Miller,+Amanda,+Inclusion+Strategies+in+PE

Hi there! I’m Amanda Miller. I’m pretty silly, and I love to dress up, so I thought I’d post my Tinkerbell (in tennis shoes) picture. That’s my husband’s knee next to me, and my dog Patches. This picture has a piece of the most important things in my life. 1. Something that you want us to know about you or something about you that is interesting: I have been a CASA volunteer for 2 years. It’s rewarding, but stressful. 2. Explain your education and career goals: I applied to the licensure program for next year, so I plan to graduate with my teaching license in June 2013. I then plan to slowly work on my Master’s degree while I’m working. I hope to get a permanent teaching job right away, but I would be okay substituting for a year or two. I might eventually choose to become an administrator. 3. What brings you joy? There are several things that bring me joy: My husband, my family, my pets, animals in general, and getting to be outside in nice weather. My favorite things to do are rafting, hiking, visiting places with animals (like Wildlife Safari or Wildlife Images), watching baseball, or anything that involves sunshine and fresh air. None of these activities are as fun without my husband in tow! 4. What is your greatest fear about being a teacher? I have so many right now! I often feel the whole thing is daunting and overwhelming. I’m worried I will get into my classroom and have no clue what to teach or how to teach it. I do not want to fail my students. 5. Did you ever experience a time when something was extremely difficult to learn? Explain that time and how it made you feel. I have had several times where something has been difficult to learn. I experienced the most frustration in math, sewing, and dance. I find the most infuriating thing is when you try to get help and somebody says, “It’s so easy. I don’t understand why you’re not getting it”. If I am having trouble learning something I feel extreme frustration, and will often, to my embarrassment, cry. For the longest time I thought I was a bad dancer, and bad at math. It turns out I just need somebody to spend a little more time with me, and have a little faith in me. I’m still hopeless at sewing though. 6. How might this piece of history help you connect to students with learning disabilities? I have real compassion for anybody struggling. I completely understand how it feels to be given up on. It’s so devastating and can affect how you view yourself for the rest of your life. My experiences will help me to be compassionate and patient. I never want my students to feel like I’ve given up on them or that I think they’re stupid for not picking something up faster. I will also be patient and compassionate when they react in a frustrated manner, whether through crying, anger, or other displays. 7. What do you want to gain from this course? I’m really excited to learn about etiquette when addressing and working with people with disabilities. I never want to offend anybody, but I must admit that I am ignorant about so many things. I also want to leave feeling like I know some great strategies for identifying possible disabilities, and how to accommodate disabilities of all kinds in my classroom. I also want to know how to make my classroom a welcoming, constructive place for all students.

My husband has his teaching license in health and P.E., so these areas are of particular interest to me. We both like learning about what the other does, so I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn more about this topic than he knows! I am a huge advocate for physical activity for students, and believe that all students deserve to have access to physical activities. I also feel that this can be a particularly difficult area for teachers to accomodate students in. It is easy to be intimidated by disabilities in a highly physical environment, so I'm hoping to feel more prepared to make the P.E. environment productive for all students after conducting my research.
 * Why Choose Inclusion Strategies in P.E.?**

Top 5 Things I Learned

 * 1.** "Children need to feel feelings of belonging and acceptance, success, accomplishment, growth, and competence to enjoy an activity (ncpad.org)".


 * 2.** There is an adapted set of P.E. standards for students with disabilities.


 * 3.** Learning how to incorporate students with disabilities into the P.E. classroom can be daunting at first, but being informed and gaining experience will lead to more confidence and better attitudes.


 * 4.** Students with disabilities are very capable of participating in physical activities, and doing so gives them confidence and a sense of purpose. Many children and people with disabilities are capable of participating in a variety of sports and extreme sports.


 * 5.** "The goal of adapted physical education is to differentiate instruction so that the physical activity is as appropriate for the person with the disability as it is for a person without a disability (pecentral.org)".

Top Resource
//Elementary Classroom Teachers as Movement Educators. 4th Ed.// S. Kovar, C. Combs, K. Campbell, G. Napper-Owen, V. Worrell. 2012. McGraw Hill. New York.


