Jacqueline Quiriarte

EDU 201
Susan Bridges
May 2, 2021

"The Sensory Room: Helping Students With Autism Focus and Learn"

The video provides us with facts and important information about the sensory

rooms created for children with Autism. In the video, the author explains the importance

of the sensory room as a part of their daily routine to meet their needs and be better

learners. Students utilize the room everyday for thirty minutes and once a week for

physical therapy such as yoga. The room is furnished with different equipment that

meets every child’s needs. In the video, it was also mentioned that students need to

release their emotions and learn how to stabilize their bodies after too much time

sitting. Because of this, the author also states that after the sensory room, students are

able to focus more, retain more information, and have an easier time learning. As a

result, having these rooms available for children with Autism has decreased their

impulsive behaviors and has made them better listeners who are focused and ready to

learn.

We should all consider the sensory room as a place where children are able to

have fun while regulating their bodies and emotions. I personally believe that the

sensory room is a great implement for students to use throughout the day. As we know,

Autism is a very broad spectrum, and a lot of times is a social issue. Students with
Autism and similar disabilities have a hard time expressing their needs or making social

interactions ,causing children to have frustrations that lead to unsatisfactory behaviors.

The sensory room is a great “break” that students can benefit from to become better

learners and meet their needs.

Although I tend to agree, I believe that every school should consider creating a

safe space for all students, not just those with disabilities. This way, students can

regulate their emotions, calm their bodies, and meet their needs.The sensory rooms

should be available to all students and be part of their daily routine. Children spend too

much time sitting and thinking and too little time exploring and stimulating their minds.

Sensory rooms have the adequate equipment that offer tactile stimulation, visual

coordination, balance and body awareness, just to name a few. Overall, all children

should have the opportunity to explore and benefit from the sensory rooms.

Questions:

1. In what ways do you believe the sensory room helps the students focus?
How does it make a difference on a daily basis?
2. What is your idea of a sensory room? Using the examples from the video,
what three activities are your favorite and why?
3. Lets roll play and pretend you are the teacher in charge in the sensory
room for the day. How would you integrate the students to participate in
the activities (stations) in the sensory room? What activities would you
want them to do first?
 5 Activities to Get Kids Writing in Every Subject

This important video shows five low- stakes activities to keep our students

motivated during writing. The first activity is to write “I wonder..” journals. Wondering

encourages students to think outside the box and explore their brains. The second

activity is to create learning journals, this allows students to track their learning and

reflect on it. Students can add drawings, charts or graphic organizers as they journal

their learning. The third activity that was mentioned in the video is to have low-stakes

writing prompts and ask questions. These prompts help students think of a topic in an

informal way. The fourth activity is to have students create their own magazines, writing

about the real world would connect students to real-world impacts. The last activity is to

do creative writing. This activity will help students explore their creativity and allows

them to engage with the material in a more personal way. Overall these activities are

very helpful for teachers to encourage students to be more engaged and creative with

their writing. As we know, writing is part of a child's learning throughout their education

and it can reliably enhance learning.

In addition to what I have learned after watching this video I must agree with its

content. Writing is not an easy subject across all grade levels. Having students engaged

and enjoying writing can be tough for many teachers and students. These five activities

are great ideas to have students be more creative and think outside the box, having a
variety of different approaches to writing can be beneficial to students and teachers to

make writing fun and enjoyable.

Questions:

1. Name three of the writing activities you would utilize in your classroom and why ?

2. What low -stakes method would you create to encourage and motivate your
students in their writing activities.
3. Explain how these five writing activities can boost learning.
 A Daily Support System for Students

After watching the video I now understand the importance of positive

relationships with students that lead to success. Teachers identify students who need

extra support where they are struggling meeting some of their requirements on an

educational level but more on the social and emotional level. Students check in and out

with their mentors for a few minutes before and after school. Building these positive

relationships everyday makes students feel supported and encouraged to work on their

set goals. Students set three goals to work towards and it is agreed upon by the

classroom teacher and the student and after every block they receive feedback. At the

end of the day when students check out they can evaluate their day and reflect if they

met their goals or needs improvement, regardless of the outcome their mentors are

there for support and to build positive relationships to lead children to success.

I couldn't agree more with the video I just watched. As a human being we

naturally crave positivity in all aspects of our lives. For children it is very important to

have those positive relationships with their teachers or other staff at school. Children

need to feel safe, nurtured and that they matter. As educators it is our job to provide that

for our students. Building positive relationships with students will allow them to have

that connection with their mentors/teachers and have a positive outlook on their daily

routines. Children often have academic struggles due to their environment at home so
school feels like a safe place to them. If we can help with their emotional and social

struggles then certainly their academics will improve.

