Fun Friday

Fun Friday! : 

Fun Friday! Morgan Durham Junior at UCF Elementary Education Major Mdurham@knights.ucf.edu 11/18/2010 EEX 4070

Eustis Middle School : 

Eustis Middle School EMS is located in the little town of Eustis, in Lake County Florida. Mission“Building lifelong learners one student at a time.” Vision“We aspire to be an innovative community where all students are challenged to prepare, learn, and succeed for the future.”

Engagement Activities : 

Engagement Activities Community Need: Help with a class of Autistic children. I chose this school and class for a few reasons I am from this area I personally know the physical education teacher and she suggested this wonderful group of students I knew it would be a great experience for me I worked with these students twice a week for 3 weeks.

Activities Ctd.. : 

Activities Ctd.. We did a variety of things, but I have chose to base my project off of the “Fun Fridays”. During Fun Fridays, we would start the day off with their usual daily activities; such as math graphing and reading assignments. After some time with that it was Baking time!! Every Friday the teacher allows the students to bake something. My favorite was when we made fruit dip out of cream cheese and whipped cream. The teacher brought in fresh fruit and we all enjoyed a yummy, healthy snack! The kids had such a great time making the dip. After lunch, the students then get to go to PE and play basketball or run on the track. The day is ended with some board games or a movie.

Participant Demographics : 

Participant Demographics The students ranged from age 12 to 15. Grades 6th, 7th, and 8th. There were 4 boys and 2 girls Each student had a different ability range and were all completing different levels of work All could function on their own; however there were some restrictions for few 1 girl could not speak and had a translator (sign) Aside from the teacher, there was one translator as well as an assistant teacher These students fall under the guidelines of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act because IDEA governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education and related services to children with needs. This classroom designated to ensure proper education for students with Autism clearly follows these guidelines.

Slide 6: 

Common characteristics: Temper tantrums, repetative speech, resistance to change, difficulty speaking, non-responsive Affects 1 in 110 children The fasting growing developmental disability in the U.S. More common in boys

Perceptions of Differences : 

Perceptions of Differences To be honest, I was nervous about working with students with disabilities. I had heard things about children with Autism, however, never really got an opportunity to be around them. To my surprise, they were a lot more calm than I expected. A so much more intelligient! They all had so much creativity and uniqueness to them. I not only had a blast being around them, but learned a lot from them as well. They are much more independent than expected and could do most everything on their own. Ofcourse, it wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies, there were moments of chaos. But for the most part, they were very well behaved. This was such a wonderful experience for me and I look forward to working with such exceptional students in the future.

Connections to Your Course : 

Connections to Your Course I am completing this project for EEX 4070 with Debra Edgar. Principles of managing student behavior, Using Reinforcers to encourage behavior, Esablishing classroom climate I better understand principles of managing student behavior because I got a hands-on experience working with students who were a bit more difficult to manage than I am used to. In the book it says something about sometimes having to change your habits or behavior in order to manage your students’ behaviors. My personality did change a great deal working in this classroom. Using reinforcements to encourage behavior was implented in my experience by the whole concept of Fun Friday. If the students behave well, they get a Fun Friday and get to bake and do other fun things. You cannot control every aspect of your classroom, however you need to work with what you’ve got and arrange the classroom to best work with each student. I saw this in the classroom when the students would group off and be working on different things.

Civic Engagement : 

Civic Engagement Everything I learned from this experience will affect my future career as a teacher. I may have a student with disabilities in my classroom one day. It is important I know how to handle it . I have always had a good perspective on civil engagement. This experience has just heightened my desire to do more! I think this service positively affects the volunteer as well as the persons with disabilities. As a method of learning, I do not think there is a better way to learn for up and coming teachers. Everything was hands-on and first hand experience.

Final Thoughts : 

Final Thoughts Overall, I extremely satisfied with my experience. I plan to go back and visit my students again very soon.