappropriate or they may speak only rarely if at all. In play, they may remain off in a corner inspecting rocks while their peers are carrying on a game of tag. If the student remains in the special educational setting with fewer interactions with mainstream classmates, he will undoubtedly experience little or no growth socially. The child may grow into an adult who has difficulty in the work environment because he has still not learned effective communication skills. The regular educational setting will, of course, only be as effective as the adults who are caring for the child, but with intentional teaching of social skills in this setting, more positive growth is likely.
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      WHY INCLUSION FOR AUTISM
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  • Teaching individuals with ASD how to form relationships and understand the feelings of others is likely more important than academic learning when considering the future potential of an individual. Because this is the greatest area of weakness, schools carry an important responsibility to work this into the curriculum whether the student with ASD is in the regular educational setting or the special education classroom. Schools do not always recognize this responsibility. Many professionals do not believe enough attention is being given to the social and emotional needs of children with ASD in the school setting (Bryson, Rogers, & Fombonne, 2003).
izz aty

Apprentices are highly employable | Randstad.co.uk - 0 views

  • job candidates who have trained through this route are seen as being “more employable” than candidates with different experience, qualifications, and even degrees.
  • job candidates who have trained through this route are seen as being “more employable” than candidates with different experience, qualifications, and even degrees.
  • job candidates who have trained through this route are seen as being “more employable” than candidates with different experience, qualifications, and even degrees.
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  • The nature of the world’s workforce is changing, and employers are paying attention and modifying their recruitment and training schemes accordingly.
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EdTech Toolbox: Top 10 Web Tools April - 0 views

  • Webspiration is a free Web 2 tool that allows you to create online mind maps. These mind maps are easy to use in groups and the tool also has a chat function that allows students to remotely discuss aspects of the mind map before committing themselves online.
  • BlogBooker allows you to produce Pdf blog books from all your blog entries and comments. These can be generated from any blog running on Wordpress, Livejournal or Blogger.
  • SpeakingImage allows you to create interactive images on online and then share them with others. You can also create groups, add wikis and set different permissions to manage collaborative work.
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  • Gickr.com lets you instantly create Animated GIF online, free, right now! Just upload pictures or grab them from your Flickr. Create funny flashy slideshows with you and your friends, cartoons, previews, banners, etc.
  • I had another little play with Blabberize and I think I could also use it as a topic specific talking avatar that gives students hints or explanations of different parts of a task or an assignment.
  • Make a huge poster out of any image you like. It is as simple as selecting your image, uploading to the Web 2 tool, deciding how it gets split and then downloading it again. The tool slices the image into the correct number of individual pages so you just hit print and each one is printed ready to be lined up on the wall.
  • DragONtape is a Web 2 tool that enables you to create mixtapes of your favorite online or YouTube videos, so you can watch them as one continuous video. 
  • ScribbleScreen is a presentation tool allowing you to write directly onto the screen, drawing the attention of the audience to items which can be in windows from completely separate applications, high-light items as you speak about them, sketch a quick diagram or type some text.
  • Wix allows you to browse 100s of site templates and find one that is similar to the one you want. You then customise the template, adding your own media, fonts and colours.
  • Issuu is a Web 2 tools that allows you to publish PDFs. You can produce the documents in any program that you like
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How I Became an Unfair Teacher - Atlantic Mobile - 0 views

  • But most of all, people remember injustices. False accusations of cheating. Getting singled out randomly for scolding. Points deducted on a cheap technicality. As a teacher myself, I vowed I’d do better, that I’d run a fair classroom where every student got a voice and a straight deal.
  • The asymmetries of the classroom are intense. With each teacher responsible for a hundred students or more, the typical kid occupies a teacher’s thoughts for—at best—a minute or two per day. But each student only has a handful of teachers. Every instructor looms large in her world, wielding power over her days, via class periods; her nights, via homework; and her future, via grades. She spends much of her time thinking about the teacher’s demands, the teacher’s expectations, the teacher’s preferences and inconsistencies.
  • So when a teacher briefly focuses attention on a particular student, it comes with the heat and intensity of a spotlight. A moment the teacher barely remembers might stick with the student for years.
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  • Classroom lessons may slip quickly through students’ fingers, but the classroom experience lingers in memory. Each teacher offers students a different model of authority and justice. We set our own standards of fairness and sometimes fail to honor them. A teacher swings a heavy club, and we can leave big, purple bruises if we’re not careful.
  • My biggest rule is a familiar cliché: Always ask before drawing conclusions. It seems simple, but it's a defense against instinct.
  • My own memories of petty student frustrations should have taught me what a wrecking ball a teacher can be. But they didn’t. The understanding came only after carelessly knocking a few of my own students to the ground, and then working—slowly, purposefully—to help them back up.
