SMART GOAL 1

• In my placement I was in a class setting with a student diagnosed with ASD who is also nonverbal. During the day he requires breaks between one period and another since it is difficult for him to concentrate on one activity for a long time, which causes him stimming episodes. My goal was to create strategies that allowed me to help him based on his time needs without creating anxiety or overstimulation. Specifically, I wanted to help him to complete the activities that the other students were doing during the established time with strategies that allowed him to stay engaged and focused on what he was doing.

• To achieve my goal, I collected as much information as the educational team could provide me about the student, such as his; routine, his preferences, what kind of activities cause him anxiety, stress and/or frustration and how they manage to support him at time of crisis. This allowed me to form a personal report where I got to know the student a little more before having direct contact with him, since I could do something that altered him or disturbed his routine causing him discomfort. I properly handled the information collected, following the advice of the educators, and I was able to effectively introduced the new strategies and established a connection with the student which made it easier for us to work together and made him feel comfortable with me around him.

• A barrier that I experienced in my process of achieving this goal was the student's state of mind and also how he overcame the episodes of anxiety and work overload during the day at school. For the success of this goal, I depended undoubtedly on how the student developed himself during the day, if his mood was not the most optimal it was very difficult for him to complete the activities and I was not able to help him with the strategies that I had prepared for this purpose. A way to overcome this barrier was putting into practice the techniques that the class teacher and the EA use in times of crisis and/or emotional changes with the student, and in the cases, if I needed support I always had the opportunity to ask them for help.

• For the implementation of these strategies it was necessary for me to take personal notes to know which strategies were working and which were not, I created materials such as sketchbooks with designs of cars and buses, which are of great interest to the student, and I modified textbooks of Curious George with small notes so the student had the option of reading the papers or reading the book. In addition to this, it was possible to obtain a bus puzzle to motivate the student and a diagram of figures with the student's favorite colors to which I added velcro, so he could place them more easily on the model.

Next I will show you some of the evidence for my E-portfolio.

SMART GOAL 2

• In my placement I was in a class setting with a student diagnosed with ASD who is high functional. During the academic day, certain periods he is integrated into regular classes and the other part of the time he is in the resource classroom. This particular student talks a lot, so he gets distracted and loses track of time when trying to do activities and also tends to procrastinate in class to avoid doing his homework. My goal was to create strategies that allowed him to fulfill his duties in the established time so he would avoid the accumulation of tasks and he would be able to enjoy conversations after he finished. Specifically, I wanted to help him in the area of effective communication, since this would allow the student to communicate with the educator who was working with him in a attentive way without losing the topic that was being talked about during the lesson, even if the student required a further explanation or had questions about it.

• An important part of reaching this goal was the communication with the student's work team present in his day-to-day life, such as the teacher in the resource classroom, the EA assigned to this student, and the teachers in his regular classes. My questions were focused on how they redirect the student during the activities, what tone of voice was appropriate to use with him, how his feelings are, if they had noticed changes in his mood in the last months and what was his attitude when following direct instructions. The information that I gathered from these conversations was of great help to me in terms of establishing the strategies and being able to implement them in an effective way, always considering the abilities and needs of the student.

• A barrier that I experienced in my process of reaching this goal was the availability of the student, since he is partially present in the resource classroom where I am doing my placement, this means it shortened the time for me to put the strategies into practice. One way I used to overcome this barrier was to take better advantage of each period that we worked together without overloading the student with activities and also, to plan in advance what strategy I would use for the activity that was planned and what words on my list might be the more convenient to reinforce him.

• For the implementation of these strategies it was necessary for me to take personal notes to know which strategies were working and which were not, I modified the student's desk to make it more functional and have everything he needed to complete the activities at hand, but more importantly, he would avoid distractions. I also created a First and Then board as a reward system and a Social Story for him to understand when it is appropriate to talk and when it is not. Additionally, I made a schedule on the classroom board for him to help him to keep track of his classes and the activities he had for the day, and also it was placed at his desk as a visual reminder.

Next I will show you some of the evidence for my E-portfolio.