I wasn't sure where else to submit these, so here they are:

Simulations Journals

Vision Impairment

-          It’s incredible how much you rely on your vision without ever really noticing it. I never realized how different the world could look until I wore those masks. It made it so much harder to find my way around, to see those around me, and to even see what my teacher was writing on the board. I must admit, it made me so incredibly grateful for my sight. When I was wearing those masks on occasion I ran into things, bumped a chair, and even tripped down the stairs (though sometimes I do that without wearing a mask). They were all just little things, I mean, none of those accidents actually caused me any harm but it was a little frustrating to keep bumping things, and tripping. After a little while I became frustrated with wearing the mask. I can only imagine that if every day you little accidents, or you have to move your head completely sideways just to look at the board it would get a little frustrating. I understand that as a teacher we might encounter multiple students that suffer from a form of visual impairment. I think that this simulation will help me to relate to those students better and also help me to think of creative ways to help those students when or if they do start to feel that same frustrate that I felt doing this simulation.  

Wheelchair

-          This by far was the hardest simulation to do. It was hard to remember that I had to stay in the wheelchair at all times. I almost just got up a few times from the chair. It was a really rewarding experience because it taught me just how hard it really is to be in a wheelchair all day. It was nothing something that I would wish upon anyone, but it really can be quite the eye opener. The few hours in the wheelchair really had its up and downs. Sometimes people offered to push me and other times the door was almost shut on me. Every task was difficult. Going through the door without the door opener took so much time. I felt like I really needed to go to the gym after trying to open the door. Going to the bathroom was interesting needless to say. Transferring to and from the toilet was hard because I naturally just wanted to stand up. I couldn’t figure out where to position the wheelchair to best get to the toilet. It was kind of funny, I’m not going to lie. All these different tasks just showed me that we are all so blessed to be able to walk and that if we really want children to feel comfortable then they need those accommodations to help them. When I couldn’t open the door, without a rail in the bathroom, and the other accommodations around the campus then it would be so difficult and in my opinion uncomfortable for those students. When I didn’t have the accommodations available I felt like I was in the way. It was discouraging to me. I can’t imagine how it would feel every day.

Learning Disability

-          Ask for help at a store....and then ask the clerk/sales person 1-2 questions about the item you are shopping for.

-          Ask for directions to a location. Repeat back part of the directions for clarification.

These were the two activities I did to represent a learning disability. First thing, I must say that these activities are so hard. It required so much thinking and processing.  I struggled to make the sentence/questions flow naturally. Both people that I was talking to looked at me with almost a look of impatience. I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t want to explain to them that this was just for a class but I also didn’t want them to look at me that way. I was trying so hard to find the words to use. It made me realize how important it is that we treat the students with a learning disability with respect and patience. Patience is the key to helping students with this disability in my opinion. The part that made me so uncomfortable was the look of impatience. As a teacher, I can imagine that it would be hard not to be impatience, but I also think it’s important that we develop that trait so that we can help them succeed. They are going to need that encouragement and love to push through that trial of having a learning disability. I can only now imagine how frustrating that must have been for them.

Fluency Impairment

-          Go to a restaurant, order at least one item and then ask 1-2 questions to the waiter/ress about the item.

-          While stuttering ask for directions to a location. Repeat back part of the directions for clarification.

This experiment was really hard to do for me. It was embarrassing at first to talk to people with a little stutter. I felt like she was going to look at me with such a pathetic look but she actually was really patience with me. It was hard to form the words. At one point, I even felt like it would be an impossible task to accomplish. It was hard to be patience enough with myself to get all the words out. As I continued to ask questions, the waitress just looked at me with the most patience look. It really helped me to continue to ask questions with a stutter. The second challenge I had was to ask for directions and then repeat them back. Oh my, complicated! Enough said. Between the two activities was that it really is so challenging to have a fluency impairment. I can’t even begin to imagine how difficult it would be to have that impairment every day. I think that this activity really opened my eyes to see just how difficult it can be and helped me to see that as a future teacher there are so many things that I could do to help students with this kind of impairment.