Fieldwork Experience Essay

In the daily life of an Occupational Therapy assistant, it consists of the person actually being involved with the patient. It’s a lot of hands on, and it’s very challenging when it comes to your own body, because

Lighthouse Project is a pediatrics mental health clinic that integrates therapies, such as play therapy, to assist children in overcoming problems at home and in school due to their disorders and disabilities. The staff at Lighthouse Project split their time between clinic-based work in their San Jose clinic and school-based work at various Gilroy school districts. At the clinic the staff works strictly with high functioning children, providing both individual and group therapy sessions, similarly, in the school-based setting they do individual and group sessions, however, the individuals worked with are both low and high functioning. The purpose of the Lighthouse Project clinic is to incorporate different programs to engage the child and improve abilities that are debilitating, this is done with programs at the clinic involving social skills development, sensory integration and sensory processing, as well as fine motor/handwriting skills. At the schools the purpose is to close or minimize the gap between how much the child can achieve on their own and what other classmates are able to achieve on their own, the basic ideology is to have the child be able to achieve specific goals that those in their grade level are able to do, such as by first grade the child should be able to cut out outlines on paper with scissor, however some of our children are unable to do so and instead can only manage to snip the paper. Our organization also works with other agencies and individuals.

Reflecting back on my field experience, I was able to gain quality insight as well as a better understanding of the teaching and the learning process of ESOL in a mainstream classroom. My experience in Mrs. Little’s classroom has shown that the role of the ESOL teacher is to educate students in functional language skills, offer content that is academically challenging, and helps students acculturate to the new language and culture.

During the months of September and October this semester I spent time at two different schools in four different classrooms. Being able to observe different classes and teachers at Westside Junior High and South Live Oak Elementary was a very new and exciting experience for me since I can’t say I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. My experiences at these schools gave me a better insight into the differences between schools, classrooms, and teachers. The purpose of this field experience was to get 10 observation or tutoring hours in an elementary or junior high setting. I chose to observe a

The Bureau of Labor Statistics describes an occupational therapist as one who treats patients who are ill, injured, or disabled by the therapeutic use of everyday activities. They help patients develop, recover, and improve the skills needed for daily living and working (2014-15).The Occupational Handbook describes the many jobs of these occupational therapists in steps. It states that the process begins with observing patients, interviewing them, and reviewing medical history. Once they evaluate the patient’s condition and needs, they develop a treatment plan that includes various activities to help them accomplish specific goals (2014-15). Occupational therapists can help with various disabilities in patients of all ages. For example, if an autistic child struggles with pinching the buttons on a shirt in order to button them, a therapist could give the child tasks such as beading, in order to teach them to grasp using two fingers (Sheryl Bos interview). They can also aid patients in learning how to operate special equipment and even educate a patient’s family or teacher/employer on how to accommodate and care for them (Occupational Handbook 2014-15). OTs can work in many settings as well. They are able to work in educational setting as well as mental settings. With this range, OTs can work in hospitals, schools, rehab centers, home health, or nursing care facilities (Occupational Handbook 2014-15). In order to become successful occupational therapists, the

For my Field Experience I chose to observe at Krahn Elementary which is a part of Klein Independent School District. After my approval, I was assigned to four teachers and their classrooms. I observed at Krahn Elementary on six Tuesdays between 15 September 2015 and 27 October 2015, and more or less followed the schedule that was given to me by the Assistant Principal Ms. Shannon Strole. From 8:30 am to 9:15 am I observed Ms. Judy Burkes, who is a third grade Math and Science teacher. Her classroom is comprised of twenty students which range from average to below average learners and a student with ADHD and another with autism. For most part of my observation, M. Burkes had been working with her students on fractions and multiple digits addition and subtraction. From 9:15 am to 10:30 am I observed Ms. Lisa Parker who is a Math co-teacher and resource teacher at Krahn Elementary for grades K-5. During my assigned time, Ms. Parker usually joined Mr. Duru’s fifth grade class of twenty three students as a co-teacher and when required would pull out a group of six students after initial instructions from Mr. Duru and would teach them the concepts separately at a slower pace. This particular group of students with special needs was mostly seen to be focusing more and more on mathematical word problems. These students were students with Learning disabilities, behavioral issues and one of them was a student with ADHD. From 10:30 am to 11:15, I was with Ms. Janice Bluhms, who is a

