This is a reflection on the past 1-2 weeks as I take EXC 625 at National University; children with exceptions in the classroom.
I have made an exception for myself on my assignments which is oddly fitting. This class "as is", would not do me half as good as if it were geared towards working with special ed students in a shop setting. I modified some assignments(classroom observation) to give me an opportunity to look at the shop classroom from this perspective. There seems to be something that a shop classroom has that an academic classroom lacks. Further, it seems that special ed students generally do better in a shop environment, than in an academic classroom.
The question is then begged;

"Are some learners simply being excluded in the academic classroom approach in general?".

By making this modification to the assignments I am opening up a path I believe is important to study and bring new meaning to in order to bring back the Industrial Arts as a foundation in our schools.
I have recently learned about the California Assembly Bill 2648 called "Multiple Pathways". It is still being drafted and I think holds a lot of promise for the future of our schools and our childrens' education. It would mandate vocational training opportunities starting in Middle school. I see this as an opportunity to build a new economic platform in partnership with local, small business. Specifically I look to apply Industrial Arts to passive solar design/build as the foundation to a complete Career and Technical vocational training economy, and the way forward.

Time

I do not suppose I understand half of what I was supposed to learn in EXC 625; Children with Exceptions. I am starting to see that taking one course in one month, the National way, if laughable, and I would be doing Knowledge an injustice if I said I could do otherwise. The Autism spectrum alone is enough to make my head spin with seemingly every variation of behavioral and learning "exceptionalities", that then may or may not overlap with some other exceptions.
I have spent a generous amount of time(250+ hrs, more than I would have chosen) in special day classrooms in k-8. With that said, I think I know enough about how to work with Special ed students as a general ed teacher, even if things don't go as planned, and they hardly ever do. I will however likely revisit most of this course information when I am doing my Master's thesis in a few years.

The following headers are required for this reflection

I will reflect directly on some of the questions, and others I will reflect on prior experience or shop experience.
Share one thing that surprised or intrigued you as you completed your work this week?
It is intriguing that special ed students seem to do much better in a shop environment.

Give an example of when you exceeded your own expectations of yourself?
This week I exceeded my expectations of how much work I could actually get done for this class. I was able to sit down and push myself to reformat and answer all of the questions on this website. I am finding that I really like the hybrid class format at National University becuase I can have digital access to course materials. Unfortunately the courseware site is run on ASP and I don't have access to the source code. I exceeded my expectations by copy and pasting the page text and reformatting it here on my website. The reason I would take the time to do this is because I envision a vocational training model that also incorporates Industrial Arts teacher training. So while I work on my credential I am also working on building a frame work for creating my own accredited credentialing program designed specifically for Industrial Arts.

Knowledge and understanding of students with Autism will be very important to you as a general education teacher as many of them will be served in the general education classroom. How will you increase your knowledge of this disability?

Share a personal experience that you have had working with a child with an exceptionality.
I worked with a 6th grader in middle school who is blind from birth. He can actually see light, but only in fields. I was his instructional aid for the entire day, and we were trying to iron out the kinks in his system since it was his first year at the school. He had a braille writer that was equipped with wi-fi, and a braille display. I got to know this student and kept in touch with him over two years while I took a long-term sub position. I learned a lot about how a person with visual impairment functions. I felt excited to work with this student because I was learning from him just as much as I might have taught him.

What have I learned about assessing students with visual or hearing disabilities?
I learned that when helping someone with these disabilities, we need to be able to mediate between two very different ways of organizing content, getting around the school, and interacting with the student. I learned that to make myself vulnerable by asking questions of how the student views or thinks about a situation, creates a sense that we are working together, and I am not just there to help him. If we help eachother, if we are a team, we can help him achieve his learning goals.

What have I learned about my role in working with students with communication disorders?

On what do I need to focus and perhaps improve?

In what areas am I confused or need additional help?