BHSM

So this is way late since I did this in May but I wanted to include it as my last post, just to show how I ended the year. I focused a lot on the hearing conservation part of Better Hearing and Speech Month since my kids are already in speech. I put together a little lesson for them, talked about how to preserve hearing, had them color letters and a picture of "the Buds" and sign the Buds Kids Pledge.

RIP Scarlett O'Hara

You weren't a very good class pet, but you were a good friend!

RIP friend, you will be missed (by me at least, my kids all think you're still alive and living at my house).

April Kites

My big project for the month of April was "Conversation Kites." The idea was that my students would decide on 4 things that they would like to tell someone about themselves, and then draw a picture of this. Then, they chose 3 synonyms to describe themselves that they wrote on the bows. Of course, as with everything I have high hopes for, my students' pictures failed to impress (and I've seen what they produce in art, so I know it was just laziness!). I ended up making most of them write sentences to go along with their pictures so that people would actually know what the picture was supposed to be. Then, that too ended up being lackluster. I really just wanted a cute colorful display, but oh well, at least I tried! It ended up ok. I'm just hoping one day I can actually figure out how to get my kiddos to produce the work I know they are capable of!

Done-O!

Annual Reviews are officially DONE! Well, basically...I am being optimistic here, but for the most part they are done!

Now to get caught up on evals and initials, which is perhaps just as big of a task. Speaking of initials, despite my attempts to dismiss kids, I have managed to get more new ones than I have dismissed! I am teetering around the 50 mark. We'll see how the rest of this year plays out!

That's when you go around and find eggs

Here in north Georgia, no one really has a grasp of St. Patrick's Day, which is kind of disappointing. I'm used to having the whole day off in celebration of the holiday! Because none of my kids really knew what St. Patrick's Day was about (see above title, which was one of my kiddo's responses to a question about how we celebrate this holiday), we spent a week learning about it. Here is a project we completed!

Class Pet

Scarlett O'Hara has officially been instated as class pet. Unfortunately, my kids have barely noticed her. I don't have the most observant bunch. Even more unfortunately, she has spent most of her days completely buried underneath the sand.

 

Eye contact

This happened awhile ago, but I remembered it today and it just tickled my funny bone all over again!

Me: "Ok honey, I need you to look at me with your eyes when you say that sentence."
Kiddo with autism (and an extreme case of the Mondays complete with angry eyes and voice): "BUT I DON'T LIKE LOOKING AT PEOPLE WHEN I TALK TO THEEEEM!"

He was very emphatic. And cute all at the same time, I just can't help it! We proceeded to have a nice conversation about why it is important to look at people because, "It makes them feel good because they know you are listening to them," the day got better, and I eventually got some eye contact. 

I have to say though, it was refreshing to get an honest response about his feelings and frustrations. Because, yeah, he probably doesn't like looking at people when he's talking to them, and is that so wrong? I've been struggling a bit lately with this concept. I mean, basically society has put all of these constraints on how people are "supposed" to act and if you don't act that way your labeled. On the other hand we are all different, and I feel like we should be appreciated instead of admonished for our differences. Where is the line between different and disorder? (And yes, I know there's tons of research on this, and yes, I know I'm going a little off track here, this student clearly has autism and needs services, but I think it's ALWAYS important to question yourself and your beliefs and how you can best serve your kiddos) At the same time though, it is important for him to understand that his behavior/responses affect others and for him to be able to consider how others feel, and I guess this is where I come in, to help him unlock a little of the mystery behind interacting with others.