A Snowy Inside Recess

If you have any experience working in an Elementary School classroom, then you know how dreaded  the words "inside recess" can be. These words are especially painful if you haven't been able to take your class outside for the last 3 weeks because it's been too cold, and then you get a record breaking blizzard that dumps 3 feet of snow on your playground and it feels like you'll be stuck inside until May.... Well that was us today... Stuck inside again...

If your students are anything like mine, that precious time they have outside during a long school day is so incredibly needed. A breath of fresh air and the ability to run and play and yell is just what they need in the middle of their day.  I often find that when we are stuck indoors we have a lot more tears and a lot more problem behavior.  So today, in an effort to make inside recess a little more fun, with the help of my SPECTACULAR staff, we brought the outside in... thats right folks... call us crazy... but we filled up bowls of snow and brought them inside so the kids could play. At first I was nervous about the kiddos reactions, would they hate the cold, would they make a huge mess?? Well much to my surprise they LOVED it! We actually sat as an entire class for about 30 minutes and played with the snow!! During this time we allowed students to really take the lead and explore.  We were also able to incorporate a lot of teachable moments, by creating opportunities for students to generalize already mastered skills from their ABA programs(this is also part of our Natural Environment Teaching process which I will elaborate on at another time).  

I am so glad we tried this today! We had such an awesome experience and the kiddos amazed me with how well they were able to handle their excitement and not make a giant mess.  When it comes to my students I am always so analytical when trying something new.. I will often over think it or obsess over whether or not they will be able to 'handle it'... I have found that it's good to take risks... sometimes its a huge disaster, and we learn from that, but other times (and actually most of the time) my kiddos rise to the occasion and make me so incredibly proud.  It's the little things :) 

 Check out the pictures below to see how creative some of the kiddos got with this sensory snow-filled recess!

So Much Snow!!!

Showing the kiddos that it's ok to touch it!

Big Bowl of Snow

Some of my friends wanted to loose the bowl... so we did!!

We 'painted' our snow using food coloring, water and a spray bottle!

A "Snow Puppy" :) 

Snow Ice Cream... Yummm 

Some of the students also experimented with transferring the colors in the snow to their paper towels. 

One clever kiddo used a cookie cutter to make snow cars!

Finished Snow Car

After we finished with our snow I let the students carry their bowls (with help from an adult) outside, where we dumped our snow into the piles on the play ground!

Looking forward to see how many of them ask to play with snow tomorrow!

Our New Life Skills Center

As I continue to blog about my classroom I plan to introduce different 'centers' or activities that our students participate in during a typical school day. Today, we actually began a new adventure into the world of Life Skills/Activities of Daily Living (ADL's).  I have taught certain ADLs in my classroom in the past, but I have never had an entire center dedicated to them.  I got this idea and many of the resources from a teacher named Alyssa Zimini.  I found her resource on teachers pay teachers (https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Life-Skills-Centers-Year-Long-Life-Skills-Bundle-2284836) , and my wheels started turning! How, awesome would it be for my students if we were able to help them become more independent in areas they have never experienced before! I spent some time over the weekend prepping materials and rearranging our classroom in order to set up our new life skills center area. The area in our classroom with the sink and microwave was a perfect place to practice life skills, so I cleared out the art supplies that were previously stored there, and oh boy was that a task! 

All of these supplies have found a new home in the closet behind my desk!

Now we have space for our new life skills center!

The Life Skills Center Set Up

The skill we are working on this month is matching socks.  Once students are independent in this skill it is my hope that this can become a way for them to help out at home. 

This Month's Skill 

If you have ever spent time in a special education classroom you know the magic words are DATA DATA DATA.  Each time the students come to the center we will take data on the level of prompts required to complete each step of the task.  By the end of the month my goal is to have each student complete each step independently! In order for this to happen we need to make sure that we are fading our prompts as quickly as possible, and also that we are providing the least restrictive prompt possible. For example, we will first gesture to a student or verbally give them direction before we physically prompt or provide hand over hand assistance. 

Sample Data Sheet

 Each life skill we teach has picture prompts to help students visually see the step that comes next. We are skill working out the kinks on the best placement of these prompts, but for now they are attached to a paint stick with velcro, this way they can be moved around if we need the student to move to a new location.  After the students complete each step they remove the picture of that step from the stick and place it in the 'all done' bin. 

Task Analysis Picture Prompts

All Done Bucket

Here is a break down of how our students will complete the sock matching task. After they have gotten the bin and laid out each of the socks they will match the pairs.  

