Matthew 26:36-46, Mark 14:32-42, Luke 22:39-46, John 18:1-2; The Savior’s Suffering in the Garden of Gethsemane

Throughout the scriptures there are many ways in which the Savior's suffering was described. These descriptions can help us to get a glimpse into what our Savior was going through but there is no way that we can really understand what He suffered for us. The words used to describe the Savior's suffering in Matthew 26:36-46 include how He began to feel sorrowful and heavy it also says that He fell on his face and prayed to the Father. In Mark 14:32-42 it also describes the Savior's suffering talking about how He became sore amazed and very heavy and like the earlier account fell on His face. In Luke 22:39-46 it continues to describe the Savior's time saying that He withdrew. Mosiah 3:7 also adds great information to the Savior's suffering, it says, "he shall suffer temptations, and pain of body, hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto death; for behold, blood cometh from every poor, so great shall be his anguish for the wickedness and the abominations of his people" Christ overcame so much in the garden, and suffered so much in the garden for me and my sins. Alma 7:11-13 continues to tell us more about the atonement and Christ's time in the garden, it tells us that He suffered pains and afflictions and temptations of all kinds, and that He will be filled with mercy for His people. Doctrine and Covenants 19:18 teaches us a lot about Christ's suffering in the Garden. One of the most powerful things this verse says is, "suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit" Christ suffered so much for us that He was willing to suffer incredible pain for us.
The literal translation for Gethsemane is oil press, which adds something really powerful to Christ's suffering there. Christ was pressed like the olives are pressed into oil and they "bleed" as they release oil, but in the Garden of Gethsemane Christ literally bleed from every pore under the crushing weight of the atonement and all that He had to do for us.
There are many correlations that can be drawn between Matthew 26:41 and Doctrine and Covenants 10:5. The scripture in Matthew is Jesus asking His disciples not to enter into temptation. The Doctrine and Covenants scripture teaches that if we pray always then we will be able to resist temptation. So if we are praying always then we will be able to overcome temptation and do the things that our Savior would have us do.
Mosiah 15:7, 3 Nephi 11:11 and Doctrine and Covenants 19:19 help to teach us why the Savior drank from the bitter cup. In all of these verses Christ says that He did it so He could glorify the Father and do what the Father asked Him to do.
The Savior's use of nevertheless amazes me. Christ basically begs His Father to take away the cup but then says nevertheless I will do what you want me to. Christ humbly submits to His Father and agrees to do what He asked Him to. I have tried to apply the nevertheless pattern to my life, and I have had many experiences where I did what the Lord asked me to even though I didn't want to and I have been greatly blessed. This was the case with attending BYU-Idaho, I originally didn't want to go but I listened to my Father in Heaven and went anyways and within a few days I knew that I was where I was supposed to be and I was blessed greatly.
As the Savior's agony increased He only prayed more earnestly. I wish that I could be more like my Savior in that way. When I am suffering I generally turn inward and ignore others, but I want to be more like my Savior and turn to my Heavenly Father when I am suffering because I know that He can and will help me to get through my suffering. If I turned to my Savior and my Father in Heaven when I was suffering I believe that I would feel more peace and comfort as I worked through my trials.
I learned a lot about my Savior from His time in Gethsemane, and I gained a eternal gratitude and a further love and respect for what He did for me. I learned a lot about how humbly He suffered and how He was willing to give all the glory to the Father. I hope that I could someday have the humility that my Savior had, and be able to submit to the will of the Father whatever it may be. I am so grateful for my Savior and all that He was willing to do for me so that I can be forgiven for my sins and have eternal life.

Matthew 26:69–75; Peter’s Denial of Jesus Christ

Peter was an amazing example of what we should strive to become. While Peter made mistakes, as we all will his reactions to his mistakes were incredible.  Peter is also seen as the apostle who denied Christ as seen in the picture included, but Peter was so much more than whom he is portrayed as. Peter is someone that I strive to be like and possessed many attributes that I can only hope and strive to develop in my life.

In “Peter, My Brother” by President Kimball he talked about Peter’s denial and pointed out some important things that can help us to understand the denial further. One of the most important things that President Kimball pointed out was that Peter never denied the divinity of Christ, but he just denied his association. While denying the association is wrong, it is nowhere near denying that Christ is not sent to the world to redeem all men. During the time of Christ’s crucifixion Peter still knew and understood the divinity of Christ and did not deny Christ in that way. 

To me one of Peter’s greatest strengths was the way that he repented and learned when he was rebuked. In “Peter, My Brother” written by President Kimball he said, “Has anyone repented more sincerely?” One of Peter’s greatest strengths was his ability to completely repent and change, and be able to overcome his weaknesses. President Kimball also talks about how Peter was a diamond in the rough and how he needed much work but he was truly a real diamond. One of my goals is to be able to change like Peter did and to see a real and complete transformation when I repent.

It amazes me that Peter was able to stay strong and true throughout his life. Peter was a “special target of the adversary” and was fought against by the entire host of hell. Satan knew that if he could take down Peter then by doing that he could essentially take down the entire church, but Peter stayed strong and was brave and fearless in the face of temptation. Because he was able to resist the temptations of the adversary he essentially saved the church. I hope to be able to resist the temptations of the adversary like Peter did.

