Dsw Reflection

I am very thankful for the opportunity to intern at the Waterfront Public School and having the chance to work with two very different students with DD. This experience gave me a better understanding of how the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) employs DSWs and how they value our role within their classrooms. I was fortunate enough to work with a collaborative team of staff that encouraged my professional growth by allowing me to assess and implement new teaching strategies. This team also provided me with much needed feedback and criticism along the way, which I valued and learned from. In addition, this education support placement allowed me to fulfill many performance elements related to learning outcome seven of the DSW Program Manual.

I found the competencies of flexibility and self-control to be essential when working with students with DD. In terms of flexibility, I found it was very important to not focus on unsuccessful teaching approaches and instead try looking at the situation/approach from different angles. For example, I had to change my teaching approach numerous times while supporting J.K. I found with my initial approach, J.K. was constantly ignoring my requests and was very impatient with me. I was forced to try different approaches and decided to stop being overly friendly and start having a more authoritative role. In addition to flexibility, I found it was extremely important to uphold the competency of self-control when working with students with DD. Self-Control is the ability to control your emotions and not let them interfere with the way you provide support and care. Working with J.K. was sometimes difficult and I would often leave his classroom feeling defeated. However, I did not let these feelings show during my time with the students and I tried my best shrug off the bad days by continuing to work towards future