Classroom Makeables, Posters and More

Mentioned today on Classroom Displays, Mrs. Pancake is a fantastic site of "Doodads", also know as posters, borders, flashcards, work sheets and paper crafts.

Adapted Learning Uploads

I just uploaded about a dozen boards, including games, recipes and holiday activities to Adapted Learning. My username is teechkidz if you want to search by person. Membership is free, try it out now.

In case you have missed the announcements Adapted Learning is the new sharing site for Boardmaker, Boardmaker Plus and Boardmaker SDP by Mayer-Johnson.

Double Dutch News-2-You

If you use News-2-You you should know that there is a great extension activity at Dragonfly TV. If you use the Miro player (as described in this blog entry) you can download episodes of Dragonfly TV directly into Miro player to use offline with your class.

Phone My Phone

I can't remember ever sharing a non-special education related site before, but I thought I would share this one. You may already know about it. It is Phone My Phone and it does what it says, calls your telephone.

Perhaps my biggest flaw is my ability to loose things. My keys, wallet, and cell phone top the list of things I loose. It is a long standing, running joke at school about how I loose things. My father claims I have adult ADD, my sister used to say that I used up all of my brain on useless knowledge and there was no room left for things like remembering where my keys or phone were and it is possible that Saint Anthony is sick of helping me out. Whatever the reason I use Phone My Phone fairly frequently. I wish it could make my keys and wallet ring.

Two More Online Stories Sites

• Ziggity Zoom
• MisCositas

These will be added to Alternate Format Books and Stories.

Thanks to Larry Ferlazzo (who got the link from Langwitches) and a poster on QIAT for the links.

Post-It Pockets: A Sped Adaptable

The people who make post-its (also called stickies), 3M, have a new product called Post-It Pockets. The minute3 I saw them I had a dozen ideas about how to use them in the classroom. They come in letter, bill, receipt size (9 in. X 12 in.; 5 1/2 in. X 9 in.; and 4 in. X 9 in.). Post-it pockets are supposed to be available at Target, Office Max. 3M.com and other places post-its are sold.

• storing constantly in use symbols (as opposed to my hardware store drawers for all my other symbols), add velcro to the front and you can store symbols inside and display one on the front, i.e. to show today's school lunch offering
  
• to create a sign-in center for students, put a card with "here" on one side and "out" on the other side in each pocket, with each students name and photo on the front and students can flip their card upon arrival and departure
• to create sorting/classification boards, put several pockets on a poster board or wall, a symbol or word on the outside of each envelope and have students sort away using symbols or word cards
• put pockets with index cards in the back of the books in your classroom and have everyone (students and adults) sign them out
• make a "mail center" for students
• hang 26 of them with each letter of the alphabet on one pocket and use to start teaching alphabetization and filing
  
• add to you classroom job or chore area with a symbol for each chore on the front of the pockets and a picture schedule or task analysis inside
  
• hang a few by the phone with the names of all the classroom staff and therapists and use them to put phone messages and quick notes in
• hang one (letter sized) pocket by the door for each student and place any papers to go home in it for students to collect at the end of the day
• 
• attach to the back of data collection clipboards to hold extra notes and tid-bits of information for paraprofessionals
• place them on the back of standers with a slip of paper inside for each student (who uses that stander) to record total number of minutes stood each day
• use pockets for each student to collect things they need to take into the community like money, library card, I.D. card, shopping list, etc. so you always know where everything is to go out for CBE
  

What else can you think of?

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa Claus,

I hope you had a very happy Thanksgiving. Do you celebrate the American Thanksgiving in the North Pole? I have been good, mostly. I am writing to ask for the gifts I would like for my classroom this Christmas. My students have been very, very good, mostly. We have been very lucky and have had quite a few grants filled, and our agency found a little bit of money to let us send out orders, so we don't need much. We do have some wishes:

1. Ink. Santa Claus, we are always out of ink. I am not even exaggerating, we are seriously always out of ink. We would like some ink for our printers in our stockings.
2. Individual student equipment. Santa, I know you will be visiting my students and I know that you can see what they need, but that youngster who needs the wheelchair - sooner would be better than later. The same is true for the kiddo who needs new hearing aids, and new glasses and the learner who needs wheelchair adjustments. If you wouldn't mind those things would be awesome. There is also that child who could really use an Easy Stand (a chair/desk that turns into a stander/desk) and a high tech AAC device. Oh and if you are really in the mood for some magic, what about a solution to that one student's AAC access issues? What a dream come true those would be.
   
3. Interactive whiteboard. Oh, Santa, we could do so much with an IWB! We had a projector this year and it is almost the best thing ever, but an IWB would top even that.
4. The iTalk2 is now out with levels and our old one is pretty beat up, we could use a new one. A couple of packs of talking symbols notepads to go with it would be fabulous too.
5. A subscription to the Brain Pop Jr. website. Now that we have a working LCD projector Brain Pop Jr. would be a great way to add to its value.
   
6. More hours in the day. I know, Santa, you can't do this one, but if you could it would be marvelous! We would never have to wait for things to be laminated or cut out or downloaded and moved to different computers, because with more hours in the day it would all be done!

Thanks so much,

Kate the Teacher
P.S. On a personal note, my Blackberry is broken AGAIN and my car needs a tune up. I never object to gift cards for gas or coffee either.