D87+FINAL+PRODUCT-PROCESS+LOCATION

=Hi there! This is the place for you to upload your final process-product for the class You're Going to Love this Kid! The target of this final assignment is for you to show me and your colleagues how you plan to USE the information gleaned in this class. This could be the actual product (e.g. a sensory inventory and what modifications you can make to your classroom based on student input; an explanation of how you are going to assess students with Autism differently, yet keep the learning target the same as the general education peers, alternate ways you are going to teach inferencing to your students with autism, a modified assessment that does more than simply offer forced choice, some visual supports you've created for your classroom, etc.).= = = =Here is an example of how Kira's Social Studies teacher has used the gradual release model for teaching Kira inferencing. You could do something like this.=

"I am attaching the inference page we used today in class. After reviewing the definition of inference and giving some practical examples, we completed the sheet using the gradual release model. One and two were done using the mentor text. Number one was "I do, you watch." The second was "I do, you help." Three and four were done while the students read from books they selected. Number three was "you do, I help." and number 4 was "you do, I watch." If you scroll down to pages 3 and 4, this is what I gave the students who needed more support. We did not get finished today so I have not collected it. I'll let you know how Kira does with it. I will be conferencing with her tomorrow. The definition for inference that I use is: W hen you use what the author says and what you already know to make a guess about something. You might want to add that somewhere. The students wrote it from the board today onto their papers. It is also already on two anchor charts in our classroom" from Kira's teacher

Dawn Duff Final Product //Wow, Dawn, there is A LOT in these three tasks; please let me know how it goes and if I can help you in any way!// Cassandra Irwin Final Product

You’re Going to Love this Kid provided me with new ideas and strategies for my classroom. After reading and participating in class discussions, I realized that I need to utilize more visual cues in my classroom. I use verbal cues to gain students’ attention. I have E&R during the last period of the day. I only have the ten students on my caseload in E&R. The students struggle with transitioning and talking during E&R. In the past I have clapped and used my voice to gain their attention. I have created cue cards based on the traffic light idea discussed in class. The cue cards will be used to inform students of their volume. The green Go card indicates that the students are talking at the appropriate volume. The yellow Yield card indicates that students are becoming too loud and need to quiet down. The red Stop card indicates that students must refrain from talking immediately because the volume is at an inappropriate level. I will post the cue cards on my white board. All of the students will be able to see the cards on the white board. Another tool that I am taking away from this class is using post it notes for cues. I have some students that struggle with following directions and staying on task. I will utilize the post it notes to give them reminders on directions and redirections. I greatly enjoyed taking this class and look forward to using the strategies that I gained in my classroom. //Sounds good to me; I would love to see some pictures of the cards and hear how they work along with the post-it notes strategies! -- Suzy//

Travis Drury Final Products:

My project focuses on two separate ideas for my class. First, I have a student who is not diagnosed with autism; however, he displays many of the characteristics we have learned about in the class. He will make comments in class that are related to the content, but are not helpful for the class. Much of the time he "nit-picks" on insignificant details about the lesson that are not really important to the objective of that particular class. The other disruptive part of this behavior is that he does this without raising his hand. To address this, I have modified a graphic organizer that we used in class to help him think about whether or not his comment would be helpful for the class - would it help further understanding about the lesson, or is it just a random thought barely related to the content?

Also, I want to utilize more visual strategies in my classroom to help those learners who struggle with verbal comprehension. As a step in this direction, I have had students draw simple representations of the routine for the day. During Roundtable (homeroom) each morning, I ask for volunteers to create this pictorial schedule. The two pictures attached show two consecutive days. (click on the pictures to view)


 * //"Big Idea" Ch. 11 -//** Utilizing effective teaching strategies starts with knowing the individual student(s). The chapter provides multiple strategies for helping students, but emphasizes that teachers need to use the ones that apply to individual students - not necessarily all or any of the strategies.
 * //"Big Idea" Ch. 12 -//** While reading this chapter, I couldn't help but think of the old saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." This idea seemed to be the theme of the chapter. Also, the chapter emphasized the process for creating clear, productive roles for those involved.

