Pick ONE of the following discussion topics and respond to it!
(Please indicate which one you are responding to...thanks!)
#1...Future Environments and Functional Skills
So often we forget that our students' lives do not end with our classroom/gym. It is our responsibility to prepare them for environments beyond the current one. What have you done this semester with your CAPES! students that takes them beyond the gym and the classroom? What skills have you taught that will prepare them for their future as contributing members of our society? What functional skills have you taught them that will impact them for a lifetime?
Pick ONE of the following discussion topics and respond to it!
(Please indicate which one you are responding to...thanks!)
OR
#2....Beware the Rut!
Congratulations the downward journey for CAPES has begun! You only have two weeks remaining in the gym & pool. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel getting larger each day, and you know if you just hang on a little longer it will all be over and you can move on.
How do you maintain motivation, excitement, and energy for the final few days? Now that you know your students, and you have a fairly good idea of what you are doing, and have established a routine (for yourself, your group, your students, and parents) it is very easy to "get stuck in a rut".
How will you keep yourself motivated to be invested in your students learning? How will you makes things more exciting for you and your learner now that things have gotten "normal" and possibly a little "boring"? What will you do to re-invigorate the energy and expectations from yourself and for your learner?
Congratulations the downward journey for CAPES has begun! You only have two weeks remaining in the gym & pool. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel getting larger each day, and you know if you just hang on a little longer it will all be over and you can move on.
How do you maintain motivation, excitement, and energy for the final few days? Now that you know your students, and you have a fairly good idea of what you are doing, and have established a routine (for yourself, your group, your students, and parents) it is very easy to "get stuck in a rut".
How will you keep yourself motivated to be invested in your students learning? How will you makes things more exciting for you and your learner now that things have gotten "normal" and possibly a little "boring"? What will you do to re-invigorate the energy and expectations from yourself and for your learner?
How do you maintain motivation, excitement, and energy for the final few days? Now that you know your students, and you have a fairly good idea of what you are doing, and have established a routine (for yourself, your group, your students, and parents) it is very easy to "get stuck in a rut".
How will you keep yourself motivated to be invested in your students learning? How will you makes things more exciting for you and your learner now that things have gotten "normal" and possibly a little "boring"? What will you do to re-invigorate the energy and expectations from yourself and for your learner?
I think that you maintain your energy and excitement over the last few days remembering just that. That it the last few days and you have just two days to make an impact on this child's life. You also have to look back on the progress that you and your student have made. It helps you realize that you are making a difference and that you have meant something in that child's life.
ReplyDeleteI think that you keep motivated by learning new things. I think that you have seen what your student can do and now you can stretch them a little further. You can continue to develop skills and introduce new and fun things for them to learn and do. I believe remembering these things will go a long way to keeping you ready to go the last two weeks.
#1
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to say exactly what K has learned that she can take with her to the outside world. But I would dare say that she now knows how to trust people better, and express her trust-not just through words, but through her actions too. At the beginning of CAPES! she would say things that weren't very kind, and now she has moved to the other end of the spectrum and is being very expressive of her love. She also shows it by hugging and so forth. Those are just a few signs I have seen that show me that she is more trusting. Also, she is more comfortable with money. She has learned all of the coin names and can almost give the amount they are worth. That is definitely a tool that will last her the rest of her life.
One of the biggest things that I've been working on with my kid is the ability to listen and follow my directions. Every week we make progress with him listening and responding to me. These are very important skills that he'll need in his life when he is socializing with everybody in his life. One of his greatest challenges, along with listening to me, is his actual response to me. The more comfortable he gets with me and the more engaged he is, then he will actually vocalize and respond, but there is room for improvement with that. Those have been my greatest focuses throughout this entire semester because these are the skills that will be the most important in his life.