To develop these characteristics I want to continue to study Peter’s life and teachings to see what helped him to become the man that he was. I also believe that if I pray for help and guidance then my Heavenly Father can help me to develop these attributes and ultimately become more like Him.

John 14:15–17, 26–27, 15:26–27, 16:7–8, 13–14; The Savior’s Instructions about the Holy Ghost

John 14-16 teaches a lot about the Holy Ghost and how what we must do to receive the Holy Ghost. In John 14:15-17 teaches that the Holy Ghost will give us comfort in our times of need and will tell us of truth it also tells us that the world cannot receive this truth. John 14:26-27 continues to teach us more like that the Holy Ghost will teach us all things and will bring things to our remembrance and will give us peace. John 15:26-27 teaches us that that the Holy Ghost with testify of Christ and that we must bear witness of Christ. John 16:7-8 continues to teach us more such as that Christ can send us the Holy Ghost as a comforter and that the Holy Ghost will reprove the world of sin. In verses 13-14 we continue to learn that the Holy Ghost will guide us to truth, he will show us things to come and that he will glorify Christ and the Father. We also learn from the Bible Dictionary that the Holy Ghost  can cleanse us form sin, and is necessary to gain a testimony.
The Holy Ghost helped the apostles to teach and preach the gospel in many ways after the death and resurrection of Christ. The Holy Ghost helped them to preach the truth and testified the truth to those who heard the words. I would also assume that the Holy Ghost gave the apostles comfort as they were going through hard times after the death of Christ.
The Holy Ghost has helped me many times throughout my life, one of the biggest things that they Holy Ghost has helped me to know and understand is my major. When I first started college last fall I had no idea what I wanted to do for my major, so I started praying about it. Then when people started asking what my major was I started saying special education. I had absolutely no idea where that came from, but I decided to trust it and change my major to it. Shortly after this experience I was in a special education class and I felt the spirit so overwhelmingly and I knew for sure that I was doing exactly what I should. I know that the Holy Ghost told me what I should do and that the Holy Ghost really does and will help us in our lives.

John 13:1-17, Luke 22:24-30, Mark 10:43-45; The Savior Taught the Apostles about Leadership

Leadership in the Church is very different from leadership in the world. In John 13 it talks about how Jesus washed His apostles feet, this teaches us that to be a good leader we need to not raise ourself above others and serve those that we lead. In the world we are taught that as leaders we are superior to others and that the people we lead are to serve us, this is completely wrong. In Luke 22:24-30 Christ teaches us that as leaders we are to we are to serve those that we lead and that we are to follow the Lord. In the world we are taught that as a leader we should be served and that we should do what we think is best and not turn to the Lord in our decisions. In Mark 10:43-45 it teaches us that as leaders we are to mister unto all and follow the example of the Greatest of All, Christ. Like mentioned before we are taught that as a leader we should be served but in the Lord's way it is completely the opposite.
I have had the opportunity to serve in many presidencies and I have learned many things about leadership and how to be the type of leader that we should be. During many presidency trainings we have reviewed the story of Jesus washing His disciples feet and talked about how we should follow the example of service that He set for us of how to be a good leader. My young women's president my senior year of high school was an amazing example, she would put hours and hours of her own time into planning activities for us and doing all that she could to be sure that we knew that she loved us and wanted us to be successful. She is an incredible example of Christ-like leadership in my life.

Mark 13, Luke 21:5-38, Joseph Smith Matthew; Preparing for the Savior's Second Coming

There are many things that we should watch for in order to prepare for the Second Coming of Christ, some of the things we should watch for include, falling of stars, the gospel being heard through all the nations, and false Christ's and prophets arising. There are also many other things taught about the second coming in Doctrine and Covenants 87:8 it teaches us that the Lord cometh quickly, it says, "stand ye in holy places and be not moved, until the day of the Lord come," this also gives us council on how to get through the last days by standing in holy places. Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:32 also teaches that the abomination and desolation than Daniel prophesied will be fulfilled in the last days. But then we are given advice of how to make it through the last days, in Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:37 it says, "whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived" if we keep close to the scriptures and our Savior then we will be able to survive. Then in the same chapter verses 46-50 teach about how we don't know when the Savior will come and that we should be prepared for whenever he comes. Doctrine and Covenants 33:17 also teaches about how we should be prepared, this verse refers to the parable of the ten virgins, how we do not know when the Bridegroom will come but we need to be sure that our lamps are full for when He comes. Doctrine and Covenants 45:56-57 talks about how the parable of the ten virgins will be fulfilled when Christ comes again. The main thing that we can learn from this is that we need to be prepared for whenever the Savior comes.

