The Family Life Cycle

What is the family life cycle?
The family life cycle is the fourth element in the family systems theory. The stages in the family life cycle are couple, birth and early childhood, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, post-parental, and aging. Each life cycle impacts all members of the family, individually and as a family. For example, in my family there are individuals in the adolescence and adulthood stage, with each family member at different points in these stages. These two stages in my family connect each member together because we have to interact and function in two very different stages. We have to learn how to balance our family life and the relationships between family members in these stages individually and as a family. As I have learned in my Family and Community Relationships class, whatever happens to one family member happens to all family members. The family unit feels the actions or choices of one family member. This is especially true if one of the family members has a disability.

What is the grief cycle and how can I help families as they grieve? 
As I have learned about the elements of the family systems theory, I have also learned about the grief cycle that impact how a family functions and interacts. The stages of the grief cycle are shock, denial, guilt and anger, shame, depression, and acceptance. I have seen these stages in real life as a family learns that one of their children has a disability. It is very hard for the whole family, but as a future educator who will be working with students with disabilities, it will be part of my job to help the families of my students through this grief cycle. A few things I have learned so far include being optimistic and having hope for the future of the child with a disability helps parents and family members. Another includes having open communication. Communication with the family is key because this family has entered uncharted territory and it is going to be my job and responsibility to guide them safely through this new and exciting territory. But most importantly, the best thing I can do for a family while they are grieving is to be a patient, kind listening ear.   

Update on HWD (Higher, Wider, Deeper) project:
This week I learned that there are some psychology classes that I could take while still at BYU-Idaho. I have also found out that to become a behavioral interventionist, there is a 40 hour RBT (Registered Behavior Technician) training that I will also have to complete.

The Family Systems Theory

This week in my Family and Community Relationships class, we have learned about the family systems theory. This theory says that families are a systems and that whatever happens to one of the family members happens to all of them. This also brought home to me that each family member is an individual and should be treated as such. As a future educator it is vital for me to know each of my students and their families individually. Each student will have a different family dynamic that I will need to work with and respect. Learning about this theory has helped me to see how different families interact with each other, what types of relationships interweave in the family, and how the family as a whole and as separate parts work together. 

We also talked about what the definition of a family is. Is it people who consider themselves a family and perform typical family functions, not related by blood or marriage? Is it a husband, wife and children? Or is it two or more people who are related by birth, marriage or adopting residing together? Whatever your definition of a family may be, I know that I will need to show respect to my students and their family, regardless of what their family may look like. Other aspects that have an influence on what a family looks like includes size and form, mentioned earlier, cultural background, socioeconomic status, and geographic location. All of these things define what a family is.

Knowing these things will help be to become a better educator because I will respect and not judge. I will recognize strengths and not weaknesses. And I will know that families and their culture are constantly in motion so I should not take one picture of the family and instantly know everything about them.   


Higher, Wider, Deeper Project
For my HWD project, I have decided to learn all I can about how to become a behavioral interventionist. I chose this topic because I have really enjoyed learning about behaviors and strategies I can use to help students with their behaviors. I also chose this topic because I also like working with students individually. This helps me to get to know them individually and I can plan specific strategies that will help them inside and outside of the classroom. With the information I gather, I hope to be able to start down the path of becoming a behavioral interventionist before I graduate from BYU-Idaho.

ADA, IDEA, Section 504, and ESSA

What is ADA?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individual with disabilities in ALL areas of public life. This includes jobs, schools, transportation and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of this law was to give individuals with disabilities access to employment opportunities, public services on a state and local government level, public accommodations and services, and telecommunications. The two key principles of this law include protection from discrimination and general access.

What is IDEA?
The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) provides all students with a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) regardless if they have a disability or not. Part B services under IDEA are available to children with disabilities from age 3-21. Part C services under IDEA are available for children from birth to 2 years 11 months. To be eligible for services under IDEA, the child must have one of the thirteen specified disabilities mentioned in the law. 

What is Section 504?
Section 504 is just one section in the Rehabilitation Act which is a civil rights law. This section covers all children who are not covered and protected under IDEA. In the school setting, students would be eligible for a 504 plan that offers accommodations to provide the needed extra support in the general education classroom, if they are not eligible for services under IDEA. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) expanded and broadened the rights under Section 504 to prohibit discrimination for individuals in all agencies and businesses.

