Amy Good Sister Good Bye

Here is an old poem I wrote some time ago.

"To the windy city you go, a path away I see.

Yet, I will miss you, for your kindness surpassed that of many. 

Your actions leave mystified and take my breath away.

Someone as friendly as you is rare, and I had the honor of knowing you.

It is like seeing the beautiful stars on the darkest night.

When God said to be a light unto the world and the salt of the earth you took to heart.

Quietly cooking dinners, and hastily welcoming new people of all people you did. 

Amy of Whitley Pentecostal Church this poem is for you. 

In the small time I knew you; it was long enough for me to know how wonderful you are. 

I will miss seeing someone as grateful to Christ like you around. 

May God bless your path, for you made me smile? 

And that is a hard task. 

Rarely do I smile with seriousness unless it is for Christ. 

But a sister like you put a smile on my face when you just said hi. 

Farewell and Good-bye for now. 

I know I'll see you again, and if not on earth then in heaven. 

God bless your paths child of God."

This was a poem I wrote for a friend going away years ago.  

Starcraft-Illuminati Thoughts

Since most people will ask more about my credentials, let me first start there.  I have served ten years in the US Air Force.  I have multiple degrees: AAS Aircraft Armament Systems Technology, BAS English, MSEd PreK-6 Elementary Education, and Airmen Leadership School Diploma.  I have also been studying the Bible and helping out various ministries (as well as leading Bible studies/writing books about God) since seventh grade (my senior year of HS was 1999).  My opinions are not reflective of any of the above organizations.  I am just pointing out that I am not pulling this stuff out of nowhere.  Verify the scripture and my sources if you will.  Let me begin...  I am an avid Starcraft and Chess player.  I love strategy games, and I have studied war as well.  The number one rule is hearts and mind when doing a war.  For example, if you tear apart your opponent mentally or take the fight out of the people, then you have won the battle already.  Another tip is to never let your opponent see you coming or see your hand until they can do absolutely nothing about it.  Let us first look at some scripture about the world to see the opponent that is seeking the destruction of mankind.

Let me tell you something that you may not see, but it has been proven real, and misconceptions are out there.  Here is a taste of truth.  I could quote Ephesians 6:12, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.”  I could also quote, for Christians that accept Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior (God), Romans 8:37-39 stating, “37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  In Daniel 10:13, an angel explains that the Prince of the kingdom of Persia was withstanding the messenger (angelic) for 21 days until Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help.  This angel was held up by another spirit as the angel was delivering a message from God to Daniel.  The common Christian must understand that man, which is due to the transaction of the Adam and Eve incident Genesis chapter 1-4, has given the world over to the Serpent.  What does this mean?

Certain nations are given sovereign ruling rights over different domains, and God has his own people chosen on to Him.  In fact, God has chosen the worst people to be His nation and God has chosen the worst people to be Christians to debase or show the folly of the things in this world and those who would chase after mammon instead of God (Yaweh).  Biblically speaking, Christians are supposed to be the light and salt of the Earth, but they are chosen by grace; therefore, no one can boast because we only see Christ by the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).  As evidenced by Job 1:1-22, Satan cannot do anything without God’s approval, so God is still in control; however, man did give earth over to the Serpent (Satan) after God gave man free will to choose good from evil.  With this said, all bad things that happen to us here on Earth are results of us living in sin because the bible says that all sin is an abomination to God.  Study the word ‘abomination’ and read everything that it is connected to in the bible.  We deserve death, for no one is righteous not one (Read Romans chapter 3).  Thus, when something bad happens, stop asking “Where was God in that?”  We are all guilty (1 Corinthians chapter 6), and we must be able to accept both good and bad from God because there were plenty of times that we sinned against God and thought that we “got away with it.”  In reality, we just added more dirt to the filthy rag.  Even more so, God uses these trials or bad circumstances to make His children, those who believe that Jesus Christ is God, stronger and works these negative things to the advantage of the righteous through Christ.  These tough incidents do not and will not benefit the unsaved man.  Because we chose sin and the Serpent over a relationship with God in Eden, these princes now have control of the world.