Mark 12:41-44; The Widow's Mites

The widow really and truly lived what the Savior taught in Mark 12:28-30. In these verses the Savior taught "thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart." By giving all she could she showed the she truly loves the Lord with all her heart and is willing to give everything she has to show her love and devotion to the Savior.
Compared to everyone else the window gave so much more because she gave everything that she had trusting in the Lord. This teaches me about what I should do, and that to make an acceptable offering to the Lord that I need to be willing to give all that I have and should be willing to do anything if my Savior asks. And we need to be willing to do it simply because we love our Father in Heaven and our Savior. I love 2 Nephi 25:23 and I think that it can add to our understanding, I like the end where it says, "it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do."I like the after all we can do part, for the most part we know that we are saved by grace. But we also need to know that we need to do everything we can to be truly saved. Our Heavenly Father expects us to do everything we can to follow Him and show Him how much we truly love Him.
There are many other ways that we can follow the widows example. One of which included donating our time by doing service or helping others. We can also follow the example of obedience by keeping the commandments and doing what our Heavenly Father would have us do.

Luke 16-18; Parables and Accounts That Teach Eternal Truths

Luke 16:1-12, the parable of the unjust steward-
        I feel that our Heavenly Father wants us to understand or learn that we need to be honest in all of      our doings and that we need to be careful as we prepare for the future and we need to make sure that we are doing all that we can to prepare.
Luke 16:19-31, the parable of the rich man and Lazarus-
        I feel that our Heavenly Father wants us to understand or learn that we cannot serve God and mammon, which basically means that we cannot serve God and the world, and that we need to be sure that we are focusing on the things of God and not the world.
Luke 17:11-19, the ten lepers-
        I feel that our Heavenly Father wants us to understand or learn that we need to be grateful for the things that our Savior has given us, because He can and will heal all of us when we ask, but when we are grateful and appreciative for all that He has done for us then He is able to make us whole. (Image- The one leper thanks Christ, image titled "Where are the Nine?")
Luke 18:1-8, the parable of the unjust judge-
        I feel that our Heavenly Father wants us to understand or learn that through the hard and difficult times in our lives we need to stay strong and continue. During these hard times we need to keep strong in our faith and remember that we are children of God and that He really does love and care for us, and desires to help us, in His time.
Luke 18:9-14, the parable of the Pharisee and the publican- 
        I feel that our Heavenly Father wants us to understand or learn that we need to be sure that we are humble and contrite towards our Savior no matter who were are, we need to be sure that we come to our Father in Heaven in humility and ask for His help and guidance.

Luke 10:1-24; The Lord Appointed Other Seventy Also

The Lord gave counsel to the seventy to help them to understand what their responsibilities are. I really like what Luke 10:3 said, "I will send you forth as lambs among wolves." I think this explains the role of the seventy pretty well, they are spread throughout the world to represent the church, and they are among the wolves which to me represents the world and the worldliness of the people. The seventy were also given instructions that they are to heal the sick, preach the gospel, and crush the enemies of the church.
The Sixth Article of Faith says "We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive church." The instructions given to the seventy during the time of Christ are still responsibilities that our seventy of today follow and try to follow. To me this is very important because I can see that the church is still following the guidelines that were given during the time of Christ.
The scriptures show this important group of the priesthood throughout, Christ institutes the seventy and then they are talked about more in the scriptures and in revelations that Joseph Smith received. I know that the seventy are called of God and are a very important part of the structure of the church.

Matthew 18:1-14; "Become as Little Children"

In Matthew 18:3-4 and Doctrine and Covenants 78:17-18 they talk a lot about how were are like little children an how we are to become as little children. In Matthew 18:3 it says, "Except ye be converted, and become as like little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." I think that this shows how important it is that we become like little children because it is absolutely necessary to enter the kingdom of heaven. In the next verse it talks about how if we humble ourselves like a child then we will be able to become the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. In the Doctrine and Covenants verses it talks about how we do not understand the greatness of the blessings that the Father has in store for us. I especially love verse 18, which says, "be of good cheer for I will lead you along" this is an amazing promise that we will have help as we navigate through life, but the verse continues to say, "the kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours." If we are willing to become as little children then we will receive all these blessings and greatness. (Picture- Christ teaches that we should become as little children, with a child sitting by him.)
Mosiah 3:19 talks about how we can put off the natural man by becoming as a little child, and included in this we find a lot a great ways to become like a little child. Some of the things that the verse tells us to do include, becoming "submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, [and] willing to submit to all the things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict" while this is a lot of things that we should do it really does help us to become better people who are more able to submit to and follow the will of the Lord.

Matthew 14:22-33; Walking on the Sea

When the Apostles first saw Christ walking towards them walking on the water they were afraid, in Matthew 14:26 it says, "they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear." I thought this was interesting, because I would think that they would recognize their leader. Then Christ told them who He was and Peter had an incredible response, I love what he said to Christ, in verse 28 he said, "Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water." To me this indicates that Peter had incredible faith in Christ, the feat of walking on water is impossible but he know that His Savior could help him to be able to do it.
But in verse 30 Peter began to sink because he saw the wind and he was afraid. In his moment of fear he began to sink because fear is the opposite of faith. When he began to sink he cried out "Lord, save me." I love what it says in verse 30, "And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him" I really like the immediacy that Christ had in saving Peter. It shows me that when I ask Christ will be right there to help me.
Doctrine and Covenants 88:67 talks about how there will be no darkness in the bodies and that they will be filled with light. I think that this can be connected to the story of Christ and Peter walking on water, because if we are filling our souls with light then there can be no darkness. I think that this connects with fear and faith, because if we are filled with faith then there can be no room for fear in our lives. I love that idea, that if I make sure my life is full of faith then I won't need to fear about things because I have that trust in my Savior and my Heavenly Father, just like how when Peter was full of faith he was bale to walk on the water.

