Bitney,+Brooke,+Autism

=Introduction of Student =

====**Something that you want us to know about you or something about you that is interesting:** ==== I am getting married September 8, 2012 to my high school sweetheart. We met on the first day of my sophomore year when I was fifteen and he was sixteen. We dated all through high school and got engaged while we were on the Hellgate Dinner Cruise on September 3, 2010. Although this is something that might not be interesting about me, it is something that I am really excited about! :-)

**Explain your education & career goals:**
I have gone to school in the rogue valley my entire life. I graduated from North Medford High School and was accepted at Southern Oregon University. I went into college with the career goal of becoming a Nurse, but more specifically a Labor and Delivery Nurse. I got through about week three of school and realized that this is not what I wanted to do. After speaking with a school counselor and an old high school teacher, I transferred over to Rogue Community College starting winter term and started working toward my Elementary Education degree.

Once I complete my bachelor’s degree and receive my teaching license I plan to look for a teaching job in the area. I have always had a love for younger children so I would hope to get the privilege to teach primary grades but I will enjoy working with any age. After I graduate I plan on taking a few months off from school and then starting back up and working towards my Masters.

**What brings you joy?**
The things that bring me joy are my family, fiancé, nieces and nephew. My family brings me joy because they are very supportive in my journey through school. They will do anything they can to help me succeed and they never make me feel like my busy schedule is a hassle. I feel so lucky to have the parents I do. They have shown me that determination and dedication can take you wherever you want to go. It is because of them that I am where I am at today!

My fiancé brings a lot of joy to my life because he is always there for me. I met him when I was fifteen years old and we have been together ever since. Nick is so supportive of my choices with school and always reminds me how close I am to finishing and how proud he is of me. Between both of our schedules are so hectic, we do not get to spend that much time together so when we do get to be together it means a lot. We are getting married September 8, 2012, so we are spending a lot of time planning the wedding. It is exciting to see it all come together; I can’t wait to be able to marry my best friend.

My nieces and nephew are another huge joy in my life. My nephew is always excited to see me. When he comes to town, we have a special routine that involves a fun activity and a trip to the book store to pick out a book! He enjoys anything and everything we do. His little personality is such that no matter how upset anybody is, he can always get a smile from them! One of my nieces is eight months old and she has a similar effect on our family! When anybody walks in the room, she has a big smile on her face and is so easy to make laugh. My other niece is only about a week old and has already stolen my heart! I love being an Auntie so much! These kids make me happy and have solidified my decision in becoming a teacher.

Along with my family, being outdoors and vacationing brings me joy. My family and I love going to Disneyland and Hawaii. Getting away for a short time and spending time with my family on vacation is the best relaxation ever.

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**What is your greatest fear about being a teacher?** ===== My greatest fear about being a teacher is that I won’t be the type of teacher I dream of being. I want to be able to provide a fun and welcoming classroom for my students and I am afraid that the curriculum my school might require me to teach will not allow me to make the learning as fun as I want to. I grew up with some absolutely amazing teachers that, even without trying, made learning fun every day! That is my goal. I want my students to be excited to come to my classroom and I hope that they can love learning just as much as I love to teach them.

====**Did you ever experience a time when something was extremely difficult to learn?** ==== I had three times throughout elementary, middle and high school where learning was difficult. I have always struggled with math, and in third grade my teacher was very negative with everything and she never offered me help. She would just give me horrible grades on my work. Again, in middle school my seventh grade math teacher told my parents and I, at an open house in of other parents and students, that I was not smart enough to play a sport and be in her class. I was on the volleyball team at my school and I missed about fifteen minutes once a week from her class. My third experience was my senior year in high school. I was in a calculus class and we were in the third week of class and I was already failing, along with half the class. We could not understand anything that he was teaching us and he would get mad at us when we asked him questions. All of these experiences took more and more of my confidence away until I felt as if I should not take another math class was so bad at it.

