Day 1 of 25 COMPLETE!

First day in a new environment, with new people is never easy. No matter how long you
prepare yourself for this new setting or how many times youve started at a new placement,
you always feel a riot of nerves the moment you step into your new environment. You never
know what to expect the first day and how the day will pan out.
I am now in my fourth year, which means placement is ALL YEAR LONG! I will at the
same place both first and second semester of this year. I have been placed in day care settings
and early intervention settings; but this is my first school setting. Instead of the usual
placements being placed with a specific grade or kindergarten, for my placement this year I am
shadowing the ERWs, Educational Resource Teacher, at the school. ERWs are individuals who
support the students who have a special need. They are there to help support them with the
daily school activities. After I gradate from the ECE program here at Guelph-Humber I plan on
working with children with special needs either in the school setting or in ABA therapy; so, I
think this placement will be a great fit for me and will help me figure out what path I want to
take!
The school I am placed at is in the town I live in and is actually right beside my place of
work. When I got to the school and was sitting with the principal and the vice principal and
they were trying to figure out which ERW to start me off with, I realized that the students
names who the ERWs are with I already know. All the students who I will be helping with I
have already worked with and know. This made me feel much more comfortable at my
placement as I knew what to expect from the students as I have previous experience working
with them.
One thing that I learnt in my first day of placement is to pick your battles. When
working with children with special needs it is important to not fight them on every little thing
that you believe is not appropriate or that they should not be doing. Sometimes children need
to get that satisfaction in what they are doing to move on. For example, child A is fixated on
the opening and closing of doors. Sometimes with child A you just need to let him get that
satisfaction of opening the door and seeing it closed to transition him to his next activity. By
setting a time limit or giving him a number of times he can open the door will help him achieve
that satisfaction and will help him transition smoothly to the next task he is asked to do. If you
push him or force him to leave the doors before he reached the satisfaction he needs he
becomes defiant, which is something one could have been avoided. That is why it is important
to know which battles to fight and which to ignore.
In the field of ECE, B. F. Skinner developed a theory on operant conditioning. With his
theory, he had the idea that behaviour is determined by its consequences, be that is be through
a punishment or reinforcement, which will make it more or less likely for that behaviour to
occur again. That is why it is important to pick your battles when working with children with
special needs. If you punish a behaviour that will you know it will make them happy and
satisfied they will more likely become more and more defiant when it comes to doors. By
operating the condition by setting limits and times will help condition the behaviour and make
the students day more successful.
Overall, O had a great first day and cannot wait to see what the rest of placement has
instore for me!
 Supporting Children 1:1

In the field of ECE, we all learn the importance of early intervention and the importance
of supporting childrens needs. Early intervention is vital to the success of a child. When a child
is diagnosed with a physical or developmental disability, it is very important to have a planning
process put in place for the childs educational process. Children who are born with any type of
developmental delay are at risk for falling behind in their educational potential.
A child who is diagnosed with physical or developmental problem and they are
registered into school system, by having a program plan (an IPP) put in place for the child, it can
change the childs developmental trajectory and improve the outcomes for them. By providing
children with the support they need the school will be able to better meter the needs of the
child throughout their time at the school. Supporting children with additional needs while in
school is paramount to the success of the child thriving. Through supporting children with
additional needs, this enables them to be able to participate and feel included at school. By
support children with physical or developmental problems, you are able to help the child to
grow and achieve with their classmates.
When working with children with additional needs, developing individualised strategies
and modifying the school work to support their needs can be beneficial for the child. As all
children vary in their abilities and have different needs, learns differently, and responds
differently it is important to consider their limitations, weaknesses, and strengths. For
example, if you know Child A has difficulty doing school work that involves pen to paper, but
learns well with hands-on experiences and visuals, modifying the work to what works well for
the child with help them thrive to their fullest potential.
Experiencing working and supporting 1:1 with children additional needs, I have seen the
importance first-hand when it comes to developing individualised strategies to support the
needs of the child. A lot of the time, the teachers in the room do not have time to modify the
work for the child, so usually it is left to the ERW or the EA working with the child at school to
modify the lesson for them and help deliver it to the child.
Supporting children with additional needs is a very important topic in the field of ECE as
many of us will come across or will work with child with a physical or developmental disability.
It is important to always put the child first when supporting them and not singling them out in
front of their peers. Developing a program plan for the children is essential when supporting
children with additional needs.
 Setting Them Up for Success

