The Shadow Assessment Process In Instructor's Classrooms

In my point of view assessment is a testing tool by which a teacher or assessor can use to detect the outcomes of teaching, learning or assessment process with the learners by

A lot of people don’t realize the challenges of living with a child who has been diagnose with Autism can be. It is a twenty-four-hour seven day a week job no vacation, no sick time and no pay. From the time the child is diagnosed it is a constant worry especially if the parents don’t know much about the condition. It starts with continuous Doctor visits, social services, and therapy sessions, just to figure out how serious the condition may be and what level of the disability the child has and this is only this beginning. Next, to find the tools the child needs to overcome the disability, like learning development and cognitive process, social skills, comprehension capabilities, and many more depending on the severity of autism.

This case study focuses on Connor, a Year One student diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Observations and assessment of Connor’s specific needs, current level of performance and modifications to the learning and teaching environment currently being made to cater his individual needs will be analysed. Consequently, a range of teaching strategies, assessment strategies and resources to support Connor will be discussed and Individual Learning Plan (ILP) offered. Finally, a reflection on the strategies proposed and their influence on Connor’s learning needs will be detailed.

I would like to begin by saying thank you to all of the therapists and technicians from Sunbelt Apopka for making me feel welcomed. Also I thank the therapists for allowing me to volunteer and observe this summer. Out of all the places I could have had my first shadowing experience I am so glad it took place at your facility. This opportunity allowed me to learn more in depth about careers in speech, physical, and occupational therapy. I now know that speech-language pathologists are not limited to treating only speech problems; they are capable of treating patients with swallowing complications as well. As you guys may know, I am still indecisive between pursuing a career in physical or occupational therapy. Volunteering however did help me to better understand their differences and similarities. Both physical and occupational therapy focus on working with patients with their body movements. More specifically, physical therapists provide services in helping patients in restoring functions and improving their physical mobility. While occupational therapists work with patients to improve their ability to perform tasks in their daily living and working environments. Based on my observation, all these rehabilitation professions serve an equal importance in the healing process of a patient.

The No Child Left Behind and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act entail that students with disabilities or special needs to be open to the overall education and determine the progress of the child. Three unsurpassed practice strategies for supporting young children on the autism spectrum (including Asperger's Syndrome) in an early learning environment. The first strategy is reinforcement. Reinforcement is a critical strategy of evolving and maintaining the enthusiasm of this type of student. A teacher must use objective or actions that the students would like or enjoy that can be obtainable behavior. In my field experience observed I have seen the Pre-K teacher use the computer and smartboard to interact with the class as well

Assessment needs to be an ongoing, integral part of the teaching and learning cycle. It must allow teachers and students themselves to monitor learning. From the teacher

My Autism classroom practicum (DSW) provided many opportunities to learn and grow. My commitment, patience, and genuine concern, yielded trust and co-operation from students, resulting in student’s improved outcomes. As my confidence grew, my ability to implement behavioural interventions improved, and I was better able to assist students to work to their fullest potential. Dealing one day with a challenging student, the teacher requested I oversee the other students. I had now the confidence, flexibility, and knowledge to take over this independent role. My ability to be independent, as well as a team player, and other attributes I learned here will translate well to the ABA field where these are essential

I have always been fascinated, though, by the brain processes the individuals with autism go through and how their perception of the world and communication gets affected by this disability. The Autism App wheel categorized each app by the area the student could get a benefit from for improvement and I found it extremely well-detailed. I usually keep a copy of all my school work but I will make sure that I keep an eye on this chart as I can definitely see myself using it in the future with my students. When working with students with autism, I must likely need to keep in mind their struggles with sensory. I need to make sure that my future lesson plans will include differentiated materials that will address a particular’s student needs in a way that he can access the general education curriculum and at the same time with a bigger goal of implementing everything being taught in the classroom to be translated to the real world. AT services and devices could be my best allies when trying to accomplish

This summer, when I was in Zambia doing research, I had the opportunity to shadow at one of the best hospitals in Southern Africa, the University Teaching Hospital. The hospital itself was large, relatively modern, and similar in some ways to hospitals I have seen in the US. However, there were some large disparities I saw in the hospital which shocked me. Firstly, the hospital had a “high cost” and a “low cost” wing which were vastly different in terms of amenities, privacy, and care. The low cost maternity ward, for example, had one room with about 30 beds where women were giving birth, while the high cost ward had about 2-3 women per room. The way the women were treated by medical professionals themselves varied vastly between each

There are various instructional methods I will use within my classroom. I have been trained by Cleveland Clinic Children’s Autism Development Solutions incorporates ABA as well as using task analysis techniques to help make the student successful in what you are trying to teach them. The process starts off small but then as they master the smaller steps, they increase to larger steps and can become longer within the activity to show increased task duration. This helps the student become ready to perform certain jobs they may like. I would also have a behavior plan in place for each student so when they have their behaviors then there is a step by step plan to help myself and whoever comes in contact with the student to know

Students with autism can become overwhelmed very easily by even minor deviations from the routine. It is important to be sensitive to the way autistic children function so that their potential can be reached.

This article discusses whether or not special education teachers, as well as general education teachers, are prepared to teach students with autism. According to the article, autism is ranks at the sixth most commonly classified disability in the United States. There is a very wide spectrum for autism which include disorders like Asperger’s and pervasive developmental disorders not otherwise specified (PDD-NOS). 1 out of 150 American children will be born with autism (Autism Society of America, NDb).

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder is one of many developmental disabilities that affect students learning. In fact, in the United States, Autism is the fastest-growing severe developmental disorder (“What is Autism,” n.d.). Also, the prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder is 1 in 68 children and the prevalence in boys is 1 in 42 children (“What is Autism,” n.d.). Furthermore, Autism Spectrum Disorders also affects the way a child learns and over the years, several teaching strategies have been developed to help teachers to effectively educate students with Autism. Research has also been conducted to develop and test new teaching strategies for Autism and continues in playing an important role in the education of students with Autism.

Being a special educator, there are different roles and responsibilities separate from a general education teacher. As a special ed teacher, you need to be able to be more flexible and open-minded when it comes to teaching. These students, whether in a self-contained classroom or an ICT class, will have such differing needs than their counterparts. While they may still have some same needs, most of them will be different and individual. Even though we may have several students with the same disability in our class, that doesn’t mean that we can treat them the same; each student has differing abilities that we must figure out individually. This is one huge problem that I see prevailing in schools today. Teachers tend to think that if a child has autism, they have the same issues and needs as another child with autism but this is not the case. One child might need headphones for noise-canceling features while the other child might be ok with sound but need more social interactions skills. The ability to discern what a child needs based on their own performance is a crucial aspect to supporting every student equally. As a special educator, we need to not only look at their deficits but their capabilities as well. To define someone by what they can’t do is such a negative point of view. If we go into the classroom trying to find what is wrong with a child, we may never notice what exceptional skills they may have. For example, in class when Mark Sarabian came to talk about the

Assessments are integral parts of instruction, they determine whether classroom goals have been achieved, and help teachers know what areas they should focus on and maybe reteach. They are great tools for developing lesson plans and answer questions such as; “do my students possess full understanding of the material?” There are many ways of assessing students’ learning, one of which I have personal experience with are on-the-spot assessments.