Occupational therapy assistant is my dream career. They help people live a normal life again without any assistance of other people. The help people enhance, improve, develop, and recover the skills use for working or doing daily average tasks. OTA’s usually work under the direction of occupational therapists, and they still get involved with providing therapy for patients. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, occupational therapy assistants help patients do therapeutic activities. For example, they help patients to stretch or do other exercises. OTA’s also help children who have developmental disabilities to play activities that helps stimulate coordination and learn to socialize. They teach disable people to use special equipment,

My child 's name is Jude Alexander and he is a male. As a baby he is cautious around new people and situations, but warms up fairly quickly to friendly people. In kindergarten Jude Alexander seemed to have made one or two friends and usually played cooperatively and was sometimes reluctant to join in new activities with unfamiliar children. He performed below average on tests of vocabulary, and the ability to retell a story. He had a real knack for the art projects, and really got interested in the pre-math activities involving working with blocks and geometric shapes. In first through fifth grade he worked cooperatively in groups, usually respects the rights and property of others, and usually demonstrates appropriate peer social interaction. He demonstrates strength in art, all areas of reading, and in spelling and appropriate for the grade level in writing. He needs additional help in the areas of speaking and listening and in the content knowledge of social studies, science and music. He was average in mathematical problem solving, understanding of data, number concepts, graphical applications, and arithmetic computation. In the seventh grade, he consistently contributes to cooperative group activities and respects the rights and possessions of others, and shows age-appropriate social interaction with peers. He demonstrates strength in art, reading, spelling and writing. He was average in math and science, and needs additional

To be honest, I never knew of the term occupational therapy until a few years ago.  It was new to me as it was to many others who were unfamiliar to the word.  I briefly came across the discipline when I was volunteering my time at my mother’s preschool while in high school.  I spent my hours with young children, some living with disabilities.  Sometimes the students were being pulled out of the classroom for brief periods of time.  I was curious to know where they were going and was told some of the children were going to either physical, speech, or occupational therapy.  I was already familiar to physical and speech therapy, but I had no clue what occupational therapy was about.  That was the moment when I was introduced to occupational therapy.

I had the pleasure of meeting Devyn in November 2015. I asked whether he was able to be interviewed by me, and he agreed. Devyn has worked in the Therapeutic Recreation field for 20 years.

During my field experience at Ridge Elementary school, I was placed in a 4th-grade classroom. While working on my field experience I had gotten the luxury to connect and bond with several types of student’s from various backgrounds and demographics. When I first stepped foot into the fourth-grade classroom it was very well decorated with quotes, educational tips, and motivational messages. There were three windows in which the students often gazed out while working. The walls were an eggshell color which was kind of depressing. Adding color to the walls would have made the environment feel a little more joyful yet the students still made that classroom their second home by decorating their desks.

In the past three years, I was involved with my church on a mission trip. For this, I traveled to Italy and being a foreigner that spoke only english, I had to learn Italian in a very short time. This mission trip took roughly two years. In this time, I not only learned Italian, I also learned the culture of the areas I was in and I helped various organizations in there efforts to help the homeless and less fortunate. This was done through organizing charity events, helping collect food donations, and even public servixe through cleaning areas of the town. I also was a part of BYU's tribe of many feathers club. This club hosted a variety of events, many of which offered food. My position in these events was to help clean the instuments used

For as long as I can remember I’ve always loved learning new things and acquiring new skills. Anything that seemed remotely interesting to me was reason enough to be explored. Whether it was learning to skateboard, or taking apart old technology to see how it worked, I always wanted to do something and try something new or different. One particular venture that got me into the STEM field specifically was when I wanted to learn music production. I had friends who made beats and it looked really fun to me, so I went home downloaded some software, and was disheartened to see that old computer my uncle had given us was not powerful enough to run the software well. From that day on I had researched how to upgrade computers and make them faster

I observed and analyzed the design and delivery of an instructional unit in a Montessori school setting. I observed a classroom of grades 1-3 two times from 9 a.m. – 11 a.m. at the Kennebec Montessori school. I was asked to sit quietly and to not interact with the children so I could get a realistic view of the class day and the children would pursue their chosen work.

There are many aspects to teaching and as a teacher it is necessary to understand the most important aspects of teaching and how they should be incorporated into the classroom. A teacher’s most important job is not to teach specific material but to build relationships with the students and ensure they feel safe and cared for. Once the teacher is able to ensure this then they should focus on teaching, however teaching is more than listing off facts and sharing information with the students. As teachers it is essential we try to engage our students. There are many ways to engage students and each teacher as a specific way they get their classroom involved in learning. During my field experience I have learned the importance of being able to engage students and I have seen what a classroom looks like when students are not engaged. My field experience has helped to reflect on student engagement and how I would place the experience in my philosophy of education.