Blog 15: 4/21/15

Blog 15

4/21/15

 

During the second session I wondered from gym to gym and ended up in the Sims lab.  Lesley and I observed Pat work with a young girl named Brianna.  Brianna's mom was also observing.  Pat did a great job with Brianna throughout the entire lesson.  He was enthusiastic and cared greatly about Briannas progress.  Both him and Bri were having a great time.  It was great to see someone so passionate with a student.  Pat knew tricks about Brianna that most would not know.  He knew if you pretended to sneeze she would giggle so hard.  He knew if you whispered "shh" into Brianna's ear she would light up.  Getting to know students is key and this is the biggest thing I took away from Pat's lesson.  I also enjoyed the system Pat was using with Bri.  He knew that she loved running up the incline mat and jumping off.  So, he used this as an award system.  He would do an activity such as kicking a ball.  After she did this a certain amount of time she would get the reward of the mat.  Brianna is a semi-verbal student.  What I mean by this is she can speak certain words or sounds but cannot yet put full sentences together.  Pat worked on literacy without even realizing it.  Before Brianna could go up the mat he had her say up.  This was an easy word for Bri.  Before she went down the mat he had her point down toward the ground and say down.  This word was a little harder for Bri but she would say the "d" sound pretty well.  I was wondering during the lesson if she used a PECS system at school or home.  Or, does her mom understand most of her wants and needs.  I think it might be a good idea to introduce a system like PECS with Bri so she can express her wants and needs to everyone.  I was truly enlightened by this lesson.  I give Pat all the praise I can.  You can tell he is very passionate and enjoys working with Brianna.  This was also my first time in the SIMS lab so I liked seeing the different things available there.