Courtney's Blog

Today I’m going to blog about my major so you can have some insight to the general outline of what it entails.  Also, I’d like to advertise it in case someone can’t decide on a major or is looking to switch majors. I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into until I started doing clinicals so hopefully this helps some people out. I just figured it was something I could see myself doing and my assumption was correct. No other career could make me happier than being able to spend time with and teach children that have intellectual disabilities.

Here are some basic facts:

Intellectual disabilities is the new term that was previously referred to as mental disabilities.

The phrase “Children that have intellectual disabilities” = PERSON FIRST LANGUAGE, and is the correct way to phrase a statement like that; saying “The intellectually disabled children” is INCORRECT

ID- Intellectual disability

ED- Emotional disability

LD- Learning disability

A clinical is when you’re assigned a teacher and school for a certain class that you’re taking at Converse. For that class you’ll have certain requirements you’ll have to fulfill at your clinical placement. Some things you’d be doing is observing, teaching lessons to a class, teaching lessons to a specific student, recording data, and having fun dabbling into your future career.

Now here are some facts about getting into this major.

First, the courses you need to take are split up into two benchmarks. Benchmark one consists of intro classes, human growth and development, and reading/language arts in the elementary classroom.  There are 6 classes you have to take in benchmark one, and 1 class that can be taken in benchmark 2.  After you complete your benchmark 1 you need to have passed your PRAXIS 1, have at least a 2.5 cumulative GPA, 45 credit hours, and to have completed clinical 1. The PRAXIS 1 is like an SAT (if your SAT’s are high enough you can be exempt from the PRAXIS). The clinical 1 is a 40 hour clinical that goes along with the reading and language arts class. Dr. Washburn typically teaches that and she’s awesome! You’ll find yourself having a good chuckle at least once every class. Anyways, after all that you apply to the teacher education program. Once accepted, you can begin benchmark 2 courses.

I’m in benchmark 2 right now. In benchmark 2 you take math for the child, science for the child, social studies for the child, reading and learning strategies, assessment of exceptional learners, Clinical II (for Intellectual Disabilities- it’s 40 hours), educational procedures for ID, educational procedures for ED, and behavior and classroom management. In addition to these courses I’m also taking educational procedures for LD, Clinical II- LD, and Clinical II- ED. That way I can be certified to teach all three plus elementary education by the time I graduate.

After you finish the benchmark II classes, you must have completed at least 100 clinical hours and then you apply to student teach. I’ll be doing that next spring – I’m super excited, but a tad nervous about the workload since it’ll be taking place during lacrosse season. . .

Student teaching is in Benchmark III. You must student teach for 60 days and it’s a pass or fail grade. You need to take the PRAXIS II for the subjects you’d like to be certified in. For ID it includes the PRAXIS II tests for Education of Exceptional Students/Core Content and Teaching Students with Intellectual Disability. For elementary education the tests include Curriculum Instruction and Assessment and Content Area Exercises.  I would also be needing to take the tests for my ED and LD add-ons.  And you need to take the PLT- which stands for principles of learning and teaching.

After you’re done with all that you’re on to Benchmark IV, which is completed by your adviser and the director of teacher education and certification. They just make sure you’ve completed everything. So. . . I’ll be on my way to the finish line soon!

This is an example of something I did for Clinical II (ID). I was teaching a student how to button a sweater using those shapes as supports.

A friend of mine, who I met from working on  a Creative Collaboration project with me, had her senior art show this past week. Although I was unable to make the opening reception, I did make my way down to the West Main Artist’s Co-op yesterday to view the last day of her work being displayed. Even though those reading this blog will no longer be able to view her artwork in person, I did snap a few pictures- so you didn’t miss out completely . Her show btw, was called Unraveling: A Snapshot of 21st Century Americana and it featured photographic-based imagery.

