Perry,+Stacey+-+Peer+relations

Hello! I am in the Master's in Environmental Education program as well as the 2-3 MAT program. If it goes as planned, it should take about 2 years, full-time. Before coming to SOU, I lived in Portland and worked for the Multnomah Education Service District's Outdoor School program for four years. The picture on the right is of me and my co-workers on our last day at Outdoor School together last spring. During my career as an educator, I hope to help students find fulfillment through connections with each other and the natural world, discover their unique strengths and potential, and become effective, positive leaders. Ultimately, I would like to be a director or supervisor of an environmental education program. Being a classroom teacher also sounds exciting and challenging! A short list of things I enjoy most would include dancing, outdoor adventures and exploring, and cats. My greatest fear is probably being able to meet the needs of all the students by myself. I'm worried about having to give a lot of attention to some students and not having enough time to connect with others. When I was a kid, most school-related things came very easily to me, and as a result, I would get very frustrated and upset if I didn't understand something right away. The hardest thing for me to learn was how to make friends and socialize with other kids. That's why I chose the topic of peer relations. I would like to learn specific strategies for addressing the needs of all students in the classroom and for differentiating instruction. I would like to know what that feels like and looks like when it is done successfully.
 * Introduction**
 * Something you want us to know about you or something that is interesting:**
 * Explain your education and career goals:**
 * What brings you joy?**
 * What is your greatest fear about being a teacher?**
 * Did you ever experience a time when something was difficult to learn? Explain that time and how it made you feel. How might this piece of your history help you to connect with students with learning differences?**
 * What do you want to gain from this course?**



** Peer Relations ** I choose peer relations because many students, both with and without special needs, struggle with this area. According to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, people require a sense of security, belonging, and acceptance before focusing on the development of self-esteem, confidence, creativity, and problem-solving abilities. Teachers have a responsiblity to help students develop the social competencies that they will need in order to succeed in school and beyond. Social interaction facilitates our learning in many ways; students who are not comfortable in social situations may have decreased access to learning.

Top 5 Things I Learned about Peer Relations of Students with Special Needs:
1. Having just one close friend can significantly improve students' self esteem and reduce incidences of being picked on. Parents and teachers can help kids with special needs connect with other kids who share similar interests.

2. Students with special needs, especially autism spectrum disorders, may struggle with interpreting other's emotions because may not understand non-verbal communication. They often lack "mind-reading" skills: the ability to intuit the unspoken intentions behind others' words and actions. This tends to lead to misinterpretation and conflict. They tend to be concrete thinkers who take things literally. They may be more comfortable using logic in decision-making and understanding logical consequences of actions, while being unable to consider emotional motives and experiences of others.

3. Opportunities to play and interact socially with general education students can help students with special needs learn social skills. They often benefit from seeing social skills modelled, and they may need additional encouragement to socialize.

4. Children with special needs can benefit from direct training in the areas of: understanding friendship, being a good listener, using conversational skills, understanding body language, understanding tone, recognizing friendly behavior, joining a group activity, dealing with teasing, and managing anger. 5. Children with special needs have a hard time making friends when they fail to take turns speaking, intrude in other's personal space, do not stop when asked, interrupt, change the subject, or misperceive tone and non-verbal communication.

**Top Resource:**
Giler, J.Z. (2011) //Socially ADDept: teaching social skills to children with ADHD, LD, and Asperger's.// San Francisco : Jossey-Bass.

This book details how and why students with special needs struggle with social skills, challenges students face with various types of situations, and what parents and teachers can do to help. It includes specific lessons that teachers can use to teach important social skills that students with special needs often lack. 5 out of 5.

**8 Additional Resources:**

 * 1) 1) Video: Strengths of Asberger's Syndrome

An informative and short video that focus on the strengths rather than problems common in people with asberger's. Educators can build on these strengths by helping students focus on them and use their strengths to develop confidence in social situations. 5 out of 5.

media type="youtube" key="A-bzN5ab9ik" height="315" width="420"


 * 1) 2) Thomas, R. (2011) //Helping special needs kids make friends.// Ferndale, Mi: Metro Parent Publishing Group.

A useful article about encouraging and facilitating friendships for kids with special needs on the Metro Parent website. 4 out of 5. []

This is a brief brochure for general education teachers that describes specific strategies to use in inclusive classrooms to help students with autism participate in the social culture of the class. This would be a good place to start to get a few quick suggestions that you could implement immediately in your class. 5 out of 5. []
 * 1) 3) Spivey, Becky L. M.Ed. "Helping the Child with Autism Build Peer Relationships and Friendships"


 * 1) 4) Video: Kelly's Special Friend

This short, silent video introduces a children's book called "Kelly's Special Friend". The book is meant to teach elementary school about interacting and playing with students with autism. 3 out of 5.

media type="youtube" key="oB3GzOrRzpY" height="315" width="420"


 * 1) 5) Website: Great Schools.

This page on the great schools websites provides an overview of ways that students with learning disabilities often struggle with social interactions, as well as some suggestions for helping kids learn social skills and gain confidence. 4 out of 5. []


 * 1) 6) Bloch, J.S. //Promoting friendships for preschool children with special needs.// New York, NY: NYU Child Study Center.

An article written for teachers about developing curriculum and classroom practices for social inclusion. 4 out of 5. []

[]#
 * 1) 7) Smith, P.K. & Hart, C. The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Childhood Social Development. Electronic book.

This book is a good resource for understanding social development in all children. Part IX: Intervening in Social Development, is especially help for teachers developing social skills interventions for students in inclusive classrooms, including those students without IEPs who need support. 4 out of 5.

This video, made by a young person with Asberger's syndrome, provides a good explanation of how the inability to understand the emotional context of social situations and interactions can lead to embarrassment and low self-esteem. 4 out of 5.
 * 1) 8) Video: Interpreting Emotions

media type="youtube" key="aiT7jnee6D4" height="315" width="420"