April 9, 2012

Today I finished editing my proposal and sent it on to my mentor. I also realized that I don't have to do a paper because my product is 25 pages. I also looked everywhere on The University of Denver's web site and finally found out that I confirm my decision by submitting the deposit. I thought there would be an accept button or something.

April 5, 2012

Today I grammar checked my proposal and two of my University of Denver honors essays. Then I watched and took notes on a video for my 3rd essay.

April 3, 2012

Today I began filling out an application to live in a Living and Learning Community. I also checked on the status of some financial aid forms, and I formatted my proposal so I can begin editing for grammar next time.

March 28, 2012

I filled out this form for Mr. Villa, and I wrote two more pages for my paper.

March 26, 2012

I downloaded and read the guidelines about the presentation and the paper, located the forms for my judges, and began working on my paper.

March 22, 2012

I wrote more about the benefits of inclusion, and of how it can expand a state's potential. Then, I wrote more about how it will increase employment opportunities, reducing welfare costs.

March 20, 2012

Today I expanded the section on how inclusion can decrease bullying. I added a portion concerning minority students belonging to a population devoid of visible characteristics.

March 16, 2012

I decided that my introduction was a bit too abrupt, so I added a part about how education is the key to meeting our needs and shaping our futures, and how certain student populations are disadvantaged when it comes to education access. I also found this Native American saying I can use to open up my presentation. After that, I contacted several perspective judges.

March, 14, 2012

Today, I expanded the section that tells officials which legislative changes they can make to ensure that educators know how to teach minority populations. I looked through my research, and decided to include research findings discussing a possible corelation between educator attitude and the success of full integration.

March 12, 2012

Today I started editing for content. This means that 1` have gone through, corrected major typos, and made note of what sections need to be expanded. Next time, I will expand my teacher training.

March 8, 2012

Today I worked on my conclusion. It will be finished by next time, and I can start editing.

March 6, 2012

I tried to work on my conclusion today, but it was really hard because I had trouble concentrating. I didn't get as much done as I wanted, but the best thing I can do I suppose is stay as calm as possible and know that just because things aren't going as fast as I would like doesn't mean they won't turn out. After all, all I have to do is finish my conclusion, then go back and add the supporting evidence from my articles. I made note of where I will do this, and I have all of the articles saved in my favorites, so it hopefully won't take that long. After that, I just have to send it to my mentor and get my paper ready. I have divided my paper into five 2 page increments to make things seem easier. They are and introduction that provides examples of problems students are having in special education and how something needs to be done about it, the organs or the project, a short history of special education and how it got where it is now, and a conclusion that basically summarizes everything again. Then I will ask my Thesis instructor to look at it.

March 2, 2012

Today I had to find a few more articles. I thought I had all the research I needed, but my financial section isn't long enough. I decided to talk about how the new program will employ people and help the government cut cost that way because I can't find exact figures for how much things cost, and I'm not really good at math, so I don't know how to go about guessing what things would cost under the new system. My mentor thinks it would be hard as well.

February 29, 2012

Today, I worked on the section that talks about how this plan will be more cost effective. This was kind of hard because there are so many variables involved, so I had to use generalisations, but cost is addressed in every senate hearing as far as I know, so I had to address it. I know this post is short, but that's what I did.

February 27, 2012

Things did not go like I thought they would. I have been feeling horribly all day and I tried concentrating on what I had planned last time, which was to finish the bullying section, but nothing would go down on paper the way I wanted. I finally gave up, and worked on my appeal letter to UT. This is just great because it puts me a day behind schedule. I don't feel comfortable going into detail about this on the internet, so I won't. As I am writing this, I am laying down, and I'm seriously considering taking the day off tomorrow. I wanted to go to this PTSA meeting, but on Wednesday, I can't have a repeat of what happened today. I can't fall behind schedule firstly because I really need to have this done in time for my judges to evaluate it, and secondly because falling behind schedule makes me get anxious, which will cause me not to be able to concentrate and to fall even more behind schedule.

