Monday, September 19, 2011

After quiet reading we began the start of the week with a Community Circle.  I am trying to develop a set of strategies the students can use to help them improve in particular areas of the Language program.  In terms of the Community Circle, I want to address the issue of being a "good speaker".  As a group, we came up the following chart:

This chart is placed at the front of the room for the students to reference during this activity.  I am trying to make a connection between the skills of speaking and how this will support them as they prepare to transition to high school and, eventually, to the world of work.

In Math, we continued to work our way through our unit on Fractions.  We introduced the concept of a Numerator and Denominator and showed how this relates to a few examples on the board.  A couple of students confused the top and bottom parts of the fraction, but this was practiced in a worksheet that was completed in class.  If it was not completed, it became homework.

Our note, recorded in the Math notebook, on Fractions.

One of the most important things that we did today concerns the development of the Individual Education Plan or IEP.  I will be spending some time this week talking about why an IEP is needed and how this related to the "Exceptionalities" or Learning Differences/Disabilities the students have (determined through the Identification Placement and Review Committee). 

I think it is very important that students be able to recognize their strengths and the areas where they need some support and growth.  I did a sample on the board and encouraged the students to complete a sheet listing their "Strengths" and "Challenges".

Every member of the class brought home a Parent/Guardian input form for the IEP.  You have probably seen this before, but your input will assist me in developing the IEP for your son or daughter.  Here is an example I quickly developed, based on my profile.  I did this to help kick-start some thinking for some of the students.

When I posted some photos of students from last week, I was missing a number of them.  I will post the images now and, eventually, send these photos off to have them developed so I can mount them somewhere in the classroom.  Here are the photos:

Homework:  Parents or Guardians to fill in the IEP input form; complete Fraction sheet if it was not done in class; outstanding Hepatitis B forms; pay for Agenda; return office verification forms.