For Pro Dismuz

RESPOND TO STUDENTS POST
 Annette post
The stakeholder role that I am assuming is an educator.  I am currently a special education teacher.  I have spent many hours reading and analyzing documents that are related to the issue of common core standards. The research that I have been conducting has been very insightful and useful.  I believe the new information that I received was from reliable sources and it is relevant to common core standards.  It is part of my duty as an educator to be knowledgeable of all issues regarding K-12 education.  These issues have a direct impact on what I can and cannot teach in my classroom.
Under the current laws adopted by the state of Georgia I have to incorporate common core standards in my classroom.  As an educator I do have a few issues with the common core standards, but from my research I realize that I share the same goal with the creators of the common core standards and that is providing a quality education to all students. I believe that all students are special and unique.  I want each of my students to be successful on their educational journey.  I hope that I leave a positive impact on each of my students.  My goal is to help shape and mold them into successful and functioning members of society once they graduate. It is my duty as an educator to create and deliver a quality education to my students.   I work hard to create lessons and activities that will help my students learn and master new skills.  One advantage of the common core standards is that they serve as great guidelines and help create organization and structure in the classroom.  According to Common Core State standards Initiative (2018), “The standards clearly demonstrate what students are expected to learn at each grade level, so that every parent and teacher can understand and support their learning.” However, the pace of the design of the common core standards is too fast for most special needs students.  Our goal is for all students to reach and maintain the common core standards to be successful. It is imperative for all of my special needs students to be successful.   It is my duty to give them motivation, will power, increase their self-esteem, and self-confidence. The common core standards wants to insure all students are effectively learning and have mastered certain skills before they can be promoted to the next grade level.  In my opinion educators are rushing to teach common core standards.  Ironically this cause many students to get left behind. Many students need more time to master certain skills. In most case students still do not master the concept even though we incorporate differentiation in our lesson plans. Teachers only have a certain amount of time to spend on each standard because they have to cover all of the standards that will be on the benchmark exam at the end of the school year. This puts a lot of pressure on students, parents, educators, and school administrators.   I believe that there are some changes that can be made to make implementing common core standards in special education classrooms more effective. 
My next step is to continue conducting research.  I have to keep an open mind and be respectful to the opinions of others that don’t agree with me.  Reading other people reasons of why they support the common core standards will enlighten me.  I love to read other people reason why they support the common core standard.  I also like to read the comments of people who share the same ideas as me.  I believe that it is possible for both sides to come together and make positive changes because we all want what is best for the students.

Sheymirra post
 
From the perspective of a school administrator the simulated blog on arts education from the case study documents stood out the most to me.  It seems that while there is an merge to focus more Common Core and English Language Learners, there is less emphasis on arts education.  As someone when a background in theatre I find this issue to be extremely disheartening as I am just one of many who understands the positive impact the arts can have on a person’s life. Principles who integrate art into their schools have found the students to be happier and the teachers become more committed to teaching as the arts is rejuvenating to both the students and the teachers (Sterman, 2018).  However with the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act there has been a shift from the arts to apply more focus on core subjects such as reading and math (Laureate Education, 2014).
Even though this is a topic near and dear to my heart a blog post can hardly be considered a reliable source. Art education is a standard that could be applied to all students because the benefits roll over into core subjects helping to improve test scores.  Research continues to provide evidence that art education improves skills in critical thinking, math, diversity awareness, and builds confidence (Smits, 2017). I know there is a significant push to stay with Common Core, but I would be compelled to at least do additional research on the impact of arts education in public schools. With the new research I would seek for support from the Alabma School Board to not only keep arts education but to use it to help strengthen Common Core skills as well. Children with challenges can also benefit from being able to demonstrate what they have learned in a way that makes the most sense to their individual style and abilities (Laureate Education, 2014).

Saudi post
 
The main function of emotion in conflict resolution activities is the ability to take that emotion and use it to make a change within ourselves and possibly others. The text book states, emotion sets “actions into motion,” leading to your own unique subjective experience” (p.190, Hocker & Wilmot, 2014). The text also states, “conflict always takes place on the emotional dimension (Jones 2000, p.190, Hocker & Wilmot, 2014). If we have strong emotions towards something, either negative or positive it will evoke something in us that we either move towards making destructive conflict or productive conflict.
Our emotions help us adapt by consistently changing to what we are perceiving in our lives at that moment. The text states that emotions are fluid, that they can change as we gain life experience. Emotions that are negative or positive influence overall our wellbeing.  Having constant negative emotions like stress, anger, depression and tension can lead to significant health problems. Negative emotions if not directed in resolution can cause communication conflict failures. Someone who is constantly displaying negative emotions is difficult to be around in any situation. On the other hand, positive emotions like being happy, content and friendly can have the opposite effect on one health and those that choose to be around you.
Our emotions can lead us in many different directions in conflict, they could help us to open-up or choose to keep the emotion at close-hold because of fear or anger. Through our experiences we will learn new ways to deal with conflict. The text book shows one way we can organize ours and other people’s emotions depending upon where they fall on the “circumplex model of affect” (p.195, figure 6.1, Hocker & Wilmot, 2014). The model can help to identify where you fit in a situation and where those in your communication conflict fit.

