Artifact 3 (written while student teaching)

Artifact Reflection #3

Title of Artifact: O.E.Gray Early Learning Center
Date Experienced Completed: Spring 2008

Description of Artifact:
In the spring of 2008, I took the class “Psychology of Learning”. For this class
we had service learning hours working with children who have special needs. For
my hours I worked in the three and four year old kindergarten with special needs
room at O.E.Gray Early Learning Center. Here I worked with16 children with
various mental and physical special needs. The disabilities ranged from many forms
of autism and speech impediments to missing limbs and undiagnosed cognitive
disabilities. I did early morning individual reading time, music hour, group story
time, snack time, craft time, and recess. It was wonderful. I enjoyed my time so
much that I stayed after my hours were done until the year was over. This artifact is
pictures of music time. The kids sat on large inner tubes so they could bounce
while they sang to the music. In these pictures we are singing “Itsy Bitsy Spider”
with hand actions they learned.

Wisconsin Teacher Standard Alignment:
I believe this artifact best aligns with Standard Three: Diversity. I feel this
because standard three talks about knowing that children learn differently. In this
room, we had so many different levels of learning and ability that lessons had to be
adapted individually no matter what we did. A big part of this was repetition. We
had the same schedule for everyday of the week, with slight variations within the
base schedule. Example being group stories changed on Tuesdays, or the letter
songs we sang rotated everyday. I helped on Tuesdays and some Thursdays. The
students who were higher functioning knew the schedule pretty well and even
helped us take care of the children who needed more help.
We adapted everything we did for the individual child to learn to their best
ability. Student A had an arm missing. So when we did crafts, we showed him
different ways to use the tools around him, or started the project before school so
that he didn’t have as far to go in the craft period. Student B was non-verbal and
didn’t respond to directions. We would sit with her and move her arms to the
music the same way all the other children were. By having repletion, a steady
schedule, and individual modifications for each child, the room was a successful
place for learning no matter what barriers or learning approaches they have.

University Wisconsin Platteville School of Education Knowledge, Skill,
Disposition Statement Alignment:
My artifact aligns with KSD3.e-Demonstrates flexibility and responsiveness. I
feel this because although we had a very wide range of functionality, each child
got the attention and modifications needed for their individual requirements. The
teachers knew each child well enough to know what they needed to learn. A huge
part of that is flexibility. We needed to be able to change lesson plans depending
on what kind of day the students were having, and what students were there that
day. We got the best experiences with our students because we knew what each
one needed to learn their best.

What I Learned from This Experience:
I learned that I love working with these students. Everyday was an adventure.
You had to be on your toes because you never knew what was coming next. You
never knew who was going to spill paint on themselves, or who was going to fall
asleep playing with puppets. It was good knowing that those students came to
school everyday like any other child and learned while having fun.

What I Learned About Myself as a Prospective Teacher:
I learned about individual modifications. I also learned how to put this
knowledge into a regular ed classroom. Every child deserves individual
modifications to various degrees.
I learned how some students just need a stable base and reputation. A lot of
the students will never be in regular ed classrooms full days. But when they come
into the classroom at the learning center, they know what they are going to be
doing, and leave the classroom with a feeling of accomplishment. While other
classrooms are learning colors and numbers, we were teaching the students life
skills to move on into regular ed classrooms. I learned so much from these students.