Just Playing Around...

I am trying to figure out a new background for my blog...it is just a fun way for me to play...so I am looking around. Sorry for all of the changes. With that, it is time to get my new website out there...and also let people know about the change in name. 


I am sure you are asking...why the name change?


For me, that is EASY! The curriculum that I use is called BASICS. It is a life skills curriculum for students with moderate-severe disabilities. Our curriculum focuses on 5 domains: Functional Academics, Vocational, Recreation and Leisure, Domestic and Community. My students work on everything from letters and numbers, to how to interact with other adults, communication, learning about money, etc. As they get older, their curriculum begins to focus on the community and vocational domains for them...after all-my goal is to make them independent and a functional member of society!


So...I am going Back to the BASICS!

Summer Fun...

For the summer, we are having a GREAT time! We have painted, celebrated my youngest son's birthday with a superhero birthday party, gone to some baseball games, and this weekend...we went camping! As a family, we love camping! We tried two new recipes that I wanted to share with everyone...So here goes!

The first one, I found on Pinterest, and then I found it on lickmyspoon.com...Banana Boats! 

Here are some pictures....

 Here we are stuffing our bananas.

Here are the bananas once they are completely stuffed.

Supplies needed to make Banana Boats:

*1 Banana per person

*Foil

*any toppings you would like: we did peanut butter chocolate chips and mini-marshmallows. I have also seen people do coconut and nuts, but we don't like them...

Directions: Make a slit long ways on your banana. Stuff your banana with your toppings. (We had 2 marshamallow and chips, one marshmallow and one chips). Wrap your banana in the foil. Then grill it on your grill until your toppings are all melty. Unwrap and eat! YUM!

The second thing we made is homemade Pizza Pockets! We love trying new things when we are camping, and after a few tries on the timing...these turned out REALLY good! 

An image of the Sandwich cookers...
so you know what I am talking about!

It looks boring...but inside...YUM!

Pizza Pocket supplies (Per Person):

*Two pieces of bread

*Pizza Sauce-just a little bit-enough to cover both pieces of bread.

*Shredded cheese

*Pre-cooked pizza toppings (we did precooked sausage, pepperoni and black olives)

*Sandwich cooker for over the fire

*non-stick spray

Directions:

Spray your sandwich cooker with the spray. Put one piece of bread in the side. Put on your pizza sauce and make your pocket with a variety of toppings. We made a variety of different pockets...Make sure to add lots of cheese. Then put sauce on the second piece of bread and put it sauce side down on your other bread. Close your cooker and latch it. Grill over the fire...until the cheese is melted, and the bread is a golden color. Make sure to turn it while cooking it over the fire...then eat! The boys liked them so much that we all had TWO! And the best part is that if you burn them...try again!

Well...with those to recipes, I must say that camping was a BLAST! 

A New Year...

I am already focused on my next year...crazy...YES! 


But here is why--I got my class list! YEAH...and here is what I know about my new students...


1) I have 2 first graders, 3 second graders, and 9 third graders (total of 14 students).


2) One of my students is following me from my old school...kind of funny actually...she was with me, then she moved away for awhile...when she came back-she returned to my room...and now she is following me to my new school. It is a good thing that I love this little one!


3)I have more girls this year then I have had before (5).


So with all of this information, I get to start putting activities together for my kiddos! Excited to start getting into it....I have a few more weeks of this vacation...then go back to school...then go to MN to see the family...then back to work for 2 weeks...then off track in August (where the real planning starts!).


I hope everyone has a safe summer.


When I come back, I will let you see some of the fun my family has had this summer...we have had a GREAT birthday party, room moving and other fun things...that all beg an answer the the question...

What'cha Doing?

Summer Vacation...

Summer vacation has started in my house! My oldest son is done with school...he starts 2nd grade in the fall...and my little one has about 1 month left of preschool...and he starts kindergarten in the fall...Very hard for me to believe.


