Summary of Experience I was very fortunate to gain the experience of being an intern at Ocean Tides in Narragansett, RI. Ocean Tides is a program that offers residential living and schooling for boys of the high school age. It was founded by the De La Salle Christian Brothers to offer alternative counseling and treatment for young men in need of correction. The program also offers individual attention for each boy to recognize troublesome behavior, learning disabilities, schooling issues, and to develop personal growth. Being an intern at Ocean Tides gave me a great deal of opportunity to grow outside my normal comfort zone and use my strengths. Primarily, my responsibility was to be available to help with challenging school material throughout the day. I was also there to be a positive role model and mentor when needed. My time spent at Ocean Tides was extremely valuable to me. It has allowed me to grow and learn in how to deal with such a diverse and challenging population. Through my experience, it focused the area in which I would like to learn and work in for my future. My first objective was to learn skills in dealing with this specific population. Since I have had no prior knowledge of working with this population, I mainly observed the first couple of weeks to understand the behavior of the students and how the staff and teachers responded to individual issues. I also worked one on one with many students who varied in different learning abilities, personalities, and needs. I chose to read a student's file to understand more underlying learning disabilities and previous schooling issues to learn how to best help the individual student. Through this process, I have come to understand how important it is to meet the boys specific needs for them to be successful in and out of the Ocean Tides program. My second objective was to learn and understand students with ADHD and how to best work with these children. I did this through speaking with the staff and the psychologist about the challenges these particular students face. I observed the different behaviors these kids portray, and the way they approach their schoolwork. It also helped me to do additional research on ADHD characteristics. Through this objective, I was able to accomplish a more beneficial approach in helping the boys do their best work in school. My third objective was to write a treatment plan for a student. A treatment plan is a short summary that the teachers write about a specific student's academic strengths and needs as well as their behavioral strengths and needs. I chose to include three treatment plans on three very different students. I was able to accomplish this by observing and spending individual time with each of them to understand their strengths and needs. I learned how these treatment notes can be very beneficial to staff and teachers in recognizing the progress the individual student has made. My fourth objective was to learn how the special education teachers revise learning materials to fit lower skilled children in the classroom. I did this mostly from experience in the classroom with low skilled kids. I spent a great amount of time with the special education teachers and how they respond to those specific kids. I was usually asked to work individually with the students for tests, reading assignments, and homework. I learned how valuable the special education department is for these kids. Since many of these students are low skilled due to them skipping and not completing schoolwork in previous schools, individual attention really helps to build their confidence and skill levels. My final objective was to create a case study of a student. I initially wanted to do this objective because it seemed to be a valuable tool to learn to be used in my future schooling and work. I spent a great deal of individual time with this student. I went to many of his classes throughout the day, talked with him about present issues he may be dealing with, and worked with him on classwork and assignments. I also received input from other staff and teachers to gain a better understanding of his behavior. I learned through this objective that in obtaining more information about all areas of the student's life, I was better equipped for helping him do his best. It was also very beneficial to practice writing a case study. Overall this experience has shaped the population I would like to work with in my future. My time at Ocean Tides was very rewarding and helped to strengthen my skills and confidence for a career in either counseling or social work. Through assisting the teachers, understanding the dynamic of this environment, and spending time with the students it has influenced the area of psychology in which I would like to pursue.
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