Pinterest Find :: Toys for Vestibular Development

The other day, I came across this awesome blog post from The Inspired Treehouse. Now, I'm most definitely not an Occupational Therapist, but I feel like sometimes teachers come to me thinking that I am! It's probably because our poor OT friends are often stretched so thin and across so many buildings that they aren't always around every time a teacher has a question. That being said, I try to at least have SOME idea of some strategies I can recommend for teachers to try until I can consult with our OT and make sure I'm not just making things up!

Which is why I was very excited when I found this post discussing the best toys for helping kids develop their Vestibular System! At our school, we have several students with Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, or other sensory difficulties. One of major areas they need extra support is with movement (usually needing more of it!). This post is actually written by OT's (which means they know significantly more than I can pretend to know!). It's one I bookmarked right away and will refer teachers to next time I have a question about a movement-seeking kiddo.

Check it out here!

Pinterest Find :: Student Self-Reflection Report Card

The other day, I came across this awesome student reflection page by Inspire Me, ASAP! I'm always looking for ways to help students gain awareness over their actions as well as insight into their strengths and weaknesses. I love that this is cute, brief, and provides a visual indicator rather than a number scale. My younger students do so much better with pictures! Want to add it to your toolbox? Click the images below to get them for free!

Enjoy!

Pinterest Find :: Teacher Discounts

 

If you're anything like me, winter break is a great time to sleep in, relax, and also do lots of shopping! If you've got some last minute gifts to pick up for this holiday season, make sure to check out this awesome blog post I found on Pinterest. It contains TONS of stores that offer teacher discounts. A few of them I knew about (Michael's, Office Depot, etc.), but there were several others that surprised me (Dollar Tree, Target, Banana Republic!)

Pinterest Find :: Interrupting Chicken Activities

At our school book fair last year, I bought a great book called The Interrupting Chicken. It's become a favorite of several of my students, so I'm always looking for more activities I can use when we read it! So imagine my excitement as I perused the boards at Pinterest and found a free activity pack!

It contains activity pages as well as some colored chicken cards that can be used to remind students not to blurt out during class. I'm thinking something like, put 3 chickens up on the board at the beginning of the day and if there's at least one left at the end of the day, you'll play a class favorite song or let them do a fun activity? Something along those lines!



Happy Saturday!

*Note* Photos in this post are from Happy Teacher Happy Kids. They are not my own!

Pinterest Find :: Bucket Fillers vs. Bucket Dippers

One of the things my school has done each year is read "Have You Filled A Bucket Today," by Carol McCloud to the younger grades. "Filling a Bucket," not being a "Bucket Dipper," and such are now common language across the grade levels and it has definitely helped kids to be able to separate friendly from unfriendly actions.

Which is why I was really excited to find a Bucket Filler vs. Bucket Dippers headers by 3rd Grade Thoughts and word sort by 1st Grade Fanatics on Pinterest. Often, I have students list examples of "Bucket Fillers" and "Bucket Dippers," but having words to choose from would really help some of the younger students get started.



The best part of both these products? They're FREE!!  So go grab them while you can!

*Note* Photos in this post are from 3rd Grade Thoughts and 1st Grade Fanatics. They are not my own!

Fun Freebie :: You're a Smart Kid: Multiple Intelligence Posters for Kids

I don't know about you, but I find myself talking to kids all the time who feel like failures because they don't think they're as "smart" as their classmates or siblings. In these times, I often talk about how some kids are really good at some things and other kids are really good at others, but I always wish I had some sort of visual or other "proof" that I'm not just making something up to help them feel better!

Then I recently came across this awesome freebie on Pinterest. It was created by Susan Morrow and is available in her TpT store. It includes 9 posters based on Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences. Here's what Susan says about them:

"Every child is smart in a number of ways, but they often only think of kids who excel in academics as smart. Refer to the posters often in the classroom when doing different types of activities. It’s fun when you are studying biographies of famous people to talk about the different types of intelligence they demonstrate.
I hope you enjoy these posters as much as I enjoyed making them. Keep 'em Thinking!"

Thanks for an awesome product, Susan. I've already printed them all out and can't wait to laminate and hang them in my room!

Pinterest Find :: Organization Binder Printables

Last weekend, I came across this awesome website on Pinterest! It's called DIY Home Sweet Home and contains tons of free pages you can download and print to create an organization binder. Many of them are specific for home use, but a bunch of them could be used for school or work use as well! She did such a great job!

I especially loved these:



Note: all photos on this post are from DIY Home Sweet Home. I didn't take any of them!

Pinterest Find :: What Kids With Autism Want You to Know

In honor of Autism Awareness month, I wanted to find some great suggestions for working with students with Autism. I don't know about you, but I personally find Autism to be such a complicated diagnosis. As a social worker, I've worked with tons of kids with Autism but unfortunately, what works with one doesn't always work with the others, which I think is part of what makes this particular diagnosis so difficult for me. There's nothing more frustrating than watching a student be frustrated, upset, or uncomfortable while we troubleshoot a couple days (or weeks) of strategies to help them!

Which is why I really like this article. It doesn't offer a "do this, don't do that," of specific strategies, but reminds us of some of the common threads that unite all kids with Autism. It reminds us of their difficulties, but also that they're not always as different from other students as they may appear. Definitely a great reminder for me this week!

On another note, if you're looking for a great organization to financially support, I'd highly recommend Autism Speaks or DonorsChoose. They're both doing awesome things to help students with special needs!

Pinterest Find :: Free Movie Clips

Ever been in that moment when you've got a super visually-oriented or antsy group? (I know....