 * Rating: 5/5 stars.** Chapter 5 of this book, //Planning for Children with Diverse and Special Needs//, is an amazing resource for teachers. The chapter describes each type of disability, and how P.E. instruction can be modified to include these students. It gives several examples and has pictures, and discusses equipment available for use in the diverse P.E. classroom. I know this book is going to be incredibly valuable to me when I start teaching.

Other Resources
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 * 1. Playground for Inclusion** (Video). 2007. Retrieved May 14, 2012. Uploaded by: theunderrepresented.
 * Rating: 4/5 stars.** I love this video for people who may not be aware of inclusion strategies in physical activity. This playground is wonderful for //all// students! This video also shows great clips of ways playgrounds can be modified for students with physical disabilities and autism. I think it is a great introduction for teachers who want to know what equipment is available for the playground for students with disabilities.

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 * 2. Using Differentiated Instruction in P.E.** American Printing House for the Blind, Inc. 2009.


 * Rating: 4/5 stars.** I really like this website page because it addresses considerations to make for all students, not simply students with a physical disability. It addresses several disabilities and gives examples of how instruction has been modified in real classrooms. I would give this website a 5 if it had a bit more information. It's great for a quick look at what teachers need to consider and do to accommodate all students.

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 * 3. Adapted Physical Education.** PElinks4U. 2001.


 * Rating: 3/5 stars.** This website offers some quick tips and suggestions for modifying P.E. It also gives an overview of visual impairment, questions to ask students with visual impairments, and warning signs that a student may have a visual impairment. I only gave this website a 3 because it only addresses one specific disability, and because it is a little unorganized. One of the links was defective, so I couldn't explore everything the website had to offer.

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 * 4. The National Center on Physical Activity and Disability Homepage.** 2012.


 * Rating: 3/5 stars.** I liked this website because it has some great resources for parents with a child who has a disability. I think teachers need to be aware of resources they can suggest to parents. This website helps parents get their children physically active. The site also has a list of inclusive physical activities, and a lot of information on certain disabilities. I only wish they had a section specifically for teachers.


 * 5. APENS: Adapted Physical Education National Standards**. 2008. []


 * Rating: 4/5 stars.** This website doesn't have a lot of information, but the information it has is very valuable to educators. This website lists the National Association for Sports and Physical Education Standards and shows which of the APENS standards meets each one. This would be great when a teacher needs to modify a lesson for a student with a disability, but still must have the lesson meet standards.

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 * 6. Disabled Sports USA.** 2011. dsusa.org


 * Rating: 4/5 stars.** This website is a really wonderful resource for students and families. Although it does not offer specific information for teachers, it has an inspring and encouraging message for students with disabilities. This is a great way for students to gain confidence and get active. I think it's important for teachers to modify instruction in the classroom, but to also have resources outside of school to suggest to students and their families.

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 * 7. "Waking the Dragon and Making It Fly- Dragon Baoting for Children with Special Needs".** V. Temple, A. Freeman, C. deBoer, J. Southward. Palaestra: Forum of Sport, Physical Education, and Recreation for Those with Disabilities. Vol. 25. Issue 1. 2011.


 * Rating: 4/5 stars.** This dragon boating activity looks incredibly fun and very inclusive. At first I thought it would mostly be beneficial for students with physical disabilities, but this article lists ways it is good for all learners, including students with problems paying attention to activities. The article is interesting, and it also lists a number of modifications that can be made. I'm not sure how a teacher would arrange to do this, but if they could it seems that it would be a wonderful experience for all students, and this article would be very helpful in designing a plan.

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 * 8. P.E. Central: Adapted Physical Education.** 2011.


 * Rating: 4.5/5 stars.** There is so much great information on this website! There are several links that explain a wide range of subjects, such as knowing what adapted P.E. is, differentiating instruction in P.E., assessment tools, and several others. I also like that there is a list of many other valuable websites for teachers who want to learn about options for adapting P.E. instruction for students with disabilities. The only reason I didn't give this website a 5 star rating is because it is very visually overwhelming. There are several advertisements and a lot of color, so it takes a little while to decide what is worth looking at.