Matthew 13:44-50; Understanding Parables

In Matthew 13:44-46 it talks about a treasure that is a pearl of great price, Christ liked these two things to the kingdom of Heaven. In these parables the two men that find these treasures go and sell them for what they think is better. I think that from this parable it is important that we learn, when we find these pearls or treasures that we hold onto them. I have made sacrifices to keep the gospel in my life and I have definitely known others that have made bigger sacrifices for the gospel. I have some friends who's family disowned them because they joined the church, and while it was hard for them they knew the importance and the preciousness of the gospel and were willing to give up anything for it.
In Matthew 13:47-50 it goes a little differently it talks about the net cast into the sea which represents the kingdom of Heaven and a gathering and then the fish are sorted into the good and the bad. The sorting talks about what will happen at the end of the world when the wicked will be burned. When talking about the gathering there is a footnote that leads to Matthew 22:10 which talks about how they gathered people both good and bad to be guests, I think that the gathering of the net is something like this, that when the net is cast out they are not very particular about who they pick because the bad will be cast out. (Photo- Jesus teaches about the kingdom of Heaven)
While these parables are not very happy or exciting parables I still think that it is very important that we learn from them and take all that we can from them so that we can increase our understanding about the plan and what we are to do.

Matthew 5:1-12; The Beatitudes

I did a little bit of research on the word blessed, my favorite synonym for the word blessed was consecrated. I really like this word because in the beatitudes it says things like "blessed are the meek" and I like seeing it in different ways and seeing it as consecrated are the meek, to me this brings a whole different meaning to the beatitudes.
I especially love Matthew 5:4 which says, "blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted." I have definitely seen this beatitude in my life, I have been through hard times like everyone I know but my Savior has helped me to feel comforted during those hard times. I know that my Savior can help me in the hard times of my life, and I know that He has and will continue to help me throughout all the times of my life.
I also really like verse 6 which says, "blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." I also really like this one because I know that it can be hard to find and be full of righteousness. I like the promise that if we desire to to be righteous then we will be able to find that righteousness and we will be full of the righteousness that we desire. I hope that I will be able to find all the righteousness that I want in my life, I want to be filled with righteousness that the scriptures promise us.
I also love verse 8, which says, "blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God." I think that this is an absolutely incredible blessing that we can receive. I personally have never seen God but I love the promise that one day I will be able to. This is one thing that makes me want to do everything that I can to do what I should and be as righteous as I can so that I can see God and even eventually live with Him and eternal happiness.
While I only mentioned a few beatitudes I really do love all of them and the things that are promised if I keep the commandments and do these seemingly small things that will lead to great results and happiness in my life. I am so grateful for the blessings that my Heavenly Father gives to me, one being that I know of the gospel and am able to follow it.

Matthew 3:13-17; The Baptism of Jesus Christ

In this small section we are taught many things about Christ and his example to us and we are also taught about the nature of the Godhead and how they are three separate beings.
John was quite hesitant to baptize Jesus, in Matthew 3:14 it says "But John forbade him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?" John was hesitant because he felt that Christ was greater than him and he felt that Christ should have baptized him. I feel that this is an amazing example of John's humility as well as Christ's humility to give us an example to follow even though he was perfect.
We are taught a lot about the Holy Ghost in this passage, we learn that the Holy Ghost is a separate being and that he is a personage the Prophet Joseph Smith said, "It does not confine itself to the form of a dove, but in sign of a dove" I think that this is very interesting, earlier in the quote it said that the devil cannot take the for or make a sign of the dove. This to me shows that by doing this Christ was doing exactly what he should have because the sign of the dove appeared. This leads into how Christ was fulfilling all righteousness by being baptized. 
Christ did not technically need to be baptized because he had lived a perfect life, but he did for a few reasons, to me the first and most important is to give us an example of what we are to do and how we can best follow him. Another reason that Christ did it was to fulfill all righteousness, and obey the commandments that His Father has given. To me another reason that Christ was baptized was simply because He loved us and wanted us to be able to come to understand how much that He loved us by doing this seemingly small act.
With a careful reading of Matthew 3:13-17 it becomes clear that the Godhead is three separate beings. This is because, Jesus Christ was in the water being actually baptized, the Holy Ghost "desecen[ed] like a dove, and lighting upon him" and a Heavenly Father spoke saying, "This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased." To me this shows that that the Godhead is three separate beings because they all had a part on Christ's baptism doing different things.
 

