What Happens in10 Years of Teaching?

Hello friends! This month marked the beginning of 10 years of teaching. After my 10th "First Day of School" as a teacher I couldn't be happier!

I've been writing this post in my head for a month now. I disappeared from blog-land temporarily, but it was for fantastic reasons. I wanted to take a moment to reflect on my career as a teacher. This month I feel like all my hard work and the many struggles to bring me where I am today have finally brought me to a wonderful place.

Year 1

What am I doing? Wait, that didn't take 30 minutes and you're all done in 10? Hold on this little thing takes an hour?? 

I was fresh out of college and teaching in a rough part of Phoenix at a fantastic school with amazing staff members and mentors. I loved having my own class, but there were definitely a few kinks to work out. I also went to bed at 8:30 almost every night. I spent many evenings on my living room floor with my roommate as I convinced her to help me color and cut out laminated centers activities. I also learned that while I became a general ed teacher, I really liked working with the ED kids (emotionally disabled) as they were mainstreamed into my class.

Year 2

So you want to teach 2nd grade again? Too bad we need you in 1st grade and you're the newbie so you don't get a choice. Do you know what happened? I fell in LOVE with first grade! I started to get my bearings as to who I wanted to be as a teacher and lesson planning only sometimes took forever and ever. 

Year 3

I love my school! Can I just take it back to Cali with me?? This was a lovely year for me professionally, but my life outside of school took a sad turn. It's funny how the path you think you're on can suddenly change and you think it's for the worst, but it ends up leading you some place wonderful.

Year 4

Back to Cali, Cali, Cali! I'm from the Bay Area and the center everything exciting: city life, wine country, beaches, and the tech capital of the world. Sadly, I got here when the economy crashed and there was a shortage of teacher jobs thanks to budget cuts. It was impossible to get a public school job that year. Thanks to Craigslist (weird, I know) I got a job at a private school for high functioning kids on the autism spectrum. These kids always held a special place in my heart and I was so excited to work with them. I taught "lower elementary" which meant 1st/2nd grade with varying diagnoses of high functioning kiddos. 

Year 5

Why didn't I go into special ed to begin with? Well, who says I can't? Time to get my Master's degree! I basically stopped having a life for a year as I taught kids with autism all day and went to grad school at night. After a lot of stress headaches it was totally worth it! I had my second degree and credential. Those kids I taught? Still love them!

Year 6

What do you mean grad school is over? I'm not good at being lazy, so why don't I go to Stanford and get my CLAD (English language learner) certification? I still had a great group of kids with 1 that worked my every nerve, mostly because I had little to no support with a kid with much higher needs than our school could handle. This was the year I learned you can love every kid, but not every kid belongs in the same class with only 1 teacher in the room. 

Year 7

Did you know it's possible to teach 3 grade levels at once all day, every day...for an entire year? Neither did I! But somehow I survived. I had great kids, but with 2 kindergarteners, 1 genius, 1 first grader, and 1 second grader... teacher life wasn't easy. Thankfully they all had fantastic families who made my life a million times easier. By the end of the year I was fried and decided it was time to move on to new professional experiences.

Year 8

My dream job is available?! And I'm hired?! Yes! So all those years of teaching kids with autism needs to shift into an expert in dyslexia? Ok, sure no problem. I got this. It was also the first year I ever had a teaching partner and had to share my classroom, which was an interesting experience, but we made it work. I learned what it's like to expand my skills to more than just teaching kids. I was given wonderful new opportunities including teaching a seminar about dyslexia to parents and educators.

Year 9

Do I want to go back to school for certification #4?? Sure! Why not? My school enrolled me in the Wilson Certification program which is a full year worth of coursework and practicum. Did I mention I had a class full of rambunctious boys who were never described as "quiet" or "mellow" ever? Thank goodness my new teaching partner and I became even closer friends than we already were. What doesn't kill a team makes it stronger! And yes a boss said in the middle of a staff meeting "Thanks for not walking out on us this year." Little did he know this was no where near my worst year teaching. Those were years 6 and 7 for sure!

I get to go on my first business trip? How fun! Dyslexia conference in San Diego here I come! 

TEACHER NERDS UNITE!

Midyear... want to become an instructional coach? Sure! Why not?! That sounds fun, but can I keep teaching? I don't really want to be an administrator. I'm a teacher because I like teaching kids! I don't ever intend to stop that. Oh, and by taking on that role I'm in charge of the Tech Team? Sure, why not?! I'm a teacher, blogger, and TPT teacher who uses tech all the time. I could manage that. The last day of school was such a relief as all my hard work paid off and I received my Wilson Certification!! Yay me! Two college degrees and a total of 4 certifications! Wow! When did that all happen?

Year 10

So begins my 10th year of teaching... and where has it taken me? I'm now a special ed teacher, instructional coach, and the leader of the Tech Team at school. I have also been tutoring students outside of school which has been a new adventure that I didn't plan on, but when fantastic families with adorable kids ask, I just can't say no. 

If you had told me during Year 1 what would be happening in Year 10, I never would have believed you! I never dreamed all my hard work would suddenly come together so smoothly and lead to so many amazing opportunities. I feel like this past month I've come to realize that all of my career ambitions have all come true. I can honestly say I don't know what will come next, nor for the first time ever I don't know what I'm aiming for. The sky is the limit from here. Time to embrace my role as instructional coach and build on my craft. I don't know what the future will hold, and I'm okay with that. 

Cheers!

Wearing Blue for Autism Awareness Day!

HAPPY AUTISM AWARENESS DAY!

