Donaldson_Christine_ReadingReflection
The readings and videos for week nine were very interesting and helpful. Working in public schools can be challenging when special needs students push into related arts classrooms. Extra differentiation, time, and help are needed to ensure these students and the general classroom students get the most out of their library time. At the start of the year, you may receive an accommodation 504 or IEP plan that offers some guidance but does not provide enough information for every lesson or situation that may arise. You can talk with the SPED teacher, but they are even busier than a general classroom teacher and finding mutual time to collaborate can be difficult. There are numerous resources but finding the time to locate these is a challenge and it was great to have some of these ideas and videos made available to us.
Managing a classroom full of typically abled students with the addition of students with special needs or abilities adds to the challenge. The resources this week offered some great ways to meet the needs of these students while enhancing the overall experience. Students with autism benefit from picture schedules and story props. Schedules can be good for many students and adding props to a story makes it a more interactive experience. The addition of props can also benefit students who have focusing issues or vision issues as well as those with autism. ASL can also be a great addition, as stated by our textbook, to storytelling, and story times (Greene & Del Negro, 2010). Movement will keep students engaged, introduce them to another form of communication and make them aware of students with hearing impairments. I know a few ASL signs, and I was particularly impressed with the ASL version of The Snowy Day. I have to admit that it was very satisfying to watch all aspects of the production including the signs, music, pictures, and emotion communicated by the interpreter. If you took away the pictures, you could still understand parts of the story and make predictions about what was happening.
The impact of storytelling on students was another aspect of the readings this week that really stayed with me. There were a few quotes from the text that really apply to all students, just more so to those with special needs. “Imagination is the most important faculty involved in understanding and appreciating a good story” (Greene & Del Negro, 2010, pg. 111). This quote was used referring to students with low vision, but all students can benefit from stories that are vivid in their descriptions and ask students to expand their imagination. Being blind or deaf does not make a person less in any way. They are intelligent individuals, and we must always remember that. Developing a storytime that is rich and engages multiple senses is a storytime that will be enjoyed by all.
The readings we have encountered in this class have talked about the trance that students enter when a storyteller is highly engaging. I have experienced this with my students, they are engaged and very active listeners and are just as entranced as a child watching a captivating video. Students are drawn in by the voice, story, movements, and emotions that can be conveyed. It was not surprising to also read that those students with ADD or ADHD were also some of the most attentive listeners (Greene & Del Negro, 2010). The authors of our textbook also talk about the emotional connections that are made when we become storytellers (Greene & Del Negro, 2010). To be a storyteller means you have to be confident in your own abilities and you are not afraid to show emotion to your students. Telling a story brings those emotions to the forefront for the storyteller and those watching can see and feel how engaged you are as the storyteller. Once students see your example, they become engaged, and those emotional connections are made.
Forging these emotional connections also helps to build trust with the adolescents we encounter. Green and Del Negro talk about a storyteller who has worked with children who have behavioral issues, and it is pointed out that these children have encountered many adults who have failed them. Gaining trust will take time. The stories that are told become a space where shared experiences can be revealed, respect and trust can be formed, and those all-important connections are created (Greene & Del Negro, 2010). Relationships seem to be the buzz word in education right now. Educators and Librarians interact with students daily. Stepping into a storyteller role provides another opportunity to develop those relationships with our students. Making connections and showing students an array of emotions through stories will only increase the connection we make with students.
I am also taking ISCI 757 at this time and we recently covered understanding (dis)abilities and I watched a fantastic video by Middle Ground Book Fest about disability representation in books. This was eye-opening because the panel participants were very open about how we need more books as mirrors for those with disabilities but the disabled characters in the books must portrayed accurately. They talked about how disabled characters are misrepresented due to authors writing to include characters but without true life experiences, they are unable to truly write about that disability. The panel participants also talk about how books that feature disabled characters also tend to focus on the family hardships of living with a disabled person or the disabled character is a hero for being a good person even with the disability (Middle Ground Book Fest, 2021). This sends a false message that the disability is wrong, and you must fight to be a good person. Greene and Del Negro state that “The issues physically and emotionally abused adolescents confront are hugely out of scale, they do not see their stories mirrored in the everyday world (2010, pg. 115).” Finding that character in a book that you can relate to is important for adolescents. It is just as important for authors to create characters from personal experience or heavy research help from others with similar experiences to create characters that are accurate.
The materials this week have given many opportunities for reflection. It is inevitable that I will encounter a variety of students with a variety of disabilities. Collecting resources to guide my interactions with those students will be vital to my success at creating relationships with those students. In many cases those adaptations are beneficial to all students. Creating opportunities for relationship development will lead to trust and respect for everyone. Telling stories that mirror our students creates opportunities for connections and relationships that extend beyond the classroom.
Hardly Haunted by Jessie Sima
The Haunted Lake by P.J. Lynch
There's a Ghost in the House by Oliver Jeffers
Desmond Cole Ghost Patrol: The Haunted House Next Door by Andres Miedoso
Unexplained Mysteries: Ghost Ships by Lisa Owings
The Most Haunted House in America by Jarrett Dapier
Goldfish Ghost by Lemony Snicket
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References
Cottrell, M. (2016, March 1). Storytime for the spectrum: Libraries add services for children with autism. American Libraries. https://americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/03/01/sensory-storytime-spectrum-libraries-add-services-for-children-with-autism/
Greene, E. & Del Negro, J. (2010). Storytelling: art and technique. ABC-CLIO.
Middle Ground Book Fest. (2021, August 28). Disability representation [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/obXLk5nzPKg?si=K6WRU6YFGPv6nkIE
Statewide outreach center videos. (2015, August 11). ASL storytelling: Snowy day. [Video]. You Tube. https://youtu.be/Wtzawp0bd5k?si=xRQC26bQKmaUwJFV
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