//NICE! Tell me how the G.O. works with your "spectrumy" student -- Suzy//

//From Carol Jackson -- I love the idea of contacting parents first to determine if they want regular communication regarding their student in Art. Let me know how it "goes!" It's all about the relationship :) -- Suzy//

//From Natalie Langhoff -- It will be interesting to see how your student with Autism responds to the Roundtable Recording Activity; let me know! -- Suzy//

//From Becky Frangella -- Funny, I have discovered that I, too, am somewhat of a control freak, and BOTH my kids respond better when I let go of some of the control (a blending of Love & Logic and ideas from Paula meld nicely). It will be interesting, I am certain, as you discover who wants/needs some of that control and who wants nothing to do with it; keep me posted. --Suzy//

Katie Agles Final Products:

This class has given me so many new ideas to try. Let's keep it short and sweet - bulleted ideas I will implement in my classroom.

1. Add graphic organizers in Spanish for reading activities 2. Thanks to Cindy Lohr, I've been able to test a wiggle seat in my class. I had each student try it, then write a review. About 1/3 of the kids thought it would be helpful to them. Maybe I"ll be able to find one or two to use next year. 3. I'm so excited about this one--- I've contacted some native speaker friends of mine (from Costa Rica, Mexico, and Spain) to record themselves reading the short stories we study in Spanish IV. I'll put these on Moodle so that students can listen as they follow along. This will also aid in inflection, intonation, and pronunciation. 4. Ask kids why they're misbehaving. 5. Add the sensory checklist (inventory of sensory needs) to the learning modality quiz I give at the beginning of the year. 6. Along with writing the schedule on the board everyday, I will post a visual component as well. 7. Call the child instead of or in addition to the parent. 8. Use post-its to occasionally check in on the good and not so good parts of my students' lives. It's hard to maintain that level of relationship with 5 classes everyday, I think this will help to show them that I care.

Nancy Pichla Final Products The main project I want to continue to work on this year is for a student with autism who has a very hard time with losing. Whenever we play a game and he does not win, he gets very upset. I have tried talking to him about it, but it has not changed his behavior. I called his mother, and she said this is something she has worked on with him his whole life. She also laughed a bit and said that this is a very common characteristic amongst the Asperger/Autism group they are a part of. My entire plan is to have him read through the social story I have attached. I also plan on video taping him while he is playing games. Once I get enough video, I am hoping to piece together a video that shows him with all the positive behaviors. I also planned on including some other students who I have prepped ahead of time and role play only the positive behaviors we are looking for. When one of the student actors loses, he will display the appropriate behaviors that are talked about in the social story. I would like to video the primary student watching the role play. I was thinking that maybe I can ask him about the situation and how things went and what he witnessed. Then my plan is to try video taping him playing and imitating that student. Once he does that, have him watch the video and continue to review the social story and see if anything changes. I am also definitely working on being more flexible and open to students sitting on the floor or kneeling at their desk as necessary. //Love it! Can I see the video once it is completed? Please let me know how all of it works and the tweaking you do along the way...Suzy// Dusti Foster Final Assignment: There are a couple strategies that I am taking away from this class to use for the remainder of this year, as well as for future years.

For the remainder of this year, I am going to try to give more cues and supports for transitions. Although I do not have students diagnosed with autism at this time, I need to get into a habit of this and it helps all students. I will do this by putting up a visual timer on the SMARTboard, informing students of changes ahead of time, and creating more rituals such as always doing a morning problem in math to start the lesson.

To enhance lessons, I will add more rhythm and music that relate to the content. Songs such as Volume=Lengthxwidthxheight and other songs on YouTube will be beneficial. I will do this because a lot of my students like it (even when they complain about it because they are too cool...)!

The first activity for next year is for the kids to create personal portfolios. I believe this will be a great way for students to introduce themselves that includes personal stories, visuals, and interests. This activity is found on pages 253 and 255 in the YGTLTK book.

Another strategy is to meet with the resource teacher and use the checklist on page 302 in the YGTLTK book. I think this is a fabulous way to see if we are really co-teaching and what we can do to improve it for all of the kids. This year we got to know each other, and hopefully next year we can be an even better team so the kids truly see us as co-teachers.