At work we are all wearing blue for Light It Up Blue to support Autism Awareness. Kids with autism are by far my favorite to teach! When I changed schools, one of my biggest worries was that I had to give up my spectrum kiddos who I love so much. I was happily surprised when I discovered I still get to work with kids who have autism. 

Kids with Autism make me think in new ways and look at the world from a new perspective. I get a special level of excitement when I see that I am helping them understand the world a little better. Each year on April 2nd I like to think of a kid or two with autism and how much they have grown, as well as how much they have made me grow as a teacher. 

Each year I have one kid who I feel a special connection with. Each year I pick a "special project" kid who I feel no teacher has really understood, and I really want to help. This year, I knew from the very first day who my "special project" was going to be. Several other teachers had said, "he's cute, but I just don't get him!" or, "I tried, but I just can't connect with that kid!" From the moment I met this boy, I knew I could help him. I was the teacher who understood him.

When we started the year everything out of this kid's mouth came across as rude. He was incredibly blunt, contradicted everything you said, never wanted help, and just plain had the power to drive you crazy. Working with kids like him for several years helped me see that he didn't know this is what he was doing. He didn't understand what was expected or was perceived as weird or rude. It was our job to teach him these things. 

We taught him to politely question things he didn't understand instead of talking back. He started to ask questions starting with "This is not me being rude, I really want to know…" and then he'd ask his question. Often these would be things like "why do you tell me to worry about myself when I ask about a kid, but then you don't just worry about yourself? You worry about everyone."Or another time, "Why did you help _____ when he got hurt? He's not very nice to you and he never listens to you. Why would you help him? He doesn't deserve for you to be nice to him."I taught him about how you can be nice to others, no matter how they treat you. He is still mystified by this concept, but he gets it a little more. Yesterday a kid bonked his head and I grabbed an ice pack. He told me "I thought your job was to teach us math and stuff. Why do you help kids who get hurt? That has nothing to do with school work." This was funny and made me laugh. The life of a teacher… it's more than just teaching.

For the last week this little guy has been totally "with it" and nearly brought me to tears of joy repeatedly! Yesterday was April Fools and he remembered my co-teacher is terrified of spiders so he put a giant plastic furry one (that he brought from home) on her desk and made her scream! After she calmed down she was so proud of him that he actually thought about her AND thought of something so clever! This kid pretty much only talks to me. He'll participate in her lessons, but will never randomly talk to her. He's definitely "my" kid. 

Now for the moment that touched me the most… 

Last Friday we had a board game afternoon. The kids were being really good, plus some of them suck at winning/losing games, so it was a social-emotional lesson for some of them. I was playing Sorry with multiple of my autism spectrum kiddos. This was just by coincidence since they got to pick the groups. I was able to see how they have learned to take turns, help each other, and win/lose gracefully. All of these things were a struggle when we started the year. They were doing so well, that I decided to leave the room to grab a snack from the corner store while my co-teacher watched the class. 

I told the kids what I was doing and got up. Suddenly my "special project" kid said "No! Don't go!" I was very confused since the kids were doing so well. I asked him, "Why don't you want me to go? Do you want more help with the game, or do you just want me to stay with you guys?" and this was his response, "I want to keep hanging out with you! Don't go!" I assured him the corner store was in the school parking lot and I'd be back in 5 minutes, before he'd be leaving to work with a specialist. He agreed and I made sure to get back speedy quick. 

I know…this seems silly to be excited over. I should explain… This munchkin generally doesn't connect with adults, and if anything tries to shoo them away. Once I did a journal prompt that said "My favorite thing about Ms. Parnello is…" and this kid told me "I don't know what to write. I don't hate you or anything, but I just don't know what to say. There isn't anything I really like. You're just you." So for this kid to beg me to stay, that was AMAZING! Plus he started holding my arm when he talks to me this week. For anyone who knows anything about autism, physical touch is a big deal! 

Here's to many more years of "special project" kids and helping them to see the world in new ways while they help me to do the same.

Wearing my blue today!!

Presenting at Parent Education Seminars

This year I changed jobs and it was one of the best decisions I've ever made. One of the perks has been my ability to expand my career horizons. As a teacher, it's very easy to see your life as A) being a classroom teacher forever or B) becoming an administrator of some sort. This job has helped me see that I have more options than that.

One such option I've been able to experience has been parent education seminars. I know this may not sound thrilling, but when my whole world involves talking to 7 year old students in special education, my world can feel quite small sometimes. Yes, I have a life after work, but 8+ hours a day feels like my whole world some days. These seminars allowed me to use a whole other portion of my brain. After so many years of education experience, I take for granted how much I know and understand about children, reading acquisition, special education, and the reasons for why kids learn certain ways.

My first seminar I was a small piece of a larger simulation. I loved every minute of it and would gladly do it every year. It had such an impact on the parents that I was simply in awe of how effective the seminar was for simulating the world of a child with dyslexia. Realistically it simulated almost all learning disabilities and the classroom challenges associated with it. You can read my full review and reaction to the experience HERE at A Special Sparkle.

My second seminar was "Does my child have a reading problem?" which was to help parents identify signs that their child may have more than a typical struggle with reading. This was my first seminar where I was the main presenter along with a coworker who did it with me. I was beyond nervous, but it went quite well! We had little quizzes to get parents thinking and even a paragraph written by a child with dyslexia that they had to "edit" and figure out what it said. The story got the parents thinking and gave a great example for me to present the ways children with dyslexia make errors in their writing and the reasons behind it. There were moments where they asked questions and I instantly had the answers, which made me feel good about all the things I have come to learn over the course of my career as a teacher.

