Bully Free Card Game

I picked up this cool looking game while at my local autism conference a few months ago. It is recommended for 2-4 players and as I had 11 kids I didn't really play it as a game. I pushed two kidney tables together and we all sat around them (this is one of my favorite ways of teaching). I passed each colored stack around the table having the kids "take one" and "pass the others", which by the way, is a VERY difficult task that I am determined to conquer by the end of the year!! I then went around the table clockwise having the first student give me a card of his choosing from the 4 he had and we discussed each card as a group.

There are 4 categories. 
1. Confidence Builders - These cards say things like "what are you good at?" "what makes you a good person?" I was surprised that the kids could not think of one thing they were good at so I had to help out and ask questions like "who is good at dancing?" "who is kind to others?" It took that for them to see their good qualities.
2."What would you do if...." - These stated things like, "someone tried to beat you up", or "someone tripped you on purpose". We talked about how we would handle each situation and practiced saying. "please stop it" "leave me alone" and when it was time to tell someone.
3. Bully Busters - These tell how you can help someone who is being bullied.
4. Ways to stay bully free - These gave examples of things you can do if you or someone you know is being bullied. Again we discussed and practice using our words.

All in all I thought these cards were great for conversation starters. In 45 minutes each student only got to pass in 2 cards but everyone was engaged and participating the whole time. I can't wait to use them again!

You can find them online. Or HERE at Amazon.

Making A Recipe You CAN'T Eat!

Today we practiced hands on cooking skills! And as to not break the "no edible food" rule, we made Gooey Gunk! One of my co-workers loaned me this great book that's full of ideas and recipes! We got to use measuring cups and spoons. We warmed water, practice our stirring skills and even got to knead the gunk before it was finished. I had everything all set out when the kids came back from their break. I wrote the whole recipe on the board and we went over it step by step as a class. I then sat back and let the kids make the recipe as I relayed the steps again one at a time. It was pretty cool how it all came together and it made quite a bit so each kid got to do a little of the kneading. Tons of fun! I can't wait to tackle more of them! If you go to Amazon and look up this book you will be able to find this recipe in their preview.

Reading Time

I made it through my first week back with the kids and I just want to say, that was the LONGEST week I think I have ever had! I have 11 kids this year and 4 of them are new to our program. They are ALL absolutely amazing and unique. I look forward to getting to know them better and spending the year with each and every one of them! 

I started something new this year. I wanted to incorporate some reading comprehension into my schedule and so far it's going pretty good. I found these "Who Was.....?" books that I thought would totally keep the kids attention while teaching them a history lesson as well. I have about 20 books just begging to come to my room but for now they are sitting in a cart on my donorschoose page waiting for their turn to be purchased. In the mean time, I bought 4 books to get us going. This week we started "Who Was Ernest Shackleton?". I divided the book into 3 sections each being about 10 minutes worth of reading. Then I made a worksheet listing 8 multiple choice questions for each section we read. They kids were amazing! They really paid attention and knew the answers when we worked on the worksheet.

The books are also pretty inexpensive at about $4.99 each at Barnes and Noble and I bought 2 used on Ebay for $3.50 (free shipping). I plan on making worksheets for each book and will post them in my store as a bundle when I get at least a few of them done. For now, if you interested in getting this book I can send you the worksheet to try out with your kids. The books coming are "Who Was Clara Barton?", "Who Was Mark Twain?", and "Who Was Sacagawea?", so those worksheets will be ready soon as well. 

Hope you have a great weekend!

Update: thanks to Bill Gates, his wife, and their foundation this project got funded about an hour after I posted this! Life is good :-)

Weekly Schedule (for the time being)

Ugh, I feel like I'm losing my mind trying to come up with a schedule! I feel for you teachers that have to do this all year long, I've been so spoiled! Like I said in my last post, we will be on campus the first 30 days of school and I need to have a schedule put together before Monday on what I plan on doing. I have three events planned tomorrow and would really love a day of rest on Sunday so I'm trying to finish this tonight (if possible). So far this is what I have. Each period is an hour and since I can't imagine my kids be interesting in ANY subject for that long I have split each period into two. I tried to throw in some fun things I know they like throughout the day so I don't lose them. I don't want to leave anything out or have to make to many changes, tho I know it's inevitable. The first part of period 1 will only be 15 min and our morning chat consists of calendar skills, counting money by 5's, 10's, and quarters, current events, our day... etc. Our functional academic notebooks are in the morning too and cover a wide variety. Oh, and we will be doing some sort of PE during that outdoor time. 

