When working with students with significant disabilities writing can be one of the most difficult areas.  We can accommodate for it with voice to text features easily but there are some students who can develop handwriting skills and then need some supports for putting complete thoughts together.  This particular resource I find to go hand in hand with reading.  The Fundamentals in Sentence Writing  coaches students to identify verbs, subjects, prepositional phrases and more of sentences.  It begins with simple sentences but the resource will take students through complex sentences as well.  

I consider it a reading support as well.  Many students may have great word recognition skills but struggle with comprehension.  When using this resource not only are students guided to write complete sentences but it will also support their comprehension as it gives them a framework to decode the sentences they read and understand the main idea of each sentence.

I would especially recommend this resource to resource teachers as you could potentially be able to group students working on the same level together.  As happens in special education as a constant, it is rare that all students are working on the same skill at the same level but it can still be used for small groups in your self contained classroom as well.  Personally I like making small booklets with the materials like you see below.

Why do I like it so much?

Well I like it for it's structured approach to first identifying components before writing right away.  I also like it because there is an assessment component built in already and it has multiple practice opportunities for each skill.  There are 4 different student sheets for each lesson and each lesson is a small increment from the former.  I also like it because it covers all sentence types and then there is another resource similar for paragraphs so for classrooms that loop students you can seamlessly continue their learning.  For classrooms that do not loop you can identify exactly where students are for their continued learning.

​I would pair this resource with another one of my favorite things No Glamor Grammar shout out to Mrs. Faulkner one of my cooperating teachers long ago).  Although the Fundamentals resource teaches parts of speech it can be supplemented with the very direct exercises in No Glamor Grammar which covers nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs, contractions and all things grammar.

Let me know what you think if you've tried it and as always I hope this helps someone somewhere.😊✌🏼

A self contained classroom comes with many challenges.  Securing academic skills is just one challenge.  Often there are behavioral challenges as well.  It can be cumbersome to try to manage every...single...thing.  So it is ideal to work self management into your solutions.  It is ideal for the student as it adds to their sense of control and esteem.  It is ideal for the staff as it is one less thing they have to be aware of.  

I am sharing a short video clip of a student successfully monitoring her time for a whole interval tangible reinforcer of a skittle.  The story behind this is that this amazing lovely student (who  a few years ago, used to be completely non-verbal and rarely stayed in one location for a time and would not make eye contact) is that she LOVES babies.  Babies and bunnies actually.  Anyhow, anytime she would see a student who looks 'babyish' she would get into their face and almost 'snuggle' with them with their forehead.  Apparently she had done this in stores as well much to her mom's dismay (pause to appreciate parents here).  Well, I have another student who has babyish features.  You can't see this cutie because of the dividers (for sound and visual reduction).  You might think, "Well, she can't see him of course she isn't going to get up and see him".  You would be completely wrong.  That barrier would mean nothing if she had the inclination to delight him with her adoration.  We needed a plan to combat this behavior.

A functional behavioral assessment was made.  She was seeking sensory input from a particular type of student.  We began a three fold behavioral plan.  We taught her appropriate ways of interacting with the student.  We created a social story that she would read each morning about how best to interact and what her reinforcement would be if she refrained.  We also set a whole interval tangible reinforcement plan.  If she refrained from getting into his face for 10 minutes she received a skittle.  The interval time went from 10 to 13 and then to 16.  At the onset the teacher or para kept track of the time in tandem with a visual timer at the student's desk.  On purpose the timers were on silent as even a small beeping can be a major distraction for two other of my students.  After success with this we handed over the 'timekeeper' role completely to the student.  She alerts us now when her time is up.  Next step would be having her get her own skittle without taking all out of the bag. The video clip is proof that she sure can keep track of the time and alert us.  I also want to note that it doesn't even look like she full on looks at the timer, it appears she just notices out of her side view.  

All students, neurotypical or not can do with some good options when it comes to seating.  Offering options to some students is preference in comfort but for others the options are necessary for functioning.  In my setting I have several students who utilize different seating for different reasons.  

