Seeing the trees in the forest...

I feel like I have so much to share...and so little time on my hands...my schedule has been CRAZY this year!

It has been rough...I am hoping to get them fully 'trained' by Christmas...but it is hard work at the beginning...But sometime...I need to see the trees in the forest...and appreciate the small things that happen each day! The small successes....here are some of them...

1. We have started to adding more rotations...We are working on stamina..it has been hard...but is getting BETTER! We are at 2 rotations in the morning, and 1 in the afternoon....next week-we are going to 2 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon...part of this is due to the fact that I have a full-time assistant! She is MINE! And she is great!

2.My kids are starting to play...during CHOICE time, we are building with blocks, playing with cars, playing games. They love choice. And when they interact with each other, I am successful!

3. My PE teacher told me today that my kids had the BEST DAY EVER! They have been bowling 3 weeks in a row...she has told me they will be bowling every day if they need to! Hopefully, in a few weeks, we will work for bowling...and then...something else! But for today, I will take that they had the best day EVER!

4. My kids come to school happy! They smile when they get off the bus. They greet me in the morning. They hug me as they leave.

5. My quietest student (she did not say a word in her class last year until May) sang at the top of her lungs a counting song during circle time...and smiled!

The trees...the most important part of my job is to see the trees! My definition of success is different then most...but I will take my successes no matter how small!

Thank you for listening to the thoughts of a moderate-severe teacher!

A post 3 weeks in the making!

So...I have been back at work for 3 weeks...and what a 3 weeks it has been! I have been so stressed out with this group...but things are FINALLY getting better! But...in all of this CRAZINESS that is my days, I wanted to let people know that I haven't fallen off the planet...or gone CRAZY...thought about...but I am making it through.

I wanted to show off my room...I LOVE IT! And I am already getting ready to re-do it! But this is what it looks like right now.




This is the view from the front of my room. You can see the book shelves right in front of my door (actually a perfect place for them.) Right next to the bookshelf is a large rolling cart. I don't like it there, but that is where it fit the best! You can also see the front of my room!










Here is my behavior chart...and the Are You Listening? Chart. You can also see our daily schedule. This year, it is horizontal...I read somewhere that it promotes tracking and early reading skills! My students refer to it often...I am getting better at keeping it updated too!





Here are my desks...I have 17 students...which is a lot of desks. I do not know if I like the arrangement yet, but I am going to keep with it. You can also see my calendar area! It is very small this year...and short! We do our songs, greetings, days of the week and months of the year. We are also able to throw in some actual calendar skills and counting the days in school. We have not added in weather yet, but I am hoping to soon!





Here is the bulletin boards next to my calendar area! I was able to string them all together again...I like that so much better than spreading them out! I teach BASICS2, so each color is for one of the domains (Functional Academics, Domestic, Rec and Leisure, Vocational and Community).

Here is more desks. WOW! That is ALOT!

Here is a close up of my "cubbies" and the baskets where the backpacks go! If you notice the colored boxes to the right, I had to pull two out to make room!

The back corner...It has my assistant's station...She meets with students during rotations.

My table area...it is NOT usually that messy! I can fit 5 or 6 students at my rotation if I need to...I have a rolling cart right next to me...

You can also see my refrigerator and stove in the background! We are fortunate to have a fully functioning kitchen...

That is the part of the classroom that my students have access to! I also have a back storage room (GREAT FOR ME!) I also have a bathroom, and my own office! 

Overall, I like my classroom...But I am thinking of changing the way my classroom runs! It could make things difficult in the next few weeks...

After that tour, I am hoping to make the classroom activities and hustle and bustle more frequent! Because in all of the craziness, I LOVE working with my kids! 

It has been quiet....BUT...

It has been quiet in BASICS land...WHY...I have been on summer break! Because I went on summer break, I decided not to post about the craziness that I did with my family for our summer....but let's say that I went Back to the BASICS in a completely different way! We vacationed, went to the beach, relaxed, played games...all those fun things.

I did find school invading my vacation time a few times! The first was a HORRIBLE dream that I had. I did not have my class list, and had a dream that I had 30 kids (remember I am a special education teacher-class size is about 14-17 kids, on average), no assistant, crazy children, etc. I woke up in a cold sweat! It was scary! I realized that I was worrying about my class list, and contacted some people...with my new information I could sleep a little better for the rest of the summer!

So my class this year: I have 17 students. I have 5 students returning from last year. I have 6 girls (I think) and 12 boys...totally different then last year!

