Blog 5 Classroom Management

Oh goodie the end of the year!!! Well, actually not so goodie...more like let's keep it together for the last 27 days of school!  Keeping the kids on track and learning for the last month of school is becoming a lesson in itself.  I use a visual communication with my students with dots.  They have three dots to keep and or earn before the end of the day.  If they are all gone at the end of the day, I call parents and we discuss behavior, what was or was not accomplished.  My hope is that they will reinforce listening, working and keep communication open.  We review zones of regulation all the time to make sure that the kids can retrieve at all times.  They have done well this year with staying in zones and self soothing when they get into the red zone.

I work with parents almost on a weekly basis and have as much of the year as I can to keep an open communication.  It seems as we are getting ready for a large shift in our program, it is almost daily but the reality to me is, if that is what it takes to make sure that my students are taken care of, my parents are in the know and we make this transition as easily as it can be done, then that is what has to happen.

Communication no matter what is key...whether it is the parent, teachers, administration, district, specialists...but the most important is the student!!!!

Active engagement in the classroom good or no?

Oh how I love using show me!!! I have been using show me techniques since day one and knowing that's what it was...I was going more for engagement with my kids! :-)  I use thumps up and thumps down/hand signals as well as using writing techniques on their desks with simple answers since they hall have write on desks and we can work on OT, writing words, spelling all at once! 
The hardest one for me and I constantly am having to remind myself is to wait...so they can process the question and create an answer.  I have gone to actually breathing and taking a drink of water to give them time.  It seems to help. 

We also use perform a great deal during speech and social skills.  We do a lot of acting out social situations so that they can see and actually partake in the situation and understand better what is right and what is wrong so that they will hopefully recall when they are in that situation later on!

A great deal of impromptu occurs in room 119 and I believe it is some of the healthiest, best times we have and it helps develop these kids into better students and friends as they continuously will bring something up later that was reviewed or stated in these impromptu engagements that hit home to them..it's refreshing and re instills to me that we are doing the right thing in the moment!  I love to engage my students and try every effort to do so on a daily basis!

Stem in a self contained classroom.....YES YES YES!!

I am a huge believer of our kiddos experiencing what the general education classrooms experience on a daily basis and that includes using STEM as much as I can.  It isn't always perfect and it is not as intense but I do use it in my classroom and my students love it.  We adapt the design process to meet our students needs but other than that, we head full steam ahead!  We have done projects with valentines day heart and different liquids to see what would happen to the hearts: dissolve, stay hard or just get mushy.  The students loved to predict and we used pictures that they drew and then graphed which worked best.  Mushy won!

I believe through a bit of adaptation and differentiation all students can use and enjoy STEM no matter what their level, need, or condition.  They deserve the experience and the ability to see it in action! 

Blog 2: When to consult a school counselor/school pyschologist...

When you consult your school counselor/psychologist is a question that can vary in its answer I believe greatly due to how the school site is set up.  At my current school we have one psychologist who we share with three other sites.  So we see her twice a week on campus.  During this time she is testing students and trying to help with issues that arise and or issues that have been reported that she needs to follow up on.  She is truly amazing but with her being there twice a week we as a site have to at times go directly to our assistant principal and or principal. 
Overall though, we first try to go to the psychologist first and we always keep her in the loop of what is going on.  We have her assist with placements (concerning SPED), behavior issues with general education as well as sped students.  She is involved with certain issues when it comes to curriculum if it is about a sped student.  She is part of the team if there is a concern with safety, abuse, or any issues in that arena. 

She helps with a students that we have had to initiate a BIP and worked for almost 5 months with the student and interventions.  She was there to help guide my team and the parents.  As an IEP team we worked together to keep all involved up to date and working toward the conclusion.  She works with general education students that have issues at home and need a third party to talk with who is there to listen.  Our school psychologist wears many hats but she does an amazing job and I know our students who have worked with her are truly grateful for her help. 

Ensuring Grade Level standards

In my classroom, we are given an open ability to use whatever curriculum we would like to best fit our students.  As for following and adhering to grade level standards I use the general education grade level standards as a guide.  It doesn't mean we keep on track with them as far as what we cover by when but I do use them to guide my instruction.  Since I have a combined class of grades 2-4 I do a lot of 2nd grade and differentiate for the 3rd and 4th since they are bridging gaps.  I also do the reverse for the 3rd and 4th for the 2nd graders.  Recently we did a whole lesson on learning the states and the capitals since two of my upper graders asked about it.  I differentiated for the lower grades and they all had a fun time learning.  I do the same for math, right now I have everyone in the class learning their multiplication facts.  They are all going to need to and the sooner the better so they won't have to struggle on that hill so hard. 
As I stated I use my gen ed curriculum to help my planning and I try to stick as close as we can with subject matter but use a lot of differentiation to help complete the holes and true understanding of subject matter.

Blog 5: Discussing Poverty

I created a program that I am spear heading in my classroom this year to teach my students about the Holiday Season and that we all are not from the same walks of life.  That not everyone will get an iPod or new video games this Christmas.  There are those out there that would cherish a jacket to stay warm on those cold mornings here in Arizona.  So I created a gently used jacket drive to help promote the idea of giving to others and thinking of others before themselves during this Holiday season.  I have created some discussion already in the classroom and my students seem really excited. The idea that children will come to school in a warm coat to start the day off sets a tone for the rest of their day. 
The idea that not everyone around you in class comes from the same background is something that can be very hard for students to understand and even more in a special education setting.  Students need to know and understand that no matter the background, if others live in a house with four other families or they share clothes to make things work...that's ok.  We do not judge on that, we are at school to learn and to grow.  Not to judge.  I teach a lot about respect and everyone being equal in my classroom and to always be supportive of each other and that includes the fact that we do not all come from the same background.  I hope that in teaching respect, kindness, and equality it helps my students grow to understand no matter where they are to always treat people fairly and to never look down on someone for what they might or might not have. 

Blog 4: Formative Assessment

As I stated on my video, I couldn't video tape my student this quarter but what I did do was take a test that was to be above grade level for him from last year.  I had him take this test because I felt from other classroom work, he was working at a higher level than what was given to me by the past teacher and if he tested above, I want to "push" him to work harder and excel.  I gave him a second grade test and he got 90%  I was so proud of him.  As I stated, I am going to start teaching him the beginning of multiplication so that we can get him caught up to his current grade level in math.  It will take some time as he needs breaks, but this is a student that I know he can do it.  His mind works in a mathematical sense and I want to help him be stronger and have more confidence in his work.  He went from just sorting coins to now he is adding dollar amounts and creating change.  My goal is to continue to push his "limits" so that he becomes stronger and sees his accomplishments and can be proud of them.