Welcome to the continuation

of Ernie’s Blog in a more condensed

format for the month of

August, 2017.

Table of Contents by Date

The purpose of this blog is to provide a commentary in essays, visual organizers and poems on topics of interest that stem from the courses I teach at Central Connecticut State University (CCSU). I hope that current students and reviewers of this blog can stay current on what I have to say on topics of mutual interest. I consider this outlet to be one of the main ways I can share my creative work with others.

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01: DUKE ROBILLARD02: Overheard Conversation03: Why Can’t School Be More Like Camp?04: Bob Dylan Lyrics and the Game of Thrones05: Instructor’s Reflection06: Introduction to a New Learning Community07: Who Put the “Natural” in Natural Supports08: Until I Say Goodbye09: Please Raise Your Hand If … – 2017 Version10: You Got Me Thinking11: Personalizing Reinforcement12: Communitas Est – Spring 201213: Thoughts On Teaching My Current Courses14: When Schools Forgo Grades15: What Are You Getting Into?16: So Far17: Naoki Higashida18: Diversity of Feedback19: Neurodiversity – What I See20: The Public’s Need to Comment21: NeuroFeedback Companies22: My DMV Experience23: Jackaby Book Review24: We Are All Life-Long Learners25: Thoughts Upon Watching The Teachings of Jon26: Members of Each Other – A Book Review27: Bridge Diagram – Collaboration 28: Lessons from Hurricane Harvey – From Afar29: Playing the Building30: Opening Day31: Starting from Zero Points

DUKE ROBILLARD. During one stage of Dylan's Never Ending Tour, Duke Robillard was a fill-in guitarist. I looked up some information about this highly talented musician and developed an acrostic organizer as my summary of a show I saw on April 6, 2013.

0108/01/17

Overheard Conversation. I was eating breakfast at a hotel recently and overheard a dad telling his 5-year old son about the choices for breakfast. He named the wide array of choices including Fruit Loops cereal. At the very end, the boy said, "I want Fruit Loops!" His dad responded, "You can only have Fruit Loops on Saturday!" The boy thought for a second and then realized, "Today's Saturday!" "You're in luck," his dad said. I don't know why, but I enjoyed this interchange as I ate my own breakfast - - - not Fruit Loops, by the way.

Why Can’t School Be More Like Camp? During the summer months many school-age students are attending summer camps throughout the country. Memories from these summer traditions remain many years later often with fond positive feelings. Activities include swimming, crafts, horseback riding, various sports, theater, camp fire stories / singing, among many other experiences. I often wonder, “Why can’t school be more like camp?” There are some – certainly not enough – schools with an arts enhanced curriculum. STEM has evolved into STEAM with positive feedback from many articles that cross my desk. “Learning should be fun!” to quote from Albert Cullum, a teacher whose philosophy and life work was captured in the documentary, A Touch of Greatness, one of the most memorable such films I have viewed. How one engages in the learning process is equally important, in my opinion, than what one actually learns. What one learns is subject to change over time and our “learning years” never end. Developing a love of learning supersedes an accumulation of minutia of information / facts.

0208/02/17

08/03/17

Bob Dylan Lyrics and the Game of Thrones. One of the methods of engagement for students is to link lyrics from their musical interests to the content currently under investigation in a subject area. I decided to link various lines from Bob Dylan's lyrics to the Game of Thrones with the following results:

01: Dylan Lyrics: Oh SisterOh, sister, when I come to lie in your armsYou should not treat me like a strangerOur Father would not like the way that you actAnd you must realize the dangerOh, sister, am I not a brother to youAnd one deserving of affectionAnd is our purpose not the same on this earthTo love and follow his directionGame of Thrones: Relationship of Cersei and Jaime Lannister

02: Dylan Lyrics: Long and Wasted YearsI ain’t seen my family in twenty yearsThat ain’t easy to understandThey may be dead nowI lost track of them after they lost their land.Game of Thrones: House Stark

0308/04/17

03: Dylan Lyrics: Blowin’ In the WindYes, how many years can a mountain existBefore it’s washed to the sea?Yes, how many years can some people existBefore they’re allowed to be free?Game of Thrones: Gregor Clegane

04: Dylan Lyrics: Love Minus Zero No LimitMy love, she’s like some ravenAt my window with a broken wingDylan Lyrics: Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?If he needs a third eye he just grows itGame of Thrones: Bran Stark – Three Eyed Raven

05: Dylan Lyrics: The Groom’s Still Waiting at the AltarWest of the Jordan, east of the Rock of GibraltarI see the turning of the pageCurtain rising on a new ageSee the groom still waiting at the altar.Game of Thrones: Cersei Lannister / Daenerys Targaryen

0408/04/17

06: Dylan Lyrics: Cold Irons BoundLooking at you and I’m on my bended kneeYou have no idea what you do to me.Dylan Lyrics: I Feel a Change Comin’ OnWe got so much in commonWe strive for the same old endsAnd I just can't waitWait for us to become friendsI feel a change comin' onAnd the fourth part of the day's already goneGame of Thrones: Jon Snow / Daenerys

Targaryen

07: Dylan Lyrics: Shelter From the StormNow there’s a wall between us, somethin’ there’s been lostI took too much for granted, got my signals crossed.Game of Thrones: The Wall

(continued) 08: Dylan Lyrics: Pay in BloodSomeone must of slipped a drug in your wineYou gulped it down and you’ve crossed the lineMan can’t live by bread aloneI pay in blood, but not my own.Game of Thrones: Arya Stark / revenge of the Red Wedding

