Field Placement Experience Reflection
Throughout the three field placements I've took during my time in the ES Program, the overall experience was honestly the most greatest, phenomenal journey I've ever done in my entire life.
In My field 1 placement, I had worked with a couple of students in grades 1-5 with physical and behaviour exceptionalities. I had the pleasure of working with a large group of team member which consisted of the EA's and the SERT teacher. From both my mid-term and my final evaluation, I was really happy with the positive feedback on my strengths. Such as showing a positive attitude towards staff and students,suggests strategies to support students. The area of improvement that I had to work on is taking initiative while supporting students or handling a certain situation and becoming more confident. For example, stepping in to help on the student's assignments.
In my Field 2 placement, I had the opportunity to work in two kindergarten rooms supporting one student with non-verbal communication and the other student with behavioural needs. Getting to work with the teachers and students was honestly a deep pleasure for me. The one thing that i really enjoyed given an opportunity to be introduced to the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) with one of my classroom teachers and I was really happy that i got the chance to experience using it. I was really satisfied with the positive evaluation that i had on my mid-term and final. The only improvements that were mentioned was for me to work on building more confidence when handling a situation with a student and taking more initiative around the classroom.
In my Field 3 placement, I worked with 2-3 students with learning disabilities and challenging behaviour in a self-contained grade 5 classroom.I began to feel more confident because I became more independent and flexible since I wasn't matched to an EA at all. I realized that it was time for me to prove myself that I could support my students on my own and that's why I really enjoyed about my third placement. I also had the chance to introduce Kurzweil 3000 to one of my grade 5 students and taught him a variety of tools that he could use to support his reading and writing skills. I was really pleased of my progress on my mid-term and final evaluation. For example, "very reliable and independent". The areas of improvement that i needed to work on is to become more Assertive towards my students and to continue building more confidence in myself.