last year i had a bff for the first 9 weeks of school. this year the title falls on another child i originally was going to call my running man, but that doesn't do him justice. this is the friend who previously fired me. he is a very gifted child receiving services under autism, who needs a bit of help figuring out how to navigate school.
i've discovered that while social stories don't work for him making a list does. so he has a wall in the classroom where he can keep his 'what do i do?' lists. what do i do if the classroom is too loud? what do i do if someone is bothering me? what do i do at the end of the day?
yesterday during guided reading he stopped mid-page and started making odd noises. from his face (i've begun to notice what some of his facial expressions mean) i could tell he was getting upset about something, but i couldn't figure out what. "what's wrong?" i asked. "use your words"
he leaped out of his chair and sprinted to his list-wall. he pointed to the "what to do if someones bothering me" list and to the icon that shows taking deep breaths (ahhhh... the odd noises were his attempt at deep breaths when he was already really upset). he checked the list, ran his finger along the choice he was going to make, walked back to the friend who was making a noise so quiet i couldn't even hear it, asked him to stop, sat back down at the guided reading table, took one last deep breath, and started reading again.
the whole process had me smiling. i'm glad we've learned what method we can use to help him, and i'm glad he's beginning to learn what to do. it makes me smile to watch him check the list to decide what to do next, solving problems in such a clear, logical manner.
Showing posts with label my running-man. Show all posts
Showing posts with label my running-man. Show all posts
Friday, September 5, 2008
Friday, August 15, 2008
friday celebrations
i'm exhausted, but feel there is a lot to celebrate today.
most importantly, in writing workshop we've been dividing the kids into 3 groups based on their current instructional needs. my fabulous co-teacher takes one group, i take another, and the kindergarten aide takes another. so far its been working pretty well. today the kindergarten aide told us that during her lunch duty one of the children in her group raised his hand, which at lunch usually means the child needs a straw or help opening those annoying ketchup packets. this little one though said, "ms s. i have a story to tell"
she told him to put it in his pocket and save it for monday. now we can't wait to hear it. hooray for writing workshop creeping into lunch time.
on smaller notes:
my running-man friend ran out of the classroom significantly less today, and when he did he stayed much closer to the classroom and did not run down the hallway.
his new behavior plan worked so well that when i went over to give him a frowny-face for throwing his books i noticed there was already a frowny-face there. he had given it to himself after he threw the books.
later, when i said, "we do not spit in school" he said, "do you have a book on that? on spitting? a book that says no spitting in school?"
he is asking for his own social stories now... at least he knows what he needs.
in kindergarten i was excited about writing workshop today and the stories our kiddos produced, and, more importantly, they actually stayed on their bottoms and listened to each other's stories.
happy friday! today gave us the hint of a promise that our hard work is going to pay off.
most importantly, in writing workshop we've been dividing the kids into 3 groups based on their current instructional needs. my fabulous co-teacher takes one group, i take another, and the kindergarten aide takes another. so far its been working pretty well. today the kindergarten aide told us that during her lunch duty one of the children in her group raised his hand, which at lunch usually means the child needs a straw or help opening those annoying ketchup packets. this little one though said, "ms s. i have a story to tell"
she told him to put it in his pocket and save it for monday. now we can't wait to hear it. hooray for writing workshop creeping into lunch time.
on smaller notes:
my running-man friend ran out of the classroom significantly less today, and when he did he stayed much closer to the classroom and did not run down the hallway.
his new behavior plan worked so well that when i went over to give him a frowny-face for throwing his books i noticed there was already a frowny-face there. he had given it to himself after he threw the books.
later, when i said, "we do not spit in school" he said, "do you have a book on that? on spitting? a book that says no spitting in school?"
he is asking for his own social stories now... at least he knows what he needs.
in kindergarten i was excited about writing workshop today and the stories our kiddos produced, and, more importantly, they actually stayed on their bottoms and listened to each other's stories.
happy friday! today gave us the hint of a promise that our hard work is going to pay off.
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