Does anyone have a schedule prepared that I can peak at or can you let me know if you think I am missing something. I probably should have stayed longer today at work and did this cause now that I'm home I'm drawing blanks. 

Feel free to email me too @ empoweredbythem@aol.com

Thank you!!!

Ch-ch-ch-ch-Changes

I've been back at school now for a couple days and am really getting excited to see the kids on Monday. Our school,which was actually the temporary school for a new continuation high school in our town a few years ago, went through a beautification process over the summer. It went from "state penitentiary" style to something that actually resembles a school. We now have grass, trees, new ramps, A PARKING LOT, and 3 huge awnings covering the quad area! I've been at this site for 3 full years so this is really a huge blessing especially for the kids as you can tell from my sad pre-beautification picture here. 

Now lets talk about these changes. Special ed is under huge scrutiny right now at least in my district. There have been huge changes in those who are above us and we found out yesterday that there is also going to be huge changes for our classrooms. I've talked about the cooking changes that were implemented last year and that's still going to be an issue this year. The kids can only consume food that is provided by cafeteria staff or something they brought from home for their own consumption and all microwaves have been removed, so they can not heat any food they have brought. We will also have an additional day on campus (as opposed to going off campus) so I'm going to have to figure out how I am going to fill that time with the kids. Oh, and we may not be able to leave campus for up to 30 days! So technically that's an additional 8 hours a week I am going to have to figure out how to fill (in 3 days). They have also added more paperwork. We can't just "go" to Target now for CBI. We have to put in a request stating what we will be doing and how it obtains to their goals (2), Permission slips from parent and RTBA's for all staff for each outing will also be required. This will have to be done weekly. I was never one to take my kids to some store to walk around each week. We always had a purpose and usually a worksheet of some sort when doing CBI, but I think it will be helpful for others. We have also been given a "prep period" which we never had before! That will really help in getting all those things done that I used to stay after work to do. 

I don't really mind changes, especially when they are needed, and the others I will adapt to. I am a kind of a "go with the flow kinda person" and hope these new changes will be in the best interest of all the kids and our program. Has there been many changes going on in your district? New rules you have to follow this year? I'm wondering if it's only us or if this is something happening all over. I would love to know.

Social Skills Packet

I have had numerous requests for more social skills worksheets in the past and guess what? I finally have some more to add! I don't know why but these are the worksheets that I struggle with the most. I swear by the time I'm done doing one, I have read and re-read it hundreds of times! 


These are what I have added:
Listening
Telling the Truth
Apologizing
Asking Appropriate Questions
Dealing With Losing
Common Courtesy
Waiting Your Turn
Friendship Boundaries

I went ahead and bound them together with the existing social skills worksheets I already have online: Interrupting, Peer Pressure, Interrupting Others, Personal Space, Self Control, Apologizing, and my 3 friend worksheets. 

I am only charging for the new worksheets but added the others you probably already have as my plan is to dissolve the individual worksheets and only offer the bundle withing a couple months.

If you have any more ideas of a social skills I have not covered please let me know. I would love to have one per week of the school year if possible. You can check out the full preview HERE.

 I hope things are running smoothly for those of you who have already gone back. I am savoring my last two days off! 

  

And The Countdown Begins

Summer is coming to a close and boy has it been an interesting one. Since last summer I never did get the bug to create curriculum, this summer I decided to put myself into an atmosphere that would be ideal for working. Something about being home makes it really easy for me to find other things to do that seem much more important than getting the things done that I really need for the new year.

So, I rented a cabin, on a lake, in the San Bernardino mountains of California for a week. I packed up my laptop, my sweats, food, and a couple bottles of good wine and headed on my 3 1/2 hour drive to peaceful bliss. I actually was really excited to sit on the patio overlooking the lake and let my mind flow. 