This is what the front of her event card looked like

here's another graphic interpretation of the picture on the card

Her show was inspired by things she’d learned during world travels to places such as Germany, Israel, and Honduras. I was going to paraphrase what she had said in a statement for Unraveling, but it’s best I just quote it.What she wrote and what she produced artistically was very powerful and moving to me.  ” As an American living in the twenty-first century, I know I am one of the luckiest person to have ever lived. Rarely have I known a day where I was hungry or cold or in constant fear of death. In fact, the opportunities afforded to me have enabled me to think and speak freely, travel and be well educated. Traveling in particular has had a great impact on my world view. In Germany, I observed efficiency at almost every level, from food production to city planning. On an Israeli kibbutz, I learned true community. In Honduras, I was humbled by how simply the people lived, as they did not have much to complicate their lives. These gifts demand from me that I give something back: what I have observed and learned about my home country from afar. Unraveling is essentially a show about reverse culture shock. Returning from these various nations should advent in a recalculating of one’s awareness. For me, it was an amazement at the resources wasted to create the next whim of those with power, either monetarily or in government. The empty building captured through the lens of my camera are essentially the epitome of this greed and wastefulness. While people nation- and world-wide are starving and homeless, hundreds of empty strip malls sit with gleaming black parking lots. Our expansive automobile-centric nation has become the international symbol for extravagance and selfishness. America’s physical and economic infrastructure have been so poorly designed and maintained that now our culture is coming undone, unraveling.What are we as Americans willing to do, to give up in order to create a more healthy nation? Where do we want our city, state, country and the world to be in ten, twenty, fifty years? We need to look to people like environmental essayist and poet Wendell Berry. Some lines of his poetry have been worked into Unraveling, knit out of items no longer needed or wanted. These words were photographed outside, where Americans need to go more often and contemplate: to get outside, away from cars, conveniences and the busy-ness of the typical American daily life. We need to decide who we as a nation want to be and what thread our we want our future to follow. The question we now face is, will we continue to unravel in the direction of self-centeredness and self-indulgence or will America realize the opportunity it now has to ‘knit together’ as a truly United States of America, a responsible and conscious member of the international community. Together let us end this abuse of a beautiful gift, our land” – Katy Corbin, 2012

I hope her statement has touched you as much as it has touched me. After reading that and viewing Katy’s work, it truly did inspire me. Katy herself is an inspirational person. When you’re younger you see/meet certain people and you think “I wanna be like that when I grow up”, well Katy’s one of those people to me. Here’s some more of her work from that exhibit.

I love the way these look!

I thought she displayed these beautifully!

Recognize this Jack in the Box anyone?

This might have been my favorite picture.

Words like these were also in the exhibit.

Although her exhibit is over, West Main Artist Co-op is still there. It’s located at 578 West Main Street and is open from 3-6 pm Thursdays and 10 am-4 pm on Saturdays. On the 3rd Thursday of every month they have an Art Walk from 5-9:30 pm. Not only do they have awesome art to view, but a gift shop to buy something unique, AND classes to take! I was just browsing their website (www.westmainartists.org) and found out they’ll be having an Offset Letterpress Class starting March 19th for six weeks from 1-5 pm every Saturday. I’m for sure  going to try to make it to those! Everyday I find out there’s more to the burg then I thought haha!

As much as everyone here loves going to grab there meals at Gee or Sandella’s, sometimes you need a break. Or maybe you’re seeking to get out and try something new. Or maybe you’re a kid in college who wishes they could learn to cook. Well that last one’s me. One night my roommate and I were on the way to the Redbox and felt a little grumble in our tummy’s. So, we knew we had to stop somewhere and get some food. Then I remembered by Big Sis used to go to a grocery store down the road called The Fresh Market, so we went and checked it out. When we entered the store it was bliss. There was so many foods to choose from. That night I went with a chocolate croissant and a cinnamon sugar donut. Later, that same week I believe, we went back to treat ourselves to some dinner. The time before some paninis caught my eye and I knew I had to try one.

Mmmm. . .

Delicious!

But wait, there’s more… On our way to the checkout line we also picked up a chocolate pie!

Just in case you were wondering, The Fresh Market is open Mon-Sat from 9-9 and Sun from 11-8. Also, I just found out they have cooking demonstrations and there’s one coming up on the 18th from 11 am- 2 pm- and you don’t need a reservation (just stop by between those times). You’ll learn to make butternut squash, apple, pancetta, and sage tortellini,  and shrimp veracruz!

I’ll become way more of a  frequent shopper next year when I live in the senior apartments with a kitchen to cook in!

I'm def getting one of these again sometime soon!