There was one moment that caught me completely off guard and caused the room to go silent for a moment. One set of parents was Hispanic and raised their hand to ask a question. They struggled to find the words and ended up asking in Spanish out of desperation as they tried to think of the right words in English. Starting my career in Arizona, there were countless conferences I conducted in broken Spanish. When the parents asked the question, I repeated it in English and then spouted out the answer in Spanish without even thinking! They wanted to know if kids with Dyslexia had a harder time learning to read if they spoke 2 languages. After I answered that they may take longer, but of course they could learn, I had to giggle and explain to the rest of the group what just happened when I burst into another language without warning!

I have a whole set of slides to share about reading disabilities, but I need to tweak them before I can share them with you. Right now they have boring backgrounds and lack visuals on some of the slides. The marketing team wanted the focus to be on the 2 of us talking rather than the slides. I need to make it more visually appealing before I show all of you! More to come!!

Have you ever presented or attended parent education seminars? What was the topic?

Upcoming Special Ed Seminars

I have a couple seminars coming up that I'm really looking forward to. The first is about experiencing dyslexia by the International Dyslexia Association. They have created a series of simulations for teachers and parents to experience what it is like for a person with dyslexia to complete reading/writing tasks, especially in a school setting. My station is for parents to do a series of tasks with their non-dominant hand. In my case that would require me to do things left handed. Funny fact: I injured my right hand when I was younger and actually CAN do many thing left handed, but I'm certainly not good at it! I'm really excited to do this seminar and especially excited to see the reactions of parents!

The second one is titled "Does my child have a reading problem?" and I'm one of 2 lead speakers!! It's exciting and a little nerve wracking. I'm working on the PowerPoint for it this weekend. I know tons about teaching reading to kids. Some days I am caught off guard when I just stop to think about reading and how to identify a child with a problem. This has a tendency to happen when I have a student shadow in my class as a potential child for our school and I can usually tell within an hour what challenges they have without ever reading their paperwork since it often doesn't arrive right away. It's still strange to think I'm an expert presenter :)

Now I have to ask for YOUR help! If you were concerned your child had a reading problem, what type of questions would you ask?? I'm presenting and really want to know what information I should have ready in the presentation, and what info I should be ready to answer verbally during the Q&A session at the end.

Connecting with Kids with Autism Through Writing

Hey Everyone! Did you miss me?! It's been a record 3 weeks since I've posted something new for you! Super sorry, but I was just plain busy! So much has happened in the last few weeks but I'll do my best to fill you in on the good stuff in the next few days.

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but my teaching partner and I have split up our caseload of kids in our class based on who connects the best with them. I have multiple kids on the autism spectrum (or the related less severe disabilities) who are "mine." I'll be honest...I love them! It was the saddest part of changing schools when I was under the impression I wouldn't have any more autism kiddos. It turns out we have a few but they are more high functioning than the kids I worked with at my old school. One of my biggest successes in the last month has been my ability to make a connection with these kids!

Communication! This may seem obvious, but what can be hard to understand is that kids with autism don't communicate like we do. Yes, this seems obvious for kids with severe autism, but what about those kids who are on the high functioning end of the spectrum? What about those kids who can speak in full and clear sentences? What about those kids who LOOK like they know what's going on, but really DON'T get those social cues and verbal expressions of emotions?

I found a way to connect with some of these kids. It all started on accident! On Back to School Night I told all the kids to clean out their desks and that anything in their journals their parents might read, so make sure to write something for mom and dad to read that night. One of my kiddos wrote something that was both informative and surprising. He told his dad he didn't like getting big hugs. This was HUGE! Dad and I had a chat about it, and he said it's something he never knew. After writing about it, my student was able to tell us that he likes gentle hugs, but not the big strong ones dad gives sometimes. This type of communication was a BIG WIN that has lead to so many things!

Now my little guy likes to this all the time when he's feeling emotional and wants to tell us. He writes little notes to both his parents and myself. I've noticed a huge drop in his number of outbursts! Now he just writes on a piece of paper and drops it on my desk. Then I'll talk to him about what he's written, and he'll give me a written response back. He'll also write to me later in the day to let me know when he's feeling happy again. It's adorable!

I talked to him between these two notes above. He was mad at me for underlining a word on his paper. In his mind this was the equivalent of me scribbling all over his paper. I explained to him why I had written on his paper so he could see the word he wanted was right on his paper so he could copy it. He told me he was happy I was trying to help, but not so happy that I wrote on his paper. I apologized to him for upsetting him and explained that I was just trying to help and that's when he put a "that's ok" note on my desk.

A cute little happy message to the right was written on my whiteboard "The best day is today" is what he meant to spell.

How do you emotionally connect with your students/kids?

Successful Parent Conferences

We just finished our parent teacher conferences on Thursday and Friday. It was a long couple of days, but they went fabulously! I genuinely don't think I've ever had a more successful set of conferences! Every parent left very happy, and so did us teachers! Whoo hoo! Yippee skippy!

In our class we have 2 teachers and we each bond with completely different kids. Some kids come to me for everything, other kids prefer Lauren. We have totally different personalities and therefore different connections with the kids. Both of us love this and see this as the epitome of teamwork in a co-teaching classroom. As long as every kid feels loved and has a strong connection with at least one of us, that's all that matters.

With this in mind, we took turns leading the conferences based on which teacher has the strongest connection with that child. It's a very equal balance and made the conferences go 50/50 for who was leading and who was taking all of the notes.

One thing that seemed strange to me at first, but I actually really liked was the "action required" section of our notes below our regular notes of the discussion topics. We had to make a list during our conference of things that needed to be followed up on. This ranged from emails to specialists, behavior charts to send home, to the new strategies we wanted to implement based on our discussions. This section made it SOOOO easy come Monday morning to make sure we did all of those little follow up things that can be so easy to forget after a new parent walks into your room to talk.

