i'm a helper

Y'all. I have a confession.

I like being a school helper. 

From pretty much day 1 in kindergarten, if you needed a paper passer/pencil sharpener/buddy to a sad kid/general all-around brown-noser... I was your girl!

That being said, I was obviously bound and determined to become a teacher from day uno of school (and now, I LOVE working with the "bad" kids children who have challenging behavior and am a teensy, tiny, little bit annoyed by the suck ups... maybe opposites attract?), but I think I really didn't know what teacher was going to mean in my life.

In my current job, I am a teacher of students, first and foremost. My little pumpkins in the morning pretty much light up my life, one kick/punch/screaming fit in the hallway at a time. I couldn't imagine being at school and not spending the first part of my day with those precious nuggets, because I tell you what: when I walk in the room from being at yet another mid-morning ARD and one of my guys (on the spectrum, generally hates being around people, etc.) drops his favorite toy and walks all the way across the room to grab me in a bear hug, I melt. When I get 10 solid seconds of work on a file folder task out of another handsome young gent... even though I spent a full minute spinning him in an office chair (p.s. get with me about propriosensory behavior interventions. I am ON the bandwagon, baby!)...I am tickled to death. I love working with students pretty much more than anything I do all day at school.

Because I am a grown-up LOL I unfortunately have a laundry list of other tasks I am assigned to. (I say unfortunately, but honestly... I kind of like it because teaching adults how to help children in their class is a lot more efficient than trying and failing to get to every single kiddo every single day on my own). I work with gen ed teachers a lot to help them understand differentiation, modification, accommodation, data taking and assessment, proper documentation, etc. I work with my paraprofessionals a lot to help them understand why the heck our kids can't say their own name, but can tell you exactly what they want by putting a picture in your palm.

I have been delighted to start a new kind of teaching gig- one I definitely wasn't planning on... For the last few months, I have been getting more and more emails from people in response to my NAILED IT series, asking for help learning how to navigate the interview process. I recently had a great conversation with a young lady and I think her questions are super valid- check back on Thursday to get a peek into our conversation!

P.S. I promisepromisePROMISE I will start talking about teaching things more and interview things less one day. (:

Resource Thursday: PPT Oral Testing

First one in... 6 months?!

One of the most challenging aspects of my job is coordinating the insane number of requests for oral testing. Mylanta, I swear like everyone of the kids I "case manage" for (or whatever you want to call whatever that part of my job is) seems to have a test at the same time on the same day of the same week. {P.S. Our ABSOLUTE BIGGEST gen ed class is 15 kids.}

This in mind, I recommended that the general ed teachers read the test aloud in their classrooms instead of having them walk over to the catch-all special education room, wait for an available test reader, have the test read (hopefully without an interruption from another student in the room), and then walk back. There was initially some emails to the principal moderate push back about this idea and confusion about how it might work...

...but once I lengthily explained that the teacher was not required to shout and/or scream the test to the student at their regular seat right next to another student taking the test (because WOAH they may have a tough time with reading, but they are not hard of hearing) and that they could simply pull the students to the back table and quietly read the questions and answers, things got a smidge better.

There are two neato things I have discovered so far to help with this oral testing need. One uses iPad accessibility features (not my favorite) and one requires PowerPoint... Let's start there

uno 

PowerPoint

I learned this at a training from our Region this summer. Follow the steps and use your verrrrry best common sense and judgement to make this work for ya:

1. Look at your test. Read it to make sure it makes sense and you are... uh, how you say... actually assessing based on the TEKS (or Common Core, whatevs) and the material you taught. You may laugh, but this is something I've had to address... As in, "I know you are behind your scope & sequence schedule, but no, I'm sorry, I would not advise giving this test because you have not covered about half of the material with your student".

2. Open PowerPoint and create a new simple slide show [and SAVE IT]

3. Create a title slide with the name of the test (and train your kiddos to do a cross-check to make sure they are hearing the correct test)

4. Create a second slide, and title it "Question 1". Type question 1 into a text box on the slide.

5. Click the following series: "Insert">"Audio">"Record Audio"

6. A small box should pop up giving you the option to click a red record button. Click the button to start the recording and read your question in a loud, clear voice. Click it again to stop the recording.

