Final Reflection

This course has been very informative. The first thing that comes to mind is that I am so thankful for that required technology course that I had to take at the beginning of my courses! It has come in so useful! The research paper has been a process of learning. I have had a child with a speech/language IEP this entire school year, and I know that he is pulled out for speech therapy once a week, but the requirements of this course and the course competencies have really helped me to be involved in what he is working on over there across the hall! I can say I have become very involved and informed about his specific IEP goals and what goes into the process of helping him reach his goals. I realize now that the classroom teacher is responsible for helping him reach the goals, and not just the paraprofessional who works with him.

I have enjoyed learning about adaptive equipment, and particularly liked the process of creating the adaptive book. I chose one of my son's favorite books, and I have let him listen to me read the book via powerpoint as well as used it for my target child to work on goals. The task analysis project was also useful to my day to day classroom activities. I have posted task analysis posters at the water table, on the bathroom doors, and at the shoe lace cube so that students will have step-by-step directions for everyday tasks that some of them struggle with. When we had our ECERS evaluation last year, we were docked points for children not following the correct procedures at the water table (particularly washing before and after play). Since the task analysis poster has been up, they have been washing more regularly by having a visual reminder.

I also liked learning about the concept of embedding goals into the curriculum and everyday activities. We take goals for each child, called individualizations and based on results from LAP-3 (Learning Accomplishment Profile-3) testing, and place these on each lesson plan. It is often challenging to work on individual goals for each child each week in addition to a number of curriculum themes that we are expected to cover (mental health, safety, food and nutrition, kindergarten readiness, etc.). Embedding goals is something that I was already doing, but was glad to have gotten more information on this topic in this class. There are so many learning opportunities in our day-to-day interactions at school, and it is important to recognize them and use the opportunities.

This course was very informative and gave an overview of many disabilities. I found it challenging but very useful in my career as a Pre-k teacher.

Assistive Technology

I am really enjoying creating my classroom book on power point as a form of assistive technology. My target student has a speech disability, so hearing the book read will be very valuable to him.  I also have many ESL students (half of my class), so hearing the book will be good for their reading comprehension as well. There is a website that we use often in class, http://www.starfall.com which has a number of books and a narrator reads them out loud. We have been using this website all year, and it has improved reading comprehension for the ESL students. I chose the book "Hey! Wake Up!" by Sandra Boynton, and have added sound to it. This is a personal favorite of my son at 21 months old, and my daughter loved it at that age as well.

I use other forms of assistive technology in class daily. Everything is labeled, and the word wall has pictures along with the words. The classroom rules are posted with pictures of the expected behaviors. I have also implemented the task analysis for shoe tying, and I intend to place other of these task analysis boards throughout the classroom to show expected behaviors. I intend to create one on table manners, as this is a real issue in the classroom. Our Speech Pathologist who comes in once a week to work with the three students with IEPs uses her iPad for assistive technology, to repeat words so that the students can have instant feedback about how they are pronouncing the words and can correct themselves. She also has a number of "games" on the iPad for speech correction. I feel I have a clear idea of how to implement assistive technology so that it is useful to my students in the classroom.

Task Analysis

For the task analysis project, I have several skills that still need to be taught to my pre-kindergarteners regarding their kindergarten readiness skills.  I am choosing a step-by-step guide to tying shoes.  This is one of the skills that several are "ready" according to their chronological age and their self-help domain ability (per LAP-3, Learning Accomplishment 3 testing results) to tackle, so I am going to use the task analysis to instruct children how to tie shoes.

I found a step my step guide online at http://behavioradvisor.ipower.com, as follows:
Tying shoes
Pinch the laces.
Pull the laces.
Hang the ends of the laces from each side of the shoe.
Pick up the laces in each hand.
Lift the laces above the shoe.
Cross the right lace over the left one to form a tepee.
Bring the left lace toward the student.
Pull the left lace through the tepee.
Pull the laces away from one another.
Bend the left lace to form a loop.
Pinch the right lace over the fingers and around the loop.
Push the right lace through the hole.
Pull the loops away from one another.

Of course, my pre-k classroom students are pre-readers, so I will make corresponding pictures with a digital camera and place on poster board in sequential order.  A task analysis is great for letting the children know exactly what is expected of them and the outcome of their efforts.  This is also a task that I can set up in the manipulatives area and have the children work on as they wish.  They are likely to be more successful if they are able to recall their steps by having a visual reminder, and also if they are able to take ownership of the task and work along at it at their own pace.  There is a cube at Smart Start I plan to borrow along with my task analysis that has laces on 4 sides so children can sit around it and work on tying by themselves.  Many children have velcro or slide on shoes these days, so the cube will make sure no one is left out of practicing this skill.