What is ESSA?
The Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) replaced the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This is a main education law that was created to provide every student in every state with a quality education by holding each states more responsible for how they were educating their students. 

Why is knowing and understanding these laws important when working with children, students, and families?
As a future special education teacher, I need to know and understand these laws so I provide each of my students with specialized and unique education to meet their individualized needs. As an educator, these laws will impact everything I do in the classroom, talking with administrators or parents of students. Since I will be the expert in my field for the whole school it is up to me to know and understand what these laws are and how they impact my position. I will also need to know and understand these laws to answer questions from parents who are not as familiar with the laws and the rights they have under these laws. 

HIPAA and FERPA

Hello again! It has been awhile since I have posted anything on my blog. To recap, I am currently a student at Brigham Young University-Idaho (BYU-I), and will graduate December 2020 with a Bachelor of Science in Special Education.

As a new semester has started this week, I have been asked to share my thoughts on topics I have been learning and studying each week. This week I have studied two important privacy acts known as HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) and FERPA (The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act). These are some of the laws that many have heard about or are very familiar with if you work in a medical or educational field.

The question posed this week was, "Why is knowing and understanding these laws important when working with children, students and families?".

Both of these laws have to deal with the privacy, access and security of either medical or educational records. As a future educator, it is very important for me to know and understand these laws because I will be working with children of all ages with different disabilities. It is important for me to know and understand these laws to make sure that I guard and keep all medical and educational records private and secure so I don't get in trouble and penalized. Not only is it important to do but it is also the law so there is no excuse for not implementing the set procedures in the classroom. Abiding by these laws also increases trust and strengthens the relationship between educators or medical personnel and students, children and their families. Without these laws, I think that people would be more judgmental and discriminatory towards others because they would have access to all their information to laugh at or make fun of. These laws provide that much needed element of privacy and security so individuals can keep their educational and medical records private.  

Exceptional Students

What a great semester! I have really grown a lot as a person and as a student. I have learned so many new and interesting things that I am excited to try out in my future classroom.

The most important takeaway from my Exceptional Students class is that we are all children of God and that is made manifest in different school practices. I have gained a greater appreciation for how much patience and sacrifice teachers give to their students. I have been able to reflect on my own teachers and the qualities that they possess that I want to have. I am reminded that each student is different in many ways and it is my privilege to teach them.


 

  

Student Behaviors and Visual Impairments

This week has been a crazy and extremely busy one. To sum it up...it is finals week. It has been hard but it has also been very rewarding. This past week I have learned many different strategies on how to help students manage their behaviors in the classroom. There are also some things that teachers can do to help their students.

One strategy that I think is important to use is positive reinforcement. This can help a student to keep them from displaying inappropriate behavior. This can also help to let the student know that they are loved and valued. I also think that this strategy is a good self-esteem booster.

Also during this week, I was able to complete the last simulation for this class. I had to wear different glasses to experience how it would be to have a visual impairment. It seemed quite easy as first but once I got started my perspective quickly changed. I got frustrated very easily because I couldn't see very clearly. My perception was very different. At one time I almost dropped a cup full of water because I couldn't quite tell where it was. This whole experience was very difficult but it made me more grateful for the eyes that I have and it allowed me to experience what it feels like for someone who does have a visual impairment. This will help me to be able to meet the needs of students with visual impairments in my future classroom.

 

    

How to Evaluate Student Learning

In my Exceptional Students class this week, I learned about a few different ways to evaluate student learning. The most common way to evaluate student learning is through testing. This will work for some students but for others it doesn't work as well.

Another way to evaluate student learning is through performance-based assessments. This type of assessment provides the student with the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of a skill through the performance of doing a task. This task could be putting together a puzzle, growing a plant, or being able to match the word of an object to the picture.

This has really helped me to see how I can fairly evaluate the learning of my students. I will definitely be applying and using these two methods of evaluation in my future classroom.

I also completed another stimulation for this class that involved asking some questions to different people without using words that contained the letters "l" and "n". It was very hard to talk without using these letters. I had to really think and concentrate on what words I was saying. It also took a lot longer to ask my whole question. Through this experience I have realized that there are many words that I use all the time that contain these two letters.