Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Topic 8

TASK 2
Staphylococcus, also known as staph, is bacteria that is almost always found on the skin and in the nose of pretty much healthy people. For the most part, they look like pimples or boils on the skin, which causes red and swollen and may include pus in the boils/pimples. (I know, it’s disgusting). Anyways, sometimes staph can have more sever and harmful reactions than the boils which are but not limited to the infection spreading into the lungs, heart, bones, or even spread through the body in the blood stream. There are even some types of staff that are resistant to medicine, such as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. This sounds awful, I know, but in most cases it only happens in hospitals, health care facilities (nursing homes, etc.). Basically to sum it up, it finds its way to people who have very weak immune systems.
This could be very dangerous for a daycare environment. The children touch everything and put everything, so this staff could definitely be passed with ease among the children. Also, although I know that it is very unlikely, the MRSA could get to the children if they were exposed to it somehow, because children DO have very weak immune systems. They are always catching each other’s colds and getting sick.


TASK 3
Since my post was about sicknesses that children can get, I decided that I would kind of talk about realization that I had. Today I was in the daycare and these children had runny noses and were coughing horribly, and that really highlights the fact that we REALLY have to sanitize everything that's in the room at the end of the day. We do this anyways (of course), but the reasoning behind it is VERY important. If the children don't get sick that day from sneezing and coughing on each other, then they more than likely will get sick the next day if we didn't sanitize everything.
Anyways, it's still going really well at the daycare, and I'm sad that I only have a little while longer to inter there! Although it's coming to an end, I almost feel like I would be welcome there regardless of my internship(:

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

topic 10: Communication skills

TASK 1

Written: email, letter, smart board

Verbal: through speaking, through song, through recorded audiotape

non-verbal: hand gestures, symbols, expressions on one's face



written: if your smart board wasn't working, then you could get it fixed or call technical support. you're Internet might not be working, so you could go to the public library. You might not be able to find a pen, so you could use a marker or colored pencil.

Verbal: you could have a soar throat and not be able to talk well, so you could go to the store and get some cough drops. You might not be singing your best that day, so you could get someone else to sing for you. Your tape player might be out of batteries, so you could go to the store and get some more.

non-verbal: you may have broken your hand, so you could just use the other one. Someone may not be able to understand the symbols that you're making, so you could try easier ones to comprehend. You might be sad and trying to act happy, so you could try and take your mind off whatever is making you sad so that your facial expressions are clearer to read.

TASK 2
In my eyes my communication skills are pretty decent. No one is perfect, and no one can communicate in the right and good way all the time, but I do try. My body language may show if I'm uncomfortable even if I'm trying to smile, so I may need to work on expressing and communicating with the other person my out of place feelings. Regardless of that though, I think that I do communicate well with most people that I encounter on a daily basis. I may communicate differently with certain people, like if I'm explaining something important to my boyfriend, I may use hand gestures to express my self to the extent that I feel is right. I do this because I'm comfortable with him. With my mom I may communicate differently than with my friends, because I don't usually email my mom and with my friends I do that often. I do this because I see my mom everyday and I may not see my friends every day. I could definitely improve my communications in a few ways that I can see. I could change it by visiting or calling my friends more than I email them, because those two things are more personal than just emailing or texting.

TASK 3 (WEEKLY JOURNAL)
My communication skills are always on their best behavior when I am at my internship. With the little kids, they may not understand everything, but if I point while I say what I'm saying, they will understand better. Also, I have learned that it is good to talk to the children when they make a noise to get your attention so that they learn the talk and get talked back to concept. So at the daycare I do use the communication skills of talking or mimicking their noises. Tomorrow I am looking forward to being at the day care (just like every Wednesday), but also, my and my co-worker, Brittany, get to hide Easter Eggs for the children! I'm looking forward to that event because I know how much the kids will like looking for and finding the eggs. It makes me laugh when they laugh, and when they cry, sometimes I'd like to cry out of frustration, but usually I just laugh about that as well. Besides all of that, everything is going beautifully, as always, and I'm still loving it!