This means that nations have sovereignties that they will fight tooth and nail to keep.  Notice that human nations rise and fall, yet certain nations have existed through time or keep coming back in different forms.  Sovereignty relates to a rank, position, power, or authority over a specific place, area, or realm.  Does this sovereignty exist in man’s definition?  The answer is yes.  When the US fought in Libya recently, Russia (Puttin) addressed that nations attempting to destabilize or strike out against various sovereignties, without just cause, will bring the threat of nuclear retaliation and those nations who seek to disrupt it will face that threat.  China and Russia has frequently signed various pacts/treaties.  There is an article about the Artic declaration of sovereignty (http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2009/02/27/f-arctic-sovereignty.html) even.  Sovereign rights of nations do exist, and they are alive and well.

Let me explain this truth to you.  The world is not ruled by man, but the Serpent has his rule.  How could Satan offer Jesus Christ the world if He would bow down and worship him?  Satan was well aware of who Jesus is (Read James chapter 2 about the demons shuddering and reverence).  Satan is not an idiot, but he is evil.  God is in control though because Satan had his death assured at the cross and now roams the world as a roaring lion seeking to devour the souls of man.  If you doubt this, then listen to various artists who have fought for their soul.  Some failed, some died, and I have not heard of any victors except for the ones that never gave in.  Study about Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Eminem, Britney Spears, and Beyoncé.  I will not openly say that they are anything evil, but the media has caught three facts that we know for sure, they throw up illuminati symbolism, they have all had/discussed their alter egos, and some of them have fought or song about being free.  It is proven that when people like them sought to explain or fight some of them had accidents right afterwards.  Tila Tequila even had some issues after she posted blogs about this, and her website was removed.  50 Cent is posting on Twitter that he is afraid he may die and cannot trust anyone.  The ones involved in whatever secret society made their choices to get that money and serve mammon, so I am not here to judge them.  I simply want to point out that there are sovereign principalities over different areas and places in the world.

There is more because the Bilderberg exists, and they are not hiding just private look at (http://theintelhub.com/bilderberg-2012/) Google and search for Bilderberg.  One cannot even study the world without knowing about the Federal Reserve, the elite society, or the Freemasons.  To look even deeper, almost all of the college fraternities with Greek lettering supposedly report to the Freemasons.  The best and brightest are recruited from these college fraternities.  Let me tell you one truth about this. People seek to expose these issues, but to attack one head does not cover the whole body, nor does it attack the other heads; furthermore, I would go so far as to say that it is a kingdom divided and they still have internal disputes, chaos, and confusion at points.  How many people are in a Church that does not teach from the scripture or interprets the scripture figuratively instead of literally?  This is the infiltration of the Christian church, but those of the true Church will never reject the biblical teachings of the old and new testament of Christ (66 Books).  John F. Kennedy was assassinated after warning people specifically of secret societies, and George Bush Sr. stated that the attack on Iraq was important to further the “ideas of a New World Order.”  Chess anyone???

What does this have to do with Chess or StarCraft?  Let us first begin by pointing out that there are many religions, church infiltrations, secret societies, fraternities, and worldly functions.  Let us also examine some truth.  The Catholic Church has ushered in idolatry (http://www.remnantofgod.org/idols.htm) at the Vatican level.  There is argument about the American church, but there is no doubt about the Holy Roman Catholic Church.   A lot of Christians were killed by the Catholic Church during the crusades and inquisitions, etc…  The Illuminati did exist in Bavarian roots, and it is still around.  Clive Davis, Bilderberg, Rockefeller, and Rothschild are the most connected individuals or organizations around.  I will not attack these people but a chess board has its pawns, knights, rooks, queen, and king.

One could point out that the various religions & their leaders, church infiltrations, fraternities, worldly functions, and secret societies are the pawns.  The elite who would further any of the goals are the knights.    Clive Davis, Bilderberg, Rockefeller, and Rothschild could be rooks or foundations.  The Vatican is the queen, and ‘???’ is the king of the world.  I will not point out whether Satan is the ‘???’ or not.  You must do your own research.  They all have the goal of unifying the world by any means necessary.  I will not connect Satan and these groups, but I will say that these groups seek to unify the world as one, and Satan seeks to unify the world under evil.  Why StarCraft?