I know I didn’t upload any handouts, but I think that these are four strategies that will help me be more successful for the future, and maybe they can help others too! :)

See Attachements Below for Mary Beth's Final Assignment:



**Christie Vellella's Final Project**

The tiny, poor inner-city parochial school I attended in Chicago has always been a defacto inclusive school. All church members' children are welcome to attend there, yet there is no standardized testing at admission, nor special services for students with disabilities. Often, students who struggle in the public schools are sent to parochial schools rather than have them evaluated for special needs. There is still a stigma attached to special needs by many. The hard-working, underpaid teachers have no resources. I have been in conversations with the director about several of her students, since I'm a special educator. Our YGTLTK class has given me the courage to propose a workshop for the teachers, using many of the resources we learned about. See my proposal below:


 * Kathy Johnson's final product**--I really wanted to create something that I could hand teachers when they ask "what can I do to help a particular student Feel comfortable". So I took my ideas right from chapter 5 in our YGTLTK book and just created a 3 page document that teachers could look at and say-- yes I do this already or Wow I never thought of that I think that is something I could try! As I was creating this I thought it might also be good to add a survey/questionnaire about what kind of things make kids more comfortable in class but as I talked to Dawn Conroy about her final product I think she created something similar and I could use hers (with her permission of course) or adapt hers for younger kids/parents, etc. or have them use the comfortable classroom checklist that is in the book.



Laura Bass- I want parents to open meetings. This is a questionnaire to get them started.


 * Dawn Conroy** Attached is a Classroom Environment Survey. It can be used in conjuction with Shari Cooper's Student Interest Inventory ("All About Me" document).


 * Shari Cooper** Attached is a Student Interest Survey. It can be used in conjunction with Dawn Conroy's Classroom Environment Survery.

Amy Alfeo's Final Project I am including a smart notebook document to help students with organizational difficulties. I plan to use this as a visual database of the supplies we use during the day. I will include them in all of my smart notebook documents so that all students can glance at the screen and see the materials needed. (**Thanks** to Kathy Johnson for this great idea!!!!)

Patty Bucholtz's final project

Megan Matheny's Final Project

Judy Szabo's final project

Tani Schrift's Project I am attaching a model of something I plan to make next year for my students. I always post my schedule for adults but don't have anything for the students to look at throughout the day. I will use a pocket chart with cards and miniature clocks to allow flexibility.



Cindy Lohr's Project There are so many ideas that are running through my brain about how I am going to use the information from this class with the students that are on my caseload. Here is a short list of some of the things that I plan to do for the rest of this year as well as future years. I'm sure I will be tweaking some of these things a long the way as well as adding new strategies, but here is what I am gong to start with for now:
 * As the OT assistant I very rarely get a chance to speak with the parents of my students. Right now Lisa (OTR) attends the meetings so that I can continue working with students during their scheduled OT times. I have always felt that I miss such a huge component of how to treat these children. I don't get to hear the parents stories of their children. Next year, I am going to send home a letter at the beginning of the year that introduces myself as well as have a survey that they can fill out that can help begin the communication process between the family and myself.
 * To continue with the communication with the family, I am going to send home notes letting the parents know what their students did during OT. I'm not sure right now if it will be daily notes or weekly, but I would like to be able to send something home that tells them what we have been working on during our time in OT and possibly have some home suggestions or activities that they can do with their child to help carry over some of the skills we are working on at the time.
 * Use more visual schedules. I have so many already made, and for some reason they always end up at the bottom of the drawer. I know they are a valuable tool, but I often time forget to use them on a regular basis.
 * I also want to come up with a personal inventory that the student fills out about himself/herself. I know that the 3-5 year old's won't be able to do this, but I would like to have the older student's do this so that they become a part of the team. That they are aware that their time with me is going to be planned around them and their interest. That way it is more meaningful and more positive.
 * I also liked the idea of the Strengths and Strategies Profile (pg.196). It would be nice to have a form that goes with the students when they move up to a school that I don't service. There are only three of us on the OT team and we don't really have a whole lot of time to collaborate about our students. It would be nice to have something that let's the other two know a little more about the kiddo and about different strategies that work. Why reinvent the wheel.
 * Finally, make myself more available to teachers, not just the teachers that share my kiddos on my caseload. I need to get out there more and help with some of the sensory needs of students that might not be getting OT services.