7. Play back the recording to make sure you read the question correctly and can hear it. Then click "SAVE"

8. A small audio headphone looking thing should pop up. Drag it next to the question (or above or underneath- this placement doesn't actually matter as long as you do it the same way every time so your kiddos aren't confused).

9. Repeat steps 5-8 for the answer choices.

10. Repeat steps 4-9 for each question on the test.

11. Go through and listen to each question and answer set real quick to make sure the numbers line up and whatnot. My computer lets me listen to the audio clips in working mode, but on our school computers you have to view it as a PPT slide show to be able to click on them and listen. One of those two methods is bound to work for you!

Troubleshooting tips: 

1. Don't mumble while reading

2. Give your kiddos a practice run or two on the system before the actual test. Pick something very easy that they can "test" on, so they can practice the system authentically, but not be too stressed over the material.

3. Make sure you know the accommodations/modifications, district and state standards, etc. for oral test administration! 

4. Once you'd made one test, save your PPT template and simply do a "Save As" and replace the title of the test and question/answer sound thingys.

I realize that this sounds a little tedious, but I promise a little effort to do this in the beginning will make it worth your while in the long run! You can share these files with other teachers and over multiple years (if it makes sense, of course!), and if you need to tweak it a little from year to year (or teacher to teacher), it is not hard at all! Though I haven't ventured into this area yet, I'm also thinking that this could be a good job for a trustworthy and tech-savvy parent volunteer. 

life is crazy... but a freebie!

To say I had little understanding of what I was getting myself into would be an understatement... Without going into too many details, I quickly realized:

a) that this year is going to be absolutely ridiculous
b) I can't fix everything at once, and
c) if I can keep my head above water 80% of the time in the elementary school setting with supports from my administrators as needed and booze at regularly scheduled intervals, I'll consider that mastery. #LOLspecialedteacherIEPjoke

I took a break from this little guy for the last few weeks just so I could make an attempt at getting the year started with some degree of effectiveness, but as I'm sitting down in my kitchen writing, I'm remembering how therapeutic it is. So maybe I'll be here more often. Maaaaaaaaaaybe.

Speaking of therapeutic... and the promised freebie... I have now have a TPT store with a grand total of 1 product. And it is free. You are welcome.

I use this 5 deep breaths thingamajig with a student who has some difficulty managing anger. It is a tool in his Cool Down Bucket. I am very aware that the Cool Down Bucket/Kit/Box/Whatever is NOT an original idea, nor is the 5 Deep Breaths Folder. I'm having trouble finding the original source (as opposed to one of the many pinterest pins/bloggers/research article writers who has referenced it) of this idea, but just so we're clear: I am not claiming this little bit of genius as my own. I'm only claiming that I couldn't find one for free on TPT, so I spent about 5 minutes to make yet another similar version of a 5 Deep Breaths visual on Microsoft Word and I thought other people might want to use it instead of spending their own 5 minutes on the computer.

Prep Instructions (they're complicated, so stay with me here):

1. I cut the top rectangle part and glued it to the inside of an unmarked file folder (so it can travel with my student to other classes and not be too embarrassing- something he is concerned about). The whole thing was laminated.
2. I cut out the five numbered red squares individually and laminated them. 
3. Then, I added velcro to the back of the 5 numbered squares, the five red squares on the top rectangle part, and to five spots on the the bottom inside half of the file folder (to keep the numbered squares accessible and not lost!).

How the Magic Works:

1. Each red numbered box represents one deep breath for the student to take. 
2. With each complete deep breath, the student moves one of the red numbered squares from the bottom of the file folder to a red un-numbered square at the top.
3. Repeat as necessary (or try a new method if this one seems like it isn't calming!)

Tips & Tricks

1. TEACH THE STUDENT HOW TO USE THE TOOL. Don't just throw it in front of him or her and tell the student to use it when they're angry or frustrated. (I know this sounds dumb, but I wouldn't be saying it if I hadn't seen it done...)
2. I'd recommend teaching pretty explicitly how the tool works and practicing taking the deep breaths and moving the red squares for the first time when the student is calm.
3. Maybe make two copies... If you work with challenging kiddos, YOU might need a little tool like this for personal use. ;)

Enjoy, friends!