ReplyDeleteI can hardly believe we only have two times left of CAPES; I have loved this experience and truly feel sad about it coming to an end. Even though the end is near, I will keep myself motivated and invested in my student’s learning by making goals to push her even farther. I want to make sure to address the goals with her at the beginning of each activity. In this way I can see the most progress from the experience. With two times left, I want to make them count more than ever. I feel that investing time in coming up with the most suitable and fun lesson plan, I can encourage her to take leaps and bounds of progress the next two times (more so than ever!). I definitely want to go out with a bang. Now that there is a norm established at Capes night, I will keep it exciting by challenging her with interactive activities, not just repeat the same things we have done. I do value having an idea of what she enjoys; we learn the most when we are having fun. I can take activities we have done that she has really loved to the next level by putting more thought into them and building on what we have done before. For example, with hitting the tennis rackets or riding the scooters, I can make a small obstacle course or bring a reward to entice greater participation. I intend to use the anticipation of the “finish line” or final day of CAPES as a way to pump her up with excitement. That goes for me as well; I would like to make the last two times really count by investing my creativity and heart into assisting her accomplish clear goals. It’s been a joy working with her and it doesn’t take a lot to keep my enthusiasm up about it. I really would love to come back and volunteer.
ReplyDelete#1 I think that in my time working with F I have helped her learn how to work with others more than she was used to or comfortable with. I the future knowing how to communicate with many different types of people is a must. Everyone needs to know how to talk to people you didn't previously know and you need to know how to talk with people that are different from you in many ways. I tried to get F involved with a few of the CAPES! kids during our seasons to get her used to having new people around. Every time We were interacting with new kids, she would get a little frustrated, but she would learn how to play with them by the end. It was nice to see her figuring out how to survive around other kids. I think this skill will help her tons in the future.
ReplyDeleteOne of the biggest things that A's family requested that I work on with her were directional phrases. Throughout the course of CAPES! I have been trying to teach A about different directional phrases and I think she has really improved on her skills. We have also worked on learning Left and Right differentiation and she has done really well. She's really young so the foundations that we are working on will carry with her. She has also been working on her social skills and I have seen her improve slightly, but mostly her interactions are just with her cousin.
ReplyDeleteI don’t know how well I’ve accomplished it but I’ve tried to teach C how to listen the first time when others are speaking and especially when they ask him to do something. I also have tried to focus on helping him be willing to at least try new things or things he doesn’t want to do even if it’s only for a few minutes. And I’ve noticed a difference. He responds quicker now than he did before. At the beginning I would spend 5-10 minutes after I introduced what we were going to do trying to convince him to just try it before he’d finally do it. Now it doesn’t take long at all. I think that skill will really help him in the future to be willing to try new things that he can learn and grow from.
ReplyDeleteI think that some of the most important skills that I've been able to help my student develop and better understand are essential communication and interpersonal skills. I think we all know about how important these types of skills are and how important it is to practice them in a safe environment so that they can use them in their own daily life. Being able to also work on their own self confidence is something invaluable and something that is so easy to see being developed.
ReplyDeleteI was just thinking last week when it was mentioned that there was only a few classes left, what could I do that is out of the box. Me and my CAPES participant have spent the last few weeks playing different games and working on different fine motor skills. I realized that our variety isn't that wide though. I want these last weeks of class to be not just the normal. To keep us both motivated I have tried to come up with different things to do that are not just the same games. I also took his advice in what he wanted to do and combined it so that it was a learning activity for him as well. I want him to enjoy the last weeks while still getting something out of them that will help him grow. I feel for the most part that we have grown more excited throughout the program, or at least I have!
ReplyDelete#2
ReplyDeleteThis has been a challenge for me in previous weeks. Particularly because of how much my child loves independence. They are always trying to do what they want, rather than what I have planned. And if I am not careful, it's easy not to push them to new levels, or to make them learn new skills, or even to do things that they do not want to do. And this is not just my struggle! I have heard many of my peers mention that they just do not know what to do with their child anymore, that they are out of ideas. The remedy, I believe, is just staying strong, and sticking to our original plans. There are so many things these kids need to work on. If we can just really focus on their needs, I believe the activities that will help will flow naturally. It's only when we see CAPES! as another day to get through that we have boring and ineffective lessons.
Now that CAPES! Is coming to a close, it has been a challenge trying to come up with more exciting and effective ideas to impact my students learning But even though it has been a struggle, I have been patient and have stuck with my ideas as much as possible. I think that it is important for me to maintain the level of enthusiasm as I have so far, so it doesn’t affect my student. My student has also been a big help throughout CAPES! Everything we have done, he has done a fantastic job with participating and having fun and this has made my life and his a lot easier. The key for the next few weeks is to pull through and focus on their needs as much as possible.
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