name: Rebecca Telvick
My project proposal involved developing a individualized student self-advocacy letters that my hearing impaired students could distribute to their teachers. The purpose of the letter was to explain each students disability and necessary accomodations for each students academic success. My middle and high school students were somewhat relucant to follow through with this proposal, but in the end I was very proud of how they advocated for themselves. Most of my students were embarressed to distribute the letters to the teachers so we decided to put them in the teachers mailboxs instead. Not only did this project help build self-confidence and self-advocacy in my hearing impaired students, but many of the teachers seemed more willing to follow through with the proposed accomodations. I think knowing that that these accomodations were important to the student helped them realize the importance. This project has really helped my students and myself understand the importance of advocating one's needs in an educational setting. Sometimes I feel we do too much for our students because they have special needs. This was an excellent learning experience and I look forward to repeating this activity with my students at the beginning of each school year.
name: Ann Hatley
My ED 11th grade boys have the hardest time being self advocates for themseves. For one, they don't know themselves enought to know what they need to ask for. For two, they want to be seen as "male adults" able to accomplish things on their own without the help of anyone else. And for three, they don't know who or where to look for help once they realize they need some help. One activity I had the students do was to write down the tem most important things in their lives. Slowly, one by one, I had them erase parts of their lists. When It was finally done and we discussed the feeling and results of the activities, the students began to see positive people and abilities they each posess and can rely on in times of trouble. We ended this activity talking about issues in their lives and where they can go to seek assistance. We even found numbers and contact people. We also did some roleplaying on how to ask for help. That was hard at first for the boy to do but once they started, it seemed to get easier. I would definitely do these activities agin with next years juniors and again I would do it earlier in the school year as they can learn strategies to use in other areas of their lives. They can also be role models for those around them, including their parents.
name: Jill Rademan
My project included implementing a unit into my functional academics classes called "Why Are You Calling Me LD?" We focused on many aspects of learning disabilities besides assistive technology and self-advocacy including coping strategies, identifying strengths and weaknesses, what an IEP is, and how my students were first identified beginning with the referral process. We started off most of the chapters with discussion starters which involved what they knew about the weeks subject, making a prediction about what they thought would be talked about, and setting an individual purpose for what we were reading. We paid special attention to becoming better communicators, regardless if it was a teacher, friend, or family member and focusing on what we CAN do instead of what we CAN'T do. I believe the students really benefitted from learning about what a disability it and how each topic was relevant to them. For the most part, I felt my students were open and honest about their thoughts and feelings and asked many questions pertaining to any successes and struggles they had whether academic, social or so forth. I believe my students know now, more than ever, that there is a strong support system provided for them. This unit has made me appreciate my students even more and how hard most of them work at being successful. It has made them more aware of what can be done to help them in any circumstance and that an IEP is made for them to be used. This curriculum can be used each year with new set of students so they become aware of what it means to be "LD".
name: Stacy Roe
My original project proposal involved giving students a sheet of questions to take around and ask their teachers prior to their annual IEP meeting. Initially I was very excited about this project and spent a lot of time developing the questionnaire for my students to take to their teachers; however, when my top student did not bring any completed sheets to his IEP meeting I became concerned this plan was not going to work so well. As it turned out I was right; even with the promise of candy and soda I just could not get the students motivate to talk to their teachers prior to their meetings. I did stumble across another way to empower my students and increase their self-advocacy skills during and even after meetings through the process of trying to get students to complete questionnaires. I discovered that by scheduling IEP meeting during the school day or starting them at least fifteen minutes before school gets out I am almost always able to get the student to attend their meeting since most teenagers will not turn down a chance to miss class. Once a student is at their meeting they are almost forced to become an advocate for themselves. I have started asking the student pointed questions during the meeting about specific classes, assignments, and incidents that have occurred that I know their parent will not be able to answer for them. I usually start with simple questions which elicit a positive response such as asking them about a class they are doing well in or a project they have been doing. As the meeting progresses the questions begin to target areas the student might be struggling in and focus on accommodations or resources they may not be taking advantage of and why. I always end each meeting by telling the student and their parent as many positive things that have occurred as possible as well as discussing what they need to improve on over the next year. I have now also started spending more time discussing accommodations and self-advocacy indicating to students that they are the ones who need to fight for themselves. In my original proposal I indicated that I was also having trouble getting teacher reports back from my colleagues. Since I sent out an e-mail to all the staff telling them about this graduate class and the project I was doing and our special education secretary put a reminder to return reports as soon as possible in bold print on the top of the report from they have all gotten better about getting me the information I need in a timely manner. The staff all seems to understand the importance of helping students find their own voices so they can begin to advocate for their individual needs. When a student comes to me and asks how they are doing in a class I no longer tell them I will check and get back to them. I remind them that they were at their IEP meeting and we talked about advocating for yourself which means that if they want to know how they are doing they need to talk to their teacher after class. I also suggest to them that if they are not doing as well as they would like they take that opportunity to discuss with their teacher how they can improve their grade. I have also noticed that students are becoming more aware of what their accommodations are and are requesting quiet locations for tests, use of a calculator if there are questions that require calculation, and asking if they can have a test read to them ahead of time instead of just coming down when it is given and expecting that a teacher or aide will drop what they are doing and read it to them. I understand that improving self-advocacy will take time but I feel that if little changes are made every year then the older students will teach the younger students and eventually we will have some of the most self-advocate students in Wisconsin.
name: Nicole Kramer
I was really proud that I admited things in my life that others often ruin for me with their own judgements. Clearly I learned a lot about myself a long the way, and I feel that in school that doesn't happen enough. In the future I'm definitly going to save the paper and hopefully be able to share the story again someday. As I wrote it I felt it hard to believe it was true. I'm glad I took the risk, I feel really good about completing this project. I haven't informed my mom that I'm starting to become open about this issue, but I know that I don't need permission and that I have more controll over my life than ever! I can honestly say I enjoyed writing this paper.