Pam,
Did you make changes to your site or did I just not see it all the first time? Anyway, there is a lot of useful information. I need to find ways to incorporate the “verbal connector prompt” into my online courses. The learning management system we were using was very constraining and did not allow for embedding multimedia easily due to the way the “development team” constructed and uploaded the courses. And everything had to go through the development team. Both teachers and students need to be able to create and upload their own audio/video messages and the process needs to be easier to do.

As I mentioned in another post, the program I have been working on through a university is possibly (I am afraid, probably) going down; it was dropped for summer. There is hope though (thank you, Paulo Freire!). If the university drops the program permanently I am hoping to work with the principal at the main high school to somehow make it functional by fall, even if in a limited format while we bring it back up using an open source learning management system (possibly Moodle.org). (Open source = FREE). When it does get back up and running, we can make it better! I appreciate the details you have provided for establishing the Parent TEAMs. I hope I can incorporate this or some form of mentoring program for the students as part of the overall educational process, and you have sorted through the complexity of doing so by providing so many of the planning steps and considerations. This is something new to me and I will need the guidance. I also see it as a way to help meet one of the program’s important goals, which is encouraging parents to engage in their own education along with their children. There are options for both high school and college courses, and forming teams will make it easier to get the message out, provide a support system, etc., for both parents and students. It could turn into something good!

Peace & Love,

Vanessa

Hi Vanessa,
Thank you for this opportunity to exercise effective voice. This is my submission to Char.

ISSUE:
Disabilities condone negative human labels, which reduce human potential.

Difference imparts stigmas throughout the intricacies of society. Consequently, students with disabilities and without privilege are labeled different, branded, and pigeon holed as less than.

Minorities and individuals with disabilities were linked with the introduction of eugenics into history. In the twenty-first century, these students traditionally attend the American educational system stigmatized with either physical or internalized defects from the after effects of this dismal past as well as present-day atrocities. With these imposed "normed" defects, underachieving special education and minority students are in danger of being marginalized, subjugated, robbed of voice, and labeled as underachievers on the basis of the standards of dominant society.

Labeled students become statistics, lumped together with other students sporting the same labels, continuously reproducing learned behavior suitable for those so categorized (Mehan, 1993). Students create an identity from a label and, like prisoners; they become represented by that label. Students, teachers, administrators, and parents assume their roles through the acceptance of labels inside and outside school walls. Therefore, it becomes apparent, through the fluidity of the school day, that everyone involved in the spherical motion of self, school, and societal worlds is tracked and positioned in specific spaces.

Many labels have negative connotations that produce negative psychological effects and compromise academic achievement. As a result, a number of labeled students do not reach their potential and buy into the negative. They attend and exit school with cognitive, social, and psychological deficits. If the cacophony of “deficit” talk is eliminated and multilevel interventions are implemented, labeled students can begin to acknowledge their hidden potentials and climb to higher levels of achievement.

Let’s consider alternatives!

Spherical movement introduces a new dimension of thought. Lawson and Lindstrom (2004) profess, “Progress, from a spherical perspective, is simply a change in the patterns.” (p. 56). A spherical perspective moves beyond the limitations of the circle and the spiral and taps into the energy of multiple spheres of influence. Progress is then achieved through collective energy.

These students currently reside within a deficit framework, sometimes for a lifetime enveloped in the “norm” pattern without the benefit of supportive collective voices. A shift in perspective from a deficit to an affirming mindset, acknowledgment of undemocratic practices, and implementation of effective alternatives within a spherical perspective introduce changes in the pattern. I propose an intervention, which promotes Spherical Achievement Networks (SAN).

SAN’s are spaces that have been cleared of negative mind clutter to provide openings for “different” students to excel. They are positive spaces that offer inclusive learning environments, which adhere to reframing, repositioning, and restructuring support-networking systems in existing student worlds. The inclusive environments are comprised of collective spaces for self, school and society. SLE’s incorporate learning into all aspects of life, involve development of affirming mindsets, require contributions from self as well as school, and society, and emphasize “harmonious interrelation” of spheres of influence (Lawson and Lindstrom, 2004). Spheres of influence, in the context of spherical learning environments, are defined as circular spaces where individuals leave their human imprint. Connected spheres of influences that unfold in SLE’s strive to create life flow and flexibility and cautiously depart from fragmented and disjointed thoughts. They create a healthy oneness of spirit formed by the collective. The collective efforts of self, school, and society, which result in expanded options for student learning, also open positive spaces that surround all students. When students are allowed to develop under affirming collective circumstances, they can sustain flexible reproducing cocoon-like transformed environments. These affirming nurturing spaces are known as Spherical Achievement Networks (Joyce, 2008).

For further information please visit www.911educator.com.

Thank you for including my voice. I wish to be placed on the Public List.

Dr. Pamela Althea Joyce – 6/16/08

"harmonious thought-in process"

Joyce, P. A. (2008). School Hazard Zone: Beyond the Silence/Finding a Voice. New York: Peter Lang.
Lawson and Lindstrom (2004). Being Spherical. Colorado: Sphericity Press.

Pam,

I submitted my letter to Char with my list of things of concern in the educational environment, including reinforcing the elimination of labels. What's interesting is that a group of mothers have formed - along with Char- with another mission (because we all have children with autism, ADHD, etc.). There is no doubt - the scienctific evidence is absolutely clear - that mercury poisoning causes exactly the same issues seen in children who have been diagnosed with symptoms from ADHD to severe autism (and many children who have not been diagnosed). There is no doubt (based on scientific studies) that when the central nervous system is developing this is when the most damage can occur. This is why we see the autism "spectrum" expanding and more children falling under the label. Incidentally, immunizations began in 1930, about the same time the first diagnoses of autism were made. The recent huge rise in symptoms occurred due to ramping up the numbers of immunizations children were required to get beginning in 1991 (the year my daughter was born). There is a correlation between the amount of mercury and the severity of the symptoms, and the amounts far exceeded the government's own limites for mercury exposure. WHY?? That it my question.

We are fighting! Here is the letter I sent regarding this issue. Mercury is well-known to be one of the - if not the most - toxic element on earth. And mercury is STILL being put in immunizations, with the CDC promoting new "necessary" immunizations on nearly a weekly basis or encouraging more people to get flu shots (yes, there is mercury in flu shots). I have researched all of this extensively because of my daughter.

The Letter:
Thank you for writing.
Right, I agree with what you are saying - there is a predisposition for mercury in the immunizations to cause worse mitochondrial dysfunction issues for some people than for others. I suspect everyone is damaged some, others are affected more. There are many scientific studies that show mercury damages the cell mitochondria. That isn't even an issue. The issue is that the CDC does not want this linked to the mercury in immunizations. It is clear to me that the CDC is purposely trying to "muddy the waters" by putting all of these new immunizations out that still have mercury. It's mercury! How stupid can they be? And why do they keep putting it in immunizations? (to muddy the water, and what do they care if a few more people get autism or what they label as Alzheimers?)

Let me know if I can do anything else.

Vanessa