Teachers in Action Final Project

Side by Side Day’s with Dianna :

Side by Side Day ’ s with Dianna Kelli Wilder & Dara Fischer Dfischer716@knights.ucf.edu Kelli.Wilder@knights.ucf.edu March 31, 2011 EEX4070

Individual Mentoring Program :

Individual Mentoring Program All about Dianna: Dianna will be 27 years old in September. She graduated from UCF in 2005 then moved to NYC to work for a magazine. In 2006, Dianna was in a tragic car accident while living in NYC. She now suffers from Traumatic Brain Injury. She no longer lives in NYC and now lives with her mother and father in Lake Mary, Florida. About our Program: Background ( Kelli Wilder) have been mentoring Dianna for several years now. When we were assigned the Teachers in Action Project, I was excited to work with Dara and introduce her to Diana. Working together has been a great experience. Mission Dianna lost many friends after the accident. Now more than ever friends are important to Dianna, and we are happy to call us her friends. Once every two weeks, we take her out. We want to make her time out an enjoyable break from begin stuck in her house all day and night with her parents.

How We Met Dianna:

How We Met Dianna Kelli Started this project herself and introduced me to Dianna in the beginning of this year. I ( Kelli) grew up with Diana in Coral Springs, Florida. My brother and Dianna attended the same elementary school. After Dianna ’ s woke up from her coma she was staying at a treatment center where I drove to visit her several times. After being accepted at UCF in 2008 Dianna and her family moved to Lake Mary for family reasons This is when I came to the realization that I wanted to help not only her but her family in any way that I could. Meeting with Dianna once every two weeks gives her and her family something to look forward to. Having the opportunity to mentor alongside with Dara has really made Dianna happy as she is eager to add another friend to her list.

Engagement Activities:

Engagement Activities About every day, we receive text messages from Dianna counting down the days until we pick her up. We pick up Dianna from her house once every other week, usually on a Tuesday night or during the day on Saturday. We take her either to the movies, Wal-Mart, dinner at her favorite restaurants ( Papa Joe ’ s Pizzeria), or take her to the park. After dropping Dianna off, we always go in and visit with her parents for a few minutes. Dianna always wants to take us into her room and either show us her large DVD selection or pictures from before the accident.

Participant Demographics:

Participant Demographics Dianna Age: 27 Hispanic Female Dianna is considered persons with disabilities seeing as she suffers from Traumatic Brain Injury which is specifically mentioned in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) definition of "disability. ” Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is an acquired injury to the brain caused by an external force, resulting in total or partial functional disability or psychosocial impairment, or both, that adversely affects a child's educational performance. The term applies to open or closed head injuries resulting in impairments in one or more areas, such as cognition; language; memory; attention; reasoning; abstract thinking; judgment; problem-solving; sensory, perceptual, and motor abilities; psycho-social behavior; physical functions; information processing; and speech(Page #, Author ) . Dianna was the only one who we served from our service hours.

Service in Action:

Service in Action

Service in Action:

Service in Action

Service in Action:

Service in Action

Perceptions of Differences:

Perceptions of Differences What were your initial thought/feelings about this assignment and about working with persons with special needs? What are you thoughts now? Scared to meet Dianna Nervous/ didn ’ t know what to expect Was worried I would talk to her differently or treat her differently Now realize that she is just like me or Kelli and we can have a great girls day out and talk about anything What experiences had the most impact? Why? Going to lunch or dinner with Dianna and listening to her talk about the accident and her life before the accident. Picking her up and dropping her off at her house. Seeing her family and the living conditions they have to endure due to the loss of their jobs, paying for attorneys, and transporting and paying for Dianna ’ s rehabilitation.

Connections To Our Course:

Connections To Our Course We are completing Teacher in Action for EEX4070. What three course topics do you better understand now? I better understand emotional disorders and behavior management now. I wasn ’ t really aware of what it really was until I read through the chapter and modules. This is when a person is out of the ordinary with a certain behavior. For example, if I were to be observing a classroom and a student randomly starts acting out of the norm and disrupting the class. This would be considered an emotional disorder. Luckily, I did not experience this in my classroom but there are times when this could happen suddenly. Communicative disorders because stated in the text, “ develops and maintains contact and relationships with others, gains and gives information, controls and persuades, and creates ” . Example: Different backgrounds and the way they approach people using kinesics Special education. This whole course has gotten me more prepared with special education. I didn ’ t know there were so many different disorders and behaviors that could occur in the classroom. I have better educated myself through this textbook as well. All of my experiences with special education will set me up for my classroom and getting to know the students. I will be much more concerned with my students personal life and know all of their needs and wants.

Civic Engagement:

Civic Engagement One aspect of service-learning is to show the power and importance of being civically engaged. We really feel as though each of our visits with Dianna makes a difference in her and her parents life. At this difficult time, they need a support system and help as much as possible and we were able to lend a helping hand. This gives you a different perspective on life and makes you want to do more things in life for intrinsic rewards rather than extrinsic. What is your perspective on civic engagement and/or volunteerism now? We are much more willing to volunteer. Volunteering is extremely important. Without volunteers so many of the organizations in the world would be completely impossible. Working with Dianna has changed our perspective on volunteering and has made us look for other people to help and other opportunities we can take advantage of. What purposes do you think it serves in society and for all citizens, including those with disabilities? Dianna would count down the time until we picked her up again to take her out. I think allowing them to have something to look forward to is extremely important. Also I have come to the realization that those with disabilities just want the chance to be looked at just like every other person. They want to go to the movies and have girls or guys days and nights out and they absolutely deserve that. Also, having a disability is very taxing on not only themselves but their families and caregivers both mentally and financially; so, we think the families really appreciate volunteers.

Civic Engagement :

Civic Engagement What thoughts do you have about service-learning as a method of learning? Service-learning is a great method of learning. Hands-on experience is the best way one can learn. Just seeing how much our thoughts and opinions have changes pre service learning to now just shows what a great method of learning it truly is. Did this experience motivate you to be more engaged in the future? Absolutely! We want to continue to work with Dianna as well as volunteer with other organizations and at other events. We no longer have the preconception of being scared or nervous and we now look forward to volunteering. Would you encourage teachers and students to embrace service-learning in the future? Why/why not? Yes, It gives you a completely different outlook on life. Also, It is valuable for teachers to see that those with disabilities are much more capable than many first think. They deserve equal opportunities as much as possible especially when inside the classroom.

Our Final Thoughts:

Our Final Thoughts What are your final thoughts and future steps? Overall, this was a memorable experience which has changed our perception on life. We will definitely hold onto this experience and remember it when planning lessons and activities for students with disabilities in our future class. We also feel much more comfortable with the thought that there will be students with disabilities in our classrooms and we feel much more prepared to interact with and teach them on a daily basis.