August 26, 2004

Equipped

One of the things I love about my job is 'Thursdays are learning days'. Also cos Thursday signifies T.G.I.F the next day.

Today, I had staff training in occupational therapy (OT). Basically, we learnt about the different levels of arousal level in our children and how to modulate them so as to achieve the desired level for them to function and learn best. We learnt about sensory modulation and sensory integration.

I realised that a lot of the games I used to play when I was primary-schooling served so much more purpose than I thought. My sisters, cousins and I used to play this game called 'Crocodile'. It goes this way... one person, sometimes two, will 'pasang' and be the crocodile under the table tennis table (there are still a few that survived all the HDB upgrading in some older housing estates) while the rest (usually 3 or 4 of us) will be the preys standing on top of the table tennis table. The crocodile will try to reach out from the sides of the table and touch any of the preys' leg and that means the prey will be 'dead'. The crocodile can choose anytime to 'attack' and the preys will just have to be alert at all time. There will, therefore, be a lot of pushing, shouting and jumping on the table as the preys try to escape the fatal touch of the crocodile.

Just a game as simple as the above helps in building up a lot of senses, like the proprioceptive (hoho, new word i learnt) sense - a sense of muscles and muscular movements.

Many of the action songs I've learnt in primary school actually were more meaningful than just fun. They involve a lot of both gross and fine motor skills training and pre-writing exercise for the wrists and fingers and it helps to modulate the senses of a child so that he/she is made more aware and can better integrate the different information he is receiving from each of his senses.

OT is such fun, really! We went to the OT room to have a go at the tools used to modulate the students. It was really fun. The slide, 'jetty jump', 'rubber trampoline', yoga ball, log swing, wheel swing, 'rocky cushions', etc. Some made me feel relaxed while others made me feel more anxious and tensed. With an understanding of how these tools work differently for different people, we can better make use of OT as a way to help our kids with their sensory and emotional issues.

Will be resuming the Maths Seminar next Thursday. Basically, learning the curriculum goals and various pedagogy and ways of teaching Maths to children. Contrary to what most of us thought initially, there's a lot lot lot to learn about and from teaching Maths to children. Gotta admit, Maths makes so much more sense and fun than it used to be.

I love being student-teacher. =)

Posted by 杏 cy （Jancy） at 23:06