In StarCraft, one could fight a battle with 8 armies on the board.  Let us say that there is one army with invincibility on.  That army will be able to fight any army on the board.  Now, let’s say the invincible army allies with one army on the board and separates them from the other six.  This leaves sixth armies while the seventh and the eighth army become one whole army.  This puts seven armies on the board.  Now, look at this, let’s say the invincible army was the blue Protoss army.  The red Protoss army was the head of the other six armies.  We will make the six armies one Protoss, four Zerg, and one Terran.  The seventh army alliance will be one blue Protoss and one Terran army.  This sounds really complicated right. 

This is what may simplify it all for the laymen or person that does not play StarCraft.  Satan or the world can attack on many fronts.  We are always forced to try to live which this struggle makes us also have an internal battle with the flesh.  We are effectively fighting multiple enemies on multiple fronts to include the supernatural and ourselves.  We are in the alliance of six (the World).  Once we become saved by grace we are converted over to the seventh army (Christ) while we are still amongst the sixth army (mammon, Satan, the world).  The only true escape is not to fear death which comes to all man but to get our hearts right with God.  The only way to do this is to trust in Christ, accept the truth, and start setting our hearts straight after we are saved.  It is imperative that we accept Christ first because we will never be able to save ourselves, nor can we change our hearts.  The Holy Spirit is the only one that changes our hearts, and it is through Christ that is the only way to be saved.  We do not have strength on our own to be saved, or stand against this world, so we must turn to Christ and pray to Him that He gives us the strength to endure and make the righteous decisions.

Chick-Fil-A--What do I think?

                I am not one to tread water, nor am I one to jump in the pool without viewing the water to see what the weather is.  I try to think before I speak, so here is my thought to answer the people that want to know.  There are 10 different issues with Boston’s “decree” about Chick-Fil-A.  I base them off of legal ideas and past precedencies.

                First of all, the mayor of Boston is an elected official.  He has a term.  If people are in an uproar about that decision then do not elect him again.  However, this works as a double sword because the mayor’s decision is finite, and the next mayor could very well allow the branch to operate since the office of mayor decided to ban the restaurant off of his own authority.

                Second issue is that the same psychological proof about the ‘same sex’ gene is the same proof used to say that a person could be born with criminal behavior.  There are still many debates about whether this is a nature or nurture mind set.  If a person were a Christian, then they could argue that psychology has proven that no man is perfect, and we are all born with a sin nature.  However, there is more to consider.  If people view sexual orientation as they do a race, then it is a well known fact that Chick-Fil-A does not hire/fire based on sexual orientation but on the work merit of the prospective employee.  The chain does not have signs hanging that states it hates gays.  Even further, the chain does not refuse to serve people based on sexual orientation.  In fact, the chain chooses to serve people based on their want to eat their food and the green that lines their pockets.  The only thing that the chain has done is say that it will not back same sex marriage nor will it support the cause because the entity does not agree with the matter.  Unfortunately, for Boston, this would mean that Boston is discriminating against an entity based on its beliefs which, in America, every person, entity, and organization can freely choose its religion, belief system, and so on. 

                A third thing to consider is that same sex marriage is considered a moral issue.  If a person argues that sexual orientation is not a choice, then consider this.  Why are more people against a chain that disagrees with same are sex marriage, yet there are many white country clubs that are able to pick and choose whether they want to even serve or include black members?  Can a person hide whether they are black, white, Asian, Hispanic, etc?  Why are KKK meetings still allowed in various communities?  If the world is going to attack Chick-Fil-A, then they need to start with the KKK members, country clubs that are exclusive only allowing specific races in, attack the elite societies formed to only admit people of a certain race, and crush the Neo-Nazi movement!!!  Since we are so bold America attack those organizations too.  Once again, I am not taking a side, but I am pointing out the plywood in the country’s eye.  Eliminate the glass ceilings in various communities that encourage racism.  It happens in different communities of different races.  Depending on where you are, there is a place in America that discriminates whatever race you are…  There are places that black people are afraid to go, and there are places where white people are afraid to go.  There are communities where Asians, Jews, or Hispanics are discriminated against and the list goes on.  Since we are so bold to attack Chick-Fil-A for its beliefs, then let’s attack something that affects everyone.  Take a stand against that.

Fourth statement: is it right for a city that claims freedom to impede upon the freedom of another organization simply because of its ideology.  The company is not spreading hate, nor is it advocating violence.  It merely states that it is against same sex marriage. 