Our kids have made soooo much progress since they walked into our room on the first day. The kids have already made HUGE academic strides! We have also had kids who had struggles with their behavior who are like whole new kids now. We are so proud of them!

One thing we make sure to do is tell little stories about each kid to their parent about something that made us laugh, or something that made us very proud of them! The parents always love this part. This was my favorite story of the week:
Please note the kids are dead serious during this conversation.
Kid 1: (big sniffle/snort)
Kid 2: They make tissues for that!
Kid 1: Tissues are for boogers. This is snot!!
Kid 2: But still! Use a tissue!
Me: Actually Kid 1, Kid 2 is right. Tissues are for boogers AND snot (as I try my hardest to keep a straight face, but then burst into laughter as I look at the other teacher)
The parents busted up laughing and it made for a very enjoyable conference ending!

10 Tips for Teamwork in Special Education

This week has shown me just how crucial it is to have solid teamwork in special education. It's essential that every specialist is in clear communication with the core special education teachers who work with the students.

This week Lauren (my co-teacher) and I have been in constant communication about our plans for specific students and the interventions we want to implement to help each of our students success. We even write our emails together over the phone at night just to make sure we're on the same page before communicating information to a parent who has sent us a late evening email.

We've also been working with an Education Specialist and an OT to help one of our students with writing and fine motor work. We've discussed the baseline (starting point) information as we as our desired outcome. We've talked about who is going to provide the key services, and how the others will help supplement them and encourage the student to generalize the behaviors into our regular classroom day.

The OT is so important in our classroom with such young students. Unfortunately, I didn't have one to consult with at my last school. I feel like I've been learning sooo much from our OT lately! She gives me tons of totally easy strategies to  implement into the classroom to help with specific skills. She has a very full schedule, but she's been wonderful about checking in weekly with us and asking what OT concerns we've had for the week. She's instantly given us quick tips to try while she waits for her schedule to open up for more one-on-one work. This way our kids aren't waiting for help and instantly get some assistance they may need such as fidgets, motor planning work, etc.

Speech is also a crucial part of a 1st-2nd grade SPED class like ours. We have kids with various needs and the SLP is eager to meet and discuss these things with us. She also just started 2 new pragmatics (social skills) groups for our student who have been DESPERATELY needing them. I've been supplementing tons of social skills books into our text-connections writing unit! Once again those Julia Cook books have been a focal point in our class! I LOVE them! Anyway...it's so great to have the SLP to talk with and discuss the social, language and articulation concerns we see in the classroom each week.

All of this communication has been very successful, but it's important to think of why it works so well for us!

1. Be clear about student strengths and concerns. Explain what is working well and what needs to be improved.
2. Work together to determine a desired goal or outcome. What do you want to get out of this support system for the student? What do you want the student to be able to achieve?
3. Create a plan together to meet the goal. This should be done together, not one person deciding. In order to have an effective team, you must have buy-in from every member. This cannot happen if one person dictates how everything should be done. If you create a plan together it is more likely to be executed in a consistent and effective way. 
4. Determine each person's role. What is each person supposed to do in this plan? Which tasks, interventions, or supports is each person expected to do in order to achieve the goal?
5. Plan ahead to discuss progress. While creating the plan, schedule a meeting to check in with each other to determine if the interventions are working. It's easy to say, "we'll check in with each other later" and then promptly forget about it. By scheduling it ahead of time, it's more likely the meeting will occur within a reasonable amount of time.
6. Constructively discuss the progress. During your meeting to discuss progress, identify exactly how the interventions have been implemented, what is working, and what is not working as planned. It's important there is no blame during the discussion, just a plan to improve. We like to do this meeting within a month (usually 2 weeks) of starting a new intervention. 
7. Determine if changes need to be made. Sometimes the best laid plans do not go as expected with a child in special education. You may need to tweak the plan as a team. It's crucial to brainstorm together to decide what works best for the specific child you are helping. 
8. Keep it positive! It's so easy to get frustrated when people are coming from different perspectives and have different ideas. Keep discussions focused on the student at hand and what really works for them.
9. Ask for help! The best thing about working as a team is that there are other people there with you! Tell the team member the things you've tried, and what the result was so that they may give you alternatives.
10. Celebrate your achievements! Celebrate even the small wins! Often goals in special education are long term goals. Celebrate the little milestones along the way to keep the positive momentum of the team!

Picture Book About Autism with Author Interview

When I first started teaching kids with autism I searched everywhere for good picture books to explain it to kids. Let me tell you, it was not a successful trip to the book store! I finally found one...yep...ONE! That's it. That one was called Since We're Friends: An Autism Picture Book And I never found a really good one after that...until now!

This week I was lucky enough to receive a digital copy of an adorable book picture book about autism! It's definitely a unique book that takes a whole new perspective. With the world becoming more aware of autism, it's time siblings and other children understand autism too! Leah's Voice is a very sweet story which does exactly that! I've searched high and low for good picture books about autism, and trust me, there aren't many! This one is very lovable for both the heartfelt illustrations and the caring set of characters.

 Leah's Voice gives real life examples that any child can relate to if they have been around a child with autism. The story is all about accepting the differences and including kids who are different, even if it means they need to play in different ways.

The best part of this book is the story behind it! The author has two little girls, one of which has autism. Lori was kind enough to "virtually" interview her with a few questions.

