Day 13: 4/20/15

Blog 13

4/20/15

 

Today, I worked with Finny in the middle gymnasium.  I took out various pieces of equipment that I have found that Finny enjoys. I brought out both types of scooters he enjoys.  I also brought out bowling pins and different types of balls for Finny to use.  I have figured out rough out the semester that Finny sometimes has problems staying on task for long periods of times.  Knowing this, I try and make the activities I do for a shorter time. After Finny completes an activity I asked of him I usually give him a choice of what he would like to play with. Today, Finny was great. He could stay on task for longer than ever before. Some things we worked on was the overhand throw and underhand roll. I decided to put a spot on he floor for Finny to stand on at all times. I did this so Finny would not be as likely to dart away.  Finny did s great job with the over stand throw.  He preferred to use his left hand so I had to adjust my demonstration to b left handed. This is something I have never had to do before so, it was a good experience for me.  I also had Finny stand in with his right foot in front of his left in a proper throwing position. Next time I would like to see if I could get floor tape to practice the stance on the follow through. After quite a few trials Finny darted to the other side of the gym. I redirected him back to the spot and explained if he wanted to be done he had to use his words. I had him throw the ball two more times then we switched to the underhand roll. I had Finny set up bowling pins. Then we stood on the same spot, with the same foot stance. This transferred well for him. We used three different sized balls to roll at the targets. He was very excited when he knocked a pin down. Today was great. Finny stayed on task for long periods of time which I haven't seen before. 

Day 12:4/17/15

Blog 12

4/17/15

 

On Friday, Makenzie and I worked with Jessica again.  Jess was very excited to see us and we got right to work. We transferred Jess into the blue chair.  I was informed that she loves following people around in wheelchairs. So, Makenzie and I sat in chairs and had Jess follow us. We decided to take Jess upstairs for the majority of the hour. It took a few minutes for her to get started but with encouragement she was on the move. She would push with her one foot about 3-5 times really fast then take a break.  It was great to see that she was working so hard. She needed some assistance steering the chair but would do the majority of the pushing on her own. Either Makenzie or I would go behind Jess so she was encouraged to follow one of us. The other one of us would guide the steering of the blue chair. We noticed that Jess really enjoyed all types of people. Whenever someone would walk by she would stop and look at them until they were gone. Sometimes she would even put her hand out like she was waving to them. I encouraged this. This is a great affective piece to work on with her. We also played all kinds of music. She really got happy when she heard Taylor Swift. Overall, I am very happy with how Jess did today. She worked hard the entire time. She was always happy and engaged with people well.  I was also happy to see how Makenzie was interacting with Jess. She still was a bit shy at first but warmed up to her.  I can tell that this is changing her in a positive way.  Jess really seemed to like Makenzie and this was a great thing to see.  I am very excited to work with Jess again next week but am sad this is coming to an end. 

Day 11: 4/13/15

Blog 11

4/13/15

 

Tonight I worked with Finny.  As soon as Finny got to Sport and Splash he asked if he was going swimming.  This was consistent throughout the lesson.  Finny was very active today.  All he wanted to do is run around.  It was as if he wanted to play at tag game.  He was running away from me.  I knew that this was an inappropriate behavior for Finny so I stopped it as soon as I could.  This is not an appropriate behavior in P.E. or in life.  I was thinking and chatted with one of the Graduate Assistants.  We agreed that this behavior can be dangerous.  For instance if he was walking with his Grandpa in the parking lot and darted away a number of bad things could happen.  So, even though he was getting physical activity from running away from me it had to be stopped immediately.  I had Finny do activities that helped make this behavior difficult.  For instance we used the scooter.  If Finny got up from the scooter I would guide him to either get back on or clean up the scooter.  If he managed to dart I would flip the scooter over to make sure no one could accidently step on it then I would get Finny and make him follow through and continue with the scooter until be appropriate asked to get off. This request would have to be prompted by me.  I believe it is good to teach kids to ask to be all done with an activity.  This often is done without asking.  I think if a student is able to express their wants and needs to teachers this makes a connection between each other.  Students still need to realize that their wants may not always be met though.  Overall, I learned a lot today.  I had to put my foot down which is not something I enjoy doing but I believe it was necessary.  Discipline is something that is hard to learn.  I work in an ABA program over the summer so the method of discipline is almost always extinction or ignoring the behavior.  This is great for children in ABA but usually does not apply with others.  Telling students that their behavior is not appropriate is something I need to work on.  This is a weakness of my teaching but through experiences such as tonight I get better and better. 

