Just 18 more days...

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

There was a nutty lady,
Who struggled with IEPs, evals, Medicaid, field trips, and students' breaking windows/biting/kicking...
Overwhelmed and in a daze,
Her brain was in a haze,
End of the year maze.
Just 18 more days...

There was a nutty lady,
Who hosted a grad party.
42 guests came,
Her home will never be the same.
She hosted the party to forget the daze,
Her brain was in a haze,
End of the year maze.
Just 18 more days...

There was a nutty lady,
Who used tons of coupons for the party
Cuz she ran out of grocery money,
And had one decoration (sorry honey!).
She couponed voraciously to host the party,
She hosted the party to forget the daze,
Her brain was in a haze,
End of the year maze.
Just 18 more days...

There was a nutty lady,
Who got lost in her weeds.
She planted 10 blueberry plants,
Mowed daily and battled ants.
She tackled the yard where guests could eat,
She fed the guests to host the party,
She hosted the party to forget the daze,
Her brain was in a haze,
End of the year maze.
Just 18 more days...

There was a nutty lady,
Who gained back some sanity
With a chocolate, peanut-butter cake
That she ventured to make.
She baked the cake to provide some energy,
She needed the energy to tackle the yard,
She tackled the yard where guests could eat,
She fed the guests to host the party,
She hosted the party to forget the daze,
Her brain was in a haze,
End of the year maze.
Just 18 more days...

Day to shine

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Our local Special Olympics may not be as flashy or famous as the national Special Olympics.

The participants may not train (or even be aware they are competing).

They may hate the change of schedule. The long bus ride. The crowds. The noise.

But they might just revel in the praise and encouragement as they are the focus of attention.

This is their day to shine.

Therapy Thursday: Peanut Butter and Jelly

I've been aiming to create more activity based lessons for my lower language students. With the help of some fun books, I've been somewhat successful...

We read through the book Peanut Butter and Jelly with visual and vocal augmentation from the Go Talk 9+. We wrapped. We rhymed. I may have occasionally banged on an imaginary bongo drum.



We sequenced how to make a Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. I used sequencing strips from Hands-on Reading along with some realistic pictures I found on google images. The kids were able to use imaginary play skills to sequence and act out a familiar activity. They (tried to) narrate the events and practice additional language skills.



We practiced /p, b/ sounds and multi-syllabic words. We pretended to picnic. And a great time was had by all.

The only thing that could have made this activity better was if we could actually make the sandwiches with real ingredients. But no thanks for peanut allergies and food restrictions in the school, we had to "settle" for our imaginations.

And for the grand finale? Barney of course!

Auctionable Cookies. Month 2.

As the winner of my cookie auction told me later, if you've gotta go, isn't the best way via chocolate overdose?

Death by Chocolate Cookies

16 oz. semisweet chocolate chips, divided
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
optional--(2 cups chopped nuts, or 1 cup white chocolate chips)

1. Heat oven to 350

2. Melt 8 oz of the chocolate chips on low/medium heat in the microwave for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. When chocolate is smooth and melted, stir in the brown sugar, butter, eggs, and vanilla.

3. Add the flour and baking powder. Finally stir in the remaining chocolate chips and optional items.

4. Cool in the refrigerator or freezer to make more solid. (I discovered this the hard way after all my cookies were flat and spread out).

5. Drop by 1/4 cup (a cookie scoop works great for this) onto cookie sheet and bake for 12-13 minutes or until just set to the touch. Do not over bake. Cool on the sheet for one minute before transferring to a rack to cool.

Go here to see month 1's edition.

If You Give An Academic Some Free Time

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

If you give an academic some free time...
He's going to want to take a grad class.

And when he can't find a job,
He just might take another class.

When he discovers that ancient Hebrew is very difficult,
He'll form a study group or two.

And when he learns that Theology is fascinating,
He'll TA a class or two.

When the pain gets too intense to study,
He'll change his meds and increase his doctors' appointments.

But he won't take a semester off.
Even when he becomes a full-time dad of two.

And when he can't find babysitters,
He'll take the kids to class so they can become little Theologians.

And after eight long years of classes,
He'll be awarded with a Master's of Divinity.

After which, he may have some free time...
So he'll probably take another class.

Interior Decorating a la Flash

can anyone read all these great labels?

But wait! There's more!

His entire wall is now bordered by pictures such as these:



Sorry it's so big. But I had so show off all the great details. ;)

Marvelous Children's Book Monday: SuperHero ABC

I am taking a temporary break from "SpEd sucks in May" blogging hiatus to tell you about a fabulous book. A book so awesome that I used it to successfully bribe work out of the most brilliant student with whom I've ever worked.

Wow. Blogging breaks obviously make me verbose.

SuperHero ABC


How can you not love a Super Hero book in which "Bubble-Man blows big bubbles at bullies"?

Great alliteration. Great vocabulary. Great pictures.

Speech Therapy Ideas:
1. Work on targeted articulation sounds. You'll find them all in this book.

2. Work on slow smooth speech while reading or repeating. This is an especially useful task for children who struggle with stuttering.

3. Describe the pictures and all the comic book style details. Add your own ideas as to what the heroes could do (stick to the alliteration!).

4. Make up your own story with one of these heroes as the main character. Have fun!

Drowning

Drowning
in
meetings
and
evaluations.

Will
re-surface
ASAP.

Thanks
for
being
loyal
readers!


PS: Pray that you never, ever have to attend a double funeral for a parent and child. It is the most heart-wrenching thing ever. You may have bloodshot eyes for days, and therefore be questioned innumerable times "What's wrong?" by random individuals throughout your days.