Developing Skills Checklist And Strategies For Student Learning

Question 7c:

Describe the action plans/task analysis that you are going to use to help the student to develop the skill.  

Answer:                          TASK ANALYSIS

 Introduction

Sam is a student of Year 3 and lives with his single mother. He needs assistance in reading every time and his mother has had tough times making him read. However, she manages to keep her calm and help Sam read. Further, he also had difficulties reading simple words like dog, cat, apple, etc. Sam’s mother states that he tries hard to read and cries when he cannot. He feels low in confidence and he is gradually losing interest in reading or even communicating. Our objective in school is to bring back the confidence in Sam and help him read confidently.

Problem

We help children learn different recipes and prepare those by themselves.  However, it becomes extremely difficult for us to read aloud the recipe book and then explain it to each student. The process also consumes time and energy. Therefore, it becomes a lot easier for both students and teachers if the students are able to read and comprehend the recipe book. The ‘find the next item’ is an interesting and simple activity to allow students read from the recipe book without adult help.

Goal

The goal I have decided to achieve for Sam is to have him read the recipe book successfully without any supervision. I am expecting Sam to read at least five items a day and understand what the words mean. The goal shall be achieved with one successful completion of the activity. Sam’s achievement can then be measured by observing the way he gazes at the recipe book and reads the items.

Implementation

I will involve Sam in preparing a dish, something that he loves to eat. Then, I will ask him to find the next item needed to prepare the dish from the recipe book and recite it to me.

The ‘Find the next item’ activity

§  Find a recipe book with visuals

§  Bring it to the class

§  Ask the students about their favorite dish

§  Assist the teacher in preparing the dish

§  Read out the items of the recipe one by one

§  Find the next item and read it aloud to the teacher

Outcome

Sam was excited to read the items from the recipe book and help me prepare the dish. Initially he had problems reading the items. I had to read it aloud for Sam to follow me. I also had to point out the visuals that referred to the item for Sam to understand. Once he was able to grasp the meaning of the items, it was easier for him to read. The next day I observed that Sam was already prepared to indulge in the activity and excited to read out the items. It was not easy for him as he initially showed me the pictures of the items from the recipe book. Gradually, he was confident enough to read.

Was it effective? Was it ineffective? What I should try differently?

I assisted Sam for the next two weeks to help him go through all the words in the book. By the end of those two weeks, Sam was able to read and understand most words in the book and even instruct me while I was cooking a recipe. The next step for me would be to help him read with confidence in front of the entire class. I would prepare further action plans and implement those in order to make him confident in reading. By the end of this month, Sam will be able to help his mother cook his favorite dishes.

Question 7d:

Describe the strategies that you are going to use to help the student to develop the skill.  

Answer: Strategies for life skill development of Sam

Question 7e:

Describe the resources and/or equipment that you are going to use to help the student to develop the skill. Attach photographs of the resources and/or equipment.

Answer: The resources needed for helping Sam include:

Technology and equipment – None

Books – A recipe book for children

Question 7f:

Implement your plan. No input needed for this part of the question

Question 7g:

Evaluate the progress of the student to the SMART goal that you have set in Part B. Attach a pre and post evidence.

Answer: I am using the anecdotal record to evaluate Sam’s progress with reference to the SMART goal that I had prepared.

Date 26/07/2018

Within two weeks of working on the goal, Sam has demonstrated remarkable improvement. He was asked to read aloud his book of poem at first, which he did with much difficulty. In addition, he even tried to avoid reading by giving the excuse of not feeling well.  I asked Sam to go home and ask his mother to read aloud the recipe book while he rests and recite me one recipe the next day. He failed to recite the recipe but I did not discourage him. Instead, I indulged him in practical activities like the ‘find the next item’. He seemed very much interested in the activity.

I utilized his excitement and arranged increased cooking classes so that Sam could take part. In two weeks, I could see Sam confidently read out the recipes. His mother also said that Sam very actively helps her cook.

Question 7h:

Inform the progress to your teacher. What did your teacher say?.

Answer: When I informed the teacher about Sam’s progress, she was very impressed with my planning and strategies. However she said that I must develop a more solid action plan involving more activities.

Question 7i:

Reflection: What have you done well?

Answer: I have been able to incorporate an action plan that goes well with the student’s specific requirement. Further, I have succeeded in ddeveloping a good bond with Sam as he feels happy to indulge in activities with me.

Question 7j:

Reflection: What will you do differently next time?

Answer: When I get the opportunity to involve in similar task, I will make sure that I implement a better SMART goal that could include more activities. In addition, I would also use better strategies to achieve the goals.

