OPPORTUNITIES UNLIMITED, Week 10

Today in class we:
Story-We wrote a story. It was a writer's workshop. There were different levels of writers and learners and this made the story even more interesting. We had to make sure it had a beginning, middle, and end, that it made sense, and that it had illustrations to accompany it.
Play dough- We were given play dough and we had to make something out of that play dough that demonstrated us. It was really fun to watch everyone get really excited about being able to use the play dough and then being able to see how everyone demonstrated themselves with it.
Fort- My group unfortunately did not make it to the fort but from what I saw everyone was having a really fun time with it. Everyone was working together for a common goal and having a good time putting the pieces together and creating the fort.
Intelligences-I believe that by this you mean taking the adults outside and teaching them skills that they need in the work place. We chose to do not using your phone at work and making eye contact when shaking hands with someone. At the top of the page there are demonstrations of both. JJ was very good with both of these things and he knew exactly what he was and was not supposed to do. It was even hard for him to not make eye contact when we asked him not to in order to take the picture.
Describe Your Experience...
Our experience was great. At first everyone was a little reserved and quiet but once we began talking and working it became a very good learning experience. JJ told me that he has a girlfriend whose name is Christina and that it was her birthday. We helped him make her a birthday card and he was very excited. Also I feel like he worked really well with all of us. He wasn't shy and he was very smart. He helped us as much as we helped him. He told us what he does at opportunities unlimited and hearing everything from him helped put into perspective what it is like to live with a disability. How these individuals live each and every day.

What did you notice?
I noticed that the adult we were working with ,JJ, was very on top of things much more than I had expected. When we were writing the story he was writing with us, writing everything that we were saying and he contributed a lot to the story. He was very personable and wanted to tell us all about his life. I guess what I am saying is he far exceeded my expectations.
I also noticed that every adult had their own characteristics they were all very different from one another. Some were very loud and wanted to tell everyone everything about themselves, others were very quiet and reserved and it was hard to get them to say anything.
Some of the activities that we did in class did not really seem to fit with one another as well as I thought they were intended to. It was my understanding that we were taking the pictures about good work habits in order to make a movie with the adults and then that never happen. With this being said it kind of seemed as if taking the pictures was pointless, but I could be wrong. I would have enjoyed it more if we could have just worked on the activities that where set up in the classroom the whole time rather than rush around. My group did not even have time to get to all of the activities.

How did you feel?
At first I do have to admit that I was intimidated and scared. I have worked with disabled adults before but every time I have to do it again I still have that same anxious feeling as the first time. After we began talking with JJ and working with him I began to become more comfortable and I felt more relaxed. At the end I was very pleased and happy. All of the adults seemed very happy with the experience that they had and this felt good to know that we helped to make this happen.
I also like I mentioned previously fell as if some of the activities did not go as expected. I felt at the time as if everything was rushed and as if time could have been used more effectively.
Connect to TEXT...
At the end of chapter 4 in the text it talks about the transition for students with learning disabilities (Kirk, Gallagher, Coleman, & Anastasiow, 2009). But this does not have to be just learning disabilities, transitions are hard for anyone let alone when you add a disability to it. For the adults that we worked with I cannot imagine the struggle they had when adjusting from the structure of school to moving to working with opportunities and having a job. This must have been very difficult.
This also made me think of the families of these individuals. How difficult must things be for them as well. For me and many other individuals this is the time in our life when we are gaining our independence and starting to make our own decisions and living on our own. For these adults with disabilities they will never reach this point in their lives they will forever need some sort of constant supervision and be taken care of.

Chapter eleven talks about students with vision impairments. "When adapting instruction to the educational needs of children who are visually impaired, teachers should emphasize concreteness and tactile experiences"(Kirk, Gallagher, Coleman, & Anastasiow, 2009). Within the class we worked with play dough, this is a tactile tool that could be used for children who have visual impairments. Using the play dough they can express themselves and mold the clay into whatever they want. This would be very good for them because they can use their sense of touch to express themselves.

Kirk S. , Gallagher J.J. , Coleman M.R. , & Anastasiow N. (2009). Educating Exceptional Children (12th ed. , pp. 107-143). Boston, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company.