The weeks are flying by! The kids are taking some small report card line item assessments here and there throughout the weeks. In group we used our Chromebooks to play games and practice our keyboarding skills. We started our Father's Day cards and some of the kids finished them. Others will finish next week. The older kids and I started talking about idioms and read Amelia Bedelia. While it was tricky to understand double meanings and the literal language we practiced and explored them together. The kindergarten kids worked on updating their data notebooks with some of the MLPP data (literacy). It was a productive week! Next two weeks we will still hold our social groups and if kids have special activities they will be excused as needed. I like to maintain consistency and continue to work and play so we will be practicing social skills until the very last day! Enjoy your weekend!
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This week we completed a puzzle together and talked about how when we work together we get things done more quickly! The kids had some other assessments, but were able to use and enjoy both the iPad I received from Donors Choose and the new Chromebooks that our PTA donated technology money to. They had fun! We tried to also think about balance (sharpening the saw) and habit #3, putting first things first (working before we play). There will be many celebrations and classroom activities that we are trying to stay on top of so please check the calendar frequently and if you have any questions please let me know! Have a great Memorial Day with your loved ones. Finally, the sun is shining!! :) This week almost all of the kids took one or both sections of the MAP test in reading and math. I spent a lot of time in the computer lab assisting and watching the kids during these testing opportunities. They really focused well and took their time. The MAP measures the kids compared to themselves in the fall (or winter for K) to spring and asks if kids made their expected growth. For group this week we had a few days of game day to work on the usual skills and some free choice to balance out the testing. The K kids played on GoNoodle again, dancing and moving to music. The free choice with the 1/2 group provided some teachable moments pertaining to control and who might want to be in charge. They learned that while it feels good to be in control and tell others what to do, to be on the receiving end is not as fun!! These were good moments to pause and reflect to think outside of ourselves. Perspective taking sure is hard for younger kids! Especially when this area is delayed for our kids. This coming week we will be continuing some of the testing, but will be focusing on being flexible and rigid (part of Superflex) and using the habit of Synergy.
Once again, we started off with a fun game day for our 1/2 group. The K kids worked on beginning sounds. I am noticing that when we stretch words to write they can write down what letters they hear, but when I ask what is the beginning/ending sound or what sound does bus begin/end with they get tripped up. We are going to keep reinforcing that beginning means first and ending means last. Tuesday was my strep quarantine day so Mrs. S worked on listening skills by reading the book It's Listening Time. They practiced the routine of how to raise hands and not blurt out. The rest of the week I began our DRA testing (MAP testing also started) and we made some Mother's Day projects. I hope you enjoy your weekend and celebrate the great ladies in your life! This week started off again with a game day for the older kids and shaving cream sight words for the kindy kids. They practiced both tolerating the sensory experience and wrote some of the 20 K sight words they are expected to know. The rest of the week we focused on Habit 5. We talked about how we need to do the following things: 1. Raise my hand 2. Don't talk 3. Wait to be called on We also learned about listening with our ears, eyes, brains and hearts to give us clues and messages about the person talking. We focused on the importance of reacting appropriately to have our problem sizes match our reaction sizes. If we are good listeners sometimes this can avoid a big reaction. I decided to take this pause on Superflex because I have been seeing the kids struggle to understand the situation before reacting. While much of this can be due to disability and age, it is still crucial that we address it and use these real life situations as teachable moments. We can all learn from each other. I am going to focus this coming week on their DRA tests and introducing the concept of "filters". More to come! |
Megan McQuillan
Megan McQuillan is the lower elementary teacher in the ASD program Archives
June 2017
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