In the above photo are two standing desks.  These desks can be raised so a student can stand at them or lowered so that a student can sit at them.  My favorite part is the levered bar on the bottom.  What looks like a foot rest is actually mobile and the tensity can be adjusted for the type of pressure a student would want to put on it.  These desks also blend in to many classrooms better.  There are many variations of standing desks with foot fidgets. Here is a similar version

The above photo shows several things.  First I want to point out the double wide desk.  When students use AAC devices sometimes this requires an additional amount of space.  A regular desk top gets cluttered quickly without a separate device just to have a voice.  These desks provide that extra space and bonus, there are two storage containers so students with some extra reward charts, visuals etc have an extra spot for their extras without limiting their space for typical materials.

MY FAVORITE in this picture is the Safco stool (the black stool to the right in the picture) which you can view by clicking here.  Although not all are shown I have 4 circulating the room.  As an adult I appreciate the ease of moving my seat around the classroom and love the movement it gives me as well.  One of my students who was often an eloper has significantly reduced the elopement behavior after utilizing this type of stool and I truly feel it is because it gives her the continuous movement she seeks and is then less likely to bolt to get her desperately sought for movement.

Next to the black stool is a little rocker chair.  This too allows for movement and the gentle rock can be soothing.  This is different than trying to rock on a blown up ball that may roll, can cause balance challenges etc.  I have had the balls suggested and attempted before and I will hands down choose these seat choices over those any day.  

In use I have one student who consistently utilizes the rocker chair, two students who consistently use the stool and one that transitions between the stool and a stable chair at scheduled times due to concerns over posture with too much time on the stool.  Several staff members and visiting students tend to opt for the Safco stool and it is definitely my favorite as well.

As you design your classroom, program or school consider offering choices for how they are sitting and moving through the day.

Spoiler alert, today's post is about poverty and empathy.  I know many others have had more difficult circumstances.  Particularly those who will have a change of resources in war torn countries.  However, like many who self reflected during the pandemic, I want to share my story and hope it helps to see those in poverty as not 'less than' or 'did things wrong & should've known better'.  Especially when there are SO many at poverty level in our country that should be more like a heaven on earth.  Building equity starts with empathy and it is my hope that as  my sister and I share our stories (don't worry some will be quite a bit more humorous as we continue) we can  help discourage the negative ideas that some may have on people in poverty.

The Three Little American Girls

Once upon a time there were three little American girls.  They grew up in a tiny village in the middle of a great country full of opportunity.  Large cities were spackled across the domain with a plethora of experiences just waiting to be experienced.

These three little girls grew up surrounded by nature for much of their delicate youth and afterwards until teens resided in the tiny village without even a stoplight.  Each had an amazing talent of their own.  The oldest sister could befriend anyone and was so gregarious that everyone was delighted to hang out with her.  She had a talent for basketball and exceeded as a team player so much that she was offered a college scholarship for the skill.  The middle sister had artistic and creative skills that earned her playground money in elementary school and had a few requests to paint or design objects. Unlike her older sister and quite polar opposite she was quiet and timid.  The youngest sister had an uncanny ability to remember details, specifically (but not limited to) people and movies.  You could say a line from a movie and she would be able to identify the movie and most of the cast.  She was unlike both of her sisters in that she had some difficulty in school and although she was not timid, she was not overly social either.  

Although their growing up environment was chaotic, including dramatic and changing scenes as well as family members,  these girls were tethered together as a true constant in one another’s lives.  Sure the typical sibling squabbles such as labels such as ‘adopted’ were uttered or throwing one’s fishing pole and then the other’s baton over the creek occured or even locking the quiet one in a couple of confined spaces.  Despite these small spats the three always had one another to be there when needed, with a common understanding.

Now, as all lives go, paths can go in various ways depending on the foundations laid.  The 3 little girls had two loving parents, although their significant others continued to change, they remained a constant in the girl’s lives.  Unfortunately the parents had a few challenges themselves.  Each one earning their GED and beginning parenthood at an extremely early age.  With multiple children, no endowments to build a family platform, and perhaps the struggle of youth’s ability to regulate under pressure this set a precarious stage for the 3 little girls.  Regardless, each one set out to stake a home.

The first little girl quickly left the homefront.  Basketball scholarship at the ready she worked (as she and all of them did) through the last years of high school and afterwards at a local food joint.  Her cheerful candidness mixed with truth and kindness placed her as a manager.  She often closed the establishment.  Of course her sociability often led to hanging out in the parking lot with coworkers for quite some time.  One night she was doing just this and while she was sitting on the back of a car the driver thought it would be funny to drive forward.  This resulted in a 2 week coma for the oldest little girl with a lingering effect.  The scholarship had to be forgotten and within a couple of years she had her first little one.  She maintained herself and through the course of her life she ended up working at a correctional facility ensuring the safety of the public.  Someone has to and she did.