After taking a walk around the lake I was ready! I was going to create! I put on comfy clothes, poured myself a drink and headed to my sanctuary on the porch with my laptop.

Now, you're not going to believe this but........

MY LAPTOP WOULD NOT BOOT UP!!!! Nothing, Nado, No Can Do! It had worked fine in the morning before I left so I have no idea what happened. Now, I guess I could have driven down the hill and found a computer repair store that could look at it but frankly I had given up. When I got home (7 days and 5 books later), I took it to my tech guy who tells me my hard drive is shot... Ugh. I went ahead and bought a new computer and luckily they were able to transfer over 90% of my stuff onto my new one. So, it's been 13 days all together and I finally am up and running again!

On another note, I am meeting my friends that I teach with for lunch tomorrow so we can catch up before we start back next week. I made each one of them a cute emergency kids with all the things us teachers seem to need at one point during the year (eye glass fixing kit, floss, deodorant, nail clippers, hair ties, nail files, mints, tweezers, bandages, Tums, toothbrush, cough drops, Shout wipes, safety pins, and a needle and thread). Oh, and chocolate! 

Hope everyone is ready to get back to school. I know I am ready for it!

Going To Work

 I can't believe I never posted this packet! I have been spending the morning adding labels to each of my posts and realized there are quite a few of my worksheets and activities I have never posted on here. I'm going to try going through my workbooks in the next few weeks, and match all my worksheets to my post on here to make sure i'm not missing any important ones. This is a packet I did a few months ago on going to work. I love this packet and it's probably one of my favorites so far. Since I teach work skills only once a week, this packet was perfect. 

I did at least one page per week (whatever filled our half hour time slot) and the whole packet took us about 2 months to finish. I highly recommend you let it last that long (I seriously have had subs that could do it in an hour). Each page has so many things that can be discussed and even acted out. Get those kids up in the front of the room! They need to see something, hear something, and DO something!! I try to make it a rule that each kid gets up at least once per lesson. Sometimes I do two or three per group. They LOVE to get up and be the center of attention even if it's just for a few seconds. It could be to just ask the others students if Johnny's clothing is appropriate for an interview, or I might ask them a basic interview question. I love asking multiple choice questions to my lower autistic boys who I know will answer whatever the last word is I said. Of course I always make that the correct answer and everyone whoops and hollers when they get it right! 

Awwwww, it's posts like these that make me miss them more. I hope everyone has a great weekend! Sleep in, relax, and enjoy the rest of your summer!! 25 more days left for me!

The "L" Word

In my 10 years of teaching I have had my fair share of students telling me they love me. Usually it's been a socially higher student who lets it slip out and I let it slide. I had a girl one time that started saying it quite often so we sat down together and talked about who it is appropriate and who it is not appropriate to say "I love you" to. I would say things like, if you worked at a job, would it be ok to tell your boss "I love you" at the end of the day. "Nooooo", she would say. Throughout the year we work on a variety of boundary lessons, so this is something that is mentioned numerous times during the year. 

Jump forward to this past year. I had a few socially and emotionally lower kids in my room, and the "L" word started flowing. One autistic boy in particular who I am going to say is at about a 3 year old level told me everyday when he was walking out the door "I love you miss Karen". Partway through the year I get a new girl about the same level and in a position in her life where the only caregivers she knows have known her less than 3 months. She was an emotional mess, and after a few months she would tell me every few days that she loved me when I would help her or do something nice for her. THEN I have another autistic young man who every time he gets in trouble (especially at home) feels the need to tell me he loves me because he thinks I am going to be mad at him. So, what do you do? I'm torn between knowing it's not appropriate socially and also since they are with me for 4 years, I am someone they WOULD love. Personally it doesn't bother me at all, but I am sure my school thinks differently. It was never a problem with my higher functioning kids and still isn't, but frankly I am torn as to how I should start the new year with these lower guys.

So, I am curious, how do you handle the "L" word in your classroom? Do you allow it? Am I alone? I could really use advice.

Idioms

 All of my kids struggle with idioms. I like to use them in my classroom because in real life they are going to hear them and I would rather them know what they mean instead of them having that confused look on their face. I finally finished this idiom project I have been working on for MONTHS! 

