Background
Description
Reflective Essay
On my first day in the classroom for this opportunity, I was given a binder that had information regarding the student’s information. I was able to go through and see each student’s strengths and needs, what goals were being worked on, and what approaches were recommended when working with them. I read through the school’s procedures should an event happen and how to handle the situation. I read who each student normally works with or who is around periodically throughout the week. I was introduced to the faculty who were present and see the work they were doing with the students.
My site for my service-learning foundation was at a middle School. During my time there, I was able to interact with special ed teachers, paraeducators and therapist along with their students. I have had opportunities to see sessions play out and see how these students interacted with their teachers/therapist. The typical age range of the students was from 12-15. Each student has the opportunity of having a specific therapist. A few students, including ones I have worked with have music therapy and others have speech therapy. For students who have music therapy, they have sessions one-two times throughout the week. Others may see their speech therapist a few more times throughout the week along with their paras and special ed teachers. The students in the classroom have autism and demonstrate a variety of needs that require a low, medium, or high range of support, depending on the student.
For students who engage with speech therapy, I see it very beneficial for communication. It will benefit the students in a classroom setting and may help them when they are out in the community. The middle school believes an essential trait, such as speech can carry on into a student’s life when having a direct conversation, answering a question, or making a statement.
An idea for a non-music experience would be to reflect on the people in the environment while taking a supervised walk in or outside of the school. The student and para/therapist/special ed would be able to engage the student into observing the school environment and think about what appealed to them the most about the school. They would be able to think of their favorite teachers or favorite things to do while being in school. If they have friends or peers they’re close to, they have an opportunity to express that as well.
For the site of the school’s needs, an intervention could be worked on to improve listening and following directions. An activity could be done where the student is playing an instrument, (e.g., a drum) and the therapist will tell student to play holding the drum over their head or close to their feet. They may prompt them to stand up and walk to a destination while playing, such as a water fountain. For this activity, the student will need to play close attention to the directions given.
To keep up with the progress of a student, I would have sheets to track how many times they followed a direction. I would also keep track of how often I would have to repeat myself to the student when giving an instruction. I would call it a success if I would have to repeat myself only once. Also if the student did a task as soon as he’s prompted.
I would hope to gain as much accommodating modifications in doing an intervention like this. Should things not go the way as I’d hope, I’d like to look at other ways in which this goal could be met.