My go to for boardmaker

If you been teaching Special Education more than a year then you probably know about boardmaker.  If not, then you have probably heard of it, but do not know what it is.  Boardmaker is a program where you can make communication boards, overlays, and lots of other cool stuff. There is a huge picture library (drawings) for almost anything you can think of.  I will admit that it is not a program that you can just jump into and go.  I think it takes some playing and reading directions to figure out some stuff, but once you get the hang of it you are good to go.
 

When I am getting ready to start a new project or looking for ideas for something I always check out a site that was called boardmaker share.  It is now called Boardmaker Acheive.  This is a great site because teachers, therapist, parents, anyone who uses boardmaker can upload various projects they have made using boardmaker and then as a member (membership is free) you can download these items for free!   You can also edit these items in boardmaker so a they fit your needs.  For example, the bathroom chart below I made after searching on Boardmaker Achieve.  I looked  at various ideas and made something that would work for my student. 

I have found so many valuable tools on Boardmaker Acheive such as a strip that I use to remind students how they should be sitting on the carpet or a choice board.  I hope this website helps you save a little bit of time that we all are so short on right now!

Back to school Learning Ahoy style!

So, what do you think about the Who's that Blogger contest? One of my friends (who is also a fellow blogger, check out Not2Crumby: Teaching is a Piece of Cake) found my picture quite hilarious.  Have you figured out which one is me yet? Make sure you go try to win all of that free stuff and enter the giveaway for the Amazon gift card!

<-------- This cute graphic came from Crystal over at The Library Fox.  It is me!! I am so excited to finally get my own mini-me that I just wanted to use it somehow!

 I wrote a post over at TeachHub about getting ready for back to school, but it has not been posted yet. I feel like the information is important now since we are all in back to school mode, so I am sharing it here. I, of course, write a bit different on Learning Ahoy then I do for TeachHub, so there are some changes from the original.

Back to school time for special educators is a time where we can attempt to prepare ourselves for a year full of IEP goals, data collection, and of course fun. There are some things that I do(and am scrambling to do right now with the new position) to help make for a successful school year.

 1. Update my teacher binder: I have wrote about my teacher binder on TeachHub and it is something that I still continue to use. Every year I tweak it a bit and this year is no different. This year I bought a new binder (yay for the lovely school aisle at Target) and some new tabs, however it all still sits in a bag. I have updated my Student Information sheet to include texting (using Remind101) and I will give it to parents to fill out at Open House. I also include IEP information sheets in my binder. If you would like any of these you can find them by clicking  here. (They are FREE!!!)


 2. Update data binder: I found last year that my data section was just to huge to be included in my Teacher binder, so data got its own binder. I update my data binder to include my new students with copies of their IEPs, goals, and data collection sheets.


 3. IEP Goals: Speaking of IEP goals, I like to review my IEP goals and put each students goals on to one sheet. Another teacher I know even color codes hers by domain area. Having all of the goals on one sheet enables me to quickly look at a goal instead of flipping through 50 page IEP documents(or 75 pages....). I can also share these goal sheets with specials teachers(Art, Music, PE) and paraprofessionals so that they can also easily see what the student is working towards. I copy parent/teacher/therapist input forms that I use when we are writing the annual IEP and stick them in the back along with the copies of the data collections sheets (It is always great to have extras on hand so you are not running to the copy while trying to assess). There are some great ones available as a free download from Not2Crumby on Teacher's Pay Teachers. (Do I keep shamelessly plugging one of my best buddies blogs in here?  Yes, she is a newly wed and just started blogging and really needs some teacher blog stalker follower love.)


 4. Organize, Organize, Organize: I have admitted in the past how unorganized of a person I am, but I am really trying hard. I have found a few small systems that work for me, but I am still overwhelmed at times. I have finally come to the conclusion that to help me become more organized (which I feel will help me teach to my greatest potential) I need to purge.... big time. When you don't have as much stuff, then there is not as much to get messy. Do you really need to keep those copies of art orders from 1975 or lesson plans that you wrote in college?

 If you are looking for more information about getting ready for back to school as a special educator or just need some more info about special education check out the series going on over at A Special Sparkle.




 

My Circle Time Lifeline!

Part of my morning circle time includes a few songs that involve movement.  I have found that my students LOVE the songs that are videos on YouTube.  Keeping track of how to get all of these videos and  explaining how to get to them to a sub was not easy.  So I started using Portaportal to organize all of the videos, websites, games etc that I wanted to easily be able to link to.  I was introduced to Portaportal when I first began teaching (9 years ago) so it has been around for awhile.  The great thing about this is that anyone with internet access can view my portal, but not make changes.  This means I can give the site to parents, put it on student computers, and leave it for a sub to access. I can even make changes at home.  You can checkout my Portalportal by clicking here.
I made a quick tutorial to help you get started on your own Portaportal. 