This week, I went back to school. We had paid meetings on Monday and Wednesday (I went to the beach on Tuesday) and then our first 'real' day back was Thursday. We got to work in teams...since I am all alone this year, I got to spend some time in my classroom...which was nice, because when I left, I was in the middle of moving classrooms. I came back to everything moved, but huge piles everywhere! I needed all the time in my classroom that I could get! Although I did not take any pictures, I got a lot done, and I will take pictures on Monday.

Let me just say...I LOVE MY NEW ROOM! It is bigger than last year. There is more space. My areas are set up! I think I am ready!

Kiddos show up on Monday! I will be up early on Monday! I will be at school early. I will be greeting my students (all of them) with a smile! At lunch, I will walk to the upper grade classroom (at a different campus-right next door) and will say hello to some of my students from last year. I will be happy to see them too! And in the back of my mind, I will take a big breath...I have 17 students to take care of! And at 4:30 (after those kids go home) I will make sure that my own two children had a GREAT first day of school! It is THEIR first day of school too! I can't believe that on Monday,. I will have a 1st grader and a 3rd grader!

JUST BREATH!

Where has the time gone?

My last post was in February...OOPS! I planned on blogging while I was on vacation in April, but time got away from me!

I think I really enjoyed my month off...I wanted to do a short post about what is happening in my life...all that crazy stuff that you do when you are not thinking about about work...Here are some of my favorite things!

Right before I went on vacation, it was a birthday celebration!! At my boys' school, they got to dress up for it and that weekend we went to the library to celebrate!

We went to the library again for the boys' school. They had an awesome program to help students like reading! They brought in some authors and their books...If we purchased the book, the author also signed them...We bought TWO books! Here are some pictures of one of the books...

 




Animal House, by Candace Ryan, is so much fun! The author and illustrator have created a full set of characters to bring the book to life! My boys went back and forth between the books and the characters all afternoon!












The second book that we purchased while there was the book Scary School, by Derek the Ghost. Scary School in our house was a GREAT read aloud...funny, interesting...a great read!

One of our new, favorite finds in the area is a painting place called PURPLE EASEL! Here is our last painting that we did....my 5 year old is very interested in adding details (you will see the eggs, and the black circle-which is the hole to the center of the earth--big fans of the Guardians)!

If  you live close (southern California) check out Purple Easel at www.purpleeasel.com.









Baseball season has started in our house! My oldest plays baseball...that is his game ball!










Baseball season in our house means CARS BASEBALL! It is a great adventure each day, with two active boys!










And finally, my vacation has been filled with these two little critters! My newest dog, Angel, was adopted on New Year's Day from the Rose Parade...you may have seen him on one of the floats (I will have to do a whole post on his story)! We also got our Guinea Pig a harness and now can bring him outside too!









So...as you can see...even though I have been out of action for a while, I have been BUSY!

But...now we are back in the swing of things! I got my students back today...and our day was GREAT! Maybe I will post about it tomorrow...but then again...maybe not!

Fun in February

    

It has been a CRAZY month. Absolutely CRAZY! We have been so busy...between our 100 day celebration, Valentine's Day and some other fun stuff, my kiddo's have been working away! I am dedicating this post to a variety of stuff we have done in February.

So to start with: VALENTINE'S DAY!

Our first group activity was to sort a bag of candy hearts! We were on minimum days for Valentine's Day, because of conferences...so we did a few activities only! After we sorted our bag of candy, we laid them out on our carpet and discussed which color was the most, the least, etc. (I did have a second bag that they could eat!)

And the highlight of my Valentine's Day...I have my students pass out their cards...one at a time! For my kiddos, it works on many different social areas! Some of the most important...waiting their turn, saying thank you, and being polite! I am also able to sneak in name recognition, because my kids have to write their classmates name on each card!

But this guy was so excited to pass out his cards! And he went to every person, and said "Happy Valentine's Day!" to every student! It was GREAT!







Next is our 100 Day....what a CRAZY day that was!






We read some great books about the 100th day of school!

Our big craft for the day was...we used a hundreds chart to lay out 100 beads...and then we laced them! This takes my kids awhile...all while working on numbers, fine motor skills, and patience!








These were my two favorite crafts for the 100th day of school...

Another student made a 100-eyed monster!

One of my students (and her parents) made a 100 flower bouquet!

And with all of these fun days...there is always time for some fun...and learning...

      

For awhile...it was really cold outside...so for PE one day...my students had to work in pairs (difficult for some) and got to play with their stacking cups! I took a lot of pictures that day...they built towers, and shared...it was awesome! 