 I consulted with my fellow teachers and we tried to come up with the most used idioms our kids might hear. If you think of one that really needs to be on here, shoot me an email and I can add it. When I started out I was thinking maybe doing 10, but it kept building!

 I think that 30 of them will be overwhelming all at once, so I will probably do 5 a week for 6 weeks (or more depending on how they do), reviewing the previous ones before introducing new ones. After each picture there is a page that (very basically) explains what the idiom means. 

"To be very sick", "You have my full attention", "When everyone is facing the same challenge". I hope you can use these in your classroom and that they make idioms a little easier for your kids to understand.

You can find this product HERE

Special Educator Blog Hop

Jamie over at Tales of a Carolina Girl is hosting a Blog hop for special education teachers!!! Click on the button below to head on over to her website, sign up and check it out!!

Here's my addition:

Name: Karen

Job Title: Special Education Teacher Moderate/Severe

Grade: High School Transition Program 18-22 

How Long I've Been Teaching: 10 years

Advice: I guess my best advice is to never let them know you're scared, lol. I am very firm with my kids, but also very loving. I think some of them are even a little afraid of me the first couple weeks, but it works (at least for me). I have had kids who needed restraining the previous years but when they get to my class and they find out that I won't put up with certain behaviors, after a short time the behaviors seems to just disappear. I had one boy last year that I really thought was going to hit me (a few times). I let him have his behavior and anytime he showed destruction I was very firm with him but then went back to what I was doing and ignored him. After the behavior was over and he was back at baseline, I would do something fun with him to build his trust. It took about 3 week to taper off his behaviors and then we never had a problem with him again the rest of the year even though they had experienced these behaviors for years prior. That's not to say I didn't have to give him "the look" every now and then. I guess since I raised 4 kids of my own I kind of treat my students like I did my kids (minus the occasional cussing, empty threats, and brief rages), firm but loving.  

Thanks for the Bloghop Jamie!!!

 HERE is the link again!

Sequencing

I am one week into my summer vacation and the creative juices have yet to flow. I had this same problem last summer too. I had all these plans and it just wasn't there. This summer I am determined to get some things done! I have a folder titled "need to work on" that includes about 15 projects that range from a page with a simple title, to books that have numerous pages completed. I practically forced myself to finish one today.  Of course I picked one that didn't require many brain cells since most of it was already complete. I got this idea from a speaker at an autism conference I attended last year (I love the ideas I get at conferences!). This book requires a bit of work putting together, and of course more Velcro, which I forgot to bring home this summer!!! So, 1 down 14 to go! Here's to wishing me luck!

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Functional-Academics-Sequencing-1311039

Reading Aloud

Yesterday was the end to another amazing year with my kids. I had two of my girls graduate this year, and two of my boys will be moving to other classrooms in the fall which leaves me with 4 incoming freshman in August (which I love). I have been thinking a lot about what worked this year and what I might just want to change. One of the things I would like to do is have a designated reading time. The majority of my kids are non-readers but every week when we are at the computer lab I will get a couple of them to sit with me on the couch and I will read books to them from our library. They really love listening to the stories. The books we have are very much for a small child and even though my kids love to hear them I would like to get some that have more substance but will still hold their attention. I came across these books the other day on Amazon. I am wondering if they would be engaging enough for my kids? I would love to know if anyone has read these book and frankly if the're any good. It seems there are a ton to choose from and it would be like getting a history lesson as well. Please send me your thoughts, and again thank you!

Face Masks

I bought these fun white face masks a few years ago from Oriental Trading Company. My original plan was to paint them for Halloween, but for some reason I find them hidden in the back of my cabinets every year around Thanksgiving time. When I stumbled upon them again a few weeks ago while packing up for ESY, I thought why not let the kids paint them this summer and end this vicious cycle. So, here they are! The kids had fun painting them and we even wore them to get our breakfast the next morning. You can find them here ($5.25 a dozen) if you're interested.