Interview with author Lori DeMonia

1. Tell us about your girls!  Leah just celebrated her 12th birthday, and her younger sister, Sarah will be 9 in September.  They have a great relationship.  Sarah is a good role model for Leah and shows amazing patience with her. They ride the bus together, and both participated in an after school track program last year. They enjoy doing gymnastics and dancing together.  For the first time Leah was able to have a birthday party and invited some of her girlfriends from school this summer.  I didn't know what to expect, or how they would interact with Leah.  I was overwhelmed with how kind and patient they were, and it was a dream come true that Leah have friends that truly care about her.                                                                                                  
   
2. How old was your daughter when you discovered she had autism?                                  Around 18 months old we noticed she stopped responding to her name, and then began   becoming agitated at times when we tried playing with her or got too close.  Slight changes that we thought would subside didn't, and at age 2 1/2 she was diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorder.                                                                                                                                                                        
   
3. What inspired you to write this book?  I saw a need for a book about a female character with autism, and a book that had a good story to capture children's attention as well.  I was inspired by my daughter's relationship and how loving and patient Leah's younger sister is.   Since it is a fictional story, I used the name Logan for the younger sister in the story.                                                                                                                                                                   
4. Do you intend to write more books about autism in the future?   I hope to write a follow up story with the same characters possibly, or maybe boy characters.  I'm currently writing an article about siblings and autism for a magazine.                                                                                                                                                                                      
   
5. I saw that your daughter's artwork was in the newspaper. How did she get discovered for her artistic abilities? I found out about KindTree, an organization that does the Autism Rocks traveling art show, as well as other events with individuals on the spectrum.  They have a yearly art grant award which is given to artists on the spectrum by a judged panel.  I sent Leah's art to them one year and she received a grant and her art piece was included in the art show.  Their artists are from the U.S. and other countries as well.  The following year she was one of three artists to receive a grant.  Now it has been 5 consecutive years!  When she was very young it seemed taking out art supplies was the best way to re-direct her while she was having a meltdown.  Then a friend made a comment that her art was very advanced for her age, and I began to save much of her artwork.   To this day it is something she enjoys, and she shares what's in her heart through her artwork too.                                                                                                                                                                                                             
6. When did you explain autism to the girls?    We told Sarah about her sister's autism when she was about 4 1/2.  I don't think she fully understood what it was until she was a little older.  Leah has been told she has autism, but if asked she probably couldn't explain it.                                                                                                                                                                  
   
7. What recommendations do you have to other parents of children with autism?  Try to surround yourself with a good support system.  Don't let any negative comments about your child bring you down.   I used to get very upset about hurtful comments and now realize they most of the time are out of ignorance.  That's not to say they aren't hurtful, but don't let them take away your hope and positive outlook.  Trying not to put too much thought into all the things your child may not do, and focus on their strengths is something I would also recommend.  Find joy in the small accomplishments too.  One day Leah left the house to catch the bus.  While walking with her dad and sister, she stopped in her tracks, went back to the house and opened the door to say "goodbye mom!".  That moment meant so much to me, even though millions of moms out there hear those words daily before school,to me it was a huge deal!  Plus, it was unprompted and out of love.  Stay hopeful no matter how small the accomplishment.                                                                                                                             
8.   I wish more people would understand how different the world we experience is to an individual with autism.  Sounds that can't be filtered out or sensations that we can easily cope with, sometimes can be painful for someone with autism or so distracting that it hinders everything.  If more people understood that their behavior is at times their way of coping with things, I think there would be more acceptance.

Thanks for reading! What is your favorite book about autism?

Back to School Sale?! Who could miss that?!

Okay, I'll be honest...I've totally neglected my blog this week. Sorry folks! It was my sister's bridal shower today and I have spent the whole week cleaning, planning, decorating, and a bunch of other stuff so that it would be everything my sister would hope for. Look at the adorable cake toppers I made!

On the upside...the party is done just in time for the TPT gigantic Back to School Sale!!!

 

No matter what DON'T FORGET TO ENTER THE CODE: BTS13! 

I can't even tell you the number of times my friends have emptied their carts without that additional 10% OFF! What a sad, sad, thing to happen! We teachers are working with a limited budget!

Everything in my store will be 20% OFF, plus the additional 10% OFF you get by entering the code.

I added in my Common Core Checklists for 3rd Grade Language Arts (only math was available in my store for 3rd grade until this week).

My Social Skills Reminder Cards have always been a big seller. Now would be a great time to pick up the corresponding Social Skills Reminder Posters!

All of my clip art is also on sale, including my Special Education Visual Directions Set!

I still need to go through my wishlist and fill my cart! I have every intention of shopping on TPT this weekend, but I haven't had a chance to start browsing. Honestly, last year I bought stuff, then bought more 4 hours later! I might have a shopping problem...

What do you plan on picking up on TPT this weekend?

Our students think we're crazy...really crazy :)

Yep, we are down right crazy according to not one, not two, but at least 4 of the 8 students who were at school today! Hahahaha!! Every morning there is a writing prompt on the SmartBoard and the kids put their stuff away and start working on them as soon as they get to school. I was feeling silly, and I wanted to see what they'd say about us so today's prompt was "My teachers..."

These are two of their responses:
"My teachers are [cuckoo] because they walk in doing the [cuckoo] dance. The silly way." The illustration shows us dancing at the front of the room and the kids laughing at their desks. In all fairness...this may have actually happened this morning... Classrooms without teachers randomly busting into dance moves are just no fun :)

This is the next one:
"My teachers are crazy." I am the one on the left with the really long hair and the pink face. The teacher who used to have my job, and pops by often to help us out and just say hello, is the one in the middle who has been turned into the devil (they love her, I think they were just being silly). Lauren, my co-teacher, is the one on the right with the crazy hair! In all fairness, Lauren has some crazy curls! In fact, she'll correct children who draw her without wild curls :)

Today the kids were wacky to say the least! I'm choosing to look at the fun part of our day and forget about the rest!