Jermaine post
 
Emotions are what drives us to do things on a daily basis and the mood we do them in. According to the text, Emotions are defined as states of feelings (Hocker & Wilmot, 2014, p. 191). In addition, they can be the reason a person is so successful or the reason a person is homeless. Emotions affect the choices we make in life which those same decisions help shape our future. So, I would say the main function of emotions in conflict resolution activities is determined by the event or obstacle we’re facing at that particular time. It could be to get the job done, fear of the unknown, or something dealing with a relationship.
In my line of work, as an Army recruiter, production is everything. Everyone is measured based on how successful they are at making their assigned mission or lack thereof. A conflict example was while at work my recruiters were complaining about the hours we have to work Monday through Thursday from 9:00am to 7:00pm and until 3pm on Fridays. I’m sure they went through a model of emotions not knowing how to feel about the situation (Hocker & Wilmot, 2014). Well, shortly after they discovered that recruiters in other stations are working longer hours and two or three Saturdays a month due to lack of production. After finding that out they stopped complaining and actually started putting in more effort in order to prevent us from having to work those same hours.
After reviewing the list of common misconceptions about emotions, the one that I actually believe in is emotions are not to be expressed at work (Hocker & Wilmot, 2014). I truly believe this especially in my line work. I say this because as a leader we have to make decisions several times a day and there is no room for emotions in the work place. Recruiting is one of the hardest jobs in the Army and you’re constantly being judged by your peers. Showing emotions is normally viewed as weak and ineffective. We are often told to leave our emotions out of it. This can hinder effective conflict resolution because while I believe you should not express your emotions at work, I do believe emotions drives your passion and love for what you do. Those same emotions show that you care about your craft.

Crystal post

 
The mother of a 4-year-old child is in the checkout line and gives into the child’s behavior by giving her candy even though she just told the child that dinner was right around the corner. I think that in this story that the antecedent would be that the child was hungry, and the mother went to the checkout line were there is always candy. I think if the mother would have given her something to eat before going to the store that the behavior could have been avoided or better managed.
Antecedent A: The child asked for candy and was told no from mom
Antecedent B: the child had a behavior till mom gave in and gave her candy
Antecedent C: the child knows now that if she has a behavior that she will get candy next time as well.
My hypothesized opinion is that now that the mother gave into the child when having a behavior, the child now knows that if she throws a behavior every time mom says no then she still will get what she wants. Children can pick up on things like this and will keep doing it till the behavior is broken. “The consequence is an action or response that follows the behavior. The “consequence” is not necessarily a punishment or form of discipline, though it can be. Instead, it is the outcome that is reinforcing for the child, very similar to the “reinforcement” in Skinner’s operant conditioning. If a child screams or throws a tantrum, for example, the consequence may involve the adult (the parent or teacher) withdrawing from the area or having the student withdraw from the area, such as taking a timeout (Webster, J. (May 07,2018).”

Colleen post
 
Functional Behavior Assessment (FBA) is an assessment gives the parent or caregiver why the child is engaging in the behavior, when it occurs, what the child gains with this behavior and helps find a replacement behavior to take the place of a challenging behavior. The process with this assessment requires the observer to document over a period of time by using the A-B-C’s: (A) Antecedent (What happens immediately before the behavior appears, (B) Behavior (what was the behavior the child engaged in or what did it look like), and (C) Consequence (What happened immediately following the behavior, or the result). (Yakos, 2012)
 After analyzing the scenario given I have concluded the following using the A-B-C’s of Behavior:
 1.  Address any “setting” events that may have affected the antecedent, and if so how?
The four-year-old child is at the grocery store with her mother. The mother and child walk up to the checkout line and the child was able to make eye contact with the candy because the candy on the shelves was low enough for her to see it. The child looked at the candy and was able to see the ones she had tasted in the past and wanted the candy.
2.  What is the antecedent (A) of the behavior?
The antecedent of the girl’s behavior was she looked at the candy located at eye level and was able to identify the candy on the shelf.
3.  What is the behavior (B) under study in objective, measurable terms?
After the mother told the child no, the child began to engage in screaming, crying and kicking her feet for several minutes.
4.  What is the consequence (C) that is maintaining the behavior?
The consequence for the girl’s behavior was the mother bought her the candy and allowed her to eat the candy to get her to quit the challenging behavior.
 5.  What is your hypothesized function of the behavior (e.g., what is the child trying to GET or ESCAPE from)? Support your hypothesis.
For this challenging behavior to change, the mother will need to be proactive. When she takes the child to the grocery store she should prevent going through a checkout line with candy at her child’s eye level. The mother should be mindful of the child struggle of communicating correctly and understanding why she cannot have what she wants. By changing the environment and avoiding checkout lines with candy will create an opening for better behavior. The mother will need to be consistent with her words and actions towards her daughter. When she tells her daughter “no”, it should be no, no matter what the child’s behavior is. The child will quickly learn that screaming, crying and kicking will not gain her what she wants. If the child does not get what she wants by performing this type of behavior, the child will stop the behavior.