Day 10 4/6/15

Blog 10

4/6/15

 

            I worked with Finny again today.  Before class I picked out a variety of equipment to use.  I think that having a variety of equipment gives me as a teacher more variety in the type of activities that I do.  I picked out two types of scooters, hula hoops, jump ropes and pool noodles.  I started off the lesson by getting down to Finny's level and telling him some things we were going to be working with today.  He explained that he was very excited to go swimming.  I changed things up today and gave Finny the choice of what equipment he wanted to start with.  He chose the scooter that he could lay down on.  He actually wanted me to start off sitting on the scooter while he pulled. I agreed and assisted him by moving my feet.  After about a minute I told Finny it was his turn.  He started laying on his belly and held onto the jump rope handles as I pulled him.  This time I decided to really make him work.  I instructed him to use him arms and pull on the rope to go faster.  He did a great job and pulled himself along.  I verbally encouraged Finny which helped motivate him even more.  I feel he got a whole lot more out of this activity than he had in the past.  Instead of me doing all the work and him just holding onto the rope he had to use his arms to maneuver himself around.  When we were on the other side of the gym Finny stopped pulling himself and darted towards our equipment.  Dr. Davis was passing through the gym and told me not to let Finny get away with this.  He instructed me to go get Finny and make him clean up his own equipment if he wanted to be all done.  I was happy that I got this criticism from Dr. Davis.  Obviously Finny has done this darting behavior before and it is something  I want to work on with him.  After we were done with the scooter we worked with the new scooter like we did last time.  After Finny wanted to be all done he started to get up and out of the scooter.  I asked Finny if he wanted to make another choice.  He said yes, I reminded him what we had to do with our equipment when we were done and he moved the scooter over to our space.  Dr. David told me that it was good to work with Finny on movements across the midline.  I wanted to give this a try so I came up with a game with the hula hoop.  I know Finny enjoys rolling the hoop so I let him have a roll then he stood in the hoop and did three different tasks that I was modeling.  I would have him touch his opposite toe, sit and reach across the midline and other tasks.  If he did not get the task I would use tactile modeling to direct him to the correct motion.  After three tasks he could roll the hoop again and we would do three more and so forth.   Overall, today went great.  I discovered more things I want to work on with Finny.  I am excited to work on these things next time!       

Day 9 4/5/15

Blog 9

4/5/15

 

            Today was Easter Sunday, I went home to spend time with my family.  During this holiday I enjoy spending time visiting my family.  Usually on holidays my Aunt Cathy comes to our house and spends time with us.  This Easter however, it wasn't possible for Aunt Cathy to come over so I decided to go visit her at her group home.  Cathy is 40 years old and has what is called Rett's.  This is a severe form of autism.  Cathy is non-verbal but expresses her feelings through facial expressions.  If Cathy is smiling it usually means she is happy.  If Cathy is showing aggressive behaviors such as hitting herself in the head or hitting other this usually means she needs something.  Today, me and my mom went to go visit Cathy and volunteer to help with Easter festivities.  While my mom helped the ladies in the kitchen set the table and so forth I worked with some of the adults in the home including my aunt.  They were all pretty relaxed watching T.V. so I tried to get everyone up and moving.  I put some music on in the room and turned the lights up.  I got my aunt to stand and walk around.  The abilities of the people in the home varied.  Some were verbal and enjoyed socializing with me.  Me and Ken a participant who was verbal threw a soft ball back and forth.  He really enjoyed this.  Although his throwing skills was still in the elementary stage he was eager to learn and he could have thrown that ball all day.  I took my aunt and another lady probably in her 30's into and exercise room.  The equipment available was limited but we used what was available.  We used exercise balls.  I had the girls take turn sitting on them and holding my hands they did sit-ups.  Overall, I think this was a different experience and I am glad that I did this.  It gave the workers at the home time to prepare Easter dinner and gave me a chance to work with the adults.    

Day 8 3/30/15

Blog 8

3/30/15

 

            Today I worked with Finny and a few of my peers.  We started the lesson by running around and racing. During this instant activity Finny did not want to follow directions and darted whatever direction he wanted.  It was almost as if he wanted me to chase him.  I did not want to encourage this darting behavior so I told Finny he had to make another choice.  He decided he wanted to use the scooter. I would pull him and he would hold onto the handles of the jump rope. He really enjoyed this. I was happy to see how Finny was using his upper body muscles to move about. He kept saying he wanted to go fast. In the gymnasium we were in there was two college students throwing a football back and forth. This is actually a type of inclusion when two groups are sharing a space. Finny wanted to play with the guys who were playing football. I had to explain to him that that was their space and this was ours. He darted over to them anyways. The students were very good with Finny. They gave them their football but I told them that we had to play in our own space. I directed Finny back to our side of the gym and explained to him about space. I told him again about the difference between our space and others space. I told him if he wanted to play with a football he just had to use his words and ask.  We eventually found a football and we practiced throwing.  I was happy to see that Finny was now staying on his side of the gym. After we were done playing football I had Finny try a new type of scooter. On this scooter he sat on his bottom and grabbed handles that he moved back and forth to move about.  I was happily surprised at how fast Finny picked this up.  He was going pretty fast and seemed to have control at all times.  He would still be sneaky and try to go on the other side of the gym.  I would just redirect him and showed him where he was allowed to go.  Overall, I think we made great progress today.  I keep discovering what Finny enjoys to do.  Next class I would like to continue to work with the new scooter.