Then there are more questions to pose…   Would the city of Boston do the same for a KKK clan rally or business meeting?  What is Boston doing about hockey and specific comments made/tweeted?  This means that Boston must take the lead in the fight against racism, and all inequality.  You made yourself the pinnacle supposedly, so now you need to take the lead if you are that concerned.

I have served in the military and worked side by side with people I did not always agree with, but I would fight with or for them in a heartbeat.  Wouldn't Boston prove to be the "bigger" person by allowing the restaurant there?

Boston and others are making Chick-Fil-A a martyr.  Because so many argue about same sex marriage being a moral decision, this boycott may end up increasing customers in other areas that are opposed to same sex marriage, they are also giving free advertisement.  Any speak is good when it comes to business if you have the right PR (Public Relations) manager.

Another thought is that this is being made into a bigger issue.  If no one gave wind to it, then none would even know of the lack of support for same sex marriages.  For a Christian, persecution is not wanted, but it is taught that we should find joy in persecution.  Congratulations, you have just awarded and made Chick-Fil-A a hero Mr. Mayor in Boston.  I am not taking sides, but my point is that if the Christian hero died to save humanity, and all other Christians want to be just like Him.  In fact, they consider it a reward to face persecution, then you are making the organization stronger.  One Pharisee was wise in his words in a biblical story.  “If God agreed with them, then no one can stop them, and they would just grow stronger, but if God was against them, then they would not last.”  Sometimes, simplying say I disagree and moving on is the best action.

Now, you have created unlikely allies that may give profit and money just because they want their idea to be supported.  Now, there is a corporate face and a person's face.  You have just given teeth to those that oppose same sex marriage.  One of the things that caused people to stand out in many situations is when a face or entity was given to the cause.  You have taken away the faceless Christian that has been scorned for disagreeing with same sex marriage and gave it a face.

The most important thought is that this company may become a flagship.  If it is wanted, an entire community may be able to start war (paper, propagandas, and slogans).  This means that you just threw a match in a can of gasoline that had lots of air supply.  Ever play chess or study history.  This is how prohibition started, this is the current argument about legalizing drugs, and the list goes on.  Once something is boycotted, banned, or cut away.  It allows it to get a different type of support.

 -->If someone really wanted to hurt Chick-Fil-A, then that person would do this, "I am disgusted by Chick-Fil-A response to same sex marriage.  However, the city of Boston is not like that, so we will make every person that supports same sex marriage to rally and sit inside the store to show that we are the bigger people.  We will occupy but not buy anything." It would diffuse the situation and could cause Chick-Fil-A to quietly lose customers simply from the unrest.   It is called peaceful protest, and it worked before, so why not now?  I will not say what my opinion is for this article was meant as a neutral piece.  I do ask a question though.  Why is it that our country can fight so hard over an issue of sexual orientation, but it still struggles with eradicating prejudices, biases, and racism?  What is there to gain by publicizing a disagreement that Chick-Fil-A had with same sex marriage?  No one would have cared if it was not mentioned.  Now Chick-Fil-A is both famous and infamous depending on where you stand?  I will not take a side, but I would ask that if this is a country of free speech, then why ban Chick-Fil-A for stating a disagreement?  I would argue that if the country can accept the Muslims after 9/11, if they can allow others to hate different races freely, if Christians must accept the opinions of others as allowed, then why can the country not just let Chick-Fil-A have their own opinion.  This article is meant to be neutral and not to offend either, but it is a query into what many have asked my opinion on.  I refuse to give a personal opinion on this particular issue, for I have bigger fish to fry, and I firmly believe that this is a pothole that meant to distract from the real issues going on.  For example, what about jobs in America and our economy?  Who are we going to elect for president?  What is the state of our country’s national defense with so much going on in the world?  There are much bigger issues and battles than this.  What about racism?

Reflective Journal Project 2 Entry: Continuous Progress Monitoring and Data Analysis Helping Struggling Readers

Author: Yusun Y. Beck

Written For:
Old Dominion University
Language Acquisition and Diverse Learning Needs (TLED 568)

There are multiple ways that continuous progress monitoring and data analysis can be used to help struggling readers.  Proper assessment allows for an accurate evaluation of the students’ current abilities and their needs.  Having good skills in data analysis allows for the student performance to be accurately portrayed.  Continuous progress monitoring is very important and must go on because each day is a day to help the struggling student to learn and grow to become better readers.