February 23, 2012

Today, I reread my evaluation section because it involved a lot of steps, and I wanted to make sure that I had them right. As I was reading, I decided that I needed a unifying metaphor to pull this thing together, so I settled on a sailing ship. This might seem ridiculous, but people like that sort of thing. It would be a great way to inspire them to support this. After that, I addressed my second to last argument concerning inclusion, which is that it would be detrimental to include all students together because of the bullying that will occur. Research shows that even students with "hidden disabilities" are significantly more likely to get bullied than their "non-disabled" counterparts, but different sources provide slightly different estimates of the increased likelihood. Earlier in the year when I was doing research, I knew that this topic would be important so while everyone else was reading Twilight or whatever, I read these articles about bullying and social interaction that almost had more footnotes than text. However, I did come out of it with the information I needed, which is why such students are bullied so often. It's partly obvious why blind, deaf, or paralyzed children are bullied, but what about little Susy who has high functioning autism, or Joe who has OCD? You can't just look at someone and figure that out, but myou research found that students know that there is something unusual about one of their classmates. They may not know what it is, but I have learned that it is these students' failure to correctly interpret and respond to social cues that really isolates them. Additionally, our society has a way of constantly reminding someone that he/she is a part of a minority, and this can be emotionally stressful, which can make these students seem weaker and more reactive, and cloud their judgment concerning how to respond to social situations. Next time, I plan to write about what to do about it and how if treated correctly, inclusion can actually decrease bullying. After that, I will write a short section on how the new plan may be more cost effective followed by a conclusion. After that, I'll need about a week or so to go back, expand, and incorporate my metaphor throughout my proposal. Then, while I am allowing my proposal to be edited I will be writing my paper. I already have a two page outline, so I just have to expand on that. I think that I'll just have this project, graduate on the recommended plan, and have it changed if possible after my APs.

February 21, 2012

Today, I wrote the portion, which describes why the current evaluation process is detrimental to the education process. It means that a student can only receive academic support for having a "disability" and that even then, support may be withheld because the student must undergo a lengthy process to prove what support he will need for that "disability." Additionally, he will be much more rigorously evaluated throughout his academic career than his peers. I know that this effected me negatively, but I still have to figure out what to look for to know how this has effected other students. However, my research has found that evaluating the progress of all studentscan help better ensure their success, and that students without "disabilities" often times are not receiving academic support or an appropriate education. For instance, a student may fall behind in his studies due to a shocking event that occurred like the death of a family member. When the shock has passed, he may find that he is six weeks behind his peers. Yes he could get tutoring, but in many ways, the problem would be beyond that. Therefore, he should have supplementary or modified instruction until he can get caught up, but now for this to happen, he would have to have a disability.

Fefruary 16, 2012

Today, I wrote about how the evaluation process needs to change for this supplementary education thing to work. I had to reread the stuff I h set aside for that topic, which is sad because I thought I would remember it from the last time, and rereading will only make this thing drag out longer. However, I did get to start writing, and was able to describe the evaluation process that is currently in place, but I decided not to go into the variations for each state. Yes, this description was necessary because my reader will be a senator, not an expert in the education field, so I can't count on the fact that this person will have the information or take pains to retrieve it. When I was at a hearing in Austin during my sophomore year, I witnessed the presentation of a bill that would have had a much better chance of passage had the parties involved worked together to ensure that there information was complete, inaccurate, and un-conflicting.

February 14, 2012

Today I finished my portion that talks about what teacher training needs to occur, and I had to do this thing with my fafsa where you sign it electronically. I don't understand how that works because any old person could electronically sign it if they had the right information. Then, I tried to add some schools that weren't on there before finally realizing that it wouldn't let me because I have to wait for it to fully process.

February 10, 2012

Today I was trying to find out how special education teachers get sufficient training to work with students whose learning styles are so diverse. I also tried to find a way to explain how this wouldn't happen in an inclusive classroom. In an inclusive classroom, you could categorize it more so that teachers providing supplimentary education could help similar types of students. This does occur somewhat, but not really, and there is no legislation, which mandates that it should occur. I tried to call DISD'2 Special Education department, but the people over there just seemed annoyed and didn't really answer my questions.

February 8, 2012

I cannot access the Fafsa web sight from my braillenote, and my home computer currently doesn't have internet, so I had to complete the signature thing. I also tried to add some schools, but it won't let me until the Fafsa finishes processing. Also, I have written the framework for my education plan. I am just accessing the research I have done and adding relevant portions.

February 2, 2012

Today I finished my FAFSA and worked on the rough draft of my proposal. I now have a mentor who works with children who need education in hospitals, so I plan to send it to her. Then, I have to write the paper and finish my second project so I can graduate on the distinguished plan.