Samara Burnette

@rochellef :I give extra credit, but only up to 10 points and students must complete the extra credit very early in the term.  This way, by the end of the term when they may be failing, they are not coming to me asking me for extra credit.  I point them to the extra credit I assigned within the first month of the term that they could have done to help them.  Makes a student think twice about not taking advantage of given opportunities.

I just completed CM 251 on disabilities.  I must say that my basic take-away is to refer students to the appropriate offices instead of trying to make something up as far accommodations.  As a rule, I treat students (all students) as people first and so that goes without saying.  I must say that I've never met a disabled person with a "victim" mentality and so I guess I was programmed not to highlight the disability from those folks.  A documented student with a disability that I had in my class last term was one of the BEST students in my… >>>

I believe that even though I am an instructor and not an admission's rep, I do the best job at referring students to the appropriate offices. It simply makes sense to refer disabled students to to the appropriate offices if they have questions. This way misleading or untrue statements never exit my lips. I became aware that it was in my best interest to refer students (or parents) to the appropriate offices during my time in the Office of the Provost at my former institution. Once inaccurate information gets out, it's hard to reign it in. Helping any student, including… >>>

My post in this forum involves the fact that good design, policies, and values benefit everyone. For example, in another post, I related how my accommodations for a visually impaired student helped the entire class. I was also impressed about how UD also is a good idea for everyone. I regularly use the close captioning for things that I may not understood while watching the news, a talk show, or a movie. I am always impressed at how these products that truly increase the access for the disable help all of us in life. At my institution, I know that… >>>

Over the last term, I have had at least three students who did not disclose to me that they had a disability, yet I believe they had one. The first girl began crying at the mention of a test. The next day (the test day), she requested to sit directly in front of the board so that she could feel as if she was the only one in class. Another student of mine failed a test (after making 100s on all of her quizzes) because she froze from the mention of the time given to take the test. Lastly, one… >>>

Last term, I taught a career development course in which one student informed me of her visual disability. She requested that all powerpoint slides be accessible to her. She asked that I print them out each lecture class. At my institution, paper was considered gold, and printing the slides was not going to be an option. Instead, I asked her if I could make them available online through a course portal available to all students. She said that this would be acceptable. In the end, this accommodation helped all of the students in my class with their understanding of the… >>>

FERPA is a must at educational institutions.  To conceal or destroy student information a teacher or administrator no longer needs, shredding equipment is essential.  Presently, I have been having a hard time locating a shredder at work.