This is my seventh year teaching as a 4th/5th grade deaf ed teacher at Live Oak. Prior to coming to Round Rock ISD, I taught for four years at Austin ISD's Regional Day School Program for the Deaf.

As a deaf education teacher, I feel that the acquisition of language and vocabulary is crucial to a deaf student's development and success in literacy. Because of this, I incorporate a variety of language activities in my daily reading and writing lessons. One project that has been extremely successful is the "Be Responsible with Dogs" research/technology project. This project not only enables students get exposure/learn vocabulary and language structures that evolve around real-world issues, but it also allows them to collaborate with their hearing peers, develop critical thinking and problem solving skills, and utilize/develop skills in research, reading, writing, and technology. The "Be Responsible with Dogs" project follows the premise of "Problem Based Learning", which is a Round Rock ISD initiative.

"Problem-based learning (PBL) is an educational approach that organizes curriculum and instruction around carefully crafted ill-structured problems. Students gather and apply knowledge from multiple disciplines in their quest for solutions. Guided by teachers acting as cognitive coaches, they develop critical thinking, problem solving, and collaborative skills as they identify problems, formulate hypotheses, conduct data searches, perform experiments, formulate solutions and determine the best fit of solutions to the conditions of the problem. Problem-based learning enables students to embrace complexity, find relevance and joy in their learning, and enhance their capacity for creative and responsible real-world problem-solving" (Illinois Mathematics Science Academy). Click here to learn more about PBL.

There's a great deal of work involved in the project. However, the students find it highly motivating and have lots of fun. The fact that my dogs are involved in this project with the students keeps them engaged and excited about what they are learning.

To learn more about the benefits of therapy dogs in schools and clinical settings, please click on the link below.

Therapy Dog Benefits

 

Lumpi (pronounced "loompee" -- German for "little scoundrel") is a long-haired double dapple dachshund. He has been a registered Pet Partners therapy dog with the Delta Society since 2005. He is happiest when he is working with kids.

 

Buzz is a therapy dog in training. He was adopted from Central Texas Dachshund Rescue in April 2008. Buzz is a long-haired double dapple dachshund. One very special thing about Buzz is that he is deaf. He knows several signs already and is a very fast learner! He also LOVES to spend time with kids.