====** How might this piece of your history help you connect to students with learning differences? ** ==== <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Because I struggled with math throughout school, I know that my students are all going to have different learning abilities and they are all going to be strong in different subjects. I will never talk down to my students or get mad at them for asking questions. Even if my students are struggling with a subject, I will make sure they feel good about the work that they are doing. I never want my students to lose their self-confidence because of something I said. Through all of my experiences I just kept telling myself that I would not do that to my kids. I do not care what it takes; I will make sure that they all feel good about their work and understand what we are learning.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">** What do you want to gain from this course? **
<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">I hope to gain the knowledge in order for me to provide an excellent education for all of my students. I want to learn about the major learning styles and how to help children who might struggle in different areas. I also want to locate information that can be used to help educate myself, my students, their families, and my colleagues.

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%; line-height: 23px;">I chose Autism because it seems to that it is becoming a very known disability. I have always had an interest in every aspect of Autism. Growing up, I knew two children that had Autism and I was always curious how they were diagnosed and how they dealt with it. Now, as an adult, I have a person very close to me that has an un-diagnosed disability that seems to be similar to Autism, or at least similar to the things I know about it. I wanted to learn more about it so that I could try different techniques with this person and see if I can make a difference. Since more children are becoming diagnosed with Autism, I wanted to locate resources that I can keep with me during my teaching and have these resources available to myself, my students, and their parents and guardians.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Introduction of Topic: **

<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">1. Autism affects 1-110 children but more specifically, boys are three to four times more likely to develop this disease. 2. Autism usually appears in early childhood, usually before age three. 3. Children will lose the previously acquired ability to say words or sentences. 4. There is no link between vaccines, specifically the MMR (measles-mumps-rubella) vaccine, and Autism. 5. Children may fail to respond to their names and often avoid eye contact other people.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Top 5 things I learned about Autism: **


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Top Resource: **

[] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This website has a lot of great information for anyone. When you first enter the site you can select whether you are a family member, advocate, professional, or person with the spectrum. By selecting one of those options it will give specific information about Autism that will be useful. This website will be really helpful to teachers because it provides information about what to look for and what might work with kids that have autism. There is also quite a bit of information about living with Autism and resources that might be beneficial to individuals with Autism and family. I would give this website a <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">5/5


 * <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Additional Resources: **

[] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This is another great website that has a ton of helpful information. It provides links to various different articles that speak about Autism, it has a blog that anybody can join for support and information, and it has a link to different events for Autism. this website is great for families and teachers because it provides facts about Autism, different resources guides, tool kits and apps for Autism. The Autism apps would be a great tool for any family member or teacher to use. there are flash card apps and different games that children can play to help work on vocabulary, etc. I would give this website a <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">5/5

[] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This is a wonderful website that is full of resources for the classroom and home. there are so many different products for kids with autism. This website has different books, sensory objects, music, and many other resources that children with Autism respond well to. This website can be a teacher and family members dream come true. Sometimes it is hard to find the resources to help the child/children in your life and this website provides a large amount of what you would need. I would give this website a <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">5/5

[] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This website is a great resource for family members and teachers of children with Autism. It is full of information regarding special diets that can help children with Autism and also specific teaching techniques. I feel that this is a great site for anybody who works with children with Autism because it provides information that is not normally there! I would give this website a <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">5/5

[] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">The autism epicenter provides information about government financial help. Sometimes children that have autism can require certain things that sometimes aren't affordable. This website also gives you information about service dogs and additional resources that can help children. This website is easy to navigate is is packed full of great information! I would give this website a <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">5/5

[] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This is a website that also contains tools and products to help children. There are resources to help the child be more successful in school and at home. It provides information about helping the child learn what different emotions mean and how to handle themselves in various situations. I would give this website a <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">5/5

[] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This website has a lot of information about Autism and different resources that can help anybody. There are links to books and continuing education materials. There is also information about occupational therapy. The site does seem a little confusing to navigate at first. I would rate this website a <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">4/5

[] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This website would be a great resources for teachers. It provides lesson plans, information to promote social skills, behavior management and also has links to picture cards that can be used with children. The site is pertains to educating children with special needs, but I feel that by having this as a resources any existing lesson plan can be modified to help children with special needs. I would give this website a <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">5/5

[] <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">This website contains a lot of great information for teachers and parents. It provides examples for lessons and activities that you might not normally think of. It seems easy to navigate through but it does require a membership to access some of the material. I do feel that this is great resource but it does disappoint me they don't allow you to view everything without paying. I would give this website a <span style="color: #ff00ff; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">4/5