If I could go back to my first couple days at Cariboo, I would do some things differently.
When handed to ASQ’s to read over, I would have avoided them. They create a bias or assumption of the child/children. It became a bit of a road block in my learning. As a student, did I really need to know who’ on caseload? As well as being told certain things about a few of the children, it gave me expectations and assumptions about the children.
“I don’t count her when I ask these questions.”
I would never say this when speaking about a group of children.
I would have figured certain things out going through my practicum, without hearing the negative things about the children. I’ve noticed that the child they speak of as a ‘genius,’ has grown a lot in the last few weeks of me being there. Whereas the child who was spoken about negatively, and “not counted,” when asked questions about the whole group….has grown minimally. I have seen the effort from the educators, as far as how they interact with the two individuals, and how often they choose interact with them.
March 20, 2024 at 11:56 am
Julia is attending for her final day of her special needs practicum. I would like to provide some final feedback to Julia and Deb.
Areas of growth/challenges:
1. We hope Julia will come to recognize that small steps for neuro diverse children are in actual fact big achievements and are reached on a very different time frame than typically developing children.
2. Documented information was received as a negative rather than recognized as a way to support individual, responsive care for children with additional needs. Communicating is such an important method of creating predictable and positive care for a child.
3. Julia frequently changed her practicum schedule without consultation with the host.
4. We observed some challenges for Julia to put into practice suggestions from staff that would support Julia’s learning, for example, body positioning when communicating with children who have limited verbal and social skills.
5. Julia chose a case study child late into her placement. Additionally she was aware that the child had reduced hours and part time attendance so her observable hours and interaction opportunities were limited.
Strengths
1. Julia dressed appropriately, she was clean and tidy and always able to work in any environment (indoor and outdoor).
2. Julia was able to share her ideas and communicate with staff.
3. Julia was able to connect with the children and engage in a positive manner.
4. She was eager to learn our routines and understand our philosophies. She commented that she would change the way she practiced ECE after being at Cariboo.
5. Julia kept her wordpress up to date and documented effectively.
We wish Julia all the best in her future endeavours in Early Childhood Education.