·         Develop, implement and monitor a skill development plan, using a person-centred approach, for a student who needs social and/or emotional skill.

·         The student identified has to be different from Questions 7 and 9.

Question 8a:

Identify a student in the class (with additional needs) who needs social and/or emotional skill..

Provide brief information about the student. (Chronological age, developmental age, gender, diagnosis if any, etc) 

Answer: The student who has been identified having special needs in terms of social skills is Samantha McBride.

Student Information

Chronological age: 11 years

Developmental age: 6 years

Gender: Female

Diagnosis: Yes. Samantha was diagnosed with PDD-NOS i.e., Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified.

Question 8b:

In discussion with your teacher and the student, identify one social and/or emotional skill that is needed for the student. Write down a SMART goal for the social and/or emotional skill.

Answer: The social skill of Samantha that will be developed using the SMART Goal is active listening.

Question 8c:

Describe the action plans/task analysis that you are going to use to help the student to develop the skill.  

Answer: TASK ANALYSIS

Introduction

Samantha is an 11-year old student from Australia’s Northern Territory and attends vocational and social skills school. She is diagnosed with PDD-NOS and lives with her parents. Samantha has severe issues communicating with others outside her family. At school as well, she rarely speaks with anyone and her response in the classroom is close to nothing. Her parents say that she has exceptional talent in singing but she is too shy to sing in front of others. We at school are hoping to increase her listening skills by building an environment of trust.

Problem

In our school, we allow each student to express and share their thoughts and experiences in with everyone. With Samantha, it is difficult to teach collaboratively as she hardly ever responds. She just sits by herself at a corner. If she listens carefully in the class and raises her hand if she knows the answer to something or wants to ask questions, it becomes easier for us to proceed smoothly. However, with the ‘what happened in the way to school’ activity, we hope to raise Samantha’s interest and improve her listening skill.

Goal

I have made the decision to start with short-term goals that would help Samantha achieve her long-term goal. At first, I would try to create an environment where she could trust people and feel comfortable. This would ensure that she is able to communicate effectively in the classroom and share her thoughts. The activity ‘what happened in the way to school’ would make it interesting thus motivating her to participate.

Implementation

I will role-play as a student, sit beside Samantha and allow other students to share their stories to the class. I will then make gestures like leaning forward, changing facial expressions and so on demonstrating an interest in the stories.

The ‘What happened in the way to school’ activity

§  Observe as each student shares his or her story

§  Express which story was the most interesting

§  Name the characters by self

§  Find out if there were any flaws in the story

§  Share your experience of what happened while coming to school

§  Respond to questions from other listeners

Outcome

Samantha felt uneasy at first when I sat beside her to listen to the stories. However, when the activity began, I noticed her observing me and then listen to the narrators more interestedly. When her turn to share her experience came, she was reluctant at first. I did not force her and let other students complete their stories. Lastly, she agreed to tell her story. She successfully narrated her story and I even noticed that many elements of her story were inspired by the stories told previously by other students. This showed that she did listen actively.

Task effectiveness, ineffectiveness and future considerations

The activity continued for one week and by the end of the week, I observed Samantha actively participating in discussions with some of the students. Although she was yet to feel completely free, the progress was commendable. In future I would make sure that I do not abruptly ask her to involve in any activity rather wait for her to gel nicely with everyone.

Question 8d:

Describe the strategies that you are going to use to help the student to develop the skill.  

Answer:

Question 8e:

Describe the resources and/or equipment that you are going to use to help the student to develop the skill. Attach photographs of the resources and/or equipment.

Answer: The activity required no resources or equipments for being implemented.

Question 8f:

Implement your plan. No input needed for this part of the question

Question 8g:

Evaluate the progress of the student to the SMART goal that you have set in Part B. Attach a pre and post evidence.

Answer: Jottings as the method for evaluation were used to assess Samantha’s progress.

Date 13/07/2018

Today, Samantha came to the class and sat alone at a corner seat in the classroom. She looked fearful and shy. When prompted to come to the front, she obliged although looked irritated.

Date 20/07/2018

Samantha has been exchanging one or two words with one of her classmates. When I announced about the activity, she had little or no response to it although other children demonstrated keen interest.

Date 21/07/2018

When the activity commenced, I sat beside Samantha and that made her a bit hesitant and uncomfortable. However, by the end of the first day’s activity, she seemed to show interest.

30/07/2018

Samantha has shown remarkable improvement from the first day of the task. She narrated two stories in all and even responded to the stories shared by her peers.

Question 8h:

Inform the progress to your teacher. What did your teacher say?.