It was really cold outside for awhile...so we had to have some indoor recess...and for my kids, that means I take out some of our Lakeshore stuff...The sensory ball pack and the Let's Get Moving! Activity Mats.

(Our two pieces from Lakeshore that we used for our inside recess)

We love the exercise pack for our inside recess time! Students get to jog, hop, skip. march, run...and do a lot of other activities! There are 15 activities in all for students to complete.  Students had to catch a ball, then they had to state what the activity was on their mat....then the whole class had to complete that exercise! They had a great time....In this picture...they are trying to do the crab walk! 

Finally...Happy Dr. Seuss Day! Here is our GREAT project that we did with my kids. I printed out a hat template and a bow tie template...and let my kids decorate away. Then they had to cut them out...and finally I put them up in my room...Their face is from a picture that I took earlier in the year, and printed at an 8x10 photo. My kids were so excited to see their new pictures on the wall!

Like I said...we have had a busy month! 

Math time: 1 to 1 Correspondence and Counting

Working in a Moderate-Severe SDC, I get kids at all levels...which means I have groups that are working on a variety of different levels, doing a variety of different activities.

Today, I want to share one of my favorite math activities...my kiddos love it! We did these activities: actually two of them...the low and the high...

For my low kiddos, we are working on 1 to 1 correspondence. It is a hard concept for them...but with this activity, I think they might get it...

This is what they see when they first come to sit at the table.

A piece of white copy paper, with yellow dots (I have used green, blue, red, pink, etc). This gives them the outline for what they need to do. Next to their white paper is a page of stickers. My students with better fine motor skills get smaller stickers...my kids with worse fine motor skills get larger stickers. 

Their job: place one sticker on each dot!

 Here are my kiddos working hard on their activity! This student actually asked for more! I added more dots and he worked away! When he finished, we counted into groups of 10.

The beauty about using this activity is that I have started using it with many concepts...colors, shapes, letters, etc. Students trace letters with stickers, place stickers of the same color in a colored box, outline shapes with stickers...and they love it every time!


My other groups had a different math activity to work on 1 to 1 correspondence and counting.

We actually used a white board to work on addition problems. Since most of my students are working on adding with objects, I decided to pull out the dice and counters. We had many opportunities for counting, matching numbers and adding using this method!



















The students would roll the dice (we used a single dice for our first day). Then they had to use their counters to build each number. My middle groups stopped at that step...building numbers to six can be quit difficult for them.

My higher students had to put both groups together and add the groups together.

It has been awhile...

     

So...what have I been doing? NOT thinking about work....

In the time that I have been off-track (being on C track means that I have a break from Thanksgiving through New Years), I have been BUSY! Most of my busy-ness has not been work related!

Here are some of the things that I did while I was on vacation...

1) I did complete my trade days assignment. I got to work in a special education kindergarten classroom...and I LOVED every minute of it! Maybe it was knowing that some of these kiddos would be mine next year...or that we got to do crafts all week...but we had a GREAT time! One of my favorite projects...

These snowmen were SO cute...and worked on so many skills! They had  to write their name, choose their snowman's accessories, and some worked on cutting. One of the best parts of these activities is the ability to individualize the work that they do. One of the students in this class is blind...so his snowman words a little different. He is working on braille, so we had to build his name using braille (the letters were only for the teachers).

 2) The day after I finished my trade days assignment, my family and I headed to Minnesota to celebrate the holidays with family. It was crazy busy! We stayed for 10 days, and we fit in so much in those 10 days that we sometimes feel we need a vacation from our vacation. On this vacation, we introduced the Elf on the Shelf for my 5 and 7 year old boys. THEY LOVED HIM! We actually have TWO elves--Cliff and Ben! We decided to do two elves because we split the time between the grandmas....and since you cannot touch your elf (a rule my 7 year old took very seriously), we needed 2 elves.

Why did I discuss the Elf on the Shelf here?? I am really thinking about introducing the Elf on the Shelf to my classroom when I switch calendars (within the next 2 years!) My elf will be used in the classroom to introduce our daily art project, cooking activity or other FUN event for the day...because I can tell you...I am SCARED when my class goes modified traditional...

 3) We baked cookies...well we decorated cookies and cake pops for Christmas...here are the CUTE cake pops that I did...after everyone went to bed...

4) Finally...my favorite gift...I got an EYE-FI connector for my camera...if you haven't seen/heard of it...it is very COOL!

This very cool device links your digital camera (mine is a digital SLR) Once you take a picture, it saves your picture automatically to your computer...and will also put it online...very cool! I am excited to use it...both for my classroom and for personal use!

I hope that everyone has had a wonderful holiday season so far!