Monday Made It

Well, my summer has officially ended.  Today was my first day back and walked into a thousand changes.  But hey, changes are good for the soul and these will be fine.  Education is like that - especially special education - but you roll with the punches.  So here we go, I'm ready to roll!

I am linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for her Monday Made It series.  I have just recently found her blog however have spent several hours days going through the previous Monday Made It posts.  I love seeing what others have made for their classrooms.

Made It #1:

You know it's time for school to start when you see a personal laminator, lots of lamination scraps, bits of paper, and lots of cardstock copies laid out on a coffee table.  I worked on some labels for my book bins, some cards for our study of habitats (The name of the habitat is on one side and animals found in that habitat are on the other side.  Students are given a habitat and then they will choose an animal to do their animal studies from one that is listed on the back.)  Especially with my students, they need choices.  Just giving them the name of the habitat and telling them to find an animal is way too "wide open" for them.  I still want them to have a choice of animal but I just help them to narrow it down a bit.

I'm using navy blue and lime green in my classroom (when you have a classroom of high school boys "girly colors" are pretty much a no go!)  They will give me a hard enough time when they realize that everything matches but at least I used colors they like!  Plus, I'm on my blue / green kick right now but they don't have to know that I like it - it's all for the kiddos, right?!?

Made It #2:

This is a wreath that I made for a friend for her classroom.  Still debating on making one for my classroom in my blue / green color scheme but remembering the boys again.  They may have to deal with a big ole' wreath in the room!

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting!

 

Changes . . . Good for the Soul

Well, where to begin?!?  I guess explaining the reason for the confusing header is a good place to start.  The 2011-2012 school year was my first year teaching. (Several posts below you will get a glimpse into that world).  Fast forward to the 2012-2013 school year and you get the "big change" - I went from teaching 6 and 7 year olds with moderate to severe Autism to teaching a High School life skills class  in an Alternative School in our county.  The students I had this past year had all been diagnosed with an Emotional Disability and were determined to be better suited in an alternative school setting.  Most are boys, with only 2 or 3 girls, and many have had previous episodes of severe aggression in the "typical" classroom.  Pretty big change, however, through it all I've learned that change is good!  I love what I am doing and feel this is why I went back to school in the first place.  Most of my students function several levels below grade level so I love finding resources on other blogs.  I will be with the same kiddos this year and am really looking forward to it.

People think I'm crazy, but I love the "rowdiness" that I experience every day and I love the behavior management portion of a classroom.  But most of all, I love the look on their faces when they realize that a teacher really does care and has the desire for them to learn.  Hopefully they are learning from me because I know I am learning from them!

Welcome to Room 307.