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.