I don't even know where to begin today! I just looked through my calendar and I only have five more 5th grade Lifeskills lessons to prepare. Which means there is just about as many weeks left in this school year (6 total). You couldn't tell it by looking outside, but it will be May this week! How is it possible that time goes faster every year? And they tell me it only gets worse... I feel like I have so many things left to do before the school year comes to an end, but alas, I work in a field that has an official end. While we are always thinking ahead to what we can change and add for the next year, we always have a deadline with our current school year. I am actually glad that we have a built-in deadline. It gets stressful, but there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. I am looking forward to a visit from our future 3rd graders, classroom placements, and the Olympiad!
So many things have happened since my last post in January. In alignment with our PBIS training for behavior interventions, we have expanded our interventions to meet the needs of our Tier 2 students, or our top 15% of students with behavioral support needs. Our school has been using Check In Check Out (CICO) since the beginning of the school year and it has been very effective for most of our students who participate. There is still, however, some students who still need more support. In order to meet their needs, we have implemented our Social-Academic Intervention Groups (SAIG). I piloted three groups this semester. I had an Impulse Control group and an Organization group in third grade, and an Impulse Control group in fourth grade. I was extremely happy with how the groups went, considering I created the 'curriculum' on the fly! I learned a lot from my pilot groups, and even had the third grade Impulse Control group request to continue. I am glad they did, because I had attended the Social Thinking conference in Chicago right before the group was originally supposed to end. Since our continuation I have introduced the Superflex curriculum. They are absolutely hooked! I am excited to practice a few more things with them before I create a set curriculum over the summer.
I am hoping to post some more lesson and activity ideas in the near future, but right now I am out of time!
So many things have happened since my last post in January. In alignment with our PBIS training for behavior interventions, we have expanded our interventions to meet the needs of our Tier 2 students, or our top 15% of students with behavioral support needs. Our school has been using Check In Check Out (CICO) since the beginning of the school year and it has been very effective for most of our students who participate. There is still, however, some students who still need more support. In order to meet their needs, we have implemented our Social-Academic Intervention Groups (SAIG). I piloted three groups this semester. I had an Impulse Control group and an Organization group in third grade, and an Impulse Control group in fourth grade. I was extremely happy with how the groups went, considering I created the 'curriculum' on the fly! I learned a lot from my pilot groups, and even had the third grade Impulse Control group request to continue. I am glad they did, because I had attended the Social Thinking conference in Chicago right before the group was originally supposed to end. Since our continuation I have introduced the Superflex curriculum. They are absolutely hooked! I am excited to practice a few more things with them before I create a set curriculum over the summer.
I am hoping to post some more lesson and activity ideas in the near future, but right now I am out of time!