Team El Jardin - Sarah

At El Jardin 

Hello everyone!

Welcome to EPPP 2014, it’s going to be a fantastic group! I want to introduce team El Jardin: Drew, Danielle, Bonnie, Jane and myself. Crystal T. will be helping out with some admin and support at our site as well this year. 

Our team will be working with children, admin staff and teachers at El Jardin de Infantiles, a semi-private school with children who have been nominated for remediation during the summer.  The teachers have expressed the desire to have more consultation and professional development. Last year we did some consultation with teachers around differentiated instruction, as well as consultation with parents about early development and behavioural difficulties. I’m excited to work with each of you and the teachers at El Jardin – they are wonderful and we can learn a lot from their experience with the education system in Ecuador. I completely agree with Lisa that you will return home to the U.S. or Canada (representing Canada here!) with different perspectives and skills (including bus balancing and hand gesturing – or even better, Spanish…) that will bring new life and ideas to your work. Thank you everyone for your ideas and questions thus far, and for signing up for our materials list.

See you in Quito!

Sarah Gray

Team Centro Muchacho Trabajador - Lisa

Hi all! I just wanted to kick this off by introducing myself and my team, and answering some questions that have come my way (as well as throwing in my own 2 cents;). I am so excited to have Paige, Crystal, Amanda, and Heather on my mini-team, and look forward  to helping you get the most out of this *amazing* experience as you would like. 

For some, it is pushing themselves beyond limits they typically would (travel to another country, speaking another language, etc.), while others may use this opportunity as a springboard for further academic/professional endeavors (dissertations, internships, submissions/presentations, etc.). Regardless of where  your personal or professional goals fall on this spectrum, I can say with 100% certainty that you WILL return to the States and your jobs/school careers with a new perspective on your career or personal life, and a lasting appreciation for living and working in such a diverse pocket of the world. 

Here is a link to your work site - our initial information provided is that students have been identified as end-of-the-year candidates for remediation and supplemental academic/behavioral supports, which you will be supporting them in.  Paige asked: ]I am wondering if we should split up collecting supplies or materials? I am not sure what projects we could work on at this point, I am sure there is prep that could be done. Do you have any guidance on this? Would it be helpful for us to identify some interests that we have/expertise that we might bring in working with certain populations/or on certain topical areas?"

 I would say that you can never go wrong with flash-cards; check out the "Resource" section on the "Assignments/Readings" - especially the Spanish/English Special Education Glossary - that is a really great doc to have to refer to.  There are also remedial reading tips in Spanish for grades K-5 in the same file location. Regarding supplies, stickers are another good supply suggestion - I found some in Spanish at the dollar store, and used them in 2010 as reinfrocers, positive acknowledgement, etc. Also, depending on the needs of CMT, you may consider buying dollar store play-doh (which never gets any less fun - no matter what your age!:)

One of my personal "go-to" sites for bilingual docs and supplemental academic info is Colorin Colarado - here. Regarding specific populations, its hard to say - as some students may not be considered "identified" in the way that we would in the U.S. I would encourage your team to not go overboard at Dollar Tree, but to purchase some of those items mentioned above.  Also, a Spanish-English dictionary is helpful to have. I have one I can bring for folks to use.  I also have a Spanish version of Russell Barkley's ADHD checklist for clinicians and psychologists; I will try to scan selected pages, but will also bring the manual, as well. This document provided by Tara and Anton was an excellent resource to help establish the needs of students; you could adapt it to use for teachers or other CMT staff who may have input regarding the students you will work with - Parent Interview Form.  I also just added a great document regarding ADHD by George DuPaul intended for parents to explain ADHD - here.  You may or may not find these things helpful once you assess the needs of the referred students, but feeling prepared and being exposed to models of clinical and educational treatment in Ecuador is invaluable.  My last "tip" is for all the bloggers out there. I thought setting up a blog about my trip and travels would be SO. MUCH. FUN. and would keep my family and friends back home updated about alllll the awesome things I was doing in July.  My 2 cents: you will have limited time to pop into an internet cafe to dedicate to blogging, and not all host families have wi-fi (some do charge a nominal fee for using it, understandably - mine did). 

Looking forward to meeting everyone in person and kicking off another awesome EPPP year!!!!!

Lisa Fernandez, Ed.S., NCSP

Nationally Certified School Psychologist 
  

COUNTING DOWN!!

Hello c/o 2014!!! We hope that you are all as excited about your trip to Ecuador as we are to be a part of it!!

In the next few days, you'll see posts from your Site Coordinators (who probably have already emailed you:) with any of their own insights and suggestions as it relates to your individual teams.  So in addition to any e-mails you may receive, this is a great "on-stop-shop" for all things related to your trip!