Cook, R., Klein, M., and Tessier, A. (2008). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with
     Special Needs. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.  Pearson Education.


McCulloch, C. (January 16, 2011).  Retrieved from http://www.brighthub.com.

Communication Skills

My focus child Lucas has speech and language delays, so using the 8 communication strategies as a way to get Lucas to communicate verbally will be very helpful.  Lucas is not a shy child by temperament, but if he says something and can't be understood right away, he tends to get embarrassed and will be less likely to use his words when communicating the next time.  Often he is reduced to pointing or gesturing for what he wants, like when he is asked to select his helper position in front of the group during circle time.  I can take this opportunity during circle time to use the choice strategy on Lucas. I would ask, "Lucas, would you like to be line leader or feed our fish?"  That way I am modeling correct pronunciation for Lucas before he makes his choice, and also prompting him to answer.

During center time, I could use manding on Lucas to ask him open-ended questions about his play that do not require a "yes" or "no" response.  For instance, if he were in blocks I could say, "Can you tell me about what you are building?" and then I could expand on my questions with follow ups as he responds.

As the power point presentation pointed out, snack time is a perfect time to work on inadequate portions.  I could only give Lucas a few of a favorite snack such as goldfish, and then remain accessible, waiting on Lucas to request more.  In addition, I could also provide Lucas with inadequate materials while playing or working on an art project.  I could provide him with one googly eye so that he would have to ask for another!

Unexpected events are great ways to bridge communication because the age group that I teach are so inquisitive and very aware when new materials or unexpected activities occur during their routine school day.  March 17 comes to mind when I had lots of props in the classroom and led the children to believe that we had been visited by a leprechaun!  Lucas had lots of questions and commentary about this, as did all of his peers! 

Lastly, I use commenting and expanding often with children, so this will come very naturally when trying to incorporate this with Lucas.  I use these strategies often as a social tool as well.  For instance, if I see Lucas behave inappropriately, I will come over and describe the event such as, "Lucas, I see that you are using your hands on our friend Jaylin.  How do you think that makes him feel?  Can you think of another way you could let Jaylin know he is frustrating you?"  I would use these strategies in more routine activities, too, such as a simple comment of, "Lucas, you are washing your hands.  Now you are ready to go to the carpet."

Cook, R., Klein, M., and Tessier, A. (2008).  Adapting Early Childhood Curriculu for Children with
     Special Needs.  Pearson Education, Inc. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.

Social Story

I am going to focus on my target child's issue of hitting.  He is not  overly aggressive, but he has problems keeping his hands to himself and it is often an issue with other children.  It is a disruptive habit and it causes the other children to tell on him often, or often results in rough-housing in which someone gets hurt. 

In observations, I have noticed that the antecedents seem to be transition times.  When he is in the process of a task, such as engaging in circle time or playing in centers, he is very much engaged and on task.  But when we are cleaning up to come to the carpet for circle time, or cleaning up for lunch, or lining up to go outside he uses those opportunities to wrestle and hit other boys.  Many of the other boys seem to be more mature than my target child, and they know that this is not the time for play, so they either tell me or try to disengage him.  This is causing a problem for him socially, because the boys are beginning to keep a distance from him to make sure that they are implicated in the rough-housing.  Of course the behavior is hitting, slapping, or wrestling.  The consequence is often just a verbal "calling down" by me or the assistant teacher.  In terms of consequences, I'm not sure what the child is getting out of it because for the most part the other boys do not enjoy this and do not engage. 

Regarding my target child's temperament, he exhibits negative persistence.  He can be whiny and nagging and will not "let go" of a topic very easily.  I also see that he has some impulsivity issues, so he has trouble controlling himself when the urge to attack someone strikes him.  According, to Jane Nelson (1999), time out only works temporarily to stop the behavior at that moment, but for long term results positive reinforcement is going to have to be used to "end the power struggle" in the classroom.  She argues that time out fosters resentment from the child, which leads to rebellion.  I do employ time out for aggressive physical attacks, but for target child's brand of hitting and wrestling, I will try other methods.

I will make sure that my days are consistent.  They are, for the most part, and our daily schedule is posted (with pictures).  I am going to be assigning target child specific duties during transition, for example I will ask him to put the legos in the bin and then go to the carpet and look at one book until all friends are finished rather than saying simply "clean up."  I may have to be close to him in proximity for a while to make sure he is on task.  And he has already moved up to the front row near me in circle time.

Cook, R., Klein, M., and Tessier, A., (2008).  Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs.  Upper Saddle River, NJ:  Pearson Prentice Hall.

Nelson, J., (1999).  Positive Time-Out.  Rocklin, CA:  Prima Publishing.

