Annual Holiday Card sale

Today may be Halloween, but in my classroom, we have been thinking about the Holiday's since August.  Each year, we design, assemble, and sell holiday cards.  We put our design together last spring, so we could jump start in preparations as the new school year began.  Weeks were spent folding, cutting, gluing, stamping, counting, stacking, and tying... ;)...all in anticipation of this week when we rolled out our design and began sales.  We primarily sell to staff in the district, our families, and those at our community work sites.  While this activity is a "fundraiser," the primary purpose is not money making...the purpose is to provide an onsite opportunity to expose our students to general vocational skills, social skills, and money skills.  We are very thoughtful in planning our design each year, so that it is one that the students can put together themselves, with occasional supports from jigs or other accommodations, but looks very professional and put together.  We also try to keep in school friendly, by avoiding any "Christmas" or "religious" references...this way anyone and everyone will want to buy our cards.  Now that our order forms are circulating, the waiting begins.  Once orders start arriving, we will group and package and deliver our holiday cards.  We pride ourselves on timeliness, so we are the first holiday card option for many families in our district.  Check out this years design below...

"Front" Design...holiday trees in a variety of holiday themed paper

"Inside" Design..."Holiday happiness to you!" stamped

Do you have any assembly projects or sales efforts you do in your classroom to provide vocational opportunities for your students?

Come to the edge with me...
Mackenzie

Too many cooks in the kitchen...

I have spent a lot of time this week preparing for next weeks cooking project, so I thought, why not blog about it too?

We have one new cooking project each week and our students will have one day, Tuesday through Thursday, where it is their day in the kitchen.  We use a fantastic cooking curriculum created by PCI called, "Cooking to Learn" and "Cooking to Learn 2" for ordering information go here:

PCI Cooking to Learn

It is a great curriculum that allows student to cook projects both as a group or as an individual.  The curriculum provides both a text and a picture with text option for each recipe and comprehension worksheets to accompany each project.  We love it and have been happily using it for the last 5 years in our program.

Sometimes, the students want to learn how to make something that is not in either of the Cooking to Learn books.  So, we are charged to recreate the many wonderful options the PCI curriculum provides for our students on our own.  No problem, right?!?  So this week, as we wrap up our unit on Microwave Cooking, our students wanted to learn to make Cheese Nachos.  With this recipe, and all others we create on our own, I do my best to resemble the structures the PCI curriculum sets up.  So the supplies are listed at the top, broken down into "Food Items" and "Cooking Items".  This particular form of the recipe provides the rest of the instructions in written format.

We also have found that receiving a recipe with EVERY step on it can be a bit overwhelming for our students who struggle with attention and focus.  So...we have created note cards for the recipe as well.
Text only for students who require that level of accomodation...

And text with pictures for those who require that level... These are made with pictures from Boardmaker.

We have also started creating video models of each recipe to provide additional level of visual support.  We find this method to be especially helpful for our students who are on the Autism spectrum as it give them a foundation of knowledge and an understanding of expectations.  Those that first displayed behaviors while cooking in the kitchen, now watch a video and no longer display behaviors.  I do some minor editing in iMovie and throw the video up on Youtube, with the hopes that even after leaving the transition center, students will go back and use these videos in their personal living environments.  Here is a link to this weeks video.
Microwave Cheese Nachos

We see the most successes when putting these supports in place for our students.  Its a lot of preparation ahead of time, when doing a new recipe, but once you put these items together, you can use them from year to year.

Do your students cook?  What supports do you provide them?

Come to the edge with me...
Mackenzie

Video Modeling

We are blessed to have 6 iPads in my classroom!  What a dream this has been this year for my students!  This has allowed us to expand our use of Video modeling, as we always have a device that we can record and play back.  What a help this has been!

But...I'm getting ahead of myself.  What is this video modeling, and how can it be helpful in teaching functional life skills?  With the availability of technology growing, so is the way we teach our kids.  One way we have found that is beneficial for students with disabilities, especially those on the Autism spectrum is Video Modeling.  It takes on the same idea of modeling a task, except it is recorded, which allows the student to view it as many times as they want or need to grasp the task, without having the staff/adult continuously show it themselves.  It provides a concrete and specific example of how to complete a task and it can be used in all ways, shapes, and forms in a functional classroom.

One of the ways we have begun using video modeling is in the kitchen.  Each week, our students are given a recipe that they must follow to complete a cooking task.  Some students do best when the recipe is written, with words on a sheet of paper, others prefer directions using pictures.  Some students perform best when the recipe is put on note cards and they can manipulate and move through the note cards to complete the cooking project, and others, we have found learn from watching a video of someone completing the steps of the cooking project.  This discovery was made out of necessity in my classroom last fall when a student came my way who, no matter the "paper" format of the recipe, he would not focus his attention in the kitchen enough to complete the task.  This particular student LOVED watching videos on Youtube, so I wondered, what if his cooking project was on Youtube?  From there came an idea that changed my classroom.  Now, we have our own "channel" on youtube, which displays videos of our cooking projects each week.  Students can tune in at school, at home, anywhere they wish and use our video recipe to complete a variety of cooking tasks.  Here is an example of one of our videos...
Microwave Popcorn

We have also used the video modeling, along with QR codes, to provide on the spot assistance to complete a variety of tasks around the center.  For example, on our dishwasher, you see this...

