During my field experience I have
been interacting with the lead teacher, the assistant and the agency pathologist.
These people are of so much help when
answering my questions and they are accessible when I’m doing my observations.
The classroom that I’m observing has four teachers for 12 children, the atmosphere
is very pleasant and the teachers have great communication skills. One thing
that I really love about this classroom is that teachers are nurturing to the
children. Each time a teacher talks to a child the teacher bend down to the
child’s eye level and talk to the child with respect and in a passive tone of
voice. Even when it’s time to change a
diaper the teacher approaches the child and asked for permission to check the diaper.
One scene that I was able to observe is when the teacher was about to change
the diaper of a child with special needs. The teacher approached the child and
said “Hi P. I see that you are playing with the trucks it looks like you are
having fun” (the child looked at the teacher) then the teacher continued
talking to the child “P can I check your diaper? I think you need a diaper change”
P didn’t responded verbally but he stared at the teacher and smile. The teacher
proceeds by taking the child to the changing table holding both of his hands
and helped him to walk up the stairs from the changing table. During the entire
process of diaper change the teacher talked to the child about what she was doing
and maintained eye contact with him.
The lead teacher told me that “P”
is a child with special needs who receives developmental therapy, physical
therapy and speech therapy. The child came to the agency 8 months ago and since
the first day she noticed that “P” wasn’t developing typically according a child
of his age. She stated that she didn’t wait until the 45 days required to make
the first ASQ to the child; instead she administered the ASQ as soon as possible and wrote some observations
then she talked to P’s mom and asked her if she had any concerns, as well she
share her observations. P’s mom had the same concerns the teacher had and she
really wanted help from the teacher. The lead teacher and the family support
specialist collected all the evidence they have (ASQ’s, daily observations, and
the referral consent from the mother) and called the department of early intervention.
Usually early intervention services has 45 days to evaluate the child but because
the child’s mother, the teacher and the family support specialist were working
together and communicating constantly EI services therapist came to evaluate
the child in less than two weeks. During the evolution the lead teacher and the
family support specialist were asked by the mom to stay in the evaluation
because that way she felt supported.
One insight that I gained is that
communication is a key factor when working with children. In the previous
scenario we can see that there was a lot of communication between the teacher,
family support specialist and the family of this child. Thanks to the excellent
communication skills the child was able to get the services he needed as soon
as possible and have a better opportunity in life. The teacher also thought me
that when you really care about the children you need to advocate for them and
do the impossible to offer the same opportunities to all the children.
Rosario
ReplyDeleteCan you please change the title of your blog from ECE 450 to your name/topic?
Rosario:
ReplyDeleteIt appears that you had a real pleasant experience with a very professional, warm and caring teacher. I like the fact that you said this teacher talked completely through the process of what was going to happen next to the child. One quality rule of thumb when working with children, is that anything that affects them, we need to discuss with them. This builds a respectful, warm and caring relationship with them. Also, sometimes there are many missed curriculum opportunities when changing children. In talking through next steps this teacher was building math skills, through teaching sequential relationships through activities. We need to take what affects a good deal of the child's time, and use it to build math, literacy and other important skills. Thanks for sharing your experience:)
Communication is a very vital component when establishing and maintaining positive relationships with children and their families. It was good that the parent expressed her concerns about her child's developmental delays. Some parents sometime become defensive and/or in a denial state and in the end, the child suffers. It was great to hear that this particular parent wanted and receive services to enhance her child's development growth.
ReplyDeleteThis program sounds like such a loving program. It is nice to ask kids questions because it helps with communication skills and decision making skills.
ReplyDelete