Teachers In Action Space coast Early Intervention Center Hannah hines Hannahnicole@knights.ucf.edu November 22nd, 2011 EEX 4070

Space Coast Early Intervention Center “The Preschool where every child can learn and grow!” Space Coast Early Intervention Center is an APPLE accredited Gold Seal Quality Preschool for children with and without special needs. Their goal is to provide a unique inclusive program that ensures equal learning opportunities for all children. They are located off of Dairy Rd. in Melbourne, Florida. Their programs include full and part-time preschool programs for children from ages 13 months to 5 years. They also provide an afterschool care for children ages 5 to 9. In the Summer, they offer a “Kindergarten and Beyond” Summer program where children can enjoy Summer day camp activities. The classes are inclusive, with 50% “typical” children, And 50% children with special needs.

Engagement Activities Through doing my service learning at Space Coast Early Intervention Center, I addressed the need for responsible, reliable people who have a passion for children with and without special needs. They are always looking for community members to get involved with their team, and be a regular face in their facility in order to make the biggest impact. Activities I engaged in include: Helping with cooking activities Reading to the children Working on fine motor skills Helping children with individual assignments Music I worked with both “typical” children in the classroom, and those with special needs ranging from learning and behavioral disabilities to extreme physical disabilities. I fulfilled my 15 hours of engagement with persons with disabilities on three different days from 8:30-1:00pm from October-November. I got started with Space Coast Early Intervention Center in high school where I completed hours for my CDA credential, and have been involved with them ever since!

Participant Demographics The children in which I worked with during my time at SCEIC (about 10-15 at a time) Ages 2-9 years of age A mix of ethnic backgrounds, mostly white 50% with disabilities 50% without disabilities Disabilities include: Down Syndrome Autism Speech Delays Developmental Delays Social and Emotional Disorders These individuals are considered persons with disabilities based on I.D.E.A. Part C-Early Intervention for Babies and Toddlers: Infants and toddlers with disabilities (birth-3) and their families receive early intervention services. Indicator 6: Preschool Children in General Education Settings: Percent of preschool children with IEPs who received special education and related services in settings with typically developing peers .

Service in Action Photography of the children was restricted, so I will use alternative pictures to show the activities I engaged in through my service learning experience.

Perceptions of Differences My initial thoughts about this service learning assignment was not negative. I have worked with Space Coast Early intervention Center for years, and I was excited to get involved again. I have family with special needs, so I have some experience with working with people with disabilities. I was actually excited to get going with the project, but my only hesitation came from not knowing where to start. My first ideas of what to do to complete my service learning experience were much different from what I actually did based on the needs of the facility, but I enjoyed it just the same! My thoughts after completing my service learning experience have altered slightly. Although I feel that it is very fulfilling as a teacher and volunteer working with children with special needs, I saw this time that there are many challenges you face on a daily basis.

Perceptions cont. The experience that had the biggest impact on myself and the children was baking the cookies. I felt that the children felt a part of something special, and they felt proud of their accomplishment in the end. It was a special feeling helping them learn, and seeing the excitement on their face as they usually do not get to participate in such activities. I feel that the children really benefit from an Inclusive setting, and learn to work well with their peers, but every child has different needs from extreme to very minimal. It is hard to maintain balance between working with every child. For example, when a child has very little needs in the classroom and seems to work well in a variety of activities, they may not be getting the amount of attention they deserve. For this reason, I believe it is crucial to have a low student to teacher ratio with many volunteers to reach all children.

Connections to EEX 4070 The three course topics I better understand now: Full Inclusion Full inclusion involves having every child regardless of the severity of their disability in the regular classroom with their peers full time while services are taken to the child in that setting. Service Learning Experience Behavior Management Behavior Management is all of the actions and conscious inactions to enhance the probability people, individually and in groups, choose behaviors which are personally fulfilling, productive, and socially acceptable (Shea & Bauer, 1987). Music activities Instructional Strategies Instructional Strategies are ways in which you approach an instruction module, also called “technique of delivery”. Baking Cookies

Connections cont. Due to my service learning experience, I better understand course content, because it made the ideas come to life. I saw how important it is to provide multiple ways of instruction for all of your students, and to make everything in your classroom accessible to everyone. These experiences will be useful in my future professional work as an educator, because I have concrete examples of how to adapt my lessons for my students with disabilities, and provide needed modifications for the classroom. I also learned how important it is to know the proper terms and concepts of teaching children with disabilities, because they are used all the time in the education setting.

Civic Engagement Service Learning is a great way to get civically engaged. Since I have volunteered at SCEIC before, it was not a new experience for me, but it was different in the activities I participated in. My perspective on civic engagement and volunteerism now is the same. I think all too often we look outside of our community to pay back to others instead of starting with the people in our own community who need us too. I believe civic engagement is important for society including those with and without disabilities, because it helps you grow as an individual and learn from others, while also reaching out to those who have needs we can provide if we just take the time. I am definitely motivated to be more engaged in the future with not only this center, but hopefully with others too! I would encourage all students, teachers, and parents to get involved with their local community in something they are passionate about, and somewhere they have a purpose to make a difference.

Final Thoughts and Reflections I believe it is important for everyone to step out of their comfort zone and just get involved. Facing your initial preconceived notions and hesitations will almost always change the way you feel, and hopefully will create a lifelong volunteer. The only way for others to gain greater understanding on topics such as inclusion, and working with people with disabilities is to actually be involved. I can help to get others involved by sharing my experience, and being a voice for children with disabilities. Teachers play an important role in getting their students involved with things they can learn from, benefit from, and give back to others with. I believe that teachers are not the only ones who can make a difference in our society, as we all can teach through our actions.