Practicum Observation

My practicum was a good learning experience of practical public health work and exposure to how zoonotic disease is handled by multiple public health departments. I appreciated my experience giving me the knowledge of day-to-day public health work and what it means to be epidemiologist. My classes in epidemiology prepared me well for understanding terminology and the process of outbreak response. Particularly, my Applied Epidemiology course provided me with the critical thinking skills to evaluate published literature. In reviewing my work I used multiple public health competencies including biostatistics, epidemiology, communication and informatics, leadership, professionalism, and program planning.

With the observations, the goal was to become aware of what is in store for the future both within school and after graduation. First person observed was Sharon, a dental hygiene student at PIMA, in her 5th semester. To begin her visit, Sharon ensured she had all the necessary paperwork and materials needed for the visit prior to procuring her patient from the lobby. After sitting the patient down, she reviewed his medical history with him and took his vitals, she then turned her light on for an instructor. Once the instructor arrived, she presented the patient and had the instructor sign off on the paperwork. After the instructor left, Sharon quickly began to continue with an oral cancer screening (OCS), noting any findings. From there, she took periodontal probing depths (PPD), gingival margin to cementoenamel junction readings (GM to CEJ), clinical attachment loss (CAL), and periodontal description. Immediately after writing all her notes she turned her light on for an instructor to come evaluate her findings, which is called check in. When the instructor came into the room he sat down and had Sharon read off her findings to him while he did his own exam on the patient. From there, Dr. Burnett came to evaluate the patient. Unfortunately, the 3 hours had pasted by the time all this was done, so the patient was scheduled at a later date for his prophy.

PS. 45 is a school in in Staten Island New York, serving 900 students, 61% of the students are economically disadvantaged. This is a diverse school where 5% of students are Asian, 17% Black, 48% Hispanic and 27% White. They have a population of English Language Learners that take up 6% and 23% of the school's population have disabilities. I am observing a 4th grade classroom at P.S. 45. This class is a general education class with 26 students, two of these students are English language learners and two others struggle with focusing. There are also a number of students in the class that need extra support.

Observation is a key method, it is a way for the adults to learn about what the child needs. For example, if you see a child hammering on objects this means that the child is involved in the activity so we give him a drum. This is how observation can help and achieve a child’s requirement.

On 4/25/17 I met Mr. Westenberg for his pr-operative teaching at the office of Dr. Cherwin. He was given a refill on his pain medication. He will be having blood work done on 4/26/17. Mr. Westenberg has been instructed on the use of the sling and what home exercises he needs to do after surgery. He asked about returning to work in 5 to 10 days. He was told that Dr. Cherwin will give him a work slip stating no use of the left arm. The post operative appointment will be 10 days after surgery. He will be given the date and time the day of his surgery.

In this article review, I will be reviewing the article written by Anna Jo Perry called The Practicum, A point of change. I will be discussing what the article is about, the importance of communication between the associate teacher and the student and other staff members. I will also be discussing why I believe the article would be of interest to an early childhood teacher or a parent of a young child.

In my practicum I had a classroom of 20 children. 1 child was African American, the rest where Caucasian. All of these children were low-income children, on free and reduced lunch. This classroom was also a split classroom consisting of half kindergarten students and half slower learning first grade students. This made the classroom very diverse and allowed me to see different ways to teach students in this situation. My teacher taught her lessons by grouping children based on their learning level. This allowed for each student to get more one onone help from the teacher, along with having the lesson adapted to his or her grade level. One child in the classroom had developmental delay in fine and gross motor ability. This student left the classroom each day at a specific time and had received help from a specialist. I was fortunate to be able to watch the therapy and learn how they help students like this in the school district.

As I observed the class of the experienced practitioner(EP), I noticed that she stated clear objectives, emphasized and worked to meet those specific objectives throughout the plan. She ensured that the lesson was supported with appropriate resources to cater to the needs, interests and abilities of all learners.

Exploratory learning is known to be a developmentally appropriate practice in early education. During exploration and learning activities with manipulatives children acquire knowledge in the developmental approaches to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The developmental value of concrete objects

I really enjoyed this experience and I believe that I benefitted from doing my observational practicum in a diverse school. This allowed me to get a snapshot as to what it would be like teaching at a diverse school. I noticed that the classrooms that had the best classroom management were due to the fact that teachers addressed good behavior and rules very thoroughly during the beginning of the year, showed confidence, and students respected the teacher as well as the teacher respected the students. This is much easier said than done, but from this experience I will make it a priority that good behavior and classroom rules are addressed and enforced from the first day of school until the last day of school. I will also work on my confidence

Since the HIM department has a policy of no personal calls, I would give Pam a written warning. I would explain to her that I understand that she is going through hardship, but I have to stick to the policy to be fair to other employees and prevent other employees from doing the same.

I examined communicative acts that were induced and unplanned in eight nonverbal children with autism that are 10–15 years old. I also examined communicative acts that were evoked and spontaneous in ten nonverbal children with autism that are 6-9 years old. All participants attended the same special school in Danville, VA but were in different classes. Each was observed for 45 minutes during a normal school day. All children had language impairments fewer than 25 functional words.

On a daily routine, I setup my classroom to have the children come in and explore the materials that are available. However, I think of ways that I can expand and challenge the children in a more cognitive, physical, or social-emotional level. I agree that when the environment the children are meant for learning and exploring, the children will learn. Armstrong (2015) also mentions that Vygotsky was influenced by that because Vygotsky emphasized that the knowledge between the learner and the environment is crucial. Social-cognitive theories empathize that teaching and learning are social activities that becomes a communicable learning environment. Teachers, peers, learning materials and even the classroom environment are resources and tools the learner needs (Kim, & Baylor 2006). I find this very crucial and important especially in Child Development. The classroom is like the “3rd” teacher that facilitates learning. When the classroom is organized and setup according to the children’s interest and needs, the children will have a better understanding and explore more challenging concepts. For example, I had a 19th month that was stacking wooden blocks and the child was at a point that he couldn’t reach the top. He was very adamant about putting the last block on the top. The child grabbed a chair and slowly practiced his gross motor skills to balance on the chair. He

Evidence based instruction is a collection of practices that have been tested and show a record of success and improvement. Evidence based instruction is based on information that is reliable and with verifiable as well as valid evidence that shows when this practice or program is implemented, there is a moderate to substantial chance that students will make strides in achievement. Research based means that there has been researched, but does not definitely imply success or achievement.

How is the child’s exploration and orientation in his physical environment complimented by the Montessori materials and presentation?