Lauren and I left after school and went to the gym before coming back to work to plop ourselves on the floor of the front office reading 50 page files for each of our students. It was a great way to think about ways to help them this year! We meant to do it ages ago, but things have been so nutty in the first 3 weeks of school that today was our first day to really do it and make it focused instead of rushed.

Also, I actually like to review them after getting to know the kids a little more. It makes it more meaningful when I can apply the things I'm reading to the behaviors I've seen in class.

When do you review student files?

Little Tid Bits About My New Class

I'm starting my 3rd week with students and still loving the new school. I'm slowly feeling less lost in the curriculum and things are starting to hit a good flow.

We've been benchmarking our kids and I actually really, really enjoy giving these assessments! We use AIMS web to progress monitor our kids. I feel like it's the best way for me to get to know these kids and what they are each capable of. I've seen the little things the kids are struggling with, but I've actually been pleasantly surprised by how successful some of these kids are in certain areas! I was blown away when one kid read over 150 words/minute!

One thing that I love about special education is that for every gigantic struggle these kids have, there is one area where they completely shine! I have 2 kiddos who REALLY struggle at reading, but their artistic abilities are astounding! That makes me think...I need to find a way to work some art skill into our reading groups...maybe it'll help them remember those sight words!

One thing I really like about this school is the way we differentiate reading and math instruction! Every class has 2 teachers, which teach separately for reading and math. This means we can teach completely different things and split the kids up between teachers and rooms to meet their instructional level. During this summer school session, we work out the kinks and find the best placement for every kid before the full school year starts. I really like both of my groups! Not to say they are easy, but my kiddos have some definite personality!

I am taking over for a very lovely teacher who moved to another department. One thing I really like is that her letter cards all have magnets on the back so I can arrange them on the board to spell words. Another thing I really like are these dry-erase sheets! They are simply sheet protectors with handwriting pages slipped inside. They work great and wipe off easily!

Here is one a student was using as we practiced marking r-controlled vowels. Clearly I need to work on some fine motor stuff! I must note, the kids had the fat markers, so maybe I'll give them the skinny ones and see if  that works better.

A Peek at My Week

Hey! We just finished our second week of summer school! We have a week and a half to go! I feel like I'm really starting to get to know the kids and our curriculum. Our kiddos have such fun personalities! We have one kid who is a total sketch artist! We had a "Draw & Write" activity and he asked if he could draw his own elephant since he didn't really need the drawing instructions! Haha!

During our first couple of days of reading groups I was really struggling! I'm used to jumping into teaching lessons and knowing exactly what we need to do, but that wasn't the case this year. This school picks up where the year ended, and because it's special education the kids don't always go at the same pace as a regular school depending on how well they grasp the concepts. It all makes perfect sense in terms of what's good for the kids. As a teacher, it was super confusing starting on Chapter 8! The book keeps referring to things, but since I didn't teach them, I have no idea what it's talking about. I bring my teacher's manual home every single night to study!

One day, the whole lesson plan was to review different sight words and key words that had been taught using 3 different decks of learning cards. I could only find one of the decks since we changed classrooms and things got mixed up. I had no idea what words the kids learned in chapters 1-7, so I had no idea what to review. I found myself digging through the end of unit summary and writing the words by hand on the board. That night I came home and made flashcards out of 3x5 cards for all the words I needed until I could find the decks of cards.

It all worked out and by the end of the week I hit a great groove with my reading group! In special education, it sometimes feels like your talking to yourself because the kids struggle to focus and concepts take a little longer to sink in. It took a couple days to figure out what motivates these little readers and how to keep them engaged for the whole lesson. On day 4, we stopped in the middle of the lesson for a fire drill, came back in, and the kids jumped right in and were totally engaged in the lesson again! Whoo hoo!

By day 5, we hit an awesome learning zone! I made our lesson completely using the SmartBoard and the kids loved it! I had our story up on the screen and the kids used it for decoding, comprehension, word work, and grammar practice all at once! It was perfect, well aside from the fact that I didn't realize I needed 3 cords and not 2, so I had to write from my computer instead of with the pens! What can I say, I've never had technology in my classroom! I'm THRILLED, but there is a learning curve for all this new fandangled technology!

My math group has been awesome! I get to start from the beginning of the 1st grade book so things make so much more sense to me! I don't have my teacher's manual yet actually, but I've made some great little supplemental materials and the kids love them. I secretly LOVE teaching math!

Now for a peek at some of the fun stuff! I bought these little stick lizards for the prize box and the kids loved them! Then Lauren, my co-teacher, taught the kids how the stick to walls and ceilings! Such a fun last 5 minutes of the day!

This was the straw blowing watercolor art the kids did with the art teacher. I wish I had pics of the kids doing the activity, but I had a migraine that day and it was the last thing on my mind!

Are you moving to a new school this year? Are you familiar with the curriculum they use?

Teaching Number Partners and Fact Families

I have a new version of our curriculum, but the kids' books came long before my teacher's manual. I was given the option of starting the kids on the old book, but I decided I'd rather let the kids stay on the same learning path and I'll make do with what I have.

The first chapter is all about "Number Partners" which are often called "Fact Families." Since all I have are the kids' workbooks to go off of, I decided to create my own supplementary materials using the same vocabulary, but my own materials and homework since the homework book is back ordered too.