Where I Live

 A few weeks ago I picked my grand daughter up from school and she had this really cute activity with her. I have seen this and even have it pinned on Pinterest, but as soon as I saw it in person, I knew I wanted to do it with my kids this summer.  I pre-cut each of the pages but let the kids put them in order and we helped them with the stapling. We worked on this activity for 3 Thursdays (2 pages each day) and finally finished them this last week. For the first three pages we drew a picture of ourselves, one of our house (street) an one of the sign that brings you into our city along with what our city is known for (agriculture, oil etc).  I Googled coloring pages for state, country, continent, and planet for the kids to color in, cut and glue onto the colored paper.  They also wrote a brief explanation "I live in the state of California" etc. on each page. Even though they look totally grumpy in this picture they really did love making these!

I actually just noticed that he wrote "earth" instead of "planet" on the orange page. He's my boy that wants to finish as FAST as he can and because of that makes many mistakes!

Dollar-Up Activity Book

 Here is a fun activity book that can be put together for the kids to practice the dollar-up method. My kids actually got pretty good with this last year. Since we work on money weekly, I always throw in a few minutes of dollar-up practice at the end. The majority of my kids really struggle with coins, and this method has proven to be very helpful for them. This activity book can be put together in about an hour. It has ten activity pages where the students will Velcro the correct dollar amount showing how much they would need to pay for each purchase.

You can find this product here

Classroom Videos

I love using videos in the classroom. It's a nice break for me and I'm sure the kids like the change of getting to hear someone else talk for a while instead of me. Besides the "Mary Series" which I love, and spoke about HERE, I have had a hard time finding videos that are for one age appropriate and second affordable. I have seen 30 minutes videos for around $300.00! Where in a teachers budget is that kind of money supposed to come from? I recently found these videos on Amazon from Trevor Romain. His website doesn't appear to be working at the time but I did find them on amazon for cheaper than I paid.

His videos run anywhere from $2.00 + shipping up to $25.00. We watched both of these videos, bullies and taking care of your body during ESY. They are cartoons but trevor is not and interacts with the cartoon kids throughout the video. I did stop each of the videos a couple times during play to talk to the kids and ask them questions to make sure they were following along. Both of these videos really kept their attention and I think they were a great find especially considering the cost.

I purchased these Disney Videos a few years ago and they are really good for a 25 minute break. I mean you can't go wrong with Bill Nye the Science Guy! My kids got really into the fire one on Friday when we watched it. Fire is so fascinating and we got a lot of ooooooh's an aaaaaaah's from them. After the video we spent time also talking about the dangers of fire and how we should never play with it. He also has one on germs and your health that I hope to pick up next year. These videos can also be found on Amazon for around $10.00 each.

These are great and affordable video's from Attainment Company. I have had these for a couple years and for only $39.00 each they are a great addition to my library!   

Here are three new videos I have purchased over the last few months. We haven't had a chance to view them yet, but I am hoping they fit well into my curriculum. So, that's it for my video library. If anyone else has some good affordable videos they would like to share I would love to hear about them too!

Ice Cream in a Baggie

It's that time of year again when we get to make ice cream in a baggie!! We did it assembly line style this year, and they added each ingredient as they walked past it on the table. I did help a couple with the vanilla because they couldn't seem to hold the measuring spoon level, but other than that they did it ALL BY THEMSELVES! I didn't even have to help out with any of the shaking this year! It took a few minutes for a couple of my boys to be talked into trying it. We finally just left them alone and after minutes of funny faces and continuously smelling their bags, they gave it a try and were hooked!

*TIP - Place baggie inside a plastic cup while measuring (and eating). This will keep the ingredients from spilling and give the kids two hands to do their measuring with!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Ice-Cream-Recipe-with-Visuals-680057

Making Plaster Molds

2 years ago I bought a 100 lb bag of white molding plaster from a local home improvement shop for around 20 bucks.  Since then we have made numerous items with it. Beautiful butterflies, Easter bunnies, Christmas ornaments and these cute little ice cream magnets to name a few. Even though when I make them, I always make plenty for other classes to enjoy, we have barely made a dent in the bag of plaster! I purchased a few of my molds online from plastercrafters.com but you can also find them around town at places like Michaels or Hobby Lobby (candy molds work great too). They are very economical and easy to make.  Just add water, stir, and pour into molds. They are ready to be unmolded within about 15 minutes, longer if it has narrow parts. After we paint them and let them dry we brush a coat of Mod Podge on them to give them a shiny coat. This was a Mod Podge with sparkles in it. This has been a great investment for my classroom and I see many more years of fun activities to come! 

