Saturday, February 25, 2012
Protocols
On Friday, I implemented my protocol for my mental health class. A protocol is roughly a lesson plan for a group session. My partner and I had to implement a session about time management for a group of OT grad students. Some of the grad students were given dysfunctions, such as being hung-over, fatigued, or having a song stuck in their head that we had to deal with. Our session went pretty well. We have had the most complicated activity compared to any of the other groups, but I think it was good because it actually challenged the clients. We had a few issues. One was I forgot to restate the goal of the activity right before I gave the directions. It was stated at the intro and the conclusion, but it should also be stated right before the activity. We could have also used other clients to help the clients that were having issues instead of just using ourselves. Our discussion at the end was very stilted because we just went around in a circle, which means people knew when it was their turn and tuned out otherwise. Many things went well though. We successfully integrated the previous sessions into our session, and our opening activity was a big hit. We had a blow-up chicken with get to know you questions on it that was passed around. I would say overall it was a success.
Monday, February 20, 2012
Problem Based Learning
This week I read
"Why Good Classes Fail" on mediatedcultures.com. It made the point
that classes can use all the proper techniques and still fail due to a lack of
enthusiasm and genuineness from the professor. We have a couple of professors
who are really big into problem based learning. They love to tell us that it is
the best way to learn. They are even passionate about the subject material, but
no one in the class is connecting. Other teachers use project based learning
(but don’t shove it in our face that they are doing it), and it works. I
personally believe the problem is in relevance and connecting with the
students. Both of the classes that these teachers have taught are in areas that
very few, if any, of the students think they will work in. I still think both
of the classes are valuable to the curriculum; however, I think the focus needs
to shift. Sorry, I know that is very vague and confusing, but I don't want to
call out the class more than I have. Basically, I think the focus needs to
shift to more current day practicability.
The other issue appears to be that the professors have failed to connect
with the students, and the professors almost always step back so that we can
solve our own problems. It is definitely valuable and necessary for students to
facilitate their own learning. If we were given all the answers that would an
issue too. However, when we get stuck and are unable to preserve they are still
unable to help us. Occasionally, they will finally explain a few classes later,
but at that point we have stopped caring
because we can no longer deal with the frustration.
This was left in the
comments of the article:
When a Teach for
America researcher “called up teachers who were making remarkable gains and
asked to visit their classrooms, he noticed he’d get a similar response from
all of them: ‘They’d say, “You’re welcome to come, but I have to warn you—I am
in the middle of just blowing up my classroom structure and changing my reading
workshop because I think it’s not working as well as it could.” When you hear
that over and over, and you don’t hear that from other teachers, you start to
form a hypothesis.’ Great teachers, he concluded, constantly reevaluate what
they are doing.” (A. Ripley, 2010, The Atlantic)
I think this summarizes the biggest problem I
am having with my class. According to previous students, they have been
teaching like this for a while, and it never works. Reflective teaching is
always important. Just because theoretically it should work does not mean
realistically it will. I also think this is an important thought to keep in
mind as an OT, especially as a new one or veteran. Sometimes, we get so caught
up in the idea that theoretically something should work or it has always worked
in the past that we forget things can be changed and they probably should be.
Reflection and constant experimentation are some of the best ways to create a
successful practice in my opinion.
(Sidenote: one of my undergraduate professors also left a comment. It's
a small world.)
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Pintrest Roundup
Another Pintrest
round-up. As the site gets more popular, it is getting easier and easier to
find items that apply to more than pediatrics.
The first one is a
simple modification for glasses. Just stick rubber bands around a cup to
enhance grip. This could be used for small hands or hands that lack of sensory
input. As I am typing it up, I see it is from Real Simple magazine, which
provided an idea in one of my last roundup. Mainstream OT!
This is a homemade
felt board. Take a picture frame and insert felt. So simple. This could be good
for car trips or waiting at doctor's offices. It is quiet and relatively small
and entertaining.
Here is a low-vision
idea. Place a brightly colored picture frame around the light switches. This
draws the eye to it, and creates texture to denote light switches. Low vision
really intrigues me. We have not talked about it much in school, but at the Active
Duty Rehabilitation at the Veteran's Affairs they have a low vision lab, so
many of the guys I talk to tell us about their experiences. I have to be honest
though, I don't know if OTs are apart of it. This is from a home decorating
blog, so again yay mainstream OT!
One final idea, that
even I could use from time to time, a homemade ice pack. This suggest putting
in dishwashing liquid to create a gel like ice pack, instead of just plain ice.
Now if you are going to ice everyday, I would still suggest buying an ice pack,
but if you are on vacation or in a pinch this could be a wonderful solution.
Sunday, February 5, 2012
Gait
This week we had a
physical therapist come guest lecture on gait. It was intriguing and a
worthwhile lecture. We focused on gait
patterns more common in geriatric populations, since that was where her
expertise was. We focus on the gaits of a person with Parkinson's or a CVA
(stroke). Then we learned to walk with a variety of canes, walkers, and
crutches. They are much harder to coordinate than I would have imagined. I also
always thought it was the people with walkers that were slow, but it is really
the walker itself. The walker forces one to take smaller steps, and it prevents
one from gaining momentum. Canes should be used for balance, and almost never
for weight bearing because it is likely to cause hand issues because the hands
are not meant to weight bear. I also learned that I am horrible with crutches,
so let's hope I never need them.
Here is a video of the gait of a man with Parkinson's before and after medication. It is amazing.
Sometimes it was
hard for the class to pay attention to details because realistically we will
not be teaching anyone walk properly. We just need to know to refer to a
physical therapist. However, we do need to know how the assistive devices work
because often we "trick" them out to make them more functional. It is
important to learn about gait though because many of the activities we do with
patients will require them to be slightly mobile, even if it is a short trip to
the bathroom, and we need to know how they are likely to fall, so that we can
prevent it.
Thursday, February 2, 2012
Lab Practicals
Occupational therapy
is a hands on profession; however, many of the skills one needs are hard to
test on paper. My school has chosen to test these skills through lab
practicals. Typically, students are paired up and told to perform different
skills on each other. Ideally clients would be brought in, but that is rarely
practical and sometimes unethical.
There are many
benefits to lab practicals (especially compared to paper testing), but there
are drawbacks. One is they are time consuming to perform. Often it leaves
students hanging around the building, sometimes for hours. Another issue is the
student being the client knows what the student practitioner is looking for and
typically makes it easy. In one of my practicals my "client" always
knew what position to get into, and sometimes naturally got into that position
without me asking. That is not going to happen in real life. Finally, these
situations are very controlled. Even when the "client" is instructed
to act up they are still usually on the practitioner's side. Even if in the
clinic, one is lucky enough to have the perfect client there are still the
issue of distractions from other staff and clients as well as missing
materials. Don't get me wrong I appreciate my school giving me the time and
encouragement, but I wish there was a more realistic way to test. I guess we
are slowly building our way to fieldwork. It would probably be too overwhelming
otherwise.
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