First, I taught the number partners by giving the kids rainbow counters. I have had these for YEARS and my students always love them! They are a nice break from the boring base-10 blocks! Not to mention how cheap they are! We started with 4 each and I had the kids practice putting them in groups. They learned the groups are called "partners" and they work together to make a larger number. Since we aren't adding or taking any away, they always equal the same amount. Then I added one counter for each kid and they tried making the groups again learning the number partners for 5. Each day we've added 2 new numbers and learned the different partners that make those groups.

I like showing the kids that the groups can change places and still equal the same amount by having them put a hand on each pile and swapping them around by crossing their arms. They also think it's kind of funny to have spaghetti arms!

This kid was learning his "7 partners" and I snapped this pic as he was about to cover them with his hand and swap places for 6 and 1.

I didn't have any visuals to go with this, so I made my own! I made anchor charts for numbers 1-10 and 5 pages of simple homework to go with our lessons. I know I'm not the only one who has to teach fact families and number partners, so you might as well benefit from me making these! You can now find them in my TPT store! Also, I drew the clip art specifically for this set, but let me know if you're interested in it, and I can put that in my store too. I made both boys and girls with numbers 1-9 on their shirts.

Have I mentioned how much I love teaching math?!

Identifying Student Needs and Causes of Behaviors

With a new class and a new school, I find myself jumping in and hitting the ground running. I want to know "what's the deal with this kid?" for pretty much every kid in my class. I have 10 kids this year with various disabilities. They each have their quirks, but there is an important question to ask. WHY??

This can be answered with the following questions:
What is causing certain behaviors? 
What is the purpose of the behavior?
What happens if I push their limits?
How can I help them?

So some teacher love the "honeymoon period" as the kids are extra sweet getting to know their new teachers. My partner and I have a different philosophy. We push their limits from the get go! We want to see what happens when we push their buttons during this calm 1st week of summer school before we jump into the more challenging academics next week. This way we can create a plan and start working on interventions immediately!

A Few Examples!

Asking for help

"Miss Parnello, Can you help me spell ____?" My answer, "Nope! You're smarter than you think you are. I won't help you until you try!" (this is a phrase I use A LOT in SPED thanks to far too much learned helplessness!). Now why didn't I just help him? I looked at his paper, I saw he hadn't written a single letter, and I determined he just didn't think he could do it! The purpose of the behavior was to avoid the challenge of doing it on his own because of a lack of confidence. The outcome: he spelled all but one letter of the word correctly! Plus, we chatted when he finished the word and I asked him why I didn't help. His response, "I'm smart and I can do it myself." Look, he just gained some confidence! Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Making Noise

Yesterday a kiddo kept making noises and silly faces excessively. I was stuck trying to decide if it was "stimming" or attention seeking, although I was pretty convinced it was negative attention seeking. None of our negative consequences seemed to help at all. Nor did praise for stopping the behaviors. How did I figure out a motivator? I took his paper from our morning writing prompt that said "I love to ___" and the kids said the things they liked. I discovered an iPhone/iPad game that he loved and was school appropriate. Today he had a chart of 10 images from the game taped on his desk (thanks to my awesome partner!). He got an "X" on one image every time he did a negative behavior. By the end of the day he still had 9 pictures and earned 9 minutes of his game. What did we learn? He can control the behaviors, but needs an appropriate motivator. Also, I have gum as a backup plan in case it really is a sensory need and he needs to fulfill! Today he had a GREAT day!

Off Topic Conversations

A kid asks questions about things from 5 minutes ago...repeatedly throughout the day. Plus he is constantly distracted while you are talking to him, and keeps turning around a lot to see what is happening around him. What's the problem? This is something newbie teachers would just get annoyed by and think the kid was being difficult. After a bit more experience, you learn this is a sign of a sensory processing disorder! NONE of these behaviors are in his control! How can you help? Sound reducing headphones for things he doesn't need to listen to, and a speaker with a microphone on the teacher for when he does need to listen. Complications: kids who don't like headphones, and speakers that can be very distraction for other students who are bothered by sound. I know, it's not an easy solution, but you can see the behaviors have a cause. 

Impulsive & Physical Behaviors

Kid is constantly calling out, grabs others when he needs/wants something and gets overly emotional to minor problems. The cause? Impulse control and inability to self-regulate! He can't help himself! The solution? Teach him how to catch himself! Teach him how to find that moment where he is about to lose it and what to do to stop it! How? Push the limits! We made our little guy lose on purpose when we know this is a HUGE trigger. I saw him get upset and start to get mad and cry and I gave him minimal prompts. I simply said, "This is a game for fun. It doesn't matter who wins or loses. Right now your goal is to figure out how to turn your mood around and figure out how to calm down" and I walked away. The outcome? He cried for about 30 seconds, said "good game" to the other team, and moved on. SUCCESS!! We praised him like CRAZY!!! We made him feel like a million bucks so he knows how great it feels to turn those emotions positive instead of blowing up!. We know he won't always react like this, but it's a start! We know what kind of prompts he needs to be successful.

Off Task
A couple years ago I had a kid who was always off task during writing despite his reading and spelling abilities. It was driving me crazy prompting him to get back to work all the time! Finally I had enough and asked why he wouldn't ever finish his work even when he knew what to do and how to do it. His response, "It makes my hand hurt! My hand gets so tired trying to write on the lines." It turns out because of his fine motor delays he got physically fatigued long before he was mentally tired of the assignment. The solution: He was allowed to type his writing assignments whenever possible. He instantly started writing stories that were twice as long as they were before!

Always remember: KIDS ALWAYS DO THINGS FOR A REASON! The trick is to find out what it is and how to fix it! Sometimes it's a really simple solution!

A Great First Day!