 Our students can use a QR reader App on the iPad to scan this code.  They will then be taken to a video on Youtube that is Video Modeling of how to load the dishwasher.  So slick!!!  One more way they can be independent!  Here is the video they would see if they scan this code...

Loading Dishwasher Video Modeling with QR Code

We have QR codes for washing laundry, drying laundry, washing dishes, drying dishes, and changing the bag for our shredder.  AND we have a list of many more tasks we would like to prepare video modeling for!

We are so excited to take the idea of Video Modeling out into the community as well!  Do you use Video Modeling in your classroom or to teach community skills?  Have you seen an impact on student learning?  Please share!

Come to the edge with me...
Mackenzie

Online Life Skill Practice

Isn't it funny how something instantly becomes a "game" and much more fun when it is done on the computer?!?  My students LOVE working on the computers, so when I discovered a site that offered online life skill practice or "games" as we call them in my classroom, I knew my students would be eager to participate.

Warning...if you teach life skills, this website will CHANGE YOUR LIFE!  When I first discovered it, I wanted to tell every person I met in my professional world about it, and just how wonderful it was.  Here is the website: www.gcflearnfree.org.  This website offers a variety (750 to be exact) of tutorials, online classes, trainings, activities and/or games related to the real world 100% free.  It is a program through Goodwill Industries of Eastern North Carolina, so it is funded by proceeds from the Goodwill stores in North Carolina.

So...start by going to the website.  Once there, take your time and explore all the site has to offer.  In our classroom, we primarily use the activities in the "Everyday Life Skills" category, but it offers so much more.

To get to the everyday life skills, first start by selecting "All Topics" on the right side of the main page...

 Next, you will want to scroll down until you find the category "Everyday Life Skills"...

 And under that category is a slew of amazing activities that provide your students opportunities to practice general Functional Life Skills at the comfort of their own computer.  Now, this of course CANNOT be used to replace providing opportunities for your students to practice by actually getting out into the community and completing many of these tasks, but it helps support and reinforce those skills necessary to complete the tasks and may even help with generalization.  We often use it just before or after completing a life skill.  For example, a student is about to go into the kitchen to complete a task that requires them to follow a recipe and cook something in the microwave.  We may have them sit down and do this activity prior to going into the kitchen to allow for them to have some practice before doing the real thing.  Some of our favorite activities, that get used the most are: the Measure / Mix / Bake activities done back to back, the Microwave activity the Vending Machine, the Grocery List...Oh I could go on and on!  This site is just amazing!  Great practice opportunities in a fun, non-intimidating format...just what I need in my classroom!

Come to the edge with me...
Mackenzie

Providing accommodations in the community...

It is a balancing act, this transition teaching thing...  I always go back and forth between wanting to throw my students into the community without any supports, just like sending me a traveler to a foreign city with no map, and have them "look" just like everybody else, or to to provide the accommodations they need and have them learn valuable information from the experience.  I never want to draw additional attention to my students and I ultimately think them, struggling to find their way, may bring more attention than a simple cue card here, or a picture list there.

So...as we recently embarked out into the community, along came our accommodations!

Fridays are our days in the community.  They are our day to access every bit that the community has to offer, and to take our time doing it.  We have no time limitations on Fridays, they day is set aside completely for the community.  Our original plan this past Friday was to take our annual fall trip out to the Palisades Park in Mt. Vernon.  There, we have a cook out, go on a nature scavenger hunt, and ALWAYS hit up the mural-ed barn for some photos.  See below for a photo from last years trip. 

 

Well, in our Weather studies in the days leading up to Friday, we saw that the weather was not going to be ideal for a day out doors...in fact there were some chances for severe weather.  We quickly moved onto creating a "plan b."  What does one do on a rainy day?!?  It was a unanimous decision...one MUST go to the movies.  The plan was made, notes were sent home regarding the change, and I began to prepare my community accommodations.  My students would be making a purchase on their own for their snack.  They knew that if they had $5.00 to spend they would be able to purchase a beverage and candy or a beverage and popcorn.  So, I created a worksheet to assist them in putting together the information they would need to share with the person at the snack counter.  From that, they created a "script" for ordering their snack.  These scripts were then written onto small (and conspicuous, I might add) note cards, that each student carried with them and used to order their snacks at the movie.  See picture below for worksheet.