Start by going to Portaportal.  You will need to click Signup on the left hand side to make your own account.       


Now put in your information. Make sure your user name is something you are not afraid to share, as that will be how people find your portal. 
 


After you create your account, you will need to login using the username and password that you created when you signed up.




This is what your site will look like when you log in (Well, it will not have all of the links and categories!)  To get started with adding your own categories and links you need to click on the file folder with the + sign in the top right corner. 




This is where you add your category names.  After you type them in click on Add Categories.  (Don’t worry you can add more then 5, but can only do 5 at one time.)



Once you have added your categories. It is time to add your links. On your main page go to your category and click on the middle button that looks like a pencil. You can also add subcategories by clicking the folder in the category view.




In the title section type the text you want to see under the category.  Next add your URL.  You also have to option to hide a link (set up for the year, but only have certain links available at certain times) add a description and add an icon.  When you are finished click add links.  Your done!! Now go experiment and add more links!



I hope this makes things easier for you! I do use Safeshare.tv to take out all of the ads around the YouTube videos.  I find this also helps with having the kids ask me to click on a video in the sidebar, or having the kids click on a video in the sidebar.

 

Frugal Friday: Teacher Lists

Have you tried out Teacher Lists yet?  Not only is it a super easy way to post your school supply list or a wish list online, but you can also get free school supplies for your classroom!  If you go through the link I have provided you should receive a free 12 pack of Elmer’s glue sticks.  I am not sure if you will get that if you go directly to the site.  I have created a quick tutorial to help you get through setting up your first list, but I promise you it is super easy. Click here to get started!


The first page you see will look like this.  Click on the link (The green arrows will help show you the way!) that say Create An Account.  I don’t have screen shots of this process because I have already created my account.  Sorry!!





Once you account is created and you are signed in you will see this page. lick on Create a list.







After you click on create list you will see this screen.  You need to choose Supply List or Wish List.  If you choose supply list another screen will come up asking if these are items that are mandatory for your students to bring in.

 




Next it will ask you to fill in some information about your list.  Use the drop down menus.






Now for the fun part!  Choose your items that are for your supply list or wish list.  Just click on the category you want.  I always start with most popular items.









Once you click on the item you want, you need to add how many you would like and any descriptive information.

 





As you add items they will start showing you on your list to the right.  When you are done simply click finish.







Congratulations!  Your first list is done!





See, I told you it was super easy!  So what are you waiting for?  Go make your list at Teacher Lists!

ESY happenings

I am teaching ESY this year for 2 weeks while one of my best friends gets married, then she will take over for the remaining two weeks.   It is great because I get to work with and see in action other teachers who do the same thing as I do, but just at different age levels.  One of our speech pathologists has joined us also.  She uses a lot of switches to help our students communicate.  One problem I have always had was having a male voice on the switch for our male students.  Meghan showed me how to use the male voice from Proloque  for the switch.  How easy is that!



I thought I would share some pictures of the activities that we are doing.


Here Meghan drew circles on teh board and put questions inside.  The kids had to throw a plush baseball(we are doing a baseball theme) at the board and answer the question it hit.  This was a great activities to work on gross motor (throwing) and speech (answering a question).  The kids seemed really like it.  Also if you look really close you can see how Julie adapted our behavior clip chart to fit the theme.  (I will try to get close ups of that this week.)

                     


Another activity we did was making corn dogs using corn muffin mix and cut up hot dogs.  The kids made the mix and then cut up the hot dogs to put in the muffin tins.  Meghan wrote up the recipe for them to follow.
 


Here are the kids mixing and cutting.  Lots of great skills being worked on here!




Are you teaching ESY this summer?  I would love the hear about the activities you are doing.

Cheap, Easy & Fun make your own whiteboards

  I was perusing the giveaway tables (looking for stuff that I do not need) during the last few days of school and to my surprise I found an almost full box of Report Covers.  I can not believe someone was just going to get rid of them!!!

I originally got this idea from Smedley's Smorgasboard of Kindergarten.  All I had to do was use some Duct Tape  and tape around 3 sides .   Make sure you leave one side open to put the paper in.  Now you are able to put a sheet in this and the students can use it multiple times by writing over it with a dry erase marker.  You can then erase and start all over again. Insert Teacher tip! I have recently found the Mr. Clean Erasers work wonders on white boards, but as I am sure you already know, socks are another great alternative.


These have worked great!! My students love the Angry Birds theme and I know I can do the others to which ever theme may be appropriate.   Yes, I know I can do the same thing with page protectors, but the duct tape makes it look so much more fun!  You may want to do a smaller border as I notice sometimes I can not see the side of the paper.    Now, to just figure out what I am going to do with the the plastic parts (Sliding bars) that are supposed to be used to hold the papers in. Any ideas?

Just in case you are wondering, the sheets that I have in here came from Carisa at  1+1+1=1.  This is a fantastic site with lots of great free pintables.  I have blogged about her before.  You can check out that post here.



 

 

My first (non introduction) post on A Special Sparkle

Well, my first post on A Special Sparkle is up. It is all about Using Apps for Organization. I can always use help in that area so I thought you all might enjoy knowing what I use. You can read the article by clicking here.  I would love to know if there are any apps or computer programs that you use for organization.  Any little bit helps!!





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Pinspired: Part 2

Have you checked out the new blog all about special education A Special Sparkle?  There are a lot of great bloggers all working together to bring you the best of special education,.  You can check it out by clicking here.
I hope you enjoying seeing all of the neat ideas I have used that I have found using Pinterest.  Here are a few more.  Just like last time I will leave the links at the bottom of the post.

Valentine’s Day Gift for teachers & paras:  These are pretzels,  a Hershey kiss, and an M & M.  They are so yummy!



Easter/Spring PEEPS  (These were a HUGE hit!) I went to A.C. Moore to get the supplies (using my teacher discount of course!).  I dipped the bunnies in chocolate, let them dry and then wrapped them up.  They were so cute!  I made my husband take some to work and people thought he purchased them from somewhere.


Crate Seats:  I made these when I first started blogging and thought that they deserved a revisit.  I love them and they have held up  well over 2 years.  If you want to see how to make them you can check out my original post here.


This was a mother’s day gift.   My kids are holding different letters to spell out Grandma.

I made this for my son’s 1st grade teacher.  I just love it and will be making one for myself soon.  I have also made them with soap bottles.  This is way easier then you would think! I simply used a transparency!



Here are the links!!
Frame:http://pinterest.com/pin/151644712422362015/
Hand Sanitizer: http://pinterest.com/pin/151644712423082408/
Peeps: http://pinterest.com/pin/15340454953308118/

If you are not following my Pinterest boards, now would be a great time to jump on board.  Click here to check them out!

Pinspired

I just wanted to take a  2 blog posts (once I started adding pictures I realized how many there are!) to show you the things I have made that I have found on Pinterest. A lot of them were for birthday parties for A, B, or C, but I thought some of it could be used in the classroom for various themes or for your own kids parties. If I can find the original pin where I got the idea I will put it at the bottom of this post.  Have You made anything you have found on Pinterest?

These are from B's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Birthday Party.   The Turtle shells are marshmallows dipped in green chocolate with green sugar on them.  The water bottles have labels on them saying thank you for coming.  The other bottle have Ninja Turtle Masks that were made with construction paper and circle stickers that I cut in half.  I wanted to put black centers in eyes, but the new turtles do not have that.
             
I made the graphic for his shirt in PowerPoint and then put it on a t-shirt transfer. I bought the green lanterns through Oriental Trading and then used crepe paper and white paper to add the masks and eyes.


These were made for C's Very Hungry Caterpillar Party.  The round cake was for his cake smash and made by one of my best friends, Desiree.  She found the idea on Pinterest for both cakes and went with them. You can check out her other cakes here.  The hat and shirt I also saw on Pinterest and another friend of mine, Tabbi, made them. (on very short notice I must add)  She does a lot of really neat stuff.  You check out her creations here.   The cake smash pictures were taken by the fabulous Lisa from Unmentionable Photography by Lisa.

                          




The centerpiece I made using buckets I found in the Target dollar section.  I put the green floral stuff in the bottom (the name is escaping me right now) and stuck a piece of tissue paper over top to cover the green, then I just stuck in the lollipops and straws.  For the favors I found some candy that resembled food and put it in the bag, then added the top which I printed out on the computer.
              

Very Hunger Caterpillar Pins:
http://pinterest.com/pin/276408495850503390/
http://pinterest.com/pin/51439620713602124/
http://pinterest.com/pin/127508233170718131/

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Pins:
http://pinterest.com/pin/263742121900603137/
http://pinterest.com/pin/65372632063440589/