Tureki, S., (1985).  The Difficult Child. New York: Random House.

Embedding Goals Into Activities

When considering the goals of special needs children with IEPs in the classroom, it is important to remember that there is no special time for working on their learning objectives.  Learning should be taking place all day, every day, for all children whether they are typically developing or have special needs.  Learning should be embedded into play activities and the tools for learning should be accessible in play centers.  The children should be given free reign of their environment, and encouraged to explore and work on their goals while playing, doing their routines, and interacting with other children.  If the day is carefully planned for and the lesson plans are written very thoughtfully, the day should flow smoothly and the teacher should be able to observe the goals being met, without actually instructing the child to meet specific goals.  Instruction via lecture is not appropriate nor as effective as embedding the goals in the natural environment.

An example of embedding goals in my classroom would be our address bingo, since one of our Kindergarten readiness goals is to know our address.  We also have little shoes for the baby dolls, since a fine motor goal of many of the five year olds in my class is to tie shoes.  We have all kinds of cognitive activities in our manipulative area, with games where we make patterns from color beads, match colored bears to their corresponding houses, and match shapes into corresponding holes.  There are social/emotional goals going on all day, simultaneous with other goals during play with friends.  Literature activities can contain all sorts of goals regarding language and cognition.  The child can be asked to retell the story in correct sequence (in their words), or hypothesize what they might think happens next, or identify how the characters might be feeling (social/emotional). 

Embedding goals into the lesson plans and daily activities is much the same for the student with an IEP.  Those goals should be considered, and some activities may have to be modified for the student with special needs.  For instance, a child with a visual impairment may need a braille text in order for a cognitive or language goal to be assessed.  The goals must always be individualized in this case.  In my classroom, I am a More at Four Teacher and we have "individualizations" for all 18 students, plus additional goals for three children with IEPs.  You can see the overwhelming nature of the task if I were to pull each child out separately each week to work on their weekly individualization.  Therefore, as a matter of practicality, I have to embed the goals in their learning activities.  I have a number of children who have a fine motor individualization goal of cutting a line.  We will place paper lantern templates in the art area for those who wish to do them, and the children can practice cutting pre-traced lines to make their lanterns.  Therefore, I can observe if the goal is met rather than testing individuals constantly.

Progress Monitoring and Collection

Goals and objectives in the IEP (Individualized Education Plan) should be individualized and measurable.  These IEP goals should be clear to anyone working with the child.  The task to be completed and the expected outcome should be clear as well.  If the objectives are clear, then monitoring the progress toward these goals is undoubtedly a crucial step.  Progress monitoring shows the small progress made over the course of days and weeks of working on the goals.  Sometimes in working with special needs children, progress may be slow, so it is crucial that teachers and other professionals (psychologists, speech and language pathologists, etc.) be able to monitor progress and see that the child is obtaining new skills as a result of the individualized teaching that is taking place.

Progress monitoring has other practical uses, other than the obvious which is to monitor the progress towards the goal.  Progress monitoring can also be used to help develop curriculum.  While IEPs are by definition to be "individualized", there may be similarities in the nature of disabilities based on the diagnosis, and developing specific goals and objectives to be used to monitor progress for one child with a speech delay may prove to be useful for another child, so progress monitoring can give a teacher specific tasks to work on with a number of children.  Progress monitoring may also be used to identify children who are not making adequate progress.  This is important because the IEP team meets annually to review the goals, and if progress is not being made, the team needs to know this and be able to try other methods to help the child. Perhaps adaptive equipment will be needed, or another type of professional may need to be called in.  The child may even need another placement so the LRE will need to be reconsidered.

Progress monitoring is done relatively frequently, on a daily or weekly basis.  The classroom teacher gets immediate feedback as to whether or not the goal has been met.  In progress monitoring, 80% or 8 of 10 trials is usually seen as "proficient" on a task, regarding IEP goals.  10 of 10 or 100% is seen as "mastery level" on a goal.  Progress monitoring is an instant way to give the teacher feedback on whether or not the student is successful toward meeting the goal.  The student gets feedback on his/her progress as well.  The teacher is able to "tweak" the curriculum if needed to help the student understand and meet the goal, or to determine and report if progress is not being made toward the goal over time.  When the student begins to make progress, that progress can be tracked and quantified until proficiency is met.  Therefore, the progress monitoring is a crucial and practical step in meeting the goals of the IEP.

Cook, Ruth E., Klein, M. Diane, and Tessier, A., (2008). Adapting Early Childhood Curricula for Children with Special Needs. New Jersey: Pearson Education, Inc.

Hosp, Michelle and Donaldson, Whitney, (2004). What Progress Monitoring Can Do for You. 15th Annual CASE Conference.