Today was day ten of our Belize adventure. It was an
important day because it marked the first day we were in our classrooms to see
how the children and teachers function on an everyday basis. The goal of today
was to observe the teacher, interact with the students, and to supplement to
the lessons. The classroom I was placed in was the older autistic ranging from
ages 10-16 years old. In the morning, the children are told to sit
and place their backpacks on their chairs and wait for the other children
to arrive. I instantly noticed the need for an introduction activity to keep
busy while the other students arrive. I spoke with the teacher to get a feel
for how the classroom management was handled. She said that many of the
students throw tantrums. In my experience children with autism generally throw
tantrums because they do not have the language skills to express their needs.
She told me the schedule and how what she does for math. Math is done on a very
basic level by counting and sequencing numbers 1-10, however I noticed she only
gave cards to two students. She explained the other students do not comprehend
well so she just bypasses the skill. I took note oaf the children so they would
be included, simple manipulatives can help increase the comprehension.
After math, the teacher began writing skills such as tracing their name and letters. I instantly noticed only three students were given paper and pencils. The teacher said that many of the students either ate the crayons or wouldn't hold the pencils. I decided to make some outlines of the students and helped L. trace the letters using the hand over hand technique and he was successful and proud. One of the students M., left early and the teacher explained it was for physical therapy for stretching. This particular child had fine motor and gross motor problems and displayed rigidity in his arms hands and feet.
After writing it was break time where the children had snack brought from home and allowed to play outside. I like that the break was implemented so the children could take a "brain break" from the academic tasks before beginning more learning. I feel if children in the US were given this break attention spans and learning productivity may be increased. During the break I did notice that there was no structured play modeled or supervised.
The bell rang and the children headed back to the classrooms for learning. The teacher allowed my partner and I to work on language activities with the students to better bond and assess the children. My goal was to work on life skills and to make sure that no child was sitting without something productive at their desk. One student randomly stood up and grabbed the pointing stick and pointed and said every letter of the alphabet, numbers and days of week on the wall. One student who was extremely shy and did not engage sat and did the bedroom/ bathroom categorization began to imitate. I completed this task by placing the desired item next to my face so the student had to look up and so he could watch my mouth to see how the mouth moves to form the sounds. I explained to the teacher to give each child some busy work such as puzzles, coloring, and blocks. I explained that if each child has some type of activity then she can focus on addressing each student one at a time.
The bell rang for lunch at 12:00 and the children went down for hot lunches freshly prepared. At lunch I got the opportunity to share and hear about classroom experiences from my peers. One of my classmates shared how she performed and oral mechanism examination. She noted that the tongue almost looked cleft on the dorsal section. This student also had groping, no intra oral pressure , and limited tongue range of motion. I found that sharing experiences at lunch was exciting and provided a chance for learning about all different children.
After lunch the bell rang and the children returned to class. When we returned the home economics teacher was there to help provide services for activities of daily living. The teacher decided to bring in fresh items to make some juice. This teacher was great at managing the children. She introduced the three materials, cucumber , ginger root, and lime. The selection of materials was appropriate for the children. She was wonderful at naming and describing everything. The children helped cut, pour, and mix the juice. I enjoyed watching this skill as did the children. The sense of pride they showed to drink something they made was heart warming. I looked around for materials and noticed there was a lot to work with. This went to show that having materials does nothing if you do not learn how to implement the tools for efficient and successful learning.
Today was overall very rewarding and challenging. I left with numerous ideas of how to help the teacher. Materials that would be functional to the teacher and the students.
After math, the teacher began writing skills such as tracing their name and letters. I instantly noticed only three students were given paper and pencils. The teacher said that many of the students either ate the crayons or wouldn't hold the pencils. I decided to make some outlines of the students and helped L. trace the letters using the hand over hand technique and he was successful and proud. One of the students M., left early and the teacher explained it was for physical therapy for stretching. This particular child had fine motor and gross motor problems and displayed rigidity in his arms hands and feet.
After writing it was break time where the children had snack brought from home and allowed to play outside. I like that the break was implemented so the children could take a "brain break" from the academic tasks before beginning more learning. I feel if children in the US were given this break attention spans and learning productivity may be increased. During the break I did notice that there was no structured play modeled or supervised.
The bell rang and the children headed back to the classrooms for learning. The teacher allowed my partner and I to work on language activities with the students to better bond and assess the children. My goal was to work on life skills and to make sure that no child was sitting without something productive at their desk. One student randomly stood up and grabbed the pointing stick and pointed and said every letter of the alphabet, numbers and days of week on the wall. One student who was extremely shy and did not engage sat and did the bedroom/ bathroom categorization began to imitate. I completed this task by placing the desired item next to my face so the student had to look up and so he could watch my mouth to see how the mouth moves to form the sounds. I explained to the teacher to give each child some busy work such as puzzles, coloring, and blocks. I explained that if each child has some type of activity then she can focus on addressing each student one at a time.
The bell rang for lunch at 12:00 and the children went down for hot lunches freshly prepared. At lunch I got the opportunity to share and hear about classroom experiences from my peers. One of my classmates shared how she performed and oral mechanism examination. She noted that the tongue almost looked cleft on the dorsal section. This student also had groping, no intra oral pressure , and limited tongue range of motion. I found that sharing experiences at lunch was exciting and provided a chance for learning about all different children.
After lunch the bell rang and the children returned to class. When we returned the home economics teacher was there to help provide services for activities of daily living. The teacher decided to bring in fresh items to make some juice. This teacher was great at managing the children. She introduced the three materials, cucumber , ginger root, and lime. The selection of materials was appropriate for the children. She was wonderful at naming and describing everything. The children helped cut, pour, and mix the juice. I enjoyed watching this skill as did the children. The sense of pride they showed to drink something they made was heart warming. I looked around for materials and noticed there was a lot to work with. This went to show that having materials does nothing if you do not learn how to implement the tools for efficient and successful learning.
Today was overall very rewarding and challenging. I left with numerous ideas of how to help the teacher. Materials that would be functional to the teacher and the students.
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