Post Title.

6/23/2011

Respond to 2 of the prompts below:
Describe the barriers you encountered. Were there any surprises?
Describe how felt when you experienced these barriers.
How are these barriers relevant to designing good instruction?

79 Comments

Jon

6/22/2011 11:37:58 pm

These barriers made me feel slow, frustrated...ready to give up.

john

6/22/2011 11:38:25 pm

i felt that the audio portion was way too hard for me to handle....i see those kids in my class and can now better understand their blank looks

Kevin

6/22/2011 11:39:03 pm

I was confused by the many conversations going on in the background within seconds. I gave up pretty quickly.

I felt lost and confused. I was not motivated to try again.

Ethan Sears

6/22/2011 11:39:19 pm

These barriers (feeling lost and frustrated because of how impossible the task felt) are relevant to designing good instruction because you are putting yourself into the shoes and minds of students with disabilities and other students who have difficulty in your classroom. When you plan, you will remember these things and you will naturally adjust your planning/instruction to be more sensitive to those students' needs.

Dale

6/22/2011 11:39:24 pm

The most frustrating thing was not being able to hear the instructions over all of the other noise in the classroom.

This leads me to a need to put instructions in several different formats for students. For example, written instructions, oral instructions, and a video of the instructions could be three different ways to get the same instructions.

Sue

6/22/2011 11:39:29 pm

It reminds me of an exercise we did in a college course. We had to try to make sense of writing that looked like gibberish because all of the symbols were different. It is a very good exercise to experience the same frustrations some kids have when learning to read.

Jennifer

6/22/2011 11:39:36 pm

When doing the reading different images kept coming up while I was trying to read, which was very distracting. I was surprised because I do not have those issues when I read.

I was frustrated because I was not able to finish the reading and be able to answer the questions. I can only image what my students that have reading difficulties are going through.

Tim Wilkinson

6/22/2011 11:39:43 pm

ti saw very rfustartign ot dear dna lstn wth dstractons

Jenny

6/22/2011 11:39:46 pm

I am responding to the following directions activity. When I began I thought it would be something I would do very well with. I found it very difficult to follow the directions with all the distractions and the speed that the instructions were given.

I was very frustrated and finally just gave up and moved the figures whereever. I didn't care about the outcome

Sarah

6/22/2011 11:39:51 pm

The first time that I was socked at what was taking place. I did not expect and I had no clue what was taking place. The second time I was ready for the barrier and was more prepared.

Reid

6/22/2011 11:39:54 pm

I found the translating activity very difficult, constantly looking back and forth to replace letters to make sense of the reading. Time consuming and frustrating.

Jon

6/22/2011 11:40:17 pm

These barriers make it clear that good instruction will model activities for students, check for understanding, and continue practice until mastery.

Students should be able to participate, knowing that they will not experience shame or be called out for a skill they have not mastered.

Katie

6/22/2011 11:40:22 pm

All I could think about was how much I reminded myself of the teacher in the attention simulation (with the shapes and colors). I struggle to find the balance between helping, waiting for, and repeating for the students that need help and not allowing for misbehaviors in those that get it quickly. Any ideas?

Brandy

6/22/2011 11:41:07 pm

During the oral directions I had a really hard time hearing directions from the teacher. It was very frustrating. A teacher could avoid this type of student frustration by incorporating directions in several ways. For example, a teacher could post written directions along with the oral directions.

Kathy

6/22/2011 11:41:16 pm

As a special ed teacher I have been exposed to these types of activities in the past. I do understand that my students experience these types of barriers. The key is to find ways to get around these barriers so that these kids can learn and feel equal to their gen ed peers.

Sue

6/22/2011 11:41:20 pm

The auditory noise when the teacher was giving instruction was frustrating for me also. It still happens sometimes when I'm trying to hear instructions and it drives me crazy.

Cassie

6/22/2011 11:41:24 pm

I found these exercises quite frustrating. The auditory exercise and the decoding exercise were especially difficult for me. I gave up quickly.

Adam

6/22/2011 11:41:31 pm

It was difficult concentrating with all of the outside distractions. When a teacher only gives instructions once, there will be several students with questions.

I was able to feel the frustrations of my caseload students.

Ann Marie

6/22/2011 11:41:37 pm

The barriers made learning very frustrating.

I had never seen materials through the eyes of a learning disabled student. Very surprising.

Danielle Smith

6/22/2011 11:41:40 pm

I felt very frustrated by the simulated disabilities. These frustrations reiterated the importance of good classroom management along with good projects and planning. For example, I was very frustrated that the teacher kept giving her instructions about the shapes, even though other students were talking at the same time. It is also very important to give students enough time to complete your instructions, and we need to give them appropriate resources to do so as well.

