Week 4 Lesson 4

      CASE STUDIES OH MY GOSH! I am so overwhelmed by case studies right now. There are so many that seem like they are the exact same as others. It is hard to differentiate them. I just have to figure out a system that works for me. Most of class this week was getting the case studies down and familiarizing ourselves with them. Today we had a group teach a wonderful lesson on speech and language impairments. I really enjoyed the activities they did to help us relate to speech impairments. The first one was to put a tongue depressor on our tongue and try to have a conversation. It was so hard! I kept getting so frustrated. I also had a gag reflex from the darn thing so I couldn't talk for very long (I didn't even have it far back on my tongue). This activity really helped me recognize the frustration that comes with not being able to communicate. Communication is such a large part of our everyday that we don't often stop to think about what it would feel like to not have that anymore.


     The group teaching really helped me to understand there is a difference between speech impairments and language impairments. I didn't realize this previously and it will be helpful knowing these differences as I work at the elementary school and for the future working with students. I have more knowledge in recognizing impairments and what I can do to help. Also, as frustrating as they are to learn, the case studies really are giving me knowledge about how to handle different situations in special education. I can look at different court cases and their outcomes to find solutions to what might happen in my own classroom.

      I really enjoy the group work we do in class where we match things together. It is incredibly helpful and a great time for the girls in my group to share knowledge and ideas on how to remember things. I feel like I didn't give a whole lot of input with the case studies because I was just feeling overwhelmed, but after all of us working together, I felt more confident in being able to memorize them.