In order to remedy a problem, we must know that one exists.   Data that is not gathered can not be analyzed as well.  Therefore, Evaluation is a very important part of progress monitoring and helping struggling readers.  Reading is very complicated and there could be decoding issues, missed cues, disabilities, or even nervousness.  This is just to name a few of the many problems that could exist.  Assessments are meant to be the beginning of evaluation.  Assessments should be both reliable (consistent) and valid (related to the materials taught).  Measuring progress accurately requires goals and standards for evaluation.  In perfect practice, good evaluation should determine if there is a legitimate problem for the student, gather good accurate data for analyzing, and keep the teacher and student on track in a specific direction.

Evaluation is good for getting raw data, but all collected data must be analyzed or the teacher could hone in on the wrong area.  Therefore, proper interpretation of the results from constant evaluation must be accomplished.  Teachers must understand Informal Reading Inventories (IRI), Running Record Calculations, and Cueing Systems.  Good data analysis simply finds where the confusion is.  For example, teachers must know the difference between visual, structure, and meaning cues to name a few.  These items aid in continuous progress monitoring.

Continuous progress monitoring includes detecting the problem (evaluation) and interpreting data collected through the evaluation process (data analysis).  However, it also includes action.  The teacher’s job is to identify, understand, and attempt to fix the problem.  Progress monitoring helps struggling readers because it allows for constant improvement which is continuously observed.   If there is a road bump that arises then it is handled immediately.

It is never good to wait to solve a problem.  Continuous progress monitoring involves evaluation, data analysis, and teacher student observation with problem solving skills.  It allows for constant and immediate detection and action.  Collected data from the evaluation can be interpreted properly.  Finally, a teacher can begin to work with the student to implement appropriate goals and standards.  The continuous progress monitoring also allows for flexibility to shift a focus on trouble areas and help the student improve faster in an ideal situation. 

Reflective Journal Project 1 Entry: Impact of No Child Left Behind (NCLB)

Author: Yusun Y. Beck

Written for:
Old Dominion University
Language Acquisition and Diverse Learning Needs (TLED 568)

There are both positive and negative effects of NCLB.  The greatest point of NCLB is that it requires accountability at all levels.  It will decrease the availability of teachers while retaining the capable and inclined for the most part.   Students are prepared for high stakes testing, but critical thinking skills may not always be taught.  Accountability is the best of these three impacts…

                Many people argue about NCLB, but few can argue about the fact that it increases accountability.  Every person is held accountable from the Department of Education down to the student.  It accomplishes this by litigation covering thorough consequences that are supported and reinforced.  Accountability will make the available teachers improve; however, not all people respond positively to accountability.

                Some teachers may not want the extra headache of all of the extra paperwork.  In fact, there are some schools that start off tough because of poverty and other issues.  NCLB offers some incentives, but it is never enough.  Some schools may even shut down because of the lack of monetary resources and investment.  Wasn’t there a school that fired all of their teachers?  On a positive note, good and bad teachers may leave, but at least the inclined teachers that are capable of maintaining standards will still be around.  Schools don’t need every teacher to be great though because there needs to be average teachers as well; however, a poor teacher anywhere is just like a bad employee, for it is unacceptable.

                Unfortunately, poor teachers are very probable in this situation.  Every system produces people that learn to manipulate it and meet standards because human error always exists.  NCLB uses high stakes testing as a standard.  Testing is not a good measure of a student’s capability.  Some people simply can’t test.  Some teachers may forgo critical thinking skills and opt to go to the NCLB standards listing and just teach to the test.  It gets results, but do you want a student that knows the answer to a test or one that can apply the answer.  In the military, coworkers that tested poorly did the job well and taught well because they understood it.  Those that tested well did not always understand the overall concept, but they made grade so they knew the answers.

                It is hard to say the absolute impact of NCLB.  NCLB will continue to increase accountability though.  For the most part, it will increase teachers that are both capable and inclined to teach.  Sadly though, it will produce teachers that are more focused on meeting the standards of testing than actually allowing students to learn and enhance their critical thinking skills.  NCLB, like any other program, depends on how it is received, interpreted, and applied.  It is only a beginning though because increased accountability is great with the problems that have been happening.  There still needs to be a greater focus on critical thinking and not just reactionary skills, decoding ability, and comprehension.  A computer can do all of these things, but only a man can critically think.  I personally know this from my experiences with fighting computers in strategy games and always winning no matter the difficulty.  It is my ability to critically think that gives me victory in these games.  It is this ability that separates man from other creatures as well.  Every man wants to know the answer to why, and each person wants to know how to apply what is learned.  No one just wants the answer, yet everyone wants to pass the test that is required.  What is the priority and where is the balance?