But here are some things that we are doing during our vacation...so far...

The first picture is from the Purple Easel, where the boys painted their own monkey. They take you step by step through the process! It was a lot of fun to paint with them. We will definitely be heading back there soon!

The second picture is my NEW Mazda5! We traded in the van for something a little smaller, but still has 3 rows! I LOVE IT!

I hope that we can manage to have more fun during our summer!

The End of a Year

So...our year ended last Wednesday! Pretty crazy to be out before Memorial Day, but it is true! My kids were pretty good the last couple of days of school, which is nice. I do have a big scratch on my arm...one of my students on my last day was pretty freaked out and screamed most of the morning. UGH! But that was the worst part of it! Although not much academics happened the last 3 days of school...My week looked something like this:


*Monday-talent show, movie, lunch, home. (we left at 1:00 each day).
*Tuesday-calendar, clean up, pass out work, movie, lunch, home.
*Wednesday-calendar, group writing about summer, movie (finish from Tuesday), picnic (the kids wanted a pizza party--they had pizza on their last day...perfect for ME), home.

Here is our group writing about summer. My students loved telling me what they wanted to do over the summer and what they liked about summer. They even talked me and my two assistants into participating.


With that being the last thing that we did, I spend Thursday and half of Friday taking down my room! The exciting news for me is that I am moving schools! I put in a transfer request, went through the QR (Qualification Review--an interview) and my transfer request was accepted! Which, for me, means two VERY important things. The first--I am going from an ungraded (1-6) to an upper grade (4-6) class. I am very excited about having only half of the ages that I am used to in my class. The second thing is that I am going from modified traditional to C track. C track runs July, get August off, then from September-November, get December off, then from January-March, get April off, and then May-June...I haven't been on a track for a few years, so I am excited to go back to a track school! 


I go back for teacher days July 2-3, and then kids come back on July 5th. I will post pictures as I get my room set up. The hard part for now...is waiting...the new teacher doesn't have to be out until 2 weeks before then! 


Wish me luck! I am very excited to start my new adventure. I have been teaching for almost 6 years, and all 6 years have been at the same school with the same administrator. It is definitely time for a change. 

Our Valentine Craft

Another old craft time! This craft is one of my favorites...and I actually took pictures of it this year. Each year, I do a different spin on this same craft...and this year my kids got to choose between two crafts. It is fun for them, because I always use their hands...Here are the steps!

First, have your student trace their hands with their fingers spread apart. Have your student  cut out around their hand.

Bend down the middle and ring finger and glue down. Place a heart on the  fingers. This is I LOVE YOU in sign language.

This is great for a single hand. Students love this! If you have a student that is great a cutting, they can do 3 hands. Each hand will have the first letter of the words I Love You! 

For three hands. The first hand bends down all of the fingers  but the pinky. The second finger bends down the three last fingers to make and L. The last hand bends down the three middle fingers to make the Y. Put hearts on all three hands to say I LOVE YOU!

I let all of my students choose their their color of their hearts and the color for their strings to make them a banner. 

And my parents loved them! It was a fun project for my students to make and then come home!

My kids LOVE....

SCIENCE! 


Since we work through the CAPA (California Alternative Performance Assessment) and the district's BASICS2 curriculum, science can be included throughout our year. We do science on Thursday (our minimum day). 


Usually, we continue with our rotations to complete our science activities, as it is easier to teach 4 in a small group, then 14 in a large group. But for this lesson, we did large group, and then the following week we did the worksheet. The students really seemed to like this activity.


Here are some pictures...

Here are the items that the students tested...a button, a paperclip, screw and a  shoelace.

Here are the items that go with the worksheet below...After we tested them to see if they sink or float.

The worksheet...Students circled the up arrow if the item floated, and the down arrow if it sunk to the bottom.

 Overall, a fun science activity. And a pretty easy one to have my kids do! Can't wait to try some more...