The second little girl was directed by her high school that she should go to college.  Art was heavily suggested so she went directly into a program bypassing pre-req coursework as advised by the school.  She began quietly engaging in graphic design and being a curious bystander at parties who would only really open up if she had been drinking.  After her first year in the program she suddenly lost some of her sight, ended up having brain surgery and had to leave the art program due to vision difficulties and was at a loss of what to do next.  She took many years but felt validated by ending up with two degrees in her undergrad in the area of education.  She continued in this field for years attending to the vast needs of underserved students and had a couple little people of her own.  She tried to balance her introvert directness, need for being able to accomplish objectives and sense of justice within the social public school system with the chaos of,  at times, understaffed self contained classrooms.  Although slowly dipping into depression she continued as she felt that ‘someone had to’. 

The third little girl squeaked out of high school with the parental success (they really meant well, just did not understand) of not medicating for attention deficit.  She had to be picked up on occasion from poor social choices amid her teen years.  She moved across several jobs, lived with the second little girl for some time and then made it on her own.  She had her first child in her teens and another shortly after.  Her ex husband (who rarely had a job) managed to get all assets after their split due to a technicality of how they had purchased their home (his parents were on documents) that was located on his parent’s property.  This is where the third little sister ordered her own mind and made it through the situation and rented for several years before meeting a more worthy mate and purchasing their own house.  She trained as a pharmacist technician and continued the profession at a state mental health facility. Someone has to help in this area.

The big bad wolf of poverty, instability and chance in environmental droppings rose up frequently to blow on the 3 little girl’s lives.  Whether it was low self esteem and accepting less than they deserved (romance or respect), whether it was a financial deficit playing field where it limited their access to events, objects or opportunity…it always seemed to be something.  Despite each working in public service areas, in fact all of them working for the government in some capacity, they remained in a low income state.  Not for lack of effort with their work, for their father had instilled in them a strong work ethic, but for poor choices made due to earlier world blows that hit individually or in groups.  Poor choices that often had a tint of preyed choices.  The preyed choices had some examples such as taking on quick loans with high interest rates, quickly bonding with a partner to make up for the instilled low self worth and reactive decisions due to low regulation skills from reduced parental instructional prompting.

Luckily the three little girls had each other, their family as well as the kind hearted community members in the school and church to try to deflect the blows of the wolf of poverty.

But the wolf of poverty blows strong.  Especially generational poverty.  And despite their hard work in caring and safety fields they continued to struggle just as many many citizens do who have similar stories.  The struggle and disparity is real and the mental effect of envy and debasing yourself for envious thoughts make the struggle even harder.  The story of the three little girls has not ended yet.  They will continue to struggle as happily as they can to make it so their children’s lives are less affected by the wolf.  As SO  MANY  people in the world do. 

​

Today's post is a short video, modeling the use of the Touchchat app on an iPad to support letter sound practice.  The student is working on fine motor by writing letters on a curriculum sheet.  While working on this skill the AAC device is used in tandem to support letter sound identification as well as building fluency in typing in words.  It is never too late to work towards letter sound acquisition as students progress at their own pace.  The ability to type in small words or even sets of words that are then read in the understandable speech allows students to gather more information from their environment independently.  

Click here for Video less than 3 minutes

I am always looking for ways to maximize the use of devices in the environment.  I am sure I have stated this previously but most students, who engage in some type of verbal output that I have worked with with AAC devices, have increased their own intelligible expressive language.  It may begin with just noticing that the student is starting to chunk or segment their outputs and gradually may begin letter sounds.  This particular student has been a rock star and can now articulate many sounds.

Note that I do use a sheet for letter writing practice.  This particular student has graduated to this sheet having gone from large lines to smaller lines.  I advocate reducing the supports as necessary as it is too easy to get into a rut and have the same student using the same support even when it no longer moves the student for growth.  

As always let me know what you think and I do home someone finds this helpful.  Lastly, again I will encourage stocking your programs with adults when student needs are heavy.  Remember that it is not just safety, but also student growth that could guide your Human Resources.