Jen

6/22/2011 11:41:50 pm

I started out ok, but them lost track of what was happening. A teacher needs to be aware when students lose attention.

Kristin Frang

6/22/2011 11:41:50 pm

I started out listening and not doing the activity so I was behind right away and I never caught up. After about 5 seconds I didn't care to try.

vicky

6/22/2011 11:41:53 pm

i felt the need to use the restroom..too confused, didn;t want to look ....well you know

Lou Ann

6/22/2011 11:42:02 pm

I could not follow along and felt frustrated easily. It amazed me how easily I would give up.

Susan

6/22/2011 11:42:06 pm

Loved the first activity! I know this happens in my room all of the time. Those poor kids who are trying to listen and cannot understand. This is very good for me to "be the student" today!

Kara

6/22/2011 11:42:11 pm

I was frustrated. I'm sure I sound like the teacher in the auditory simulation. Good things to think about...

Theresa

6/22/2011 11:42:16 pm

I have enough trouble concentrating without help from the noise.

Kim Bachelder

6/22/2011 11:42:18 pm

I encountered barriers to my ability to succeed and that was very frustrating. When I couldn't finish reading the selection I did not want to even answer the questions. This helps remind me as an instructor that many of the behaviors of students are directly related to our choices in the way we instruct them.

Steve Best

6/22/2011 11:43:02 pm

1. The auditory exercise was overwhelming, as I found myself trying to process everything that I heard - not just the instructions from the teacher, but from all of the students, especially those asking questions. After about three of the cards, I couldn't process to the point of moving any cards any further.
2. I felt overwhelmed, and felt like I needed to "pause and replay" to process the more relevant information.

Mark

6/22/2011 11:43:06 pm

Students being bored, engaging them in the learning will spark their interest.

Feeling lost makes you quit.

Mandy

6/22/2011 11:43:46 pm

I felt very frustrated with all the portions! The audio was confusing and overwhelming. I took my earphones out at one point b/c it was just too much!

Mike

6/22/2011 11:44:09 pm

Extremely frustrated!! Made it through but didn't want too. Focus on classroom management to help with instructions. Realize to slow down. Too quick means too many problems.

[email protected]

6/22/2011 11:44:15 pm

Frustrated. Differentiated instruction is very necessary.

JMaat

6/22/2011 11:45:12 pm

The auditory portion was very difficult to follow. I found myself getting caught up in the conversation about a child going to the nurse. I got 6 out of 9 right... thats only 67% This helps to show the importance of "chunking" an assignment. Also, many auditory instructions may have to be modeled.

lisa

6/22/2011 11:45:33 pm

I felt annoyed with all of the background noise. I feel really bad for all of the students who are extremely sensative to noise. Will make me rethink instruction.

Ethan again

6/22/2011 11:51:48 pm

Another thing I kept thinking (especially during the shapes auditory activity) was that I could do this. I kept thinking, if I just think really hard, I can get this right despite the difficulties. I had a lot of confidence in my abilities to muscle through it, but I failed ultimately. After the realization of my failure, I felt what many kids must feel. I also remembered times in my childhood when my own learning problems frustrated me and created learning road blocks.

Melissa

6/22/2011 11:54:24 pm

For many students with learning disabilities to be successful, it is important to make accommodations to our instruction and other classroom activities.

Kristy

6/28/2011 03:29:57 am

I felt a lot of empathy for these kids. As a special educator, sometimes I forget how difficult these tasks that come so easily for me are for my students.

Andy

6/28/2011 03:30:35 am

As a math teacher, I went there first. I got 1 of 3 problems right.... because I didn't have the patience or desire to try problems 2 and 3. It was very frustrating so I just guessed.

Gail

6/28/2011 03:30:42 am

I was unable to play the streaming videos and I felt left behind becasue I didn't have the knowledge base that everyone else had.

Chris

6/28/2011 03:31:08 am

I often find it hard to concentrate when others around me are having a conversation or are involved in some activity. These activities reminded me that for some students this is more than an occasional thing, they are experiencing these distractions and frustrations on a regular basis.

Joanne

6/28/2011 03:31:23 am

How frustrating having the lines disappear as I was reading - it was so distracting I did not comprehend any of the piece.

Meagan

6/28/2011 03:31:34 am

When I was trying to do the following direction activity I could not stay focused on what the teacher was saying because of all of the other things going on. I was getting upset that I could not get it. I kept redoing it until I got it correct.

Tonia

6/28/2011 03:31:48 am

I was exhausted from the writing activity. I felt like I worked so hard on following the directions. Then when I read over what the teacher saw ARGHHHHH!!!!

