Practicum Experience Paper

The purpose of the nursing practice field experience is to enhance leadership and research skills; identify shortcomings in policies, procedures or processes; and improve the current processes to ensure optimal patient-centered, healthcare delivery through the use of up-to-date evidence-based resources.

As parents bring children in the classroom, they sign in each sign-in sheet that contains information about the child on the day; how the child is doing, how the child slept, and how the child ate. If there is a concern about the child, there are teachers available to talk to. Teachers greet pleasantly as parents and children arrive. Some children starts playing with toys as soon as they arrive, but some start crying. Teachers hold these children and help them to say “bye” to their parents.

Suzanne Tobias wrote the article “The struggle over longer school days” that is on The Wichita Eagle. In her article, she has the viewpoints of families, teachers and school board members. One family that is brought up a lot, is the Biggs family. Rachel and Doug Biggs talk about how longer school days have impacted their family, especially their first-grade son, Liam.

Starting with Infants, background information is essential in order to make the transition from home to school as smooth as possible. The program staff and families work together to develop a meal plan for the infant before the child starts our program. On the same note, upon arrival parents communicate on a Daily Communication Log, where they write the child’s last feeding and any special messages they want to inform the teacher. In

Parents Meetings / Evenings– to inform the parent of their child’s progress throughout the school year and where they need to improve.

During the placement I was able to spend time observing interactions between parents, children and staff. I witnessed many positive aspects in the schools approach to engaging parents and was particularly impressed by their open door policy for parents and the support provided to families in times of need by the learning mentors. As part of the admission process to the school, staff visit the parents and child at home and discuss the implementation of the home-school agreement (appendix 1.b). This agreement sets out the expectations of each of the parent, school and child in regard to their actions and attitude towards their time in school. This is often one of the first interactions teacher and parents have and Grayson (2011) suggests most teachers report these home visits to have a lasting positive effect on the child and parent-teacher relationship. During the school’s inspection in 2014 Ofsted identified relationships across the school and with parents as a key strength.

Communication between teachers and the parents of students is essential for the growth and success of the student both inside and outside of the classroom. This communication is best achieved through parent conference opportunities. One way that this is achieved is through regular open house nights. This is where parents, and other members of the community, are invited to come to the school and talk to the teachers and other faculty at the school. Another conference opportunity presents itself in a scheduled appointment between the teacher and the parent. This will enable the parent to meet face-to-face with their child’s teacher during a time that is more convenient to them, as these appointments can occur before, during, and after school. Additionally, conferences can take place over the phone. This is a convenient way for both parties to communicate effectively in a way that works best for them.

Every day during dismissal I give the caregivers brief details about their child's day including any concerns I may have. A communication folder is sent home daily. I encourage the families to check the folder daily for new information, student work, or paperwork that may need to be filled out and returned. Included in the folder is a monthly calendar that shows daily lessons, homework, classroom items needed, fieldtrips, etc. I contact the caregivers that I do not see on a regular basis by telephone, notes, and e-mail. Progress reports are also sent

A couple of years ago, my mom got a bellybutton pain in her lower-right side of the abdomen. It was an intense pain which moved all around her belly. She decided to ignore the pain, thinking it could be something temporary. Days went through and nothing could relieve the discomfort she felt. My dad decided to take her to a private doctor right away. The doctor had her do some blood tests accompanied by some others. When the results were ready the doctor asked us to take mom immediately to the hospital. He said something related to surgery and I lose control on myself. We had never been as scared of surgery as this day. We knew this kind of surgery was not as risky as others. The problem was hospitals in Honduras. Doctors back then did not care about the patient. Patients in the hospitals would get their wounds infected and they would die. I lacked trust in the abilities of the doctors. Not because they missed the knowledge required in doing this, but their interest in the patient was none. They knew the government was going to pay them either way. Therefore, they mistreated some patients. My mom received a

Chiles Elementary School’s improvement plan, for its vision statement is to strive “for excellence by actively involving all students, parents, faculty, staff, and the community in a safe, nurturing, and respectful environment” (Lawton M. Chiles Elementary SIP, 2015-2016, pg. 8). Building relationships is extremely important in order to facilitate successful collaboration, which is why the school improvement plan also listed different ways for learning student cultures, building safe and respectful learning environment, and getting parents involved. For example, in order to learn more about student cultures, teachers are encouraged to involve all students in activities to share about themselves, their families, and their work with peers. Teachers are also encouraged to meet with parents, to listen to concerns, and to learn about special needs that a child may have. To create a safe and respectful learning environment, teachers have general tasks that they must do before, during, and after school, such as providing supervision in their grade level’s common area before the first bell, utilizing school-wide classroom management system, and supervising students in the car loop or bus loop

Introductions were made and the meeting purpose was stated (initial). Parents were provided with parent rights. In attendance were Diane Mize (Therapist), Brenda Muth (Psychologist), Christine Garcia (RSP teacher), Michelle Madrid (Gen. Ed. Teacher), Michelle Anderson (Gen. Ed. Teacher), Greg Brisbine (Principal), Erica Ultreras (Assistant Principal), Ben Larios (Dad) and Michelle Larios (Mom).

On the day of the meeting, Mrs. Derrick made sure that the team was present and ready. Once the parents arrived, they were greeted by Mrs. Derrick and were led to the conference room. Those that were in attendance were, Mrs. Derrick, the school counselor, one regular education teacher, a representative from the Special Education Department, and a representative from Families Helping Families, which is an organization that helps families with children who are intellectual disabled. The parent brought with her the child’s after school care-giver. The father of the student could not attend the meeting in person but was allowed to attend via conference call because he lives in Texas and has the child during the summer months. The father wanted to know how he could be more active in his son’s education and

The intake simulation activity gave me a better understanding on how important it is to make parents feel comfortable, so that a stronger partnership can be created. When parents lead the conversation the teacher is able to demonstrate his or her interest in the child, which allows them to work together establishing that goal. Showing respect is very important and in the simulation I was able to see how the teacher asked for the parent’s permission to take notes and explained why she was taking them in the first place, which demonstrated that the teacher cared about the parent and made her more at ease by explain that the notes were to benefit her child. When communicating one can’t be judgmental and biases towards the parents instead I must

For this activity, I decided to include the information I had so far from our summer parent involvement committee. During the school year, I am part of the parent involvement committee, which includes 6 teachers and our parent liaison. During the summer, we decided to meet in between our summer school schedule. There are only two teachers from the committee, myself and Mrs. Rivera. We also have our parent liaison. For our meetings, we decided to invite two of our school volunteers, Kevin and Mia. We also invited our LINC coordinator to our meeting, since he has worked with us during our previous family events.

Each week during my practicum experience brings new knowledge. The opportunities of practical real-life experience sessions, teachings, and counseling’s have consistently strengthened my hands-on preparation for leadership. Additionally, every participated session brought new strategies on how to deliver the proper support and services associated with the required care.