Monday, March 28, 2011

The New "Survivor" Show

I got this in an e-mail and thought it was too good not to share. So, ENJOY!


Three businessmen and three businesswomen will be dropped into an elementary school classroom for one school year. Each business person will be provided with a copy of his/her school district's curriculum and a class of 20 to 25 students.

Each class will have a minimum of five learning-disabled children, three with A.D.H.D., one gifted child, and two who speak limited English. Three students will be labeled with severe behavior problems.

Each business person must complete lesson plans at least three days in advance, with annotations for curriculum objectives, and modify, organize, or create their materials accordingly. They will be required to teach students, handle misconduct, implement technology, document attendance, write referrals, correct homework, make bulletin boards, compute grades, grade students' progress for report cards, document benchmarks, communicate with parents, and arrange parent conferences. They must also stand in their doorway between class changes to monitor the hallways.

In addition, each month they will complete fire drills, tornado drills, and "Code Red" drills for shooting attacks.

They must attend workshops, faculty meetings, PTA meetings, and curriculum development meetings. They must also tutor students who are behind and strive to get their two non-English speaking children proficient enough to take the SOLS tests. If they are sick or having 
a bad day, they must not let it show.

Each day they must incorporate reading, writing, math, science, and social studies into the program. They must maintain discipline and provide an educationally stimulating environment to motivate students at all times. If all students do not wish to cooperate, work, or 
learn, the teacher will be held responsible.

The business people will have access to the public golf course on the weekends but, with their new salary, they will not be able to afford it. There will be no access to vendors who want to take them to lunch, and lunch in the school cafeteria will be limited to thirty minutes, which is not counted as part of their work day. The business people will be permitted to use a student restroom, as long as another survival candidate can supervise their class.

If the copier is operable, they may make copies of necessary materials before, or after, school. However, they cannot surpass their monthly limit of copies. The business people must continually advance their education, at their expense, and on their own time.

The winner of this "Season of Survivor" will be allowed to return to his/her job.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Light it up BLUE!

April is Autism Awareness month. Join the cause and Light It Up Blue! How can you help? On April 1st and 2nd wear BLUE, put a blue light bulb in your light fixtures, or BLOG about!  

I made this on my iPad using the Light It Up Blue App


Early signs of Autism include:

  • No big smiles or other warm, joyful expression by 6 months or thereafter;
  • No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by 9 months or thereafter
  • No babbling by 12 months
  • No back-and-forth gestures (pointing, shoeing or waving) by 12 months
  • No words by 16 months
  • No 2-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months
  • Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age
More information can be found here.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Check out this contest!

Check out this adorable door hanger and Jelly Bean Math that Mrs. Snowden is giving away for reaching 100 followers! Go to her blog, follow her, and then leave a comment saying that you follow her blog. If you already follow her blog, then leave a comment! Good luck to all!!

Classroom Visitors

This week, my Kindergarten and First grade resource class learned about Oviparous animals.  Each day we focused on a different group of animals. On Tuesday, we discussed chicks and ducks. So, I thought what better way to get the kids interested than to bring in baby chicks.  These little guys visited our room for a few days, and let me just tell you, they were a HUGE hit!

One of my students LOVES animals. He held them a lot; however, when he would go to put them down, he would just drop them {I am surprised that they are still alive}!  As I was getting the students ready to pack up with their folders and homework, I hear, "He's, going! He's going!! He's going!!!" I thought the student meant he was going to the bathroom so I tell them to put them up and let's clean it up.  The student then says, "No, he's not using the bathroom." I say, "Where is he going then?" He says, "To heaven if K doesn't quit dropping them!" 



Monday, March 21, 2011

We have ROCK pets

Today, we did a really fun lesson for descriptive writing. Each student was given a rock and were instructed to choose materials that were laid out on their table for their pet.  Once they picked out their supplies, they told my assistant where to hot glue that chosen items.  They were not given any instructions other than just to make a pet.  After they made their "rock pets", they had to write a descriptive paragraph explaining about their pet. They were to tell what kind of pet, characteristics about it, where it lives, what it eats, how to take care of it, etc.... They had fun with the activity and I thought their rocks turned out SUPER cute. 

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Here it goes...

I have to admit I have been "blog stalking" a lot of teachers out there for the past few months. I am AMAZED at all of the creative things you guys have put together! I have created this blog for two reasons: to share the resources and advice that I have from a Special Educators point-of-view, and to keep up with all of the cool things and activities that are out there.

Background Info: I am a Special Education teacher from Mississippi.  I have been married to my husband for 4 years and we have a precious 15 month old little boy.  He is my <3!  I have a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education (K-6) AND Special Education (K-12) with an emphasis in Reading.  I am currently a graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi {Voted TOP 20 in the Nation...Southern Miss TO THE TOP!!} and will be graduating in May with a Master's Degree in Special Education (Mild/Moderate)! Wahooooo!!! It seems like I have been in school forever...maybe it's because I really have been! I teach students in Kindergarten through 3rd grade. I love my students and the challenges that they bring me each day.

I look forward to sharing my many adventures with you all!