Karli Akin

Mr Rudebusch

Senior Project

4/8/24

Senior Project Reflection

Throughout my shadowing experience, I had the opportunity to spend 20 plus hours

observing the main preschool teacher Mrs Shelby Mack. I shadowed her preschool class at the

McKinley Elementary in Watertown, SD. I got through each day interacting with the students. I

got to be like another paraprofessional. After my shadowing experience, I moved on to my

research. I decided to focus my research on nonverbal children and their ways to communicate. I

saw quite a few nonverbal children throughout my shadowing and this really interested me. For

my research I came up with the question: Is the Picture Exchange Communication System the

best way for nonverbal children to communicate? Through my 6 hours of research I found that

the PECS method is the most common way of communication in the education field. After my

shadowing experience and my research, I proceeded to my product. For my product I wanted to

create something that explain the PECS method and how to use it. So, for my product I took 3-4

hours assembling a ring with pictures from the PECS method, a direction sheet for the ring, and a

teacher’s guide. I wanted to make this product something that people would actually use in the

world today.

I faced quite a few problems throughout this experience, some little and some more

major. One of the major problems I faced was right away at the beginning of my project. I really

struggled with picking a career to shadow as well as where to do it. Something that helped me

decide what career I wanted to focus on was my career path in life. I have always known I
wanted to be a nurse but another major job idea in my past was teaching. So I finally settled on

Elementary Education because I figured I would regret it if I didn’t take the opportunity to see

what preschool teaching was like. Another major problem I faced was during my research. I had

a hard time coming up with a research question. I first settled on a question and started to

research that topic but I couldn’t seem to find research that backed up my claim. Over a couple

days I decided to switch my topic overall. This is when I came up with the question: Is the

Picture Exchange Communication System the best way for nonverbal children to communicate?

Those were really the only two major problems I had throughout my experience.

I felt like I managed my good at some points and not so great at others. I think when it

came to my shadowing experience, I made sure I got in and started that right away so I had time

to think about the rest of my project ahead of time. When it came to my research, I didn’t time

manage very well. I took to much time on trying to find research that I didn’t give myself enough

time to turn around and write the essay. After that I made sure my time management was great

through the rest of the project.

I learned a lot throughout this experience. I have a new found respect for teachers. I

learned how important it is to have respect for everyone in the classroom as well as outside the

classroom. I also learned how important it is for some people to have a great relationship with

their students and co-workers. This showed me a lot because I am a person that wants to have a

great relationship with my co-workers. Shelby Mack showed me how this positively impacted

her career.

I will use this experience for the rest of my life. Seeing everything I was able to in the

classroom shows me very important life lessons. I am going to take this experience with me into

my further education and career. This experience also made me rethink part of my career path.