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Wandering thoughts lane: Tips for writing Spoken Word - 0 views

  • 1. Start off with something easy. Sarah Kay gave some suggestions on how you should start writing poetry by writing lists. For example, start writing a list of 5-10 things I know to be true, or I should've learned by now. Also try 10 things I love/want/had.
  • 2. Don't try too hard.  Don't try to write super complicated filled with emotions and metaphors poems from the beginning, you'll only end up waisting time and feeling disappointed. Your first poems should go naturally, easy, that way you'll be amazed to see how far you've come after a while.
  • 3. Inspire yourself Look around you for things to inspire you. For example you can listen to some poetry, maybe one word or one phrase someone recites triggers something inside your brain. Listening to music is also a great inspiration source -at least for me. When I listen to music I can picture the story behind the song (but mostly only when I listen to instrumentals). Also, try to look at the world from a different perspective. When you take a walk try to observe as many things as possible, a funny incident, a person you like, a beautiful view on the landscapes. Inspire yourself from everything around you.
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  • 6. Revise and rewrite your poems  If it doesn't sound very good right after it's done that's alright, just give it some time. Focus on writing other poems and come back to revise this one after a while, you'll have a different perspective after you took a brake from it. It'll help you see the bigger picture.
  • 5. Read your poems out loud  I know it sounds like no big deal but trust me it makes a difference.
  • 4. Read/watch as many spoken word/poems as possible Pay attention to what suits you better, which artists do you like most and why. Understand it and go in that direction. For example if you like an artists that always has funny poems you may be prone to write funny poems, it's likely they'll make you feel more comfortable. You can always experience other types of poems if you want to!
  • 7. Use your imagination. That's what I love most about artists, they CREATE their world however they want it to be, and they can drag you into their stories faster than you can even realize it. So use your imagination, create whatever you wish and do your best to convince the audience (even if the audience is just you or a couple of friends of yours.) that world you're writing really exists. 
  • 8. Spoken word doesn't have to rhyme So don't struggle to find rhymes. But, if you have a good rhyme in mind. don't hesitate! Make it part of your poetry, find your flow.
  • 9. Make a special notebook for poetry writing. I bought my poetry notebook just because I liked the cover of it. Every time I pull it out of my bag it makes me smile. Also one more thing I did was to write quotes from my best poems on colored post it notes and stick them on the first page of the notebook. That way every time I open the notebook to write I can read pieces of my best creations and feel proud. It really boosts up your morale. 
  • 10. Be honest with yourself If something hurt you and it still does let it out, don't back from your thoughts and feelings. If you worry your poem will be too cheesy or too sad, stop worrying! just let it be. Acknowledge the fact that those thoughts were haunting your brain for some time now. Get to know them and set them free...and what better way is there to set thoughts free than by poetry?
  • 11.  Write as often as possible And this is, the most important thing of all. Write constantly, even if you have just one or two sentences in mind, just write them down. Also, carry the notebook with you all the time. You never know when something will trigger the inspiration in you.
  •  
    "the spoken word has been an outlet for people to release their views outside the academic and institutional domains of the university and academic or small press. The spoken word and its most popular offshoot, slam poetry, evolved into the present day soap-box for people, especially younger ones, to express their views, emotions, life experiences or information to audiences. The views of spoken word artists encompass frank commentary on religion, politics, sex and gender, often taboo subjects in the world of contemporary academic poetry. Spoken word is used to inform or make an audience conscious of some human aspect pertaining to life*"
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Inclusive Education In Malaysia Education Essay - 0 views

  • Inclusive education in Malaysia originated from the ‘special education’ agenda as defined in the Education Act 1996 (1998) and its approach is referred to this tradition.
  • These mandates are intended to promote equal rights and access to education for persons with disabilities. The ‘educability’ criterion assumes that there are children who are uneducable within the public school system and thus these children are catered to within community-based rehabilitation (CBR) settings (MOE, 2006). CBR programmes are government-initiated, centre-based programmes at the community level aimed to provide education that emphasises therapy and rehabilitation to children with learning disabilities (Kuno, 2007). CBR programmes are quite detached from the mainstream school system. However, in practice, the division between both provisions is less definite, and students who should benefit from them become victims of bureaucratic procedures (Adnan & Hafiz, 2001).
