Teacher Talks- Becky Marine and Shanna McMullin

On Thursday October 9^th, two speakers came into our classroom. Ms. Becky Marine, who now works for the University of Wisconsin- Stout in special education and Ms. Shanna McMullin who works with at risk students for alternative education. Becky talked a lot about how the individuals she works with are students who are no different than anyone else. It is essential for people to understand this, as they are students who have equal rights to be in the general education setting as inclusion in the school systems in essential. She mentioned that people should never look down, and make accommodations for students with disabilities, as teachers must hold high, but reasonable, standards and expectations for the students. I think this is very important, as getting to know your students will help you to be able to assess your students best. She also talked about how many of them express themselves best through art, as art teachers have an impactful influence on these students and in their IEP meetings as they frequently express themselves best through art. They both agreed that they fulfilled roles that made themselves an advocate for their students.  Shanna works with at risk youth as she described her classroom as a home environment for her students. The majority of them do not have a secure home environment, as her classroom fulfills that void in their lives. She created a program implemented in the school system for students who are failing school, and do not have a cognitive or physical disability. She mentioned that when students act out and get mad, most of the time it has to do with an outside source, as students struggle with various situations in and outside of school. Students who are involved in her program are allowed to leave their standard classroom when they are upset or need to talk about something as they work through the situation and move past it so they can continue with their day and be productive. She asks the students, “Are you going to be a victim of your situation, or over come it?”. Both of the speakers had some very good points; when students are given an opportunity to find success, they will succeed. There is nothing wrong with being wrong, or not knowing, as we need to be better than our egos and admit when you are wrong as students respect that. Overall, they both were very good information and perspective speakers.