Questions:

1. If you were a mentor, what and how would you develop a strategy or tool
to better assist your student in their emotional or social development?
2. Discuss what are some of the social/emotional behaviours that you have
come across in your classroom.
3. Compare how social/emotional developments are different from
academic development.
 The Powerful Effects of Drawing on Learning

What I saw about this video is that there is a new study indicating that drawing is

a powerful way to learn. It is better than writing, viewing, listening during lectures. The

drawings don’t necessarily need to be very good, but as long students can draw it to

their understanding, info in the brain is retained twice as much as someone who wrote

it. This is because the info in the brain is processed 3 different ways, establishing

connections in the visual, kinesthetic and linguistic areas of it. There are 4

recommended ways to encourage students to draw more:

● Emphasize Rough Drafts: Let them draw simply, and annotate to explain

what they mean.

● Use interactive Notebooks & sketchbooks : ask them to sketch out

complex ideas

● Try Data Visualization: ask them to collect, analyze and explain data in

charts, graphs, maps or timelines

● Low-stakes assessments: Skip the test and challenge them to show their

understanding through drawing.

I think trying to incorporate these ideas to students will help them develop their own

learning style, as it might tap into their artistic capabilities and also tap into their own

brain connections, allowing them to discover another way to process/retain info that
they were probably unaware of. This study is really helpful to determine the possible

outcomes in allowing students to incorporate drawing into their daily lives.

Questions:

1. Why do you think drawing helps students w/ retaining new info?

2. Does drawing need to be good for a student to retain info?
3. How would you encourage a student to draw more? Give some examples
 60-Second Strategy: Pom-Pom Jar

In this video I learned about a quick and fun positive reinforcement strategy that

promotes kindness. Students put a pom-pom inside a jar every time they help someone

in the classroom, once they place the pom- pom the entire class acknowledges and

compliments each act of kindness with a positive word or cheer. Students then talk

about and share one example of what kindness means to them. When the entire class

has filled the jar the teacher celebrates them with a treat or game. The activity builds a

culture of positivity and helping behavior while students work together more peacefully.

I completely agree with the content of this video, I am all about promoting

kindness. I believe this quick and easy idea can be very beneficial for students to

increase the helping behavior in the classroom. Students love praising and positive

feedback. This activity will give students a visual display of how much more kindness

needs to be done for them to get a treat or play a game. I love the idea or creating a

community where students help each other and enjoy helping each other. By helping

each other and getting complimented in a positive way, students can help support their

social emotional and academic growth. It is truly a win-win situation where both the

helper and the students being helped can gain a boost of confidence. Teaching students

what kindness means at a very young age can encourage children to have a positive

outlook in their everyday life choices.

Questions:

1. How can your students practice kindness to create a culture of positivity?

2. How can you support students who are having a difficult time behaving in
the classroom to be kind?
3. Create three positive reinforcement strategies to help your students
promote kindness.
 Prioritizing Teacher Self-Care

The video has a very strong point, teachers need to prioritize self-care. Very often

students are in crisis and it's just emotionally draining for teachers. At the end of the day

the kids rely on their teachers but they also must take care of themselves. The tap-in/

tap-out strategy gives teachers time to recharge. Teachers also have rough days and get

frustrated too. Educators can reach out or text a colleague to cover their class for a

minute. Identify teachers with complementary schedules to build a support network.

The entire faculty feels supported and it's a collaborative effort and everyone is going to

be helped. Short breaks can help reduce burnout and stress. Acknowledging and

promoting that asking for help is okay gives teachers the relive and feel that someone

always has your back.

As much as I want to agree with the video, I believe that a “short break” it's not

enough time for teachers to fully get themselves back together. Being emotionally

drained is devastating and stressful. I believe that having a full mental day is needed at

least once a month to refill their energy and emotional health. I know that educators

have sick and flex days but I also feel that the district should also give teachers mental

days. I know that with the shortage of teachers and substitutes, teachers have a hard

time finding someone to cover their class and they will rather teach themselves. As an

educator myself I know how important it is to prioritize your mental health and put
yourself first to better assist and support your students needs. Remember we cannot

pour from an empty cup.

Questions:

1. Explain how prioritizing self care is important for teachers.

2. In what ways do you believe having “short breaks” is beneficial for teachers to
recharge?
3. If you were having a stressful day, how can that affect your students?
 Learning to Measure the Size of a Problem

In this video it was talked about how students learn how to match their reactions

to the size of the problems. Students encounter problems everyday whether it is a small

problem to a big problem. At Lister Elementary School in Tacoma Washington, teachers

have a parent social emotional lesson where they discuss these topics and strategies.

Parents also benefit from the lesson as they come and see what their children are

learning about so they can manage themselves and their relationships. In the video the

teacher explained the different sizes of problems from a scale 1 to 5 from 1 being the

smallest to 5 being something major. Asking students to consider the scale of the

problem helps them determine the reactions. Students discuss real life scenarios to

practice self management skills when real issues appear. Parents are staggered to learn

that you can teach children to manage their emotions.

I couldn't agree more with this video. I really like the idea of having parents

engaged in these lessons once a month. Giving parents the opportunity to learn

together is very powerful. I feel that encourages children to self manage their emotions

when they are at school. I believe these strategies should be taught more often,

students can and should learn how to react to small problems that they can solve within

themselves to the big problems where they need an adult to be involved. Giving children

the real life scenarios will better prepare them for when they do experience a real life

problem, whether it is small or big and they will have strategies to solve these problems

and manage their emotions in an acceptable manner.

