Sara Describes Position Board
Transcript

Sara: Some of the considerations for this particular position board, that... we... made note of, and then employed--

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Description Start:
Title: Designing a Position Board
Content: 
• Match learner preferences and learner goals to specific materials
Description End:

This child is very strong, so large elastic was used.

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Description Start:
Title: Learner Preferences
Content: 
• Banging objects against each other
• Putting fingers in holes
• Tangling fingers in things
• Metal, shiny things
• Mouthing/Chewing
• Taking things apart
• Vibration
• Open and close
• Clear containers
• Gel beads
• Color red
Description End:

We thought about that she likes to bang objects against each other-- that she needs to, kind of, have more experience with smaller objects, and... putting her fingers in holes. So, there's plenty of opportunities for that, and to tangle her fingers in things.

Now the things that we found that she likes; she really likes metal, shiny things. She's very visual and drawn to metal, shiny things. She likes shaking. She likes mouthing. She likes taking things apart. She likes vibration. She likes to open and close. She likes to turn pages in books, and she likes clear containers. 

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And so, we actually have a different activity for her with clear containers and gel beads! [Excited] She loves gel beads! Very visual kid.

But for her tactile exploration-- this what we made.

One of the things that we always consider when... we're making a Position Board is, "What does it do?" What does the object do? So, it needs to do something that the child enjoys, and then, maybe, something else that the child discover.

So, here we have something you can shake. [metal ball pinging] Take apart. You want to take the koozie off.
Here we have something-- if you have little fingers, you can get your fingers into the holes. You can also bang it-- stretch. This is fun for mouthing. If you squeeze it, [Clicking] you might get a nice clicking sound. This is really heavy. [Crinkling] The child likes gel beads, so she might like marbles, too. And then you can also find these things-- these nice round things up here that you can slide back and forth on picture wire, which is very strong.

This is a little end of- little leather end of something-- mostly for chewing. Another thing that she might be able to compare. [patting] And also red is a color that she really enjoys. 

This is a vibrating thing, that if you turn it on, it may entice her [vibration] to reach inside... and get it. She can also access just by... pressing it, but we want to encourage her to reach inside. That's a new thing. [vibration stops]

Also, underneath is something you can scratch. It's a... [tapping] emory board. Here's an "open and close." [clicking] She likes to open and close. [rattling] Here's some more things you can put your fingers in, and bang. And if you want you, you might... [clank] accidentally put it in-- something you can put in. [clank] And this is another thing you can put your whole hand through.

On the other side... we going to get some color. [metal ball rattling] I think she does these for vision; just for context.

Here is something, you see the-- these were on tank tops that I got [Indiscernible] Plastic stretchy things. They are further away so that they don't get mouthed as much. They're more for the fingers to encourage reaching out. And then, here's something else fun to play with on the end of that [pop] which just came undone. [laugh]

Here's another thing you can put your fingers in. It has interesting texture. This is really nice for being able to compare. It's ring sizer. She could mouth this... and put her fingers in the holes-- even her tongue, if she wanted to.

Here is a nice clear container with a... a... bunch of beads that are strung around the inside. So, even if she gets the top off [rattling] they won't come out. And they can be shaken.

Here's something you can slide. Curlers you can slide. And you can also put them inside of each other. And they're a nice rough texture. Here's something that might be fun to bang. [metal banging] Sounds different here than it does here... [hollow banging] than it does here. [wooden banging]

Here's another fun "hingey" thing. Here's something that vibrates [banging] and it's also silver. And you can also stick your fingers in the holes. Here's something for comparing sizes... [rattling] and nesting. A scratchy [scratching] also red is a favorite color. And sparkly is also very enticing.

Here's another thing to encourage fingers in holes, and you can slide it up and down. You can take these apart, if you're so inclined; and... these are pretty safe for a person who likes to chew-- [tinkling] they're pretty large-- and there spoons! What better thing to chew on, then spoons?

You can put your finger in the hole and bang this [banging] You can shake it. And... it's pretty tough.

So, those are all the things-- and there's probably even for things that you could do with this Position Board that I didn't know about.