Creating this worksheet to help students put together their wants, then taking those to create a script and a small cue card was incredibly helpful once we were out in the community and had other customers around to distract, pressure, and even support our students.  Upon walking into that community, there are so many factors that we cannot control, I have found that it helps to provide some structures for our students in the things we know we can control.  This helps ease their anxieties and creates a more positive and powerful learning experience for not only the student, but those who work with our students in the community as well!

The only thing I would change, is taking pictures and/or video so I could share with you all what an awesome outing this was, thanks to the work both the staff and the students put in ahead of time!

If you would like a copy of this worksheet, or others that we use to provide accommodations in the community, please feel free to contact me! :)

Come to the edge with me...
Mackenzie

Unique learning environment

Teaching transition and functional life skills to students with disabilities definately requires a unique learning enviornment.  It requires access to the places these skills are going to be used.  It requires a kitchen, a laundry room, the community.  I consider myself very blessed to have all of those things, and more at my figertips on a daily basis.  This makes my job 100 times easier because I don't have to spend my planning time trying to find kitchen access or figuring out how I am going to train one student to fold laundry while I am responsible for 7.  I will share with you today some of the ways I have attempted to even further adapt my unique and tailor-made classroom, to provide necessary supports for my students and allow them to experience independence.

We will start in the kitchen...  Here is a picture of our kitchen:

If you look closely, you can see pictures on each cabinet and drawer throughout the kitchen.  This picture shows the items that are in that particular cabinet or drawer.  Once opened, there are additional pictures designating the appropriate location for each item.  This helps students and staff while they are preparing a food item, so they can quickly find the item they need.  It also helps students know the appropriate place to return the dishes after they have been washed and dried.  Staff is not required to hover over and make sure everything goes back in its home, and it ensures that everyone has equal opportunity and support in locating the items they need.  Similar cues can be found throughout the center, including cues for cleaning products in the laundry room.  Efforts were also taken to ensure this kitchen provided equal accessibility for all students, regardless of their mobility.  Some modifications include front dials on the range, an accessible sink, and an island created to allow a wheel chair to pull up under it.

Our students spend a lot of time in this kitchen.  They use it to prepare lunch daily and learn to create snacks and meals through lessons on a weekly basis.  We have found that organization allows for the students to experience the kitchen on a higher level of independence, so it is always our goal to have the kitchen clean and organized.


Moving onto the laundry room...

Please excuse the mess, student learning is in progress.  A space to allow our students to daily participate in completing laundry tasks was very important.  This give students the opportunity to see through several loads of laundry from start to finish, as well as going back and forth between completing laundry and other activities.  Our students wash our kitchen laundry, such as wish rags and drying towels, along with clothing, including workout clothing, as well as smocks and uniforms from the work place.  This provides opportunities to learn the steps for washing, drying, and folding a variety of different laundry types.  Also included in this space is a closet with hangers...another place to practice necessary life skills.

Welcome to our living room...

Also included in our classroom is another great learning environment for functional life skills.  This is our living room.  This space allows for our students to practice different skills such as dusting and vacuuming in a home-like setting.  It is also a space for our students to go and learn/enjoy recreational/leisure activities such as watching movies, playing the Wii, and completing a puzzle.

This classroom allows for us to meet the functional needs of our students on a daily basis.  We can dive into the teaching an learning of all those skills one will need when living on their own, right in the comfort of our own classroom.

Do you have pictures of your own transition or functional classroom that you would like to share?  If so, please contact me and help us grow our community and provide better services and opportunities for the young adults we serve!

Come to the edge with me...
Mackenzie

Building a community of support

"Come to the edge, he said.  They said, we are afraid.  Come to the edge, he said.  They came.  He pushed them.  And they flew."

This quote by Guillaume Apollinaire pefectly sums up my professional drive and mission.  I am a Special Education teacher passionate about teaching students to take risks and live life to their fullest potential in the adult world.  But, this does come easily...to anyone involved.  These risks are scary, not only for my students but for their parents, siblings, friends, community support systems, and sometimes even myself.  But, when a student is pushed to the edge, and find success, they are able to not only fly, but soar, into a world full of wonderful opportunities and fulfilling experiences!

Being a secondary special education teacher, I have found over the past few years that there are not a lot of places to go for ideas, lesson plans, and even emotional support or understanding.  One afternoon, after spending what seemed like forever on the internet trying to find something new to try in my classroom, and coming up short, I felt motivated to make a change.  I know there are other secondary special education teachers out there who are doing amazing things.  Teachers who spend countless hours putting together visual cues, cutting velcro, planning the next community outing.  I wondered how could I pull these amazing teachers together and build a community of support in the world of secondary special education and teaching transition and functional life skills.  Out of that wonder grew this blog.  I hope it is a place readers can go to not only find ideas to implement in their classrooms, but also find a place where they feel understood and supported.  Teaching young adults the skills to live as independently as possible in their adult community is not an easy job, but many of us are out there giving it our all every day.  Let us all come together and teach these young adults to fly!