Luke 1:5-80; The Birth of John the Baptist

This week I decided that I wanted to spend some time focusing on John the Baptist, with the discussion board I got to look a little bit more into his life, because of this I picked this topic so that I could learn even more about him and his life.
The passage that I read focuses on the birth of John the Baptist, I love what it says in the Bible dictionary about his purpose and birth it says "[he was] designated to prepare the way for the Messiah and make ready a people to receive him." Before I read this I had never understood the importance of John the Baptist and how much he helped to prepare the way for Christ.
The story of the birth of John is amazing, his mother Elisabeth was barren and she was also old. Elisabeth and Zacharias (John's father) really wanted a child, they were praying and fasting for a child. Zacharias had a incredible experience where an angel of the Lord appeared and told him that Elisabeth would bear a son and call him John. After this experience one of my favorite scriptures is written, Luke 1:37 which says "for with God nothing shall be impossible" I love this scripture and I especially love it in context. I love how God is able to do something that wasn't physically possible.
I love how the amazing circumstances surrounding his birth correspond to his amazing mission. I had never understood the amazingly important role that John had and now I more fully understand why the circumstances around his birth were so incredible.
Many people would rejoice over the birth of John the Baptist for these two reasons in addition to many incredible attributes such as he was unwavering and true, he bore a magnificent testimony of Jesus Christ, and he was a vigorous preacher. His influence even continued on as he ordained Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to the Aaronic Priesthood. John had an amazing influence during his mortal life and beyond.

Week of 7/13

This week we spent a lot of time focusing on discipline and positive behavior strategies (PBS). We also spent some time reviewing important things to help us with the final and help us in the future.
In class we spent some time talking about PBS's and how functional behavior assessments (FBAs) and behavior improvement plans (BIPs) can help to improve behavior. We also discussed the pattern to follow to make sure that things are done right for the student. We also talked about behaviorism and the role that behaviorism plays and how we can use it as teachers. Finally in my small group we also discussed how to implement peer tutoring and how that can help our students to be more successful.
Finally we reviewed some things that can be helpful to us as future teachers, such as the thirteen categories of disabilities and what disorders can be included under them. We also briefly covered the etiology to go along with the disabilities and how they can be diagnosed. I believe that the 13 categories  one of the very important things that we as future teachers know and understand. I also think that it is especially important for me to understand being a future special education teacher.
I believe that understanding PBSs and the basics of special education are things that will make us successful teachers and especially make us successful as we work with students with disabilites.

Chapter 7 Reflection

I really enjoyed chapter 7 because it focused on high-incidence disabilities because that is mostly what I will be dealing with as a future special education teacher.
I learned a lot from the presentations about how to address and deal with these more common disabilitoes. I also was able to see how it can apply to me as a special education teacher and to others as ECSE, elementary education and child development majors. I think that it is important for me to be able to see how others can use it so that I can recommend skills for other teachers in my school to use to help their students.
I also learned a lot about some of the specifics that go into these particular disabilities that I didn't know much about before. I also really enjoyed seeing some simulations about the different disabilities that helped me to further about these differences. I also really enjoyed hearing the stories that people had told about people that they had know about people with these disabilites.
I think that this chapter is very important because it helps us to learn and understand about disabilities that will be the ones that we encounter the most in our future careers.

Fluency (stuttering) Experience

This experience was a lot like the learning disabilities experience for me, this is mostly because I felt socially awkward in the situation. A lot of the responses I got in the situation were really similar to what I got during the other simulations.
First of all the situation was awkward and uncomfortable for me because I am not very good at stuttering, and it was a little bit of a struggle for me to stutter. My first experience was pretty uncomfortable for me, I asked someone some questions and I of course was stuttering, during this experience he was very quick to answer my questions but I received a lot of pity smiles from him throughout my conversation with him.
The second experience I had was much more uncomfortable, I was talking to someone and stuttering and while I got pity smiles from her too, she also was trying to be helpful and kept suggesting things to me for what she thought I was trying to say. Like in the case of the learning disability it just made it harder for me to get the words out.
Again I learned that to really help students with speech problem that the best thing we can do is to have patience for them and wait for them to be able to get the words out. Through this experience I also learned that many of our students will have awkward encounters with their peers or others. Since I was able to have this experience I have a better idea of the struggles that my students will go through.

Service Learning

I went to a couple different things for my service learning project including, Hands, Life Skills and the talent show.
Hands was something that I really liked! I enjoyed being able to do art projects with the kids and being able to talk to them about whatever, I remember one time we talked about cars for almost an hour, I also enjoyed the art projects that we did, here are pictures of two of the projects that I did:

I also really enjoyed the Life Skills activity, it was a rehearsal for the talent show that is coming up, it was really fun to see them practicing their talent and probably the best part was when they asked if you were going to the talent show and you told them that you were they got so excited! I cannot wait for the talent show, also since we were there for the rehearsal we get to dance with them at the very end of the talent show, which was especially fun!

I also got to go help set up for the talent show and go to the talent show, which was so fun! I also had the opportunity to be a backup dancer, dancing hula for Gina and John which was so fun! I also got to dance to "Shake it Off" at the very end for the grand finale! The talent show was so fun and I am so glad that I was able to go to it! I loved being able to participate with my friends and be able to see their talents and how happy they were to be able to perform. 

