Knowing the Kids
For the first two weeks of school, it was critical for establishing a culture of learning that will set the right tone for the rest of the year. To promote a positive classroom learning environment, it was vital to make these first days the most productive they can be in building relationships. A sense of community in the classroom motivates students to participate and engage, while helping them feel safe to learn and grow both individually and collectively. This sense of community doesn’t just happen, it must be cultivated. Students brought an artifact for our Show and Tell week where they courageously presented their item in front of the class either through speaking, using an AAC device, and/or gestures. This was a huge milestone for many of our students and thank you for all the parents and guardians who participated in this activity, as most of you had written a short paragraph along with the artifact. This made the transitions smooth for everyone. Another activity that we focused on was called “All About Us.” This was when our students created a poster that described their strengths, things they like, hopes and dreams, personal information and many more. Students presented their ideas in various ways including writing out their information, cutting pictures onto the poster paper or having a support worker to help them show the idea.
MindUp Curriculum
The MindUp curriculum was implemented this month. The curriculum focuses on self-regulation through understanding the way how our brain works. This research-based curriculum teaches students how to recognise the triggers that cause them to feel stressed. Then, it provides easy strategies for helping students focus their attention, improve their self-regulation, build resilience to anxiety, and to develop a positive mindset in both school and life. We practiced “belly-breathing” for 15 minutes after lunch and it was shocking to see how it calmed our students and helped them focus during the afternoon
Functional Academics
What Works Better than Traditional Math Instruction
The still-dominant traditional model begins with the assumption that students primarily need to learn math through worksheets. This year we will use math manipulatives as a way of teaching mathematical concepts. The use of manipulatives is rooted in the idea that young children reason concretely before they do so abstractly. It is important to remember, however, that even though manipulatives are concrete objects, understanding how they represent concepts requires abstract thinking—a manipulative is still just a physical representation of an idea, not the idea itself.
Parents may use math manipulatives at home, but use the following guidelines when using manipulatives:
The still-dominant traditional model begins with the assumption that students primarily need to learn math through worksheets. This year we will use math manipulatives as a way of teaching mathematical concepts. The use of manipulatives is rooted in the idea that young children reason concretely before they do so abstractly. It is important to remember, however, that even though manipulatives are concrete objects, understanding how they represent concepts requires abstract thinking—a manipulative is still just a physical representation of an idea, not the idea itself.
Parents may use math manipulatives at home, but use the following guidelines when using manipulatives:
- Use a manipulative consistently over a long period of time
- Use highly transparent concrete representations and move to more abstract representations over time
- Avoid manipulatives that resemble everyday objects or have distracting irrelevant features
- Explain the relationship between the manipulatives and the math concept