People may be said to resemble not
the bricks of which a house is built, but the pieces of a picture puzzle, each
differing in shape, but matching the rest, and thus bringing out the picture.
– Felix Adler
Whether it is religion, culture, abilities, interests, shapes or sizes we are all different. As a special education teacher, this is a lesson that can’t be taught enough. We all have greatness to add to the classroom and each of the 21 unique kiddos that I get to spend every day with certainly are a resemblance of that. We spend time in our groups talking about strengths and I love that they have learned which friend to go to when they need help. We discuss the friend that can read, the friend that can write, and the friend that is a math whiz. We also discuss the “artist,” the one that can help tie shoes, and the one that will help us with anything we ask. Of course, this discussion always starts as I try to draw a picture on the board that typically ends up not resembling in the least what my intent was. My compassionate students now respond with comments such as, “It is perfect, Mrs. Ganio,” or “You are getting so much better.” I then end up calling on a “friend” to help me! We love to celebrate differences and I love the way the students feel when they are called upon by their peers to help them. Even the kiddo that struggles the most with the academic challenges has so much to offer his friends.
I also enjoy when parents and students share with the class their traditions and their cultural backgrounds. I have learned so much this year from the class and their parents, I often wonder if I should be called the student. Sometimes it is the student’s star week when they bring a parent to help share this information, and sometimes it is the time of the year. In February, we were fortunate enough to have Sam and his mom come and share with us about the Asian New Year! With a wonderful slideshow and interacting, we all sat and enjoyed what they had to share!
No different from any other month we were busy and on the go. In addition to learning about differences we learned about the heart and keeping our bodies healthy.
We then had a wonderful Valentine’s Day event and enjoyed eating healthy, red snacks that the parents shared with us. (I must admit that I was at a training this day and was not able to be a part of the festivities. I asked my wonderful co-teacher to be sure that she took a lot of pictures for me….she did admit later that they forgot and so she “staged” most of the pictures that ended up on my camera.)
Josie turned six years old in February and it was an exciting time for her, and the rest of us, as she shared her Star Student poster and told us all about her family, favorite book, favorite music and favorite food! It amazes me sometimes at how even the quietest students gain a louder voice, more confidence, and answer questions with determination as they talk about the important things in their lives.
Our hundredth day of school arrived one day before Valentine’s day this year and what fun it was to see all of the kiddos (and Mrs. Saggese) to be dressed up like they were 100 years old. Conversations of what would be happening a year from now took place, as well as many fun stations that involved counting 100 items to make necklaces, using the numbers in 100 to make a picture, and sharing our At Home Family Projects that students used 100 of something to make.
This month we also wrapped up our Penguin unit, and had fun learning addition. I introduced Touchmath to each student as another method of addition. We then made our own number cards using stickers to represent our touch spots!
We also enjoyed a special event called “Healthy Snacks.” The kiddos loved using the ingredients to make a healthy snack with a guest speaker. They each got a turn to help in measuring or mixing. Of course, they all had the opportunity to taste a bit of the smoothie they made.
We are looking forward to March when we will have two new participators joining our class from SUNY Oneonta, and my favorite time….Dr. Seuss!!
Friday, December 14, 2012
Holidays around the world.....
“It’s harder to talk about, but what I really, really,
really want for Christmas is just this: I want to be 5 years old again for an
hour. I want to laugh a lot and cry a lot. I want to be picked or rocked to
sleep in someone’s arms, and carried up to be just one more time. I know what I
really want for Christmas: I want my childhood back. People who think good
thoughts give good gifts.”
― Robert Fulghum
On Thursday, we were off for a day to the Roberson Museum,
to see all of the beautiful trees decorated from many different countries. This fit nicely with our theme for two weeks,
holidays around the world. We made
passports and have been getting them stamped for the different countries as we
learn about how they celebrate holidays.
We have made a suitcase to put our passports in, along with other
mementos we are making along the way.
The kiddos were so excited to find that the shoes they made were filled
with gifts when they came to school the next day. Cinter Clause had
visited. We made Menorahs and learned a
song about dreidels and had
fun playing with them. We have talked
about the different foods that people eat during their holiday celebrations,
and other traditions that may be similar or very different from our own. We will be traveling to Italy next, to see how
they celebrate. We will conclude this
unit next week as we make foods from different countries celebrations. Potato latkes, applesauce, and other foods will
be sampled as we watch “The Polar Express” (more pictures will follow from our
culminating activity.)
Saturday, December 1, 2012
November.....in a nutshell
“Why should I give thanks on Thanksgiving? What have I got to be thankful for? All it does is make more work for us at school.” –Sally (Peanuts)
Well, we certainly had a lot of work to do this month, and not a lot of days to get it all done. It was so great to see the kiddos all able to list many things that they were thankful for. Our at home project was centered on disguising a turkey (so that he could avoid being caught for Thanksgiving.) As you will see from the picture of the bulletin board, we have some very creative students and families!
We enjoyed celebrating two special birthdays this month, and now all of our students are five or older. We celebrate students for an entire week for their birthday (or as close to their birthday as we can.) For summer birthdays, we try to celebrate on their half birthday. During this week the students bring to school a poster with photos and filled in with all of their favorites. They get to be the teacher and explain this poster to the class. It hangs on our Top Banana bulletin board. The next day, all of the students complete a star journal page which is later bound into a book for them to keep. Hopefully this is one of those things parents will pull out when they graduate. During their special week they are allowed to bring in special pets, special snacks, and invite their parents in to help them complete a science experiment. I have included some pictures of our special snacks and a special science adventure where we watched skittles turn water colors, and even did a little color mixing.