Match Socks into Pairs

Next comes the hard part... rolling the socks.  Shout out to our AWESOME Occupational Therapist Angie Miller for sharing this technique with me.  Here are the steps we are using to help our students roll socks:

Put one sock on the non-dominant hand

Pick up the matching sock and place it in the hand that is covered by the other sock

Now grab the other sock in your hand and hold tight 

Take your free hand and pull the bottom sock up and over the sock you are holding 

THEN....

Voila! You have a perfectly folded pair of socks!

Repeat until all of the socks are neatly rolled into pairs. 

Students then put the lid on the bin, put the bin away, and then they are all finished!

We had a lot of success with this skill today and I am excited to try again tomorrow!

I look forward to watching my students progress and can't wait for all of the new independent skills they are going to learn this year! :) 

If you have any questions about how we teach this skill or collect our data just let me know. 

Check back next month to see our February Life Skill :) 

Upcoming Events

This flyer was sent home with our students today.  We are so excited to spread awareness for Autism at the CASHS basketball games next week! Everyone is welcome to come and participate with us by wearing blue for the 'blue out'!

Also, Sky Zone In Harrisburg is offering a sensory friendly night!

"Sky Zone will turn off the music and dial down the distractions for the comfort of our extra special jumpers. We welcome children and adults with special needs and their siblings, family and friends to jump for 60 minutes for $8. We will make every effort to accommodate all jumpers with any kind of special needs. Please call us at 717-208-8908 if you have specific questions"

Here is the link to their website for more information http://www.skyzone.com/harrisburg/Activities-Programs/DetailView/agentType/View/ListingID/3357/Special-Needs-Sensory-Friendly-Night

Our district is also excited to announce that Amiris Dipuglia from PaTTAN will be conducting a parent training on Friday, February 5th.  We will post more details when the itinerary, location and times have been set.

Our Staff

OK Time for me to brag a little bit.... I have amazing staff.... and I mean UH-MAZ-ING!  In order for my classroom to run smoothly it takes a lot of hands and a lot of patience.  I am so very fortunate to have an amazing team of hard working, dedicated ladies that are able to constantly think on their feet and support our students without hesitation. Without them our classroom would not be what it is. I am so incredibly grateful for each of them.  Here they are to tell you a little bit about themselves...

Miss Katie (Aka Miss Kitty/Kiwi)

I am very passionate in the work I do everyday.  Prior to working in the Autism Support Classroom I worked as a TSS with children on the spectrum along with a variety of other types of children.  I have my Undergraduate Degree in Psychology and am working towards my Masters Degree in Social Work.  When I am not working I enjoy spending time with my family, boyfriend and friends, and enjoy taking pictures and doing yoga.

Miss Katie with Her Boyfriend and Dog

Mrs. Martin

Hi, my name is Michele Martin.  I am a teacher assistant in Mrs. Huber's classroom at Fayetteville Elementary. I am a mother of eight children and I have five grandchildren.  I am also head of housekeeping for a local Christian camp ground.  I have worked for the Chambersburg Area School District for the past eleven and a half years.  I find each day working with the students very rewarding and am glad to be a part of a great team of educators. 

Mrs. Martin and her family

Mrs. Martin

Miss Ashley

I am Miss Ashley. I was born and raised in Chambersburg and graduated in 2010 from Chambersburg Area Senior High School. Directly after high school I attended Shippensburg University where I received my bachelor's degree focusing on child psychology in 2014. Shortly after graduation, and planning a wedding, I began working as a TSS in Mrs. Huber's room. The atmosphere was so upbeat and welcoming, not only to staff, but to all students as well. Although I loved my job as a TSS, I felt that I could be apart of something so much bigger if I worked for the district in an Autistic Support classroom. I was very blessed in being able to actually be a full time staff in that very classroom this past May. In July I attended Verbal Behavior boot camp through the PaTTAN Autism Initiative where I finally began to fully understand our program. I love being apart of the children's learning path and working with such a great team at Fayetteville!

Miss Ashley with Her Husband (and Baby Easton COMING SOON!)

Miss Amy

I was born and raised in Chambersburg, PA and graduated from Chambersburg Area Senior High School.  I continued my education at Salisbury State University in MD.  I majored in Elementary Education.  I have been working with special needs for the past 16 years in different capacities from working in group homes with teens, foster care case management, and TSS service.  I am currently a PCA in Mrs. Huber's classroom and I am so happy in this position.  I love coming to work every day and making a difference in the lives of the children I work with. 

Miss Amy

SEE.... I told you they were Awesome!