Julie Dawson: Worksheets for students that struggle with daily routines, social interactions, and with instructional routines: A copy of these worksheets will be given to the specialists that work with the child to help he/she be more comfortable participating in daily school activities. In the past I have had a conversation with all the teachers that work with a child that struggles with daily routines, social interactions, or instructional routines. I feel that these worksheets would be more helpful for a teacher to refer to when a situation arises. (These worksheets could also be a good addition for a substitute teacher folder.)
 * These worksheets can be filled out by the teacher using observations made in the classroom
 * If appropriate, sit with the child, child and parent, or other teachers that have worked with the child to fill out the worksheets

The other idea I plan to implement is a morning activity. The children will come into the classroom Monday morning and choose a post-it note from many cool colors and shapes. The post-it note is used to write something GOOD or POSITIVE that happened over the weekend. The post-it notes are placed on the board for others to read. I will give an overview of the GOOD things that happened to our class over the weekend. The children that have had similar activities like going to a movie, visiting a relative, or eating pizza will be encouraged to have a conversation about their experience. On Thursday, I will repeat the activity about something GOOD that has happened at school. Again the notes will be posted and the children can read and hopefully have conversations if some of the comments were similar. This activitiy will help build a better classroom community.

Ashleigh Addicks' Final Project: In addition to Laura's idea of having parents open IEP Annual Review meetings, I would like to implement a few other ideas from our YGTLTK class and text. One of which is the Student Survey on page 254. I like this set-up, and am creating something very similar to it. Also, on page 289, the book talked about having students write a letter to the IEP team to make them aware of the student's preferences, needs, or requests. I think this is a great way for the older elementary students to have a "say" in their IEP meetings. I have attached my version of the letter. P.S. The font I used was "Chalk" so if you don't have that loaded on your computer when you open the document, it may use a different font that isn't as pretty. :)

Maggie's Final Project: Jessie's Final Project:

Rebecca Neumayer's Final Project 2012: //This is great! It would be so easy to tweak in case you are gone for an unplanned absence (or all sorts of "surprise" events in his day, too! How reassuring for Bryant to have this to use and lessen his anxiety. -- Suzy//

Sarah Kelch Final Project November 2012: //Very cool! You are all set, and just think of the kids who are not on the spectrum, but painfully shy or have another diagnosis such as (selective mutism) that this alternate activity will help; I also like, of course, that the TARGET remains the same, but the method of giving evidence of knowing the material is altered. Since Kira LOVES group work, it is easy for me to forget that not all kids, especially ones on the spectrum, enjoy it. -- Suzy//

Maggie Kennedy Final Project November 2012: //Perfect! Let me know how it works or if you need some help "tweaking" it along the way. Kira's plans are tweaked now and again as needed. -- Suzy//

Final Project - I have created a "List it Here" page for my student. It is divided into three areas. The first area the student must write is "What I know" - second area is "What I Want to Know" and the third area is" What I learned". This has already been used in class and the constant blurting things out in class has almost stopped. My student just writes it down. Also any questions she may have is written down and I answer them at the end of the hour or the next day. I have done this for all my students in this large challenging class. I also included classroom jobs for my student and others so they are busy at the beginniing of the hour and at the end. It includes handing out Health folders, erasing the board, sharpening pencils, collecting papers, checking if kleenexs, hand sanitizer is full and we have plenty of paper. This is another tool for time management in a large class and it is working. The relationship with my student has improved with better behavior and trust. I will continue this into the next semester. Mary Pat Brady //I would love to see a copy of what the students write on the KWL charts, and the classroom jobs list! Nice! -- Suzy//

//--Samantha Bossingham Final Project **I think this is a great way to communicate with parents; Kira's case manager and I do it all the time. Something else to consider is using your phone as a tool for the Student. Kira's case manager often "texts" Kira "on the fly" when something unexpected happens. I, too, utilize the notes app on my phone to write Kira quick social stories. I also like the idea of capturing the video right then and there as I have to do much problem-solving based on mental pictures. If I could "see" part of Kira's day in action, it would be great!**//

//I especially like the idea of personal checklists for students! Let me know which ones you try out and their level of success -- Suzy//

//I think your students who seem to get "lost" upon entering a room will really appreciate having this visual reminder! -- Suzy// Alanna Harju's final project

While I don’t have any students on the spectrum this semester I still learned a lot of ideas on how to better reach/understand all of my students. This is something I will do next year at the beginning of the school year so that I can better understand what goes on in my students’ lives at home. I have also done a model so my students know what is expected, as well as get to know me better.