On November 20th, we celebrated our 50th day of school with an old-fashioned fifties party. This included mini pizzas and root beer floats, but before we did that, we did a little fifties dancing and tried out the limbo with girls dressed in poodle skirts and boys with slicked back hair and jeans rolled up high. We also compared living from 1962 to today. The students loved looking at the differences in TVs, telephones, clothing and cars. We also had fun reading the students’ journals about what they think they will be doing in fifty years! Stay tuned for the exciting way we celebrate 100 days of school.
A few more fun things we get to do every week include art class, language, and singing and dancing. I have included a few fun pictures:
Art class with a fabulous art teacher who creates fun and exciting projects with the class
The students love language group with the best speech teacher EVER, Mrs. M.
And of course, one of the kiddos favorite things to do….sing and dance….here we are doing the Tooty Ta.
We ended our month by reading different versions of the Gingerbread story including “The Gingerbread Man,” “The Gingerbread Boy,” and “The Gingerbread Baby.” We talked about how the stories were the same and different and then, we cut out and decorated our own gingerbread cookies. Many thanks go to Mrs. N for making the cookie dough (and being sure to use ingredients that none of our students had an allergy to.) She then came in and helped the students each cut out their own gingerbread cookie, took them home and baked them for us, and then brought them back….along with some yummy frosting so we could decorate them. I have included way too many pictures of this, because we had so much fun.
Got Milk ??
Outside of the classroom, I enjoyed spending some time with my teens and traveling to my parents. I especially enjoyed seeing my niece and nephew, who I don’t get to see nearly enough. I thought my children grew up quickly, but my niece seems to get three inches taller and talk better every time I see her. (Of course, I am going to include a picture of this gorgeous little girl!) Of course, I succumbed to a Facebook challenge to post something were thankful for every day for the month of November. Thirty days was not nearly enough. I have included one of my entries from the month…..
Opportunity.....that is what I am thankful for today. The opportunity to spend my days with 20 wonderful five year olds. The opportunities to change what I don't believe in, opportunities to leave someone smiling, opportunities to help someone up who has fallen, opportunities to make changes in my life, opportunities to share great moments and memories with great people that make the days easier, opportunities to share my convictions with those who support me even though they don’t always agree with me, opportunities to educate others, opportunities to use my past experiences as a way to relate to others, and opportunities to work with some amazing people who are committed and excited about what they do, regardless of mandates, testing, and challenges that tend to weigh us down. I am also thankful for the opportunities I have had to come in contact with people who are missed dearly, however, because of the opportunities I had, I will always get to carry a part of them with me. I am thankful for the opportunity to say I am wrong, and to forgive and be forgiven. Yes, I am definitely thankful for opportunities.
“Ability is nothing without opportunity.” ~Napoleon Bonaparte
Thursday, November 1, 2012
The days are busy~and the nights are shorter....
Some luck lies in not getting what you
thought you wanted but getting what you have, which once you have got it you
may be smart enough to see is what you would have wanted had you known.
~Garrison Keillor
October has always been my favorite month. When I was young, it was because it was my
birthday. As I have gotten older, that
certainly isn’t the reason. The fall
mornings, and the colorful days make the world seem brighter. Perhaps, the weather isn’t the only
reason. I have typically felt like by
October we are settled in and our routines are established in the
classroom. I learned this year, with all
the changes, October would still leave changes happening. These are all good changes, however. The pieces to the puzzle are fitting
together.
This month we have had a lot of fun…we have had our first bus
drill, learned about community helpers and pumpkins, and enjoyed reading and
completing activities based on the story “Where the Wild Things Are.” We also had a great time working with an LTA
from my past on developing a great video based on “The Very Hungry Caterpillar”
that we were excited to share at Open House, however, the weather didn’t
cooperate, so it would have to wait until November. We enjoyed a trip to the “Pick-a-Pumpkin”
Pumpkin Patch (however, I didn’t enjoy crawling through the hay maze to find
the kiddo that was scared.) Miss B., our
student teacher, joined us and participated in many activities with us for four
weeks. Enjoy the pictures I have added
of our October events.
This was our video that the kiddos worked hard on, illustrating
their part to the book “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.” They did such a great job! Kuddos to Mrs.
Forbes for all of her help too!
These are pictures from our Pick a Pumpkin trip. We enjoyed watching them shoot an apple way
into the sky, the hay maze, the animals, and getting to choose our own pumpkin
and gourd to bring back to school with us.
The sun was shining, which was great, until we ate our lunch! The bees were swarming and in my attempt to
protect a kiddo from the bees, one landed on my sandwich and I decided to take
a bit, therefore, being stung in the mouth!! OUCH.
Pictures from our trip to the Fire Station-We had so much fun
listening to Mr. Tubia tell us all about the
important things that happen here. We got to
try out holding the hose and pointing it, and trying on the fire fighters
clothes.
In addition to having a great month in school, I had a little get-away
to go see one of my favorite performers, Jo Dee Messina. My husband and I had a great time, while my
parents came to spend a couple of days with my teens!
And, another favorite past time is watching my daughter play
soccer. She is typically the goalie for
the team, however, their first game was a scrimmage so the coach pulled her out
to play mid field and she scored a goal!!
It was a pretty successful game as she kept it scoreless in the first
half when she was in the goal, and then came out and scored a goal.
