Go Ahead, Call My Boss! Part 2

Dear Readers,

This post is an update of a post from a couple of months when I gave the SpEd Director’s number to an irate parent who thought she’d “tell on me” to my boss. Since I knew that I had nothing to hide, I wasn’t afraid at all. Guess what! She never called. In fact she came to the I.E.P. like nothing had ever transpired. Although I was happy for the surprising turn of events, I couldn’t believe it. She even explained why she didn’t respond. I personally didn’t get it, but everything turned out fine.

So, there’s the update that I promised. Nice to give a good one!

Finally- A Mentor!

Dear Readers,

I am super stoked that I finally found a mentor. I just didn’t think that I would. She’s exactly what I was looking for. She has Special Education experience, in addition to over 30 years of teaching. She’s understanding and very knowledgeable. I’m so happy to have found her.

Loving GOOGLE Classroom!

Dear Readers,

Initially I didn’t like GOOGLE Classroom just because I didn’t see the merit of it. I figured that it was so much like Edmodo that I might as well stick to Edmodo and not learn anything new.

Well, count me converted. I am a new convert. I simply love the GOOGLE apps. Call me a GOOGLEHEAD (if that’s what we’re called)! I’m okay with that. I’ll tell you why. I create monthly exit slips in GOOGLE SHEETS. The problem was that students could see other students private answers. I was looking for a way to make it private. Well, one of the other teachers showed me how to upload docs into GOOGLE Classroom with the option of having students automatically make a copy when they log into their GOOGLE account.

Can I just say that I love this concept of having everything in one place! The only thing that would make GOOGLE perfect would be for GOOGLE’s education website to be as user-friendly as WEEBLY. If that happens, I will not have a reason to use anything else.

I keep you updated and let you know how it goes!

They Can Barely “Function”?

Dear Readers,

This year, I am really going hard with the metacognitive strategies for my students. I started them out with Learning Styles (Auditory, Visual, Kinesthetic/Tactile), Multiple Intelligence Survey (HOW are you smart?), Executive Functioning Skills (8 Key Skills- Impulse Control, Emotional Control, Working Memory, Planning & Prioritization, Organization, Task Initiation, Flexible Thinking, & Self-Monitoring), & Fixed/Growth Mindset.

I’m working on all of them, but what I’m really working diligently on is impulse control. At least five of my students have weaknesses in the area of impulse control. Let me be real here and say that they are wearing me out. I know that this will be a year-long journey, but it’s a journey I must start if I’m to have any chance of normalcy in my Lab.

Wish me luck on this journey!