These service learning hours are so fun for me! For me things like this make all the hard work that I am putting into my classes totally worth it. I am so excited for when I get to be a special education teacher and be able to spend time and learn with people with special needs. I cannot wait to be a teacher!!

Chapter 6 Reflection

Chapter six is on low-incidence disabilities which we learned about through presentations from our classmates, these persecutions were very well done and I really enjoyed them. I thought I would just share a few insights that I gained from these presentations.
My group did a presentation on intellectual disabilites which helped me to learn a lot more and understand more about how to teach my students that have intellectual disabilities the most effectively.
I also learned a lot from the other groups, one of my favorite parts was that a few of them had simulations to go along with the presentations and I really enjoyed them, it was really interesting for me because I felt that I gained a better perspective about what it is like to have autism, and while I still don't completely understand what it is like I feel that I have a better and more full understanding.
I also really enjoyed seeing videos about people that live in that situation or with the specific disability. One of the videos that really stood out to me was the video that the poverty group showed to me about what it was like to live in poverty and the real struggle that it was for them and how after living in poverty the children lowered their hopes and dreams about how they wanted the rest of their lives to be.
I really enjoyed learning about the specific disabilites and the things that can be done to help these students to be able to be as successful as possible. I also really enjoyed seeing the other groups present and that I was able to present about something that means so much to me.

Week of 7/6

This week I feel like I learned a lot that can help me as a future teacher, I was able to learn a little about fair versus equal and how to make our assessments fair, I also learned a lot about poverty and abuse and the affects that it can have on the children we teach and what we can do about it.
I really enjoyed learning about fair versus equal, I think that it is really important that we understand that and that everything is not going to be fair or equal. Our conversation in class about it reminded something that my dad taught me and my little sister, when ever we complained about something being unfair he asked us "what do we know about life" and we had been taught that the response to that question is "life's not fair" because of this I believe that I have a further understanding that everything isn't always going to be fair or equal. I also think that this is something important that we teach out children because they also need to understand that life isn't fair.
We also learned about poverty and abuse in class, which was something that was really eye-opening for me because I have never lived in an area where there was much poverty or really even understood it. The video we watched in class helped me to develop a little more of an understanding about poverty, and when we talked about it in class it helped me to even further understand. Because I have gained a little bit further of an understanding I think that I am more prepared to help my students. We also spent some time going over abuse reporting which is something that I had never really thought was going to be part of my job but I am starting to realize that it is a really important part of my job and that that is one way that I can help my students.
I think that both of the things while quite different are things that are really important to help my future students to be successful and be able to find happiness in their schooling.

Learning Disabilites Simulation

This was a simulation that I originally thought would be quite easy but I found that it was actually quite difficult. Before this simulation I did a little bit of preparation, which I probably shouldn't have done to get the full experience, but I came up with words and phrases that I could use that didn't include the letters /n/ or /l/. While I thought I would be able to do this simulation relatively easy it was not as easy as I thought.
The conversations that I had planned out didn't go as I had expected them to, in one case it did for a couple questions and then the person asked questions that I didn't expect and I felt really silly because I really struggled after doing so well for the first part of the conversation. There was one part where he asked me a yes or no question and my answer was no, so I racked my brain looking for a word but it was nowhere to be found so I ended up just shaking my head.
My other experience was even more uncomfortable because the conversation did not go in the way that I had intended at all. I felt very uncomfortable and awkward as I tried so hard to come up with the words that I could use to express my self. The person that I was talking to also tried to help me and give me suggestions which I just found to be even more distracting, I wish that she would have just given me time to come up with what I wanted to say.
This experience was extremely frustrating to me because I was unable to express what I wanted to say and it took me a long time to come up with something close to what I wanted to say. I think that this experience will give me added patience with students who are slow to answer questions and might help me to slow down in my future classroom to make sure that all my students are where they should be.

Visual Impairment Simulation

The visual impairment was definitely the a difficult simulation for me, not only did I get a horrible headache but also I felt like I couldn't see more than half of what was going on around me. There was one point where I was sitting next to someone and if she had gotten up to leave I would not have noticed because I couldn't see her at all. Things like that happened in many situations, for example talking to a group was very difficult because I would have to completely turn my body to talk to them if I even knew they were there. The masks made it much harder to focus in class too, because my thinking was often that I can't see the board or what is going on so why should I bother trying to understand. I felt that the visual simulation hurt me in social aspects as well as in academic aspects which were different than how I felt about the wheelchair experience. During my SPED 380 class we were playing a game show type game and it was surprisingly difficult for me to participate and to fell apart of the class because I had trouble seeing what was going on.
This simulation really helped me to understand how difficult it is to be visually impairing huge effect that it had on my life. While I know that I don't completely understand what it is like to be visually impaired I feel like I have a further understanding about some of the struggles from the four hours that I spent wearing the masks.