  • Malaysia embarked on the first stage when the first school for the blind was opened in 1929, followed by a school for the deaf very much later in 1954
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  • These schools were initiated under the programs of the Ministry of Social Welfare with the help of religious missionaries. Malaysia entered its second stage when professional preparation programs for special education were formally established by the Ministry of Education in 1961. Lacking its own expertise and technology, Malaysia entered its third stage when it began importing knowledge and expertise by sending its education professionals abroad for research degrees and in-service attachments in special needs education in the 1980s and 1990s, and attempting to customize what was learned to its national conditions. Malaysia’s participation in international workshops and activities of the UN and UNESCO and subsequent reforms as reflected in the Education Act (1998) describes the active development of policy and changes in practices during this period. In 1993, the first preservice teacher preparation leading to a Bachelor of Education degree program in special needs education was initiated in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The program was developed alongside a collaborative project in curriculum development with three universities in the United Kingdom, namely, the Universities of Manchester, Birmingham and Cambridge (Jelas, 1996; 1999).
  • The terms ‘special needs’ introduced in the Education Act 1996 (1998) are defined as follows: “Pupils with special needs’ means pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities” And ‘inclusive education’ is introduced as part of the continuum of services available for children with special needs: “Special education programme” means – A programme which is provided in special schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment; An integrated programme in general schools for pupils with visual impairment or hearing impairment or with learning disabilities; and An inclusive education programme for pupils with special needs and who are able to attend normal classes together with normal pupils” (Education Act 1996, 1998, p. 341)
  • However, the eligibility for special education placement is based on the ‘educability’ of children as assessed by a team of professionals. This is documented in the Act, which states: “(1) For government and government-aided schools, pupils with special needs who are educable are eligible to attend the special education programme except for the following pupils: physically handicapped pupils with the mental ability to learn like normal pupils; and pupils with multiple disabilities or with profound physical handicap or severe mental retardation. A pupil with special needs is educable if he is able to manage himself without help and is confirmed by a panel consisting of a medical practitioner, an officer from the MOE and an officer from the Welfare Department of the MWFCD, as capable of undergoing the national educational programme” (Education Act 1996, 1998, p. 342) The eligibility dilemma
  • While the current public policy for children with special educational needs, particularly those categories of children classified as experiencing ‘learning disabilities’ have access to regular schools as stated in the Act, the ‘educability’ criteria contradicts the goals of providing equal education opportunities as stipulated in the United Nation’s Standard Rules on the Equalisation of Opportunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993), The Salamanca Statement (1994) and the Biwako Millenium Framework for Action (UNESCAP, 2002).
  • Foreign experts are initially relied upon to provide the knowledge and to encourage its development prior to the emergence of a profession within a country. The first professionals to provide services are usually trained abroad. The second stage followed this first stage, in which colleges and universities established programs and departments to teach the discipline and prepare the professionals. The second stage leads to the third stage, in which colleges and universities import developed from abroad to achieve standards that characterised the discipline in more developed nations. During this stage, the concepts, theories and models of implementation found in the more developed countries are taught, applied and tested; some of which may transfer more successfully than others.
  • Before special programmes were available, students with special needs were described by their characteristics and by the instructional challenges they presented to teachers. When the education system began to respond to the needs of each emerging group of special needs students, services were established and eligibility criteria determined. From that point on, a child was identified (for school and placement purposes) as having or experiencing a ‘special educational need’ and if he or she is “able to manage him or herself without help” (Education Act 1996, 1998), the child will be eligible for a given programme or service. This process was repeated as each new group of special needs students emerged – for example, children with visual and hearing impairments in the 1960s, children with mild intellectual in the 1980s and 1990s, and more recently, children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorders and children with dyslexia.
  • in the Education Act 1996 (1998) that the perspectives of professionals (“a medical practitioner, an officer from the MOE and an officer from the Welfare Department of the MWFCD” p. 342) have the most power in determining the way children are categorised and whether these children are “capable of undergoing the national educational programme” (Education Act 1996, 1998)
  • policy makers and professionals continue to see special schools and classes as well as categories as having an important place in provisions. Responses at the Ministerial level revealed an emphasis on diversity and acceptance of human characteristics as problematic and that learning difficulties are technical problems that require specialised discipline knowledge that cannot be dealt with in the “normal classes with normal children” (Education Act 1996, 1998 p. 341).
  • The National Report on the development of education states: Inclusion in Malaysia subscribed to the concept of placing SEN students into mainstream classes to be educated alongside their peers, either with or without additional support, and within the present school system. This concept of IE (inclusive education) might not be in line with the ideal concept based on “acceptance, belonging and about providing school settings in which all disadvantaged children can be valued equally and be provided with equal educational opportunities … (MOE, 2004, p. 28),
  • Even though inclusive education was implemented at the policy level more than 10 years ago and school participation has rapidly increased quantitatively, Malaysia is far from reaching its goal of providing “a responsive education path for every child and youth with SEN” (MOE, 2004)
  • The emphasis on the ability “to cope with mainstream learning” seemed consistent with the integration models that came about in the 1980s. Integration models mainly focused on placing students with mild disabilities, identified and “diagnosed” as having special needs in mainstream schools. In such models, students must adapt to the norms, expectations, styles, routines and practices of the education system instead of the education system adapting to the learner (UNESCO, 2008). The integrated programme is the dominant format for delivering services to special needs students in Malaysia, then and now.
