Story Map Anchor Chart

Yet another winning idea from Paula Kluth's Differentiation Daily and Funky in First blog:

Story map anchor chart: a visual strategy to help students organize and expand upon concepts from literature.

http://differentiationdaily.com/2012/02/23/story-map-anchor-chart/

Learning To Love, And Be Loved, With Autism

I have been meaning to post this piece featured on NPR, that you may have already heard/read featuring two teenagers with Asperger's talking about their experience of pursuing a romantic relationship with each other.

http://www.npr.org/2012/01/18/145405658/learning-to-love-and-be-loved-with-autism

Story Synopsis:

It is taking a huge risk to let the New York Times reveal in its pages the minute and most personal details of your love life. And the reason the Times even cares to write about the relationship you're in, it's not because you're running for office or because you're a movie star. It's because you are a teenager who has Asperger's syndrome. And by the way, the other person in your relationship is also a teenager with Asperger's syndrome.

Teenagers Jack Robison, who is 19, and Kirsten Lindsmith, who is 18, took that risk. They told their story to writer Amy Harmon of the New York Times, and the risk was worth taking.

"Inside voice, Outside Voice"...

Big thanks as always to Paula Kluth's awesome blog: Differentiation Daily; chock full of ideas, strategies, materials and more for inclusion of the wide variety of learners we know!

I posted the link to this idea (and thanks to Mrs. Johnson's post with the idea and image) for a visual to pair with what is oh so often heard in the halls of our schools; whether its "Use an indoor voice" or "You can use a 1 voice when writing..."

Enjoy.

http://differentiationdaily.com/2012/02/24/fun-friday-outside-voice-or-inside-voice/

From Another's Perspective

Although this story is not about a person with Autism, it caught my interest and I'm sharing it here as it is about a person who discusses what it is like to be expected to have the same interests as those that he is not part of the community of with in a candid way that deepened my understanding of assumptions that are made about what is important to know about.

http://wpr.net/rueckert/index.cfm?strDirection=Prev&dteShowDate=2012-02-17%2010%3A00%3A00.0

Canadian author and English professor who started going blind in his late teens about what it's like to lose one of your senses.
Guest: Ryan Knighton

Early diagnosis of autism - New brain research

Recently, in the Cell Press journal Current Biology, researchers presented preliminary evidence that suggests that direct brain measures might help to predict the future development of autism symptoms in infants as young as six months.  This research team looked at 6-10 month old babies at risk of developing autism because they had an older sibling with autism. Using passive sensors placed on the scalp, they measured brain activity while the babies viewed faces that switched from looking at them to looking away.  Researchers suggest that "the brains of babies of infants who will go on to develop autism already process social information in a different way".  Read more about this research study here.

Squag: Social Media Space for ASD Tweens & Teens

Squag is a new social media space with a difference, developed for tweens and younger teens with autism.  The user, called a Squagger, begins using Squag by interacting with his or hew own "Squagspace" (designed to look like a room) with content -- photos, videos, and messages.  Eventually, when a particular Squagger is ready, as determined by their parent or adult caregiver, one Squagger is matched with another, and they can interact.  It's like having an electronic pen pal.  Squaggers only interact with other squaggers, and since the platform is currently in beta testing, the ability to match Squaggers currently is not available. Want to find out more information about this new social media space?  Read an interview with Sara Winter, Squag's founder, here.

Preparing for Adulthood

Prolific writer, Michelle Garcia Winner, is at it again!

Last week, Michelle posted an article on her website focused on our older students. The title of her article is, "Adults: Becoming Directors of Their Own Treatment Teams and Treatment Plans - Evolving ideas for working with adults and high school teams helping to prepare students for adulthood".

Ever the helpful person, Michelle's article includes tools that teams can use to move in the direction of having adults and older students more actively direct their treatment teams and plans. I have always been a big proponent of self-directed IEPs for ALL STUDENTS. The tools in Michelle's article will assist in accomplishing this goal. You may also use access the article and its tools through PDF format (more printer friendly), which is linked at the end of the document.

Dealing with Changes

This weekend, Jill Kuzma posted a really great tool to use with students working on dealing with CHANGE.

Make sure to check this post out and use her PowerPoint presentation: "A Kid's Guide for Change" with your students! It is in a PDF format so you can print it out for yourself. I know I am definitely saving this for future reference!

Blog Love: January/February

We're halfway through the school year! Can you believe it? Here are my blog highlights from the past month; hope they help get you and your students to Spring Break!


The Assistive Technology Blog

• Tots 'n Tech Helpdesk: nice website compiling assistive technology resources for all the early childhood folks out there from ASU. Resource areas include: communication & socialization, getting around, arms & hands, and problem solving. This resource is SERIOUSLY worth the exploration time.

• Microsoft Word graphic organizers: nice reminder of the capabilities of Word, including a short set of directions. Sometimes it's nice to keep it simple!

• Motivating older students: links to the BadA** project, which really makes you think about focusing on what you CAN do rather than what you CAN'T.
  

Classroom Freebies

• The Leader in Me: nice 14 page packet to use if you are using Stephen Covey's work in your classroom.
  

Differentiation Daily

• New visual for comprehension checks: Using paint swatch cards in new and different ways are kind of a hot thing out there in blogging land these days. Check out the neat classroom strategy for students to indicate their level of understanding from "My Life as a Fifth Grade Teacher". Quick way to assess a larger group AND aesthetically pleasing!

• Problem solving graphic organizer: Who doesn't have kids who respond, "because that's the answer" when asked about their process for a problem? This predictable organizer might help our students have more success in knowing what is expected when asked how they got their answer(s).

• Use Microsoft Word: another reminder of the capabilities of Word! This might be a sign that you need to use it for more than just typing simple documents ...
  

• Money management: praises the vending machine activity on the Goodwill Foundation Community site, check it out! (especially if you have access to an interactive white board)
  

First Grader at Last!

• Classroom cheers: great community builder and reinforcement! love! You can use her post as inspiration to create your own cheers or you can go to her TPT site and pay $4 to get the printables for keeps.

A Fly on the Classroom Wall

• Wordle, Storybird, Voicethread, Google Earth: sometimes new sites can be overwhelming; this post outlines how to use them in lesson plans. They're all laid out for you!
  

Free Technology for Teachers

• Resources for visual fractions lessons: You know how much value we PSTs place on visuals. This is a nice roundup of websites with visual fraction activities.
  

• Get to know your school: great rundown of ways to become more familiar with a large school, a new school or as a way of community building ...
  

• Color coded literature charts: highlights use of LitCharts to use as a study aid for students. Very helpful for visual learners!

• Math measurement word wall posters: save yourself some time, and print these!

• New comic creation site: students can create comic and/or graphic novel stories on site ComicMaster.
  

KidCrave

• Visual boundaries for spaces: this may be from a parenting site, but you can use this idea for creating boundaries within the classroom.
  

PreKandKSharing

• Class pledge with visuals: nice, approachable visual for younger grades to see what behaviors are expected in a classroom. Plus, who doesn't have extra Mr. Potato Head pieces laying around their house or room?

TechMamas

• Nuance PaperPort Notes for iPad: highlights a new app that allows dictation through Dragon.