Week of 6/29

This week we learned a lot about strategies for learning. This was a very useful unit for me because it helped more to more fully understand how I can help my future students to learn and understand more.
This week we each had the opportunity to teach a strategy to the class in small groups. In my group we talked about how we need to help to redefine the definition of failure for our students and help them to see any little success or progress as success. We also talked about how we need to see small realistic goals that our students can meet regularly and see their success. We also talked about how we need to help students to see any little progress or failure as a pathway to success. For this part we used the quote from Thomas Edison that said when developing the light bulb "I haven't failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that don't work." We need to help our students to see failure like Thomas Edison saw it and be proud of every little success that we do have. I also learned a lot from the other presentations that taught me about a lot of acronym strategies to help students to be more successful in class.
This week I also learned a lot about self-monitoring and how it can positively affect student's performances. In class we had a note card that we marked on when we participated such as making a comment, asking a question or clarifying something and then we also marked when we affirmed what someone said such as a smile, a nod or even a high five or fist bump. This had a very interesting affect on my small group discussion and the whole group discussions. I found that during the small group discussion I initially was very annoyed with having to mark when I did certain things but after I had gotten used to it then I found that I wanted to participate more so that I could get a tally mark. I found that our group discussions became much more involved and that we covered a lot more material then we normally would have but that our discussions were more surface level.
These activities that we had in class along with the discussions that we had helped me to more fully understand self-monitoring along with helping students to become more successful through strategies.

Orthopedic Impairment Simulation (Wheelchair)

Being wheelchair bound was a lot harder than I expected, it was hard to maneuver around and hard to talk to people. One of the big things that I noticed was the way people looked at me was completely different than when I was walking around normally. I noticed that I got a lot of pity smiles and less people talking to me that normal. Being in the wheelchair was a difficult experience for me, and things that I had always taken for granted became very difficult. One of the things that I found to be the hardest was simply walking through doors, it was really a struggle to be able to get the door open first off and then be able to wheel myself through it as well. I now understand why the handicap buttons hold the doors open for so long because it took me almost all that time to actually get through the doors.
I also found somethings to be near impossible like using the bathroom and coming up a hill, these things were very difficult and helped me to understand more of what its like to be in a wheelchair. Since I was in the wheelchair I have also noticed that I have had more of a desire to help others that are in wheelchairs. I am also trying to find a balance because I know when I was in the wheelchair I was a little embarrassed when someone asked me if I needed any help, because I wanted to be able to do it myself. While I'm sure I do not completely understand what it is like to be in a wheelchair I feel like I can more fully understand what it is like and I also think that I gained some insight into how to more effectually help my students with orthopedic impairments.

Week of 6/22

This week we mostly focused on the different types of co-teaching. The types of co-teaching include, one teach one observe, one teach one assist, station teaching, parallel teaching, supplemental teaching, alternative, and team teaching. Then we also had the opportunity to use these different skills that we had learned.

We had the opportunity to teach our peers using the co-teaching skills that we had learned about. My group was being taught first, we began with a pre-assessment to see where everyone was at the beginning and then we were broken up into two groups based on our skill level. The teachers then modeled parallel teaching and team teaching. I was in the beginner group as we were learning to lead music and I don't know much about it. Two people taught us about the basics, while at the same time there was an advanced group learning more who were also taught by two people. We were then given a post assessment to see if we had improved or were ready to move up to the next group. This lesson helped me to better understand parallel teaching and demonstrated good team teaching.

My group then had the opportunity to teach, we decided to teach how to whistle through your hands. We also used a couple different co-teaching strategies, the main one we used was one teach, one assist where the person who really understood how to do it taught the whole group then the rest of us were around to help. We also used a little bit of alternative teaching where there were able to help one-on-one in different ways. This also really helped me to understand more about co-teaching, because between teaching and being taught I was able to be see four different teaching styles and come to more fully understand it through the example.

Week of 6/15

This week we spent a lot of time talking about things that are really hard for me to understand and to comprehend. These things are also very sad and aren't very fun to learn about. This week we learned about poverty and abuse.
We spent a lot of time learning about poverty and how it negatively affects the development and growth of students along with their ability to learn. I was not aware of how big of an effect poverty has on student success. This week I have come to understand that poverty causes major stress in families and students and that when students are continuously stressed out then their ability to learn really suffers and they become less successful. Also because of poverty children are less likely to see their parents and are less likely to learn from them. I also watched Dr. Mike Edwards video Saving Brains, A Grand Challenge which talked about how a having a relationship with parents where the students are offered support helps them to develop better. When families are in poverty they are a lot less likely to have that relationship. Because of these factors then the students are likely to be less successful.
We also talked about abuse a little and what our role as a teacher in that situation is. We talked about how if we learn about abuse first hand by a student telling us or seeing marks on the student then it is our duty as teachers to tell someone. We also talked about how if we are reporting first hand signs of abuse then we as teachers are protected. Today I also had an experience that made it very real to me, Brother Cloward came into my other class with him and told us that one of the practicum students had first hand been told about abuse. To me I hadn't ever thought much about it, but this helped me to realize that it does really happen and that it is our duty as teachers to help our students the best we can whether it be through abuse or poverty or whatever their specific needs are we should be there to help them.

Week of 6/1

This week we had some cool opportunities which helped me to learn more abut how I can best help my students and helped me to understand key concepts that can make me a better teacher. 

