Volume was the topic of the week! We began with a small lesson about what every number on the 5 point scale stood for. As you can see in the image, a 1 = no talking. We used examples like when we go out for a fire drill or take a test. Then comes number 2. This is a whisper voice. We practiced using our own whisper voices throughout the week. A 3 is where we want to keep our voices in most school settings and situations. We said this was the goal to have our voices at. A 4 voice is a recess/outside voice. We talked about when you yell because you are having fun, playing a game outside, cheering for a sports game or at an assembly like at Community Time on Friday when we saw some upper el students jump roping with tricks, we cheered! We talked about when you call a dog in from outside you have to yell so they can hear us. But, in a classroom it probably wouldn't happen too often. At a 5 we are using a screaming emergency voice. Again, the blood, barf, and broken bones were used as legitimate reasons to be screaming and really upset. If there was a fire we would yell to get help. It would possibly be a 911 situation. The kids colored a sheet for their social notebooks and also one to take home and share. We also had a Game Day with Mrs. Szalay. The first graders and I had a special lesson on circle of control. There is a lot of "policing" going on (which happens with all young children, autism or not). We talked about the acronym "MYOB" for Mind Your Own Business. We used it in a funny and sassy kind of way, but to reinforce we have to Be Proactive about ourselves and let the teachers handle the other kids. This is particularly hard for kids with autism who are rule-bound and/or like for others to be rule-bound as well. I drew out a circle of control with "me" in the middle and what was in our own control. Then in an outer circle I listed some things we cannot control like the weather, time frames for things, the schedule of events at school, and others (words, actions, choices). This is a hard concept, but it was introduced. I will be continuing it with the kids.
The kindergarten kids had a snowman Friday where they did some activities with writing, a snowman project or two, and math. We measured how tall our snowmen were and used description words to list what "my snowman has". We worked on a Snowy Day retell page and read books about snow and snowmen. I will be doing some reading testing next week. I will not be at school on Thursday, so please contact the office if you need to leave me a message (or send an email if it isn't urgent).
We have had a lot of germs spreading around. If your child does not feel well I encourage you to let them rest and feel better before attending school again. Our students tend to not know how to cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough. They typically do not blow their own noses well or at all. This means they spread germs to surfaces all throughout the school and to or on each other. I understand part of this is just common in the early years, but I have to say that when other kids get sick and staff gets sick sometimes it could have been prevented. When staff is sick and take time off the component of a sub is a disruption to all the kids we support. This is unavoidable, such as when I have meetings, training I'm required to attend, or am sick myself. I'd just prefer to keep it to a minimum if possible. I know schools request a lot from parents, but the health of all my kiddos is important to me. Thanks for understanding. :)
The kindergarten kids had a snowman Friday where they did some activities with writing, a snowman project or two, and math. We measured how tall our snowmen were and used description words to list what "my snowman has". We worked on a Snowy Day retell page and read books about snow and snowmen. I will be doing some reading testing next week. I will not be at school on Thursday, so please contact the office if you need to leave me a message (or send an email if it isn't urgent).
We have had a lot of germs spreading around. If your child does not feel well I encourage you to let them rest and feel better before attending school again. Our students tend to not know how to cover their mouths when they sneeze or cough. They typically do not blow their own noses well or at all. This means they spread germs to surfaces all throughout the school and to or on each other. I understand part of this is just common in the early years, but I have to say that when other kids get sick and staff gets sick sometimes it could have been prevented. When staff is sick and take time off the component of a sub is a disruption to all the kids we support. This is unavoidable, such as when I have meetings, training I'm required to attend, or am sick myself. I'd just prefer to keep it to a minimum if possible. I know schools request a lot from parents, but the health of all my kiddos is important to me. Thanks for understanding. :)