09: Dylan Lyrics: If Not For YouIf not for youThe winter would hold no springCouldn’t hear a robin singI just wouldn’t have a clue, If not for you.Game of Thrones: Winter is Coming

10: Dylan Lyrics: Positively Fourth StreetYou got a lotta nerveTo say you got a hand to lendYou just wanna beOn the side that’s winning.Game of Thrones: House Allegiances

0508/04/17

11: Dylan Lyrics: Changing of the GuardPeace will comeWith tranquility and splendor on the wheels of fireBut will bring us no reward when her false idols fallAnd cruel death surrenders with its pale ghost retreatingBetween the King and the Queen of SwordsGame of Thrones: Battle for the Seven Kingdoms

12: Dylan Lyrics: Beyond the HorizonI’m touched with desireWhat don’t I do?I’ll throw logs on the fireI’ll build my world around you.Beyond the horizon, at the end of the gameEvery step that you take, I’m walking the same.Game of Thrones: General Comment

13: Dylan Lyrics: Abandoned LoveEverybody's wearing a disguiseTo hide what they've got left behind their eyesSo one more time at midnight, near the wallTake off your heavy make-up and your shawlWon't you descend from the throne, from where you sit?Let me feel your love one more time before I abandon itGame of Thrones: Arya Stark learning her craft with the faceless men / Jon Snow leaving the wall / throne

(continued)Instructor’s Reflection

I don’t know how you think things wentFrom your own point of view - - -I just know I enjoyed my timeLearning and teaching with you.The summer is a time to reflect now & thenAnd see how things are going - - -Thank you for being part of that time andTo keep my learning growing.Every time I teach this courseIt keeps on getting betterBecause I meet people like you - - -The readers of this letter.

We are more alike than we have our differencesWe use our strengths and skillsWe meet ourselves at different levelsOur hearts, our minds and our wills.

I teach so I can hear myself think -I once heard a wise man say.Thank you for being part of that timeAs we met along the way . . .

To advance forwardTo be better than we were beforeThat was the purpose of the past five weeksTo build up from a solid core . . .

08/05/17

0608/05/17

Of  values,  strategies  andTo  meet  people  of  inspirationSo  we  can  find  that  inner  voiceThat  leads  to  our  celebration  .   .  .

And  we  move  onMaybe  never  to  meet  again  -‐ -‐ -‐But,  your  presenceWill  not  be  forgotten  –when  .  .   .

I  plan  the  agendaFor  each  future  lessonI  will  remember  this  groupFrom  this  past  summer  session.

(continued)Introduction to a New Learning Community. Below are notes that I wrote for an incoming group of students for one of my courses:

This may not be the best course at CCSU that you have ever taken, but it will be the best course at CCSU that I have ever taught. Why can I say that? Because the last class I taught was the best course I ever taught at CCSU and I still learned some ways to make my instruction even better. Each new, unique community of learners encourages me to present what I know in a slightly different way. About 50% of what I say, I have said before. But, I listen for a different response from those who are hearing it for the first time. Am I presenting an idea or concept in a way that most, if not all, the students grasp the purpose of this content within the general scope of the course? Special Education has an infinite amount of content to cover and I still only know a little about a lot and a lot about a little of this massive amount of information. You are taking this course in a condensed format during the summer when it is probably even more difficult to learn a great deal about a lot of information. I want this course to be one in which you can connect what you already know with the information in special education. This constructivist method of learning has been the most successful in the previous sections I have taught. An even better word than "taught" would be "facilitated". I will facilitate the advancement of your attitudes and skills toward including students of greater diversity in your classroom when you become teachers or other professionals working in today's schools.

08/06/17

0708/06/17

(continued)I want to know about your skills, competencies, gifts and abilities and how you can include a wider range of learners in that same area of expertise. Accordingly, each of you will choose a theme that will be a touchstone throughout the course. That is, you will connect the strategies and techniques on which we focus to that theme. You may be a competent gardener, have a keen interest in gardening and/or just love gardening. When we discuss materials modifications for students with physical disabilities, you will connect the ideas we cover to how gardening can be more accessible for students with physical disabilities. If you love winter sports or happen to be an avid skier, you will connect much of what we cover to adaptations and modifications for individuals who can participate more fully in winter sporting events.

I will not penalize you for what you do not know. When I don't know something, I go look it up. In fact, even when I think I know something, I still look it up to verify whether I am, indeed, right or not. Instead, I will assess your competence in the areas we cover by how well you complete activities from a matrix of possible choices. The exams I provide are better named exam-ination of content in which you demonstrate your knowledge in short, essay style responses to my writing prompts.

This can be an enjoyable learning experience for everyone. It will be a terrific learning experience for most of us. All of you will contribute something worthwhile that, if you were not a member of this class, we would miss and our understanding of this content would be less complete. Thank you for being a member of this learning community.

Who Put the Natural in Natural Supports? I developed a series of statements that reflect an adherence to natural supports in the way in which we interact with individuals with disabilities. This practice mirrors the supports that exist in the student's community. [Statements are on the following page.]

08/07/17

0808/07/17

(continued)

0908/08/17

Until I Say Goodbye. I read a book quite some time ago by Susan Spencer Wendel, Until I Say Goodbye. I summarized this book with two different visual organizers. First I extracted key features from the book that resonated with me.

1008/08/17

(continued)

Next I extracted some quotes of notes from the book using the same acrostic organizer of the author's name: