The Social Well-Being of Children

October 15th, 2014  

Every Friday afternoon, Chase’s teacher asks her students to take out a piece of paper and write down the name of four children with whom they’d like to sit the following week.  The children know that these requests may or may not be honored.  She also asks the students to nominate one student whom they believe has been an exceptional classroom citizen that week.  All ballots are privately submitted to her and every single Friday afternoon, after the students go home, Chase’s teacher takes out those slips of paper, and places them in front of her and studies them.  She looks for patterns:

– Who is not getting requested by anyone else?
– Who doesn’t even know who to request?
– Who never gets notices enough to be nominated
– Who had a million friends last week and none this week?

Chase’s teacher is not looking for a new seating chart or exceptional citizens.  Chase’s teacher is looking for lonely children.  She’s looking for children struggling to connect with other children.  She’s identifying students who are falling through the cracks of the class’s social life.  She is discovering whose gifts are goig unnoticed by their peers.  And she’s pinning down – right away – who’s being bullied and who is doing the bullying.

~Glennon Doyle Melton’s blog, Momastery

 

Invisible Skills Needed in Physical Education

November 5th, 2013  

Ever wonder why PE is so hard for some students? Think that including a student in PE for general ed is the best time to include them? Think about these “invisible skills” that are needed for success in the PE environment.

bullet-point-image-7Knowing WHEN to move

  • Your turn versus someone else’s turn
  • Moving in relation to opponent (don’t get caught; score)
  • Move with a teammate or on your own
  • Defensive movements / offensive movements
  • Anticipation – when and where to move (around bases; across field)
  • Adjusting position in unpredictable moments during game

bullet-point-image-7Knowing WHEN to wait

  • For a turn
  • For an opportunity to pass an opponent
  • To protect your goal

bullet-point-image-7Knowing HOW to move

  • Amount of speed
  • How much force to use
  • Movement required in the game
  • Moving cooperatively with a teammate
  • Knowing where to move (boundaries, direction – especially for flee / chase games, sequence of movements across play area)

bullet-point-image-7Knowing WHAT task to accomplish

  • Defensive task vs. offensive task
  • Changing player roles and task to complete for the game
  • Get an object (retrieval, exchange with teammate)
  • Propel an object (direction of trajectory)

 bullet-point-image-7Knowing what direct SOCIAL SKILLS are needed to participate

  • Communicating to help your team (warning of opponent coming, gesturing “I’m open”, asking for a turn, asking for help, responding to a request for help, sharing equipment)
  • Contributing to team function
  • Encouraging (cheering, words of encouragement, making an effort)
  • Congratulating (thumbs up, high five, “good game”, hand shake)
  • Accepting a loss or winning with dignity and fairness to others
  • Commenting respectfully to opponents and / or teammates

Thank you to our APES Carolyn Hitzler for submitting this information!

 

Notes from ASSEC

April 4th, 2013  

“Larry Kortering’s examination of what factors contribute to [students] dropping out was both useful and insightful to me. We all know what we (teachers) think causes students to decide to drop out.  We would never think that we could be the prime motivator. The idea that most students cited a problem that they had with ONE teacher is very scary. I wondered if I might have done that. Wow! Cultivate mellowness. While the viewpoint of the student may just be a rationalization for failure and frustration in other areas, there can be no doubt that they believe the story that they tell themselves and others, and changing this perception could be pivotal.”  ~ Rob Ernst, Nikiski Middle and High

 

Autism in America – Statistics by Year

1960 – 1 in 10,000
2005 – 1 in 260
2010 – 1 in 110
2013 – 1 in 88  (including 1 in 54 boys)

~ Mitch Pioch, Skyview High School

 

“Social stories and video modeling can be combined. For example, a script, like a social story, can be  written and rehearsed. Then the student can be recorded while performing the target skill and the  video embedded in a PowerPoint presentation or movie with subtitles.   Important concepts to remember for video modeling include: (1) choosing a defined target skill, (2) recording the student performing the skill (not another person), (3) making the video available to the student before the skill is needed and until the skill is mastered, and (4) possibly recording the student performing the same skill in multiple       environments to assist with generalization.”    ~ Cindy Detrow, Speech Language Pathologist

 

Notes from ASSEC

March 17th, 2013  

“I think the highlight of the conference was Michelle Garcia Winner.  Her perspective on social skills is amazing.  If you ever get a chance to hear her, go!   Check out her website:  Social Thinking:  http://www.socialthinking.com/ .  She has some hidden places to find forms on her site.  If this interests you, please email and I’ll tell you where to find them.  I’ve already started social skills mapping with some kids and am feeling very positive about the process.”  ~ Bobbi Larrivee WHE Intensive Needs

 

“There are five types of identified bullying behavior:
bullet-point-image-7 Verbal – which is often quick, direct, and sneaky
bullet-point-image-7 Physical – which is the easiest to recognize due to direct evidence
bullet-point-image-7 Emotional (social) – which is calculated and involves manipulation and gossip
bullet-point-image-7 Sexual – which involves a violation of personal boundaries
bullet-point-image-7 Cyber – which is using technology to hurt and harm another person.”

~ Summarized by Dr. Terese Kashi, school psychologist from presentation by Stone Soup Group 

The Golden Rule of Intensive Supports

October 1st, 2012  

From “Teaching Exceptional Children” July 2009, by Julie N. Causton-Theoharis

The Golden Rule of Intensive Supports – Support Others as You Would Wish to Be Supported

“Consider for a moment that the school system paid someone to be with you— supporting you 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Now, imagine that you had no say over who that support person was or how she or he supported you. Or imagine that someone regularly stopped into your place of employment to provide you with one-on-one support. This person was present for all your interactions, escorted you to the restroom, and at times supported you by touching your back or shoulder or by manipulating your hands, head, or other parts of your body. This support person might also give you oral directions for upcoming tasks.

Would you become more independent or more dependent? How would this support change your relationships with your peers? Would you notice a loss of privacy or freedom? Would this person’s presence affect your creativity? At times, would you feel self-conscious about having someone supporting you? What if you asked him or her to move away from you and he or she did not? What would happen if you did not want him or her to touch you? What would you do? Do you think that you might develop negative behaviors?

Now consider how your presence affects the students whom you support.”

“Invasive adult support has inadvertent detrimental effects on students with disabilities”

 Separation from classmates resulting in interference with peer interactions

 Unnecessary dependence on adults

 Insular relationships between paraprofessional and the student

 A feeling of being stigmatized

 Limited access to highly qualified instruction

 Interference with teacher engagement

 Learned helplessness

 Loss of gender identity – parapros are overwhelmingly female

 Provokes behavior problems

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