When working with children with special needs it is important to set them up for
success. By setting the child up for success you are making their time at school a positive
experience. When you do not set them up for success, they develop a sense of failure and form
negative experiences; which will make them not want to come back to school.
Children with special needs have different ways in processing and understanding
information. Some have difficulty listening, thinking, writing, speaking, spelling, and
mathematical calculations. Teachers must understand that students with special needs need to
be taught differently or need some accommodations to enhance the learning environment.
How ECE and other professionals, such as teachers and ERWs can help children with special
needs is by keeping an organized classroom and limit distractions. By maintaining a structured
environment, it makes learning easier. Some strategies to use to help set-up the student for
success are:
- Breaking down instructions into smaller, manageable tasks.
- Using mulit-sensory strategies.
- Being flexible.
- Using visual, auditory or tactical cues.
- Using manipulatives.
- Having a backup plan.
- Be consistent.
An example of not setting the student up for success is: Child A is starting a new unit in math
class Number Sense. One of the childs limitations is doing pencil to paper lessons.
By handing the child worksheets that require them to use pencil and paper is not an effective
way to teach the new concept. Something that the teacher should have done to make this to
set-up the child for success is by breaking down the instructions and creating smaller activities
that help explain the new concept before expecting him to complete the worksheet. By
formatting the concept into activities, the child understand helps set them up for success.
When you set the child up for success, it helps the child form positive experiences of
school and will make them enjoy coming to school. When you set-up the child for success you
are also setting the family up for success. When the child feels, successful so does his/her
family! That is why when working with children with special needs it is important to set them
up for success.
 The ZPD Zone of Proximal Development

Working with students with special needs, you how important it is to be flexible and
responsive to the strengths, needs and the learning preferences of the individual student in
order to help create an inclusive learning environment to ensure success for the student. As
the teacher, it is our responsibility to learn and know the skills that the child needs in order to
effectively plan experiences that are based on the students learning needs. Understanding the
childs strengths, weaknesses, and interest helps us as the teachers to help them thrive to their
fullest potential. By learning who they are, you learn the difference between what the child can
achieve independently and what the child can achieve with guidance. This is known as the Zone
of Proximal Development. When working with children with additional needs there is a time in
their day that is the most effective time where they are able to retain the most sensitive
information and are able to process that knowledge.
According to Vygotsky, knowing the childs Zone of Proximal Development allows the
child to develop skills they will be then able to use on their own; allowing them to develop
higher mental functions. This theory helps us define what the child is able to complete without
help and what he/she cannot. The Zone of Proximal Development allows us to determine the
actual developmental level of the student. Vygotsky has noted that what is important to
children with special needs is what they can do and not what they are supposed to do.
Therefore, by knowing what your student is able to solve independently and what
he/she can solve under guidance you will be able to determine what experiences are best to be
performed Zone of Proximal Development.
 And Downward Dog

An important aspect when work 1:1 with individuals with special needs is being flexible.
When working with children with special needs you learn that there are no two days that are
alike. Having interruptions and disruptions are common, no single day can be described as
typical. Children can be very unpredictable and which leave the day in a perpetual a state of
change. Many children with additional needs have difficulty regulating their emotions and
behaviours, and often become inflexible and oppositional, disengaged or disruptive. It is due to
these unforeseen circumstances that makes it essential to be flexible. As the students mood
fluctuates, so does his/her ability to attend and do schoolwork. Yes, there is a structure and
routine that needs to be followed, but there will be disruptions that will prevent you from
following the daily schedule.
Individuals with special needs are limited in their ability to gather and understand
incoming information. One has to be ready for change and be able to adapt to the changes. It
is important to be flexible and responsive to the strengths, needs and the learning preferences
of the individual student that will help create an inclusive learning environment to ensure
success for your students. When you know that you day may not turn out to be what you
expected it makes the day go by much smoother. That is why being flexible is important when
working in a field where you will be working 1:1 with children with special needs. When you are
not, you become even more stressed.
Similar to Jean Piagets concept called accommodation, Piaget believed that adaption
involves changing or altering our existing schemas in light of new information. The key concept
of accommodation relates to my experience at placement today as it is similar to the concept
flexibility. Being flexible involves adaption to the changes around us and being able to alter our
existing schemas of how things are typical done to fit the new circumstances.
 Industry vs. Inferiority

Between the ages of six to eleven years (school age) according to Erik Erikson children at
this stage go to school to learn how to cope with the new social and academic demands.
According to Erikson, when a child feels a sense of success they develop a sense of competence,
while failure results in inferiority. Children at this stage are learning new skills that they will
eventually have to do on their own. It is also at this stage of development where the childs
peer groups play a significant role in the childs self-esteem.
When working with school age children with special needs it is important to encourage
them and reinforce them socially and academically in order for them to feel industrious and
confident in the abilities that they have. If you do not encourage them or restrict them, that is
when they begin to feel inferior and begin to doubt their abilities and regress; therefore, not
reaching his/her potential. If we are unable to help the child develop the specific skill that
society is demanding them to know they develop a sense of inferiority.
Children with special needs learn at different rates than their peers. That is why it is
important to help set up the child for success to help them gain a sense of competence. At this
stage, children with disabilities require additional support. A lot of the time children with
special needs lack social skills, which has them become isolated from their peers. As they lack
social skills they lack self-confidence as they are unable to form bonds. That is why it is
important as the individual working 1:1 with these students to support them in the social and
academic skills. If we do not support them they will develop inferiority to their peers and
decline in their academic level.

For Example,
- You are working with a child 1:1 at a school and they are learning a new math skill that
he/she has not yet learnt. A method to use to help them feel confident and not inferior,
you can break the concept up in to simple step using methods that the child is familiar
with. You can then have one of their peers to work parallel with them. By doing this
you are helping the child feel successful by giving them modified work that their peers
are working on. By simplifying the work you help the child to accomplish the skill on his
own with little to no guidance.