Answer: I described the progress of Samantha to my teacher and her response was very good. She appreciated my effort and said that the activity I had planned is perfect for students like her.

Question 8i:

Reflection: What have you done well?

Answer: I have done well to make friends with Samantha and gain her trust. In addition, I have also made it possible for her to interact freely with the class by motivating other students to treat her nicely and showing their trust on her.

Question 8j:

Reflection: What will you do differently next time?

Answer: Next time when I am given the chance to involve in such tasks again, I will try to think of other activities that go beyond the classroom.

·         Develop, implement and monitor a skill development plan, using a person-centred approach, for a student who needs academic or vocational skill.

·         The student identified has to be different from Questions 8 and 9.

Question 9a:

Identify a student in the class (with additional needs) who needs academic or vocational skill.

Provide brief information about the student. (Chronological age, developmental age, gender, diagnosis if any, etc) 

Answer: The student is Linda McGrath, a special needs child requiring assistance in developing one of her vocational skill, which is playing a musical instrument – violin.

Student Information

Chronological age: 8 years

Developmental age: 8 years

Gender: Female

Diagnosis: None

Question 9b:

In discussion with your teacher and the student, identify one academic or vocational skill that is needed for the student. Write down a SMART goal for the academic or vocational skill.

Answer: The skill in which Linda is good at but needs further assistance is reading skill

Question 9c:

Describe the action plans/task analysis that you are going to use to help the student to develop the skill.  

Answer:                                 TASK ANALYSIS

Introduction

Linda McGrath is a student having interest in creating stories at the young age of 8 years. She resides with her grandparents. She is a differently able child who had lost her legs due to some illness. Linda has inferiority complex and feels that she is of no use to her grandparents and that she is a burden to them. However, her grandparents love her deeply and want her to explore her talent more. As a school, we have decided to help Linda by providing reading training in order to improve her skill of reading for the class.

Problem

Our school has great facilities for all students in terms of academic as well as vocational training. With Linda being unable to walk, we have arranged special transportation for her with the help of the government. However, the main problem with Linda is her reluctance to attend the training sessions with her peers as she feels inferior and incapable. Our school has decided to organize an event where other children like Linda will participate.

Goal

The goal is to improve Linda’s reading skills and sharpen it even more to let her participate with confidence in the event. As a first step, sessions will be organized with Linda where she will be given motivational speeches in order to make her feel confident and proud about herself. Then, her training on reading shall begin.

Question 9d:

Describe the strategies that you are going to use to help the student to develop the skill.  

Answer:

Question 9e:

Describe the resources and/or equipment that you are going to use to help the student to develop the skill. Attach photographs of the resources and/or equipment.

Answer: Equipments required: None

Government resources required: Transportation

Other resources: A venue to organize the event

Question 9f:

Implement your plan. No input needed for this part of the question

Question 9g:

Evaluate the progress of the student to the SMART goal that you have set in Part B. Attach a pre and post evidence.

Answer: In order to assess Linda’s progress, I used running records to analyze the SMART goals achievement.

Date 20/07/2018

10.15 am – Linda arrives at the training session and sits on the last bench.

10.20 am – The group takes out the notes and start practicing on their own while Linda sits quietly

10.30 am – The instructor asks Linda to introduce herself to the class. She hesitates at first but manages to tell her name

10.35 am – The instructor then takes out one of the stories written by Linda and narrates it to the class without disclosing the name of the writer. Linda nervously observes other members of the group and then lowers head.

10.45 am – When the instructor finishes narrating Linda’s story, he asks everyone to give their feedback. Each student had positive feedbacks for the story. Then the instructor and reveals the writer’s name and applauds, which is followed by the applause of the entire group. This makes Linda feel a little better as she extends her gratitude to everyone.

10.55 am – The instructor then asks each student to read Linda’s story one by one. Linda too was asked to do the same and she did but she felt hesitant to read as she was finding it difficult to read the words.

Analysis and future planning

The response Linda gave to the first session clearly shows that she has the desire to learn and be appreciated.

Further, it is also evident that Linda has reading skills but she is low in confidence.

In the future, added sessions will be held for Linda where she could gain confidence in reading.

Question 9h:

Inform the progress to your teacher. What did your teacher say?.

Answer: The teacher appreciated my effort but adviced that I include activities that concerned the student in particular and limit the activity within the classroom.

Question 9i:

Reflection: What have you done well?

Answer: I have helped her gain confidence in herself and not feel inferior to others.

Question 9j:

Reflection: What will you do differently next time?

Answer: The next time I will try to use minimum resources for maximum result. I would make sure that I am able to effect an overall development of the child in terms of academic skills.