Michael Benfer

organizational culture is an environment where all team members motivate students to succeed. Students become surrounded by coaches and mentors who create an environment where students are supported, and students believe they can be successful.

checking in with students who were absent during the most recent class session builds rapport and creates trust. "Hello, is everything alright? I noticed you were absent yesterday. Please see me 1:1 when you have a few moments, and I'll catch you up on what you missed." If we don't have this conversation our student can believe we don't care about their success. Having the conversation demonstrates care and initiates a coaching session so our student has a better understanding of what needs to be accomplished to be successful.

Students are customers and should be treated with respect. Having said that, they are students, and we can motivate students to achieve their goals and work through or around any negative HABEs they may have. We can also demonstrate role model professionalism that our students may adopt as their own.

The model, mentor and monitor module reminds me to check-in with all students frequently. Make a connection and follow-up with students frequently. One method I've found to be effective is chatting with a student who was absent the day prior and acknowledging the absence. "hello, is everything ok? i noticed you were absent yesterday... please check-in with me when we have a few moments so we can review what you missed yesterday"

this module described multiple methods to determine if an accommodation is reasonable. The module also introduced UDL, universal design for learning, and differentiated instruction where students may be able to demonstrate their knowledge using alternative methods.

This module helped to unpack the varied list of psychological disabilities and provided typical accommodations and behaviors and actions to avoid while working with these students.

learning disabilities include Dyslexia, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, etc. The term learning disability doesn't mean the student cannot learn, but they have difficulty in one or more areas. Accommodations for these students assist by focusing on the student's strengths.

this module provided an overview of disabilities and gave examples of what educators may do to accommodate students with specific disabilities 

major categories included:

•  students with physical or sensory disabilities
• students with physical or health impairments
• students who are Deaf or hard of hearing
• students who are blind or hard of hearing

student must self-identify and provide documentation; request specific accommodations

institution must ensure legal compliance; follow written policy to determine student is disabled; identify acceptable forms for verification of disability; follow written policy to determine if requested accommodations are reasonable

education staff must facilitate accommodations as outlined; meet with student to determine how to implement accommodations; provide an inclusive and welcoming class/lab experience for student

Very informative - lots of choices to incorporate technology into the classroom and this course increased my understanding of many methods while introducing new methods that were previously unfamiliar to me.