Comb Binding A Book

I finally  have all the tools I need to bind my own books for my kids! I love making these books and coming up with fun educational activities for them to do. I know it's not rocket science but here's how it works :-) 

After printing each page in your book. Laminate and trim them to about 1/8 inch. I bought this laminator at Costco a few years ago for about 20 some bucks and it has worked like a charm for me.

 Once all your pages have been cut, its time to put the book together. I purchased this binding machine last week from webofficemart.com for 45.00.  It's not the best of quality but for what I will be using it for it's fine. You simply place each sheet inside the slot and pull the handle down to make the cuts.
 Here is how each sheet will look when cut. 

 Once each sheet has been punched it's time to put the binding on the book. These plastic bindings are 5/8" and work well for a 11 page book (card stock + laminated), tho smaller ones would work fine too. Slide the plastic piece onto the metal combs that are placed along the bottom of the machine. 

Pull down the lever on the side of the machine and the plastic bindings will open. Simply slip the open comb into the holes you punched on the pages. Pull the lever up to close the comb. Your book is now complete!

 This is a fun matching book I put together where the students have to find the ingredients from the store shelves for the recipe on each page. There are 9 recipe cards, each recipe with 4 ingredients, and 36 food grocery items that will be velcroed onto the pages. 

There are two grocery store shelf pages.  One has the food items on it and one doesn't which will allow the students to put the food back wherever they want. I prefer to use the one with the items and I use see-through velco. This way it is as much of a lesson putting the items back on the shelves as it was removing them. Here is a copy of this particular book if you're interested.  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Life-Skills-Grocery-Store-Recipe-Match-1277964

Sewing Activity

I was looking through my boxes today and realized that I hadn't shared this one yet. I have had this box for a little over a month(can't remember whose blog I saw it on sorry, give a shout out if it was you please) and so far it's a pretty good one for my kids. I bought needles with large eyes to make it easier for them (and myself). Some have needed help with threading the needle, but I have been pleasantly surprised at some who have been able to do it for themselves. Once I get them started I tell them that they must go in and out of each hole 2 times (for the 4 hole button) and 4 x for the two hole.  After the button is sewed on, I've been sitting down and helping them tie the knot on the underside. Another one of those boxes that requires a great deal of concentration which I love! Part of my plan this summer is to have each of my kids complete each activity box one time. Inside their morning folders is a check off sheet listing each of the 39 activities. As they finish a box they are to have it initialed and dated by a staff member that it has been completed. That is only two boxes a day which is doable for most of my kids to fit in. Some boxes can easily be done in 10 minutes while others like filling the salt and pepper shakers take far longer. 

!!!!Spirit Club!!!!!

Where we were once a program spread out over 5 sites throughout our large city, this year we will all come together at one site! We will now be what I consider a "school" and I'm super excited about it! Since my school is not attached to a high school we do miss out on a lot of fun school spirit building activities like sporting events, assemblies, and fun crazy days that the kids enjoy. This coming year each teacher in my program has been asked to put together and help on a committee of some sort. Our program is growing so fast that it is more than our office staff can handle on their own anymore. Since I didn't want to be put, asked, or arm twisted on to a committee not of my choosing, I decided to start my own. So, here's to the newly formed SPIRIT CLUB COMMITTEE! I would like to get another teacher and hopefully a few aides involved as well. My plan so far is for us, along with any students who want to join our club, to meet every two weeks to talk about and plan the following activities.

• Dances, Speakers and Events
• Last Friday of the month student award assemblies
• Spirit Days (crazy hat, sports day, pajama day etc...)
• Fundraisers 
• Canned Food Drive
• School T-Shirt Days

I have been searching the internet for ideas and boy are there some great ones out there! Are there any really fun things your school does that you could share? I would LOVE and appreciate anything you have!!