I can't imagine today going better! My partner and I had very little time together to plan for today thanks to me getting sick and her leaving the country on a family trip during planning week. She did a bunch during her days of planning week, then I did a lot of work prepping the room when she was gone. We totally meshed as we were teaching together today! Without much discussion we were able to ebb and flow in our teaching. Not one talking over the other. We were really a team. It was perfect! We both have such a great feeling about this year!

We have some quirky kids in our group, but they responded really well to us! One kiddo I was warned could have terrible days, but I made a huge point of setting limits as well as making a personal connection with him. And it worked! He had a great day!

Case and point...these sparkle crayons. Yep that was my connection! My moment where I got him to really connect. How? I GAVE HIM A PAPERCLIP! Yep, that's it.

I was given a set of rainbow paperclips as a small part of my present from the Head of School for the first day of school. My little kiddo saw them, came up with a great idea of how he could use one green paperclip for part of a project at home. Suddenly I had a reward! I told him if he kept it together and made good choices, he could have one of my green paperclips. He worked very hard for it! Someone even stomped on his hand (by accident while doing a puzzle on the floor) and he didn't freak out! Yay!

So I gave the paperclip to him when it was time to go home. He was THRILLED! In return he gave me a big hug and gave me 2 of his sparkle crayons that were in his special pencil case. So cute! They are of course saved in my desk in case he misses them tomorrow. The gesture was just so great! It's the connection I needed to make sure we get him off to a great start and fix his struggles we know he has.

Connections are your best tool in making your tough kids love you and not be so tough!

Our sweet little present included more than paperclips! My favorite part... I already have a chocolate stash in my desk thanks to her! Oh and other things: a notepad, sharpie, nice writing pen, pencil, and tic-tacs. All the silly little things teachers love.

PS- This is my new social skill curriculum that arrived today! Have any of you used it?

It's the first day of school tomorrow!

Yep, you read that right...school starts in 13 hours!! I will soon be meeting my brand new class at my brand new school! For those of you who are new, I'm teaching at a school with extended school year for all students. The kids go to school for all of July before a 3 week break in August.

This is the my 8th "First Day of School" as a teacher! I can't believe how fast time has flown by! I can't believe how far I've come in my career! I started in Phoenix, Arizona 8 years ago with the most amazing mentor teachers in the world! One of which is a large part of why I switched from general to special education 4 years ago.

I have learned sooo much since I started teaching. I remember my first year read A LOT of story books because I was terrible at judging how long activities would take and I would end up with an extra 10 minutes to fill here and there. Then of course I went the opposite direction as the years went on and somehow there is never enough time in the day to get every little morsel of information into their heads that I want to!

Today I posted a great list of tips for first year special education teachers over on A Special Sparkle. Be sure to check it out my clicking the image below!

Sorry to for such a short post but I have something VERY important to do... GO PICK MY FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL OUTFIT! Did I mention that I still go "back to school clothes shopping" every year??? You should see my house right now! It's an explosion of freshly washed, brand new school clothes!

Oh, and I should probably re-paint my nails. They are currently bright blue thanks to my festive 4th of July theme I was going for last week. Time for a respectable color as I meet parents for the first time!

I'm at A Special Sparkle Today!

 Hey! I wrote a great post about easy accommodations to implement in the general education classroom. You can find it over at A Special Sparkle!

Pictures of My New Classroom Setup!

Happy Friday! I was up really late last night getting things ready for our first day of school. We start in a week on July 8th, but next week not an official teacher work week and I don't have keys to my room yet. I was scrambling to get things done today in order to be ready when I come back on the 1st day of school.

Yes, I know it is silly that there is a week between teacher work week and the first day of school... I'm pretty sure it has something to do with the company I work for being closed July 4th & 5th.

 I think I managed to get it everything essential done. My co-teacher is in a foreign country with her family, so there was only so much I could do without her. I have the room all set up and some lesson plans ready to go, so I figure that's the most important thing. The rest we can sort out when she gets back.

We have a MONSTER theme!!

(It's all boys in our class. I think they'll totally dig it)

There are a couple areas that still need work, but it's not too shabby for putting the room together by myself if just 3 days. I figure it's summer school with shorter days, so we'll have time in the afternoons to perfect our classroom together once my partner gets back.

Take a peek! I walked in a circle around my room so you get the full view! A few things still need work, but for the most part, this will be how my room looks this year.

The first two are my small group room so my co-teacher and I can both teach at the same time without interrupting each other.

The posters go with our curriculum

View from my front door, our teacher desks are under the windows

Next is a view from the back of the room. That space in the top left of the photo under the bare corkboard and magnetic board is the "Calm Down Corner" for when the kids get frustrated. It needs some serious love next week, but I couldn't find the things I wanted to put over there. And the calender area is rather bad too, but I kinda want to do SmartBoard calendar once we get the new projector bulb for it anyway.

View from the windows:

My monster behavior chart! I made it from some of the materials in this classroom decor set. It includes a behavior chart, but the wording is different than I use, so I made my own that still matches the name tags in her set that I'm using.

My door! Ignore the emergency procedures I have to leave there!

This might be the funniest part! Look at the reflection of me in the mirror and think about the size proportions! Yep, that sink goes to my knees! And that toilet...it goes up to my shins. We have a preschool bathroom inside my 1st-2nd class! Hahahaha. Even the kids think it's too small!

Adorable monster board, soon to be social skills curriculum stuff!

Zones of regulation...MONSTER STYLE! We are thinking of calling it "controlling your inner monster!"

And my AMAZING courtyard!!!

And we can't forget Tavish! He is the therapy dog who loves my room so much that he wandered in without his handler yesterday! I'm soooo excited to have my class work with him this year! I've never had a therapy dog at school before, and I'm already loving it! He's visited me just about every day that I've been working in the room this week :)