DigiTellCriticalIncidentAfterschoolliteracyprogram

Ourcriticalincidentwasfocusedaroundoneparticularchild.Inthefirsttwoweeksofthe
Digitellprogramthestudentseemedverydisengaged.Westruggledtoelicitanykindof
knowledge or contributions toour narrative story.The would constantly befocusing his
attentiononothergroupsornearbyobjects.Whenaskedtoprovidesuggestions,orexplain
histhoughtshewouldshyawayorrespondwithIdontknow.
We triedarangeofstrategiestodifferentiateourteachinginhopesthatthestudent
wouldcontributetothegroupslearning.Wegavehimopportunitiestoconnecttextto
world,textandself.Thereweremomentswherehehadthechancetocommunicateideas
orallyandthroughwrittenresponses.Whenthatwasnotsuccessfulweeventriedgivinghim
multiple examples from which he could choose one, however we still had difficulty in
evokingananswer.
Afterweektwo,Jessandmyselfhadfoundoutthatthestudenthasanxiety,whichexplained
thereasonsformanyofhisactions.Wethenbrainstormedideasofwhatwecoulddotohelp
him.
Inweekthreewetriedimplementingtwonewteachingmethodstohelphim.Onewasusinga
gametodrawoutunderstandingofrhyme,andtheotherincludedtheuseofapuppetto
communicateunderstandingofexpression.Bothofthesethingswereextremelysuccessful.
Wesawthestudentwantingtojoininandevencontributesomeofhisownideaswithoutus
ortheotherstudentshelpinghim.

Theuseofpuppetsduringplayhavealsoshowntohaveverypositiveresultsinchildrenwho
arechallengedphysically,mentallyandemotionally.Childrencanusepuppetstofind
theirvoice,developsocialskillsandconnectthemwithclassroomlearning(Ewing,
2013,p.116).

References

Ewing,R.(2013).Creativeartsinthelivesofyoungchildren:Play,imaginationand
learning.Camberwell,Victoria:ACERPress.