Teacher Qualities

Author: Yusun Y. Beck

Activity

Create a list of 5-7 qualities that are most important you that a highly effective

teacher must possess and explain why using your opinion and personal

experiences.

There are several qualities that are most important for a highly effective teacher to possess.  These qualities are basic core values, wisdom, leadership ability, communication skills, balance, persistence, and resourcefulness.  These values should be ingrained in the very fibers of a high quality teacher.  However, they can be gained; of course, it must all start through building and maintaining a system of values.

Basic core values are morals and standards gained and developed which decipher right from wrong.  The most universal system that a lot of people (those who want to generally live right) strive to have involves integrity, service before self, and excellence in all that is done.   Sadly, a person’s system of values must be used to create inner change because not everyone agrees, yet many can respect an honest hard working quality person.  This is where wisdom comes in.

Wisdom is where a person must learn to accept what is done, and that individual attempts to make changes where it is needed.  One person can’t fix everything.  Fortunately, one person can always make a difference somewhere and wisdom guides the teacher to understand what must be done while pointing out where that difference can be made which brings us to leadership ability.

What person can teach without leadership ability?  Believe it or not, teaching is a form of leadership.  For example, police are considered a “city’s finest” because they set an example and teach others through example and proper guidance about the law while enforcing a standard.  Leadership is basically guidance.  Simply put, leadership is about gauging inclination and capability.  A person cannot teach any student without this ability.  Communication is needed to make proper breakthroughs and assessments in this area.

Communication is a key element!  It is a fundamental unit of education.  There are many different ways to communicate, and a teacher must be at least 90% effective in this realm, or fail to really reach the student being taught.  Without too much explanation, communication has three categories verbal, nonverbal, and no communication.  No communication is a bad area.  Some people become married and stop communicating both verbally and nonverbally.  I should know this from experience because I have seen it tear apart many relationships.  A teacher has a professional obligation to each student to maintain the lines of communication through verbal and nonverbal means which brings me to balance.

Balance is needed for every teacher to enrich their classroom.  Teachers are supposed to learn advanced thoughts and relay them to those who do not understand.  If someone thinks that learning basic English in preschool Language Arts is not advanced, then try to learn another language that is completely foreign to you.  Teachers must balance the lessons by trying different scientifically proven methods and taking a middle road of all of the theories without the minutia.  If the balanced approach is not considered, then consider this thought, “Not everyone learns the same, and benevolence is giving to each person what is needed by each person to learn.  This is a form of being fair, honest, and respectful.”  Meet the student where that student is and be persistent.

There is no real explanation needed for persistence.  It is simply being determined to meet a goal with relentless pursuit.  A teacher should never give up on a student.  Walking away is one thing, but a teacher should have the attitude that he/she is the only chance for a positive example to be set.  Teaching is a thankless job and it could take years for a student to finally grasp some major concepts.  Never give up, and keep striving for victory in each student’s life.  This requires resourcefulness.

Resourcefulness allows for a teacher to be persistent without harassing the student or demeaning any person.  It requires tact and etiquette.  Teachers must think outside the box.  If kids love video games, try to incorporate it.  Students like it when teachers try very hard and will sometimes give cues about what they like and don’t like.

Listening is very important for effective teaching.  The life blood of teaching can be said to revolve around various qualities which are basic core values, wisdom, leadership ability, communication, balance, persistence, and resourcefulness.  These values should be well engraved on the heart of all teachers.

Inclusion

Author:  Yusun Y. Beck

Written for:

ESSE 517 Group Activity 1, Fall 2010

Old Dominion University

Overview

Inclusion is a very controversial subject.  However, we should all value children equally; unfortunately, it doesn’t happen in reality.  Each person is valuable, but fair is each person receiving respect and a free from bias education.  Even though, disability may get in the way, educators must give to meet the learning needs of all students.  Teaching is meeting the needs of students to instruct them properly.  Inclusion is the practice in which students with special educational needs spend most or all of their time with non-disabled...  It is highly argued.  Some want everyone to be involved, but others argue that it is not a good thing to do.  What is my philosophy of inclusion?  What role does collaboration play in the education of students with disabilities?  How far must schools go to meet the needs of students with disabilities?  How important is potential academic achievement/social growth in making placement decisions?  What are the rights of the other children?