I also found out that when I need to really concentrate I CANNOT have all the back ground noise like in the first grade experience. I was getting mad, like many of my students.

Char

6/28/2011 03:32:09 am

It was very was very difficult to follow directions and stay focused. After viewing the videos I now have a better understanding of what students are going through

Judy

6/28/2011 03:32:16 am

Processing the directions with the back ground noise was a huge barrier. It was so hard to concenrate and listen to the teacher. The reading activity took a lot of processing. I only had about 1 sentence correct. Both activities made me feel frustrated and I eventually gave up and said to myself "Forget it!"

Julie

6/28/2011 03:32:22 am

I was really surprised by the listening activity. As a teacher you sometimes think that just because you are talking all of your students are listening. This activity helped me to remember that all kinds of things are going on around the room and it is making it impossible for many of the students to learn. The activity made me so frustrated but helped me to appreciate the complexity of a typical classroom.

Wesley

6/28/2011 03:32:30 am

The attention example that showed how kids are distracted was interesting. It helped validate why time constraints can be hindering to students with disabilities.

June

6/28/2011 03:32:49 am

I was rather pleased to see that I had been able to put almost half of the cards in the correct spots --- considering all the auditory distractions! But then I realized, finishing less than half of an assignment is an "E" so I would have failed that assignment.

Donna

6/28/2011 03:32:51 am

The barriers I encountered were frustration, not enough time, feeling stupid and inadequate. I was very surprised even though I have a 19 year old son who struggles with a learning disability. To know that he has one and to experience it first hand are two totally different things. This showed me that I really need to allow more time for processing when I design my lessons - give lots of different ways and opportunities for students to be exposed to, assimilate and learn the material.

Kristy

6/28/2011 03:32:54 am

It is absolutely critical that we keep these barriers in mind when we are designing and implementing projects and activities for our student. We need to meet them where they are so that they will have the opportunity to experience success.

Cheryl

6/28/2011 03:33:03 am

Experiencing it makes you understand and have compassion for the students who struggle with school tasks. This really shows the importance of differentiating instruction.

Heath

6/28/2011 03:33:07 am

The listening activity was extremely frustrating because I wanted to be able to complete the task and couldn't. I can see how this would frustrate my students just like it frustrated me

Kelsey

6/28/2011 03:33:10 am

I felt myself getting overwhelmed and frustrated. Despite trying hard and asking for help I still was behind. Really made the tasks difficult and I didn't even finish a few

Sheree

6/28/2011 03:33:17 am

This was very frustrating, I did not have enough time to read or follow the activities. I could not hear the instructor due to all of the background noise. There are many barriers to designing good instruction, but what opened my eyes was the fact that as an educator, I really need to control the noise level in my classroom due to the fact that many of my students must be unable to concentrate when their classmates are talking.

Deb

6/28/2011 03:33:23 am

Describe the barriers you encountered. Were there any surprises?
The barriers I personally encountered were the aural distractions with background noise and multiple people talking. The surprise I had was that it was actually more difficult to focus on the teacher's direction that I expected.
Describe how felt when you experienced these barriers.

I was frustrated, because the task seemed pretty simple, yet I wasn't able to do it.

How are these barriers relevant to designing good instruction? I can see where good planning, and activity planning is necessary, it's also necessary to know each of my students and how they will react, or find different activities difficult.

Lesley

6/28/2011 03:33:24 am

I was interested in the listening activity. When I am giving instructions and some students have no clue what I said, I could have sounded like that activity. It reminds me of the Charlie Brown cartoons.

Jenna

6/28/2011 03:33:28 am

Being able to understand or focus in order to accomplish the task was the first barrier that I came across. The second barrier was the pace or speed in which the lessons or instruction happened. They were too fast and if instructions or the activity were given at a slower pace I would have been able to accomplish them with more success and less frustration.

These barriers give me a reminder how important it is to repeat directions in numerous ways (audio, visual, etc.). Also to give students more time without them feeling anxiety and pressure. This reminded me that many students come to the middle school feeling that school is a place they hate and have no success in. I need to remember that their behaviors might be a reflection of this built of failure. I need to design instruction in which I can give students an oppportunity to find success.

Heather

6/28/2011 03:33:30 am

I found that after a minute of struggling to focus...I just gave up and ended up guessing. This is something that I see quite a few of my students doing. Now I can totally understand their way of thinking.

Anna

6/28/2011 03:33:33 am

I work with special needs children and see the struggles that they experience on a daily basis. As gen ed teachers our focus should be to help them reach their potential.