Questions:

1. If you were giving a lesson on social emotional topics, what other issues
would you discuss?
2. What are other strategies that would help students prepare for when real
life problems arise?
3. Compare and contrast how and what parents and students can learn from
this lesson.
 60-Second Strategy: Participation Cards

The main thing I learned in this video was how students can contribute to class

discussions in a large class with participation cards. The participation cards are index

cards that have labels “I agree...I disagree...and I do not know how to respond” and they

are utilized to assess students' understanding and to give students a voice. The activity

starts by introducing a discussion question and choosing students to start the

discussion. Students then track their responses as they flash their participation and

elaborate on their responses. Using this strategy helps students participate more often

even if they are shy and allows students to feel that their ideas matter. The benefits of

these participation cards enables every student to have a voice in a discussion.

From the video I can agree that the participation cards are very helpful to have all

students participate in class discussions. I know it can be hard for students to speak in

front of others or share their ideas due to them being shy. These cards will encourage

children to participate by having a tool and prompt to start their discussion. I also think

these cards can teach children how to agree and disagree with their classmates' ideas

with respect. Taking turns to speak will also give students the confidence they need to

make their voices heard and feel that what they have to say matters even if they think

otherwise.
Questions:

1. Recall a time where a student refused to participate in a discussion and what

strategy did you utilize to assist this student.
2. What is another strategy you can create to encourage shy students to participate
in classroom discussions?
3. As a teacher, how can you boost a students confidence when it comes to public
speaking, such a class discussion?
 How to Keep Your Elementary Students Focused

In the following video the author discusses how to keep elementary students

focused. According to a 2016 research, elementary students are distracted 26 percent

of the time, that is equal to one hour per day. There are various reasons why students

are distracted, things like other students, playing with school supplies, posters and

decorations and fidgeting to name a few. There are five recommended tips to keep

your students focused and engaged:

● Keep lessons short: Keep your lessons 10 to 15 minutes long, much longet and

they begin to lose focus.

● Give brain breaks: Have students move around, stretch or engage in storytelling

to recharge students attention.

● Minimize visual distraction: Keep 20 to 50 percent of the walls clear, prioritize

student work. Visually complex walls can reduce academic performance.

● Switch it up: Blend direct instruction with small group discussion and self

directed work.

● Adjust seating arrangements: Spreading out talkative students can decrease

disruptions.
 The author has made a great point and I couldn't agree more. Students

are distracted a lot of the time. As a teacher, when students are distracted it

makes me feel like a failure. It is extremely important to keep students focused

and engaged during the lesson. Like the video mentioned, there are many

reasons why students are distracted along with the emotional and social stress

they bring from home. The five tips that were given in the video are helpful for

educators to always have a plan that will workout during each lesson. My favorite

and most recommended tip would be the brain breaks. As much as we love for

our students to work hard and stay on task we also need to understand that their

brains need to recharge so they can perform better.

Questions:

1. Analyze how a distraction can affect a students academic learning.

2. As a teacher, how can you recognize and support a student who is easily
distracted.
3. Discuss a strategy that has been beneficial for you to keep your students
focused.

Teacher-Created Videos for Remote Learning

 In the video I just reviewed I learned about how teachers created remote learning

videos for students during distanced education. Teachers began making videos to feel

more connected to their students during these difficult times. Having these videos as a

YouTube link is easier for parents and students to access the content. The goal is to

make videos three times a week with each video being no longer than seven minutes.

All videos are accompanied with five multiple choice questions to determine if students

understood the video and use that information for further learning.

Teachers are also creating videos that include social and emotional wellbeing

check- ins. Educators made videos of them singing good morning songs to the

students. The evolution has grown , from teachers feeling awkward to speak into their

computers to getting creative with their content. Students love seeing their teachers

being goofy and having fun. The videos became a meaningful way to deliver content to

students and created a sense of community.

I am an advocate for mental health , and I completely agree with the content of

this video. Remote learning had been extremely difficult for many of us educators. I

recall the time when we came back to school in August of last year, education had

completely changed. Educators were thrown into remote learning without any proper

training. We had to step up to the plate and make things work for our students. When I

first began distanced education I felt completely overwhelmed and my anxiety was up

the roof. I doubted myself in many aspects of my teachings and my confidence

declined. Fast forward to today, I have learned a tremendous amount of skills and
strengthened my abilities as an educator. I think that as a teacher you strive for the best

for your students to have a great education. This past year has been tough on all of us,

but it had also taught us that we can teach from anywhere regardless of the

circumstances.
 Questions:

1. What has the biggest challenge you have experienced as a teacher during
remote learning?
2. Compare and contrast the advantages and disadvantages of remote learning.
3. Explain your experience as a teacher during remote learning. What are some
strategies you have utilized to help you teach during these difficult times? What
new skills have you acquired during remote learning?