What is my philosophy of inclusion?

I believe that we must try to reach all children.  Every person has some type of weakness.  A good teacher will try their best to meet the needs of the students, but legally, students are presumed to be in General Education anyway.  Teachers must be sensitive to all of their students while following all individual education plans, guidance, rules, regulations and so on.  Inclusion is needed for all that do not need over excessive aide, and disabled students must be in the least restrictive environment that is possible…  Humility dictates that there be specialist, and we give the specialist some cases that may be impossible for the average teacher, person, adult, or parent to handle.  This humility and honesty is needed for the difficult situations, in the best interests of the student, which leads us to collaborative resources.

What role does collaboration play in the education of students with disabilities?

Simply put, collaboration is needed to meet federal and state standards for teaching students with disabilities in accordance with the Individuals with Disability Education Act 2004, and maybe preparing them for the high stakes testing or No Child Left Behind Act requirements.  Without aid from special education services, students, parents, various agencies, and teachers, little if any positive effect can be gained in the education of these exceptional students.  Our instructor mentioned about giving a 20 year old a high school diploma.  How could this man receive a high school education without the help of many outside agencies?  There are specialists that are able to aid teachers, and teachers should seek help when it is recognized that they are unable to fix a specific problem that a specialist could provide aide in.

How far must schools go to meet the needs of students with disabilities?

Schools should find a way to meet any need.  However, this does not mean that students should not be able to move to a better location or facility that is more geared to help them.  There are special places for extensive aide.  Schools should attempt to use those resources no matter the cost.  It is less expensive to provide a free and appropriate public education to a student by sending them to a centralized school than it is to maintain extensive programs in different schools.  Various school districts should work together at funding centralized locations with highly qualified teachers and staff.  However, there is always a question in mind as to whether the education would be fair in a centralized area, so schools must give each individual at least a quarter of the education or as much as possible in General Education.

 How important is potential academic achievement/social growth in making placement decisions?

All people are equal; of course, separate but equal has proven to not work so well.  Potential academic performance can separate students along with social growth because advance students need to be able to receive a chance to excel too.  Sadly, a lot of people do not have similar abilities.  There is potential in every student to grow pass their present state, but not every student is advanced academically or socially.  Potential academic achievement/social growth is very important in advanced placement in school.  The reality of the situation is that all students must be placed where they will best excel.  There may be social stigmas, but it is up to the educators and leaders in Academia to provide each student a chance to grow to meet their potential.  Any person can be made to grow if their placement is with a well qualified and inspirational person.  This brings us to the rights of the other children.

What are the rights of the other children?

Every child basically has the right to a free appropriate public education among other rights.  People should not be subjected to more than reasonable interruption in the classroom environment.  Each child also has the right to be educated to meet their potential.  Education is a fundamental property right which entails learning the tasks that are needed to maintain a proper living, understanding one’s life/purpose, and achieving growth towards a higher mobility than the present one.

Conclusion

Each child must receive the basic education that is due to them.  Children that were made have a purpose and each one of them is equal.  It is the responsibility of all adults, especially leaders, teachers, and counselors, to provide an appropriate education in and out of school.  Collaboration is essential, for adults that do not have the skills to accomplish a task properly are responsible for either learning the right way or seeking out the help of those that can help or bring light to the current struggle or problem.  Schools should and must find a way to meet a need if at all possible to help students with disabilities.  Potential academic achievement/social growth in making placement decisions is very important, but finding an answer at creating equal education may mean highly qualified teachers and extensive collaborative resources at many different locations.  Educators and others would have to meet the needs of the gifted as well as other exceptional children on the spectrum.  Yes, potential is important and it should help guide the decisions of placement, but how can it be implemented unless each and every educator is highly qualified in all of the placements where a student may be placed.  Each child deserves an education that will prepare them for the future.  If we do not accomplish this task, as adults responsible for child rearing, then we are simply destroying our own future.