  • Once placed, few special education students returned to the regular education class on full-time basis. Although the special classroom and special schools continued as options, integrated programmes (placement in regular classrooms) for students with visual and hearing impairments are available with support from the resource teacher
  • Historically, the disenchantment of many special educators and the concern of the efficacy of the prevailing approach (Ainscow, 1994; Meyen & Skrtic, 1995; Sorrells, Rieth & Sindelar, 2004; Stainback & Stainback, 1992) raised questions about how best to assure a quality and equitable education for students with disabilities and spawned the push for a more inclusive approach to special education programming. While these reforms were mandated in the United Nations Declarations and UNESCO’s Framework of Actions on special needs education of which Malaysia’s policy on inclusive education subscribes to, the focus on diagnosis, prescription, and intervention continued to be central to determining eligibility and making placement decisions. Thus, although special education practices had changed, the grounding assumptions of human pathology and organisational rationality (Biklen, 2000; Oliver, 1996; Skrtic, 1991) have not been critically examined. In this context, special education is used to maintain and legitimise exclusion of students with disabilities within a school culture and system characterised by competition and selection (Skrtic, 1995; Corbett, 1999; Slee, 2001; Kearney & Kane, 2006).
  • While the philosophical basis of including SEN students into mainstream schools is accepted as a policy, the continued legitimization of paradigms that exclude SEN students is also acknowledged by rationalising between the “ideal” and the “not-so-ideal” concept of inclusive education. This ambivalence is reinforced by the following statements: Prior to inclusion, especially in the early part of their formal education, SEN students are equipped with relevant basic skills and knowledge to enable them to cope with mainstream learning. Only those who are diagnosed capable to cope with mainstream learning would be included fully or partially. (MOE, 2004, p. 29)
  • In principle, Malaysia is committed to providing education for all with the implementation of compulsory education in 2003 as evident by a high participation rate of 98.49 per cent (MOE, 2004). This statement of intent towards compulsory education for all which was an amendment of the Education Act 1996, however, did not include children with disabilities
  • The radical perspective that leads to a reconceptualisation of special educational needs have been well documented for the past twenty years (Barton, 1988; Lipsky & Gartner, 1989; Ainscow, 1991; Fuchs & Fuchs, 1994; Clark et. al., 1998; Donoghue, 2003) and critiques argued and showed evidence how the education system creates rather than remediate disabilities (Skrtic, 1991; Corbett, 1999; Vlachou, 2004; Carrington & Robinson, 2006). The new perspective on special educational needs is based on the view that the way forward must be to reform schools in ways that will make them respond positively to pupil diversity, seeing individual differences as something to be nurtured. But, as cautioned by Ainscow (1994): This kind of approach is only possible in schools where there exist a respect for individuality and a culture of collaboration that encourages and supports problem-solving. Such cultures are likely to facilitate the learning of all pupils and, alongside them, the professional learning of all teachers. Ultimately, therefore, this line of argument makes the case that increasing equity is the key to improvements in schooling for all. (Ainscow, 1994, p12)
  • Education in Malaysia is driven largely by an examination–oriented system characterised by curriculum rigidity and rote learning rather than critical and independent thinking. Like schools in Singapore and Hong Kong (Poon-McBrayer, 2004), school leadership are in great pressure to compete for the best examination results in terms of the percentages of passes and the number of A’s acquired by students in public school examinations
  • The culture of elitism compels parents to prepare their children to be accepted into high ranking or fully residential schools which usually achieve high scores in examination results.
  • Although the ‘intertwining of the standards and inclusion agenda’ can lead to positive consequences (Ainscow et al, 2006), the emphasis on the preparation and drill for the public examinations therefore, left little or no time for teachers to accommodate individual learning needs of students in general. Media reports on schools’ and students’ performance intensify competition and further marginalise SEN students, who, to a large extent are not expected to compete. Competing priorities make it more difficult for schools to fully include children with SEN.
  • Continued advancement of special needs education in Malaysia will require bifocal perspectives. One focus has an international perspective and requires Malaysians’ awareness of the international body of literature and trends in practice that enables them to take advantage of the knowledge and experience gained by those in other countries. Malaysia may also profit especially from knowledge provided by its Asian neighbours namely Japan, India and China, or other countries that seems to be struggling with many of the same issues.
  • effective special needs education services require awareness of social and educational traditions, social philosophies that manifest in schooling and school culture and ways of resolving conflict that may be unique to one country and the impact these qualities have on general and special needs education services (Peters, 2003).
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