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.
Me and my kids
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Sunday, April 10, 2011
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.
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.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
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.
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.
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