A Child Life Specialists job

Photo by: Christiaan Triebert

Child Life Specialists help children cope with their illnesses as well as to bring comfort to the these children through play.  Children who come into the hospital anxious and wary for what is to come, they are reassured by the child life specialist, who explains to them, step by step, what is going to happen. They might take the patient and family on a tour of the facility, especially if they are going to have surgery, and show them how far their mom and dad will be able to go with them. They will also show the child what the nurses will be putting on them while they are still awake, so they are prepared, especially for the gross smell of the sedation gas, if they are being sedated, by letting them choose a awesome flavor to smell during this time inside of their mask. When the child feels safe and secure, and know what is coming, they will be able to not only cope with the situation better, but also understand what is happening, and not be afraid because they have seen everything before. Many people do not know that child life specialists have this large of an impact on children.

Photo by: Carol Garcia

Child life specialists work with children and adolescents of all ages, going through many different medical challenges, including oncology. Since patients dealing with cancer are all of different age, they have activates and programs suited to each different age and developmental group. One activity that is talked about in this article, is teen grille night, where there is a different featured food item that the teens get to make themselves, and sit around and talk and eat with their peers. This often brings a comfort to these patients, that they are not the only ones going through this, and that somebody else understands. Because child life specialists are in hospitals, and help children cope with their illness through play and explaining procedures in a way children understand, children and parents are less stressed and anxious for any given procedure. Also, kids who are too sick to come out of their rooms do not feel isolated and alone, because the child life specialist brings activities and toys to their bedside, including them in the things that the other kids on their floor are doing.  Helping sick kids be kids is a crucial part of a child life specialists job and they truly make a difference in the life of children and their families everyday.

Child Life Job Outlook

Photo by: Philip Dean

In becoming a Child Life Specialist, it is important to understand that, at this time, the job outlook is not as good as it is for other careers, based on the fact that many hospitals find it hard to get funding to have many Child Life Specialists on staff in every department that they need them in. One way hospitals do receive funding for their Child Life Specialists is through grants as well as donations. As you can see by this article  it takes over 250,000 dollars just to be able to provide Child Life services to their patients on weekends, and possibly in places like the Emergency Room, where Child Life Specialists are not always found. This is a common problem in the job outlook, because without funding and recognition for what a Child Life Specialists do, there will not be more jobs created. Because the hospital is such a stressful place for chronically ill children, and the presence of a Child Life Specialist can help them through a lot of their fear. They do this through different therapeutic play activities, that involve being in a playroom, or if the child is too ill, at their bedside.  This is important for all aspects of a child’s hospital stay, because children do not only heal physically, but also emotionally. Because Child Life Specialists do not give out medical care, they are a safe person for children to go to without feeling like they are going to have another procedure or test done that is going to cause them pain.  Children benefit from having a safe person and space to go to away from procedures and tests, as well as somebody to help them emotionally, making it a better environment for the child to heal from the trauma of being in the hospital as well as healing from their physical issues.

Technology in the Classroon

Photo by: Lexie Flickinger

Technology in the classroom has been growing with the times. In recent years, classrooms all over the world have been adding technology, like iPads, tablets, and laptops to enhance their students learning. There have been several studies done on whether or not this addition to classrooms enhances the learning of students. While many on the outside may see this as a distraction, it has been proven many times by several different people to increase test scores, and create a better learning environment for all students, but specifically High School students. iPads can be useful for not only students but they can also enhance the teachers lessons. 
Teachers can use technology to their advantage in many ways. They can instill technology into their lesson plans to enhance the learning of their students. The savings of money through not having to buy new textbooks makes it easier for districts to put money towards technology, and being able to add useful learning apps as they wish to these iPads or tablets. I know that in classes in which teachers implemented the use of technology, it made it more fun and made the project or activity more practical for future use. It is more realistic to teach students ways to use technology in a way that will benefit them in their future education. Teachers teaching their students can find apps and websites that enhance the subject or lesson that they are trying to teach. This will not only make it easier on the teacher, but also will engage the students a lot more because they will find it a lot more interesting. There are also many more opportunities for portfolio development for High School classes, which can then be translated by the students to be used for their future, not only for getting into a fantastic university, to getting a job in their future career.

Click here to read the article about technology in classrooms

Teachers have put these into action in their classrooms, and have come to realize that they are incredibly effective. In the classroom of Stacey Roshan, has implemented technology into her AP Calculus classroom and has found that it has raised test scores on the AP tests by a drastic amount. About 1/3 of the class scored a perfect 5 on their test, which is up a whole ten percent from years before. The class average is also up from a 3.59 to a 4.11. Click here to read the article She was able to incorporate technology into her classroom after her students received tablets, by taping her lectures and having students watch them after school for homework, and being able to spend the entire class period doing math problems and allowing her students to ask questions, instead of being even more confused after going home and not being able to accomplish any of the problems by themselves. Teachers can learn from this by taking her ideas and using them in a way that would work for their classes. 

Technology can be used in younger classrooms too by incorporating learning apps into their lesson plans. There are apps out there that help teach children how to read, write their letters and numbers, and teach them math problems. Something one teacher cannot give each of her students individually. I think if each teacher would incorporate these into their classrooms, students would be much more apt to think that learning is fun and that they can really do it. This way, students can also play these 
games after school, while still learning, possibly without 
even knowing it!