This week for our preparation work we learned about assessments and how to plan instruction based on the needs of your students. In class we had the opportunity to work together and find the links between these two things and how we can use them to help our students. We found that we wanted to use the results of the assessments to know how to best teach our students. We also talked about how when were are trying to have lessons that most help the students we will also be able to screen students and see if they are struggling a lot in certain areas and if the need to be tested for special education services. I found that these two things are related much more than I had expected them to be and that when you connect them we can help our students much more effectively then we would be able to otherwise. 

We also had the opportunity to look at a student who had been tested for learning disabilities and has learning disabilities. With this student we looked at how we could help him to be able to learn well and understand what he was learning and how we could help him to stay focused and on task. In our group we talked about how having the students have buddies could really help all the students to stay on task and especially our student with learning disabilities. We also talked about how hands on activities could help this student like using manipulatives in math, experiments in science and playing with instruments in music. Having hands on activities will help our learning disabled student to learn well and it will also ultimately help the other students to learn better. 

Knowing and understanding these things will help me to better understand how to help my students and ultimately become a better teacher.

Week of 5/25

This week we had a couple of great opportunities to learn and understand more about special education along and special education law. We had the opportunity to participate in a mock court case and in a mock IEP meeting. Both these opportunities helped to further my knowledge and helped to solidify my understanding of the things involved.

During the mock court I had the opportunity to act as a hearing officer, which was a really interesting experience for me, in which I learned a lot. In this position part of my job was to interpret and understand the law, which is something that I have been working hard to do in my sped 310 and 380 class, and this court case really helped me to fell like I understand the law more and helped me to see how it would apply to me as a special education teacher. This also helped me to fee a lot more comfortable with my knowledge of special education law because I was actually actively using what I had been studying.

The mock IEP/MDT meeting was also really interesting to me, and helped me to learn a lot. Through this I had the opportunity to participate in the process as the special education teacher, which helped me to see what my role will be when I am actually a teacher. This also helped me to actually understand the process of an IEP and what happens in the meetings and what I covered. Because of this experience I believe that I will feel much more comfortable going into IEP meetings in the future.  Through this process we also went over eligibility requirements and test scores which can make students eligible for special education and coverage through IDEA. I found this really interesting and helpful because now it is a lot easier for me to look at the scores and see about where they would be considered for special education along with the severity of a disability.

This week was one that was extremely helpful for me because it helped me to feel more comfortable about my knowledge and how these things can apply and help me as a future special education teacher.

Weeks of 5/11 and 5/18

This week we had the opportunity to learn about the law as it applies to special education, especially focusing on IDEA and how that helps our students with disabilities. We spent time learning about the six principles of IDEA, which include, zero reject, non-discriminatory evaluation, FAPE (free and appropriate public education), LRE (least restrictive environment), procedural safeguards, and parent and student participation. These things are all very important that we understand when we become teachers because they will be used in IEP meeting and to prepare for those meetings. These can also help us to become effective advocates if we are aware of what the student needs and what they are entitled to. With this unit on the law we also talked about court cases and how specific cases eventually lead to the principles in IDEA. One example is the Rowley case which discussed FAPE and the difference between the best education and what it appropriate for the student. Another is the Mills case that discussed the principle of LRE and what is included with that and introduced more guidelines to help specify what schools are allowed to do. 

In these weeks we also discussed the history of special education that helped me to realize how far we have come and how lucky we are to live today versus even 50 years ago. We discussed the institutions more and how they originally started as something good and then after years the ratios got larger and the institutions became less successful and then eventually not many years ago institutions were ended and the children with disabilities have been more integrated into schools since then. We talked about the case law that helped lead to this social change and along with that statutory was introduced like Section 504 in the Rehabilitation Act, which helped to lead to IDEA. Which like mentioned above has helped students with disabilites to be able to get the services that they need because of the funding that IDEA is backed with. I know that these weeks have helped me to realize how blessed we are to live and teach in a time where there are so many great programs for students with disabilites. 

Week of 5/4

This week, I feel like I have learned a lot about Special Ed law and about things that affect my philosophy of education. The things that I want to focus on though are the ones that have an affect on my philosophy of education.
I class we were invited to watch this video about mental institutions in Serbia. This video showed appalling footage of what these people with disabilities have to live like. It talked about how most people who will have children with disabilities are told that the best option for their child is to send them to intuitions like the ones shown. The videos of children in these institutions were hard to watch because these children spent many hours on end feeling and being completely alone.
To me this is not okay, and this helped me to realize how lucky I am to be born into a country where people with disabilities are able to become productive members of society.
This affected my philosophy of education because it helped me to realize and more fully understand that we are all children of God and that he loves all of us. It also helped me to understand that importance of our knowledge that we can all learn and that we all have the ability to grow, and that it is my responsibility to help with that and help my students to have the best experience possible. It also helped me to understand how important inclusion is, because the people who go to these Siberian mental institutions are considered outsiders in their society and in our society that doesn't need to be the case. Studies have shown that when student with special needs are included that both students are likely to learn more when integrated.