Teacher's corner

Summer Time! What shall we do??

2011-06-23T21:45:00.000-04:00

Ever wonder what goes on in the minds of children who now "take off" for 3 months? Well, I had the pleasure of asking my 9 year old, and I got this: "ummm...just trapped in a place where I'm bored all day" So, to cure his boredom, I've created this "summer to-do list" that are MUST do's for each week day.

morning work

read for 15 minutes
complete 2 pages in his 4th grade (that's what grade he's going into) math workbook

chores

daily--feed & water the dog, and take him outside
Monday--clean room
Tuesday--vacuum living room
Wednesday--straighten up living room
Thursday--Straighten up the play room
Friday--clean room (this is incentive to KEEP his room clean, because if it's ok, he's got a day off!)

computer time

play 1 or 2 computer games (educational)--

fun!! get outside for some exercise!

**This has been a life saver! My son has responsibilities, and he's engaged in learning. Better yet, he's doing it on his own to cure his "boredom"! So, how can you do this at home? Well, for starters, visit your local Wal-mart, Staples, or any other office supply, teacher, or department store that carries school supplies. Pick up a cheap-o book with the grade level that your child is headed into. (you can get them for almost any grade from pre-k-12th) and they come in a variety of sizes, prices, and subjects. For younger kiddos, choose something with full-color pages. some even offer a cd-rom inside to play computer activities. here are some goodies that I found for reasonable prices!

school zone

staples

Here's some great summer activities to do with the family :-)

family activities by scholastic

Teachers: This is a great idea for you as well! send home a letter to parents requesting a few dollars, and go online to purchase a class set of these books. Send the kiddos home with them for the summer. Parents will be super-thrilled!! Or, send parents a letter giving them ideas on where to find such activities to remediate and accelerate their childs' learning. :-)

"I don't want to teach THOSE KIDS"

2011-02-27T19:47:00.000-05:00

We hear it (or even say it) often. Many teachers out there are intimidated by the term "special education" and feel as though they are not required to teach those kids. However, what many fail to realize is, we are ALL teaching them to some degree. We ALL have them in our classrooms, and we are servicing their needs. So, why say you don't want to be a special ed teacher? When I refer to Special Ed in this aspect, I am referring to the high functioning students that are performing sightly below grade level (maybe 1 to 2 grade levels below), and are able to successfully learn in a regular classroom setting (which may be with 1 teacher, or 2).

Think about this: You have a class of 20 children. In this class, approx. 10 are considered "on grade level", 3 are "advanced" and the other 7 are considered to be on the "lower" end. Of these 20 kids, 3 have a diagnosis of ADD or ADHD, and one is severely depressed. There's also 1 that has just gone through his parents' divorce. Even though none of these students have an IEP, they all have special needs that require special attention. In this class of 20, ALL 20 children have different needs.
Throughout the year, you realize that a few of the kids
If you, as a teacher, are providing instruction that is differentiated, and you are meeting the needs of all of the "regular ed" students in your class, what makes you think you can't meet the needs of a child who has a disability?

If you aren't familiar with differentiation, or providing to meet the needs of everyone, here are some tips!

For your kids with attention or hyperactivity issues you can:

shorten assignment, or give assignments in smaller portions at a time (if a students can successfully show you that he/she can do 10 math problems...does he/she really have to do all 30?)
set a timer-it's an easy way to keep them focused. "you can get up and move once the timer goes off"
allow him/her to stand up during the lesson. In my class, if the kids aren't being disruptive, they can sit backward, stand, anything that will keep them focused
replace a chair with a yoga ball. This allows the child to move around, and bounce on the ball without disrupting.
stress balls can be a life saver-I had a student who would constantly cut things in his desk, tear paper, and just fiddle with everything. Once he discovered a stress ball, his hands had something to do when they weren't being used.

kids who have trouble reading/writing

for writing assignments, allow the student to speak into a recorder. Then, he/she can play it back slowly to write it down. (many times, our emerging readers have many great ideas, but don't have the ability think of ideas, remember them, and write them down while also trying to focus on spelling, grammar, and handwriting)
a recorder is also great for reading fluency. Have the student read into a recorder, then listen to it, and try to make it better
For reading differentiation, it is imperative that you group the students and provide small group instruction to ALL students. The emerging readers need just as much attention as the advanced ones do.

kids who are on the other end of the spectrum, and need services because of their advanced exceptionality (also known as "talented and gifted")

these children also need individualized instruction
don't ever give them MORE and say you're servicing them. they don't need more work, they need advanced work.
Just because a gifted third grader is advanced, doesn't mean he/she wants to help all of the struggling kids...it also doesn't mean that he/she wants to complete classwork from a higher grade level.
Here's what you can and should do:

offer options for these students: if you can have them complete a research project on the subject you're teaching, the student is still learning, but has taken on the role of active learner and is in charge of what and how he/she learns the material
use higher order thinking all of the time--these students don't need to recall information, they need to take that information, and use it.
allow these kids time to explore what really interests them. If you're asking the class to do an expository writing piece, why now allow for choice. Wouldn't a student be more excited about something they love??

I have so much more I want to share. Special Education is my passion....it's why I'm a teacher. Check back soon for more!

Really?! With paper?!

2011-02-19T17:10:00.000-05:00

Many of us have been to workshop after workshop and we gain TONS of information, and get so many wonderful ideas only to forget 99% of them by the time we get back to school. Research says that if you don't use something in your classroom within 48 hours of learning about it, you most likely never will. So, when I went to a recent training, I was bound and determined to use as much as I possibly could (this was a great workshop!) I organized my notes on a fancy little foldable organizer that the facilitator of the training showed us. This was the beginning of my love for foldable organizers.

What is a foldable?? It's a piece of paper, that is strategically folded, cut and made into something wonderful. It's a way to teach children to make and use an organizer. It's a life long lesson, that once acquired, can be used well into college and beyond. It's an amazing, well thought out, research based tool, that every teacher should use in his or her classroom.

While searching for foldable information, I came across this blog wiki. It's everything you need to know about these wonderful tools. http://foldables.wikispaces.com/

2011-02-18T18:52:00.001-05:00

Welcome to my Blog!

2011-02-18T18:33:00.000-05:00

As teachers, we are always learning, researching, begging, "borrowing" and stealing to make things work in our classrooms. The problem is, when I find something wonderful, I like to share it, and feel like I sometimes forget to reach out to everyone I'd like to. Growing, learning, and sharing are all very important to me.

I am constantly researching how to make my students more successful, and my teaching more effective. Through this research, I am always finding wonderful, creative, and effective ideas. So, here you will be able to experience what I experience. Check back often, or, become a follower, as I will update this page as I acquire new skills and knowledge.

Welcome! I'm excited to share with you!