Liz

6/28/2011 03:33:46 am

I was frustrated with the reading section when letters were replaced- hard to remember new letters. It helped to see how some of my students feel and the frustration they can exhibit.

Gina

6/28/2011 03:34:08 am

The one that really stood out for me was the auditory exercise because I am an auditory learner. I was very frustrated by the noise and the extra talking. I was surprised by how difficult it was for me to concentrate.

Kathy

6/28/2011 03:34:11 am

I found myself VERY frustrated!!! The background noise made it impossible to complete what seemed to be such an easy task. I wanted to give up after the third direction and I actually went back to try the task several times before just giving up. I will try to give directions in more than just one mode for my students.

Shirley

6/28/2011 03:34:14 am

I felt very frustrated and I just wanted to give up, rather than try anymore. It made me more aware of how it could be in my classroom and makes me want to use these scenarios with my students.

wendy

6/28/2011 03:34:25 am

When reading the text to respond to the m/c quiz the barrier was not having the text to refer back to. Another barrier was the complexity of the terms used and trying to remember what had been read. The surprise was the text was disappearing before I could complete reading the sentence.

Krysten

6/28/2011 03:34:25 am

The video demonstrated to me the other side of teaching. When you were trying to listen to instructions, there were kids asking questions, interrupting the teacher, and side conversations. All these factors made it hard to pay attention and do the task at hand. Then it was frustrating and I just gave up. I may know how to do the objective, but my completed work would get an F. This is an inaccurate interpretation of what I know.

Helen

6/28/2011 03:34:30 am

The activities were really insightful as I was able to better understand the challenges that some of our students face in their learning. Moving forward, good instruction needs to accommodate (but yet continue to challenge) all abilities. As I enter my second year of teaching, I wonder how do we do this successfully?

Jenni H

6/28/2011 03:34:43 am

The background noise was very distracting. We need to make accommodations in our classrooms to reach all students. In addition to verbal directions, we should model the task and ask students for a summary in their own words.
The attention video was very eye-opening; I never considered that the visual field would change as attention faded. I seemed to have too little time to finish reading. Extending more time than we think is appropriate may be necessary.

Mike N

6/28/2011 03:35:09 am

I wasn't able to focus on the task. I was not surprised.

I think the barriers, particularly the auditory example, are relevant to practicing good(effective) instruction.

Kelly

6/28/2011 03:35:25 am

I had a difficult time trying to ignore not only the distractions by the students but also the background noise in the first attention exercise. It made the task difficult to complete. I worked through it twice and still had a couple of errors on the picture. It was very frustrating because I knew if there weren't those distractions that I could finish the puzzle. I also had time to look over the math exercise and the first one started giving me a headache. I can only imagine the responses if I did this with my students.

Jill

6/28/2011 03:35:34 am

The activities were very frustrating. I found myself very upset because I was not able to focus in on the teacher's directions or read fast enough to keep up with the comprehension activity. These activities gave me a new understanding of what my students are going through. I totally understand why my students feel so frustrated/defeated in some classrooms. It is important to provide students with access to learning through multiple modes and ask students how they are doing (where are they in the process).

6/28/2011 03:35:46 am

The visual/auditory activity was very difficult. Many things were taking place at the same time. I felt overwhelmed and I felt like giving up. I am the type of learner who benefits from a quiet learning environment. I am sure this activity would really open the eyes of some of my co-workers

Lori

6/28/2011 03:35:54 am

1. I found it very difficult to complete the shape activity with all the background noise. After attempting it a second time and attempting to focus more I was still unable to come even close to the picture.

Monique

6/18/2012 05:12:17 am

I was not prepared for the distractions and I even went back to try it again and was still lost!

robyn

6/18/2012 05:16:17 am

All children deserve opportunities to learn and we must work to modify a system of content delivery to activating the minds of all students where they all have access to learning and success.

Jessica

6/18/2012 05:16:38 am

I found the activities very frustrating. I attempted to focus extremely hard each time, but still found the activities challenging the second and third times. I was surprised that I could not tune out many of the noises in the shape activity. I usually can stay focused even with noises. This experience made me start to think about other ways that I could create a learning environment in which all of my students could be successful.

Abby

6/18/2012 05:19:40 am

During the auditory activity, I was completely frustrated from the stand point of a student. I am considering using this as in my classroom to show the importance of listening and how distracting it is to others.

Heidi

6/18/2012 05:21:24 am

Wow - this sure puts a spin on my classroom - way too much truth in those activities!

Lori

6/18/2012 05:22:24 am

I was surprised at how quickly I gave up. I got to the point where I didn't even care and just said that I wasn't going to do it.

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