Teacher Candidate: Hannah Smithers

Student: Abbie Willer

Lab: Monday, 7-8pm
Spring 2019

Introductory Paragraph:
My student is Abbie Willer, and she has Williams Syndrome- which is also known as the happy
syndrome. Abbie always has a smile on her face, even when she doesn’t want to do something she
still manages to smile throughout. She is a joy to work with. She said she loves mermaids, which
comes in handy since we are working in the pool. When assessing Abbie, we were in the pool and we
used both the deep end and the shallow end to assess. She was assessed on February 11th, 2019 using
the aquatics checklist as an assessment.

Present Level of Performance:

I have only had Abbie for a couple of days in the pool, so I still don’t know everything she is capable
of but I have a good idea of what she can and cannot do in the pool.

Fitness: Abbie seems to be in reasonably good shape, she is not in any way overweight and by what
she tells me she is always active. She can tread water for minutes at a time. She also has good
endurance while swimming. She can go the length of the pool without needed to stop and take a
break.

Cognitive: Abbie has a hard time remembering the cues of certain skills, and she doesn’t seem to
retain any of the information when asked after I teach her something. This is something that I really
want to work on with her, so I don’t have to keep reteaching the same skill over and over to keep
progressing in it.

Affective: Abbie is a social butterfly, she loves to talk to anyone and everyone. This has its pros and
cons. She works well and gets along well with others, there is no issue there whatsoever. Where the
issues start to arise is when she starts talking to someone when we are in the middle of doing
something- then it takes me awhile to get her focus back.

Psychomotor: Abbie seems to have the human stroke, or the doggie paddle, down very well. Just last
class she started swimming with her whole body underwater- I was really impressed with that. She
has a good constant kick throughout her swimming. She can also float on her back and bob up and
down in the water. I am currently teaching her the elementary backstroke and the freestyle stroke.

Description of performance in the curriculum offered in a general physical education class: If

Abbie were to be placed into a general physical education class I think she would have some
difficulties. She has trouble understand some directions and she would get distracted too easily. Skill
wise, I think Abbie would be a bit behind what her peers are accomplishing but she is capable of
doing the same tasks just at a modified level. I think if Abbie were to be placed in a general physical
education class that she would at least need an aid to help guide her and keep her on task and making
sure she is performing the skills correctly.
Long Term Goals and Short Term Objectives:

Fitness Goal: My goal for this semester with Abbie is for her to swim three lengths of the
pool without having to stop, for each stroke we learn using the correct cues to perform it.
1. Short term objective: By the end of class of week six, Abbie will be able to swim
two lengths of the pool using the elementary backstroke.
2. Short term objective: By the end of class of week 10, Abbie will be able to swim
two lengths of the pool using the freestyle stroke.
Cognitive Goal: My goal for this semester with Abbie is for her to comprehend and be able
to recite the cues and what we are doing in all of the activities that we perform.
1. Short term objective: During class, Abbie will be able to recite the cues of the
task we are performing.
2. Short term objective: After classes, Abbie will be able to tell me what we did in
the lesson, and recite the cues back to me. For example for the elementary backstroke, “tickle, t,
touch”.
Affective Goal: My goal for this semester with Abbie is for her to become less distracted and
learn personal space/appropriateness.
1. Short term objective: By the end of week six in the pool, Abbie will perform
constantly, all but a couple times, without getting distracted by others or objects around the pool.
2. Short term objective: By the end of week six, Abbie will learn personal space and
know when to hug someone or shake somebody’s hand.
Psychomotor Goal: My goal for this semester with Abbie is for her how to learn and
perform at least two strokes and learn how to dive.
1. Short term objective: By the end of class, Abbie will swim two lengths of the
pool, performing the elementary backstroke with the correct cues.
2. Short term objective: By the end of class, Abbie will dive into the pool (from
knees) at least 4 times, using the proper cues and having confidence in doing it.

Health Considerations:
Abbie has no serious health conditions at this time. She has Williams Syndrome and with that often
comes heart related issues- so she is monitored for a heart condition but it does not affect her
participation in physical education.

Behavioral Considerations:
One major behavioral consideration to take in when teaching Abbie is that she loves to talk to people-
she is a social butterfly. She will go out of her way to talk to anybody. This needs to be limited, so
she can focus on the things she needs to do. This is where I believe an aid would help her
significantly. Abbie also loves to please people. I want Abbie to understand that it is perfectly fine to
make a mistake, she gets so down on herself when she makes a mistake or displeases someone in the
slightest way.
Accommodations, Modifications, and Services:
Some of the accommodations I make while teaching a lesson to Abbie are keeping her in a less
distracted areas of the pool because she gets easily distracted, and it is often difficult to get her back
on task. I also use simple cues while teaching her, in hopes she will remember the shorter and more
easily understandable cues- an example would be for the elementary backstroke I would use the cues
of “tickle, T, touch”. One special education service I believe Abbie needs in a school setting would be
one on one instruction. As I said, she gets distracted easily so she needs someone to keep her focused
and pushes her to do her work.

Projected Starting Date for Services and Modifications Along With Anticipated Frequency,
Location, and Duration of Those Services and Modifications:
Abbie willer is receiving one hour of instruction in physical education on campus each week, in the
Sport&Splash program, throughout the Spring 2019 semester in SUNY Cortland’s Adapted Physical
Education Program.

Instructional Strategies:
There are a few instructional strategies that I use with Abbie, such include removing her from a
distraction based setting, such as teaching Abbie more one on one in our own section of the pool to
limit distractions from others. I also try my best to animate the lesson and really keep a high level of
energy from Abbie, this keeps her engaged and she maintains good energy throughout the lesson if I
sound excited about what we are doing. Lastly, I spend a short amount of time on one topic, go to
another topic, and then come back to that first topic to keep her engaged- for example I would spend
5 minutes on the elementary backstroke then move to jumping in the pool for 5-10 minutes and then
go back to the elementary backstroke.

Provide a Statement Regarding Assessment:

I will determine Abbie progress throughout the semester in the pool based off of the Adapted
Aquatics for Individuals with Disabilities assessment packet. The parents/guardians will be informed
of how the lesson went and what Abbie learned after each and every lesson. Halfway through, and at
the end of the semester, I will also give a report of what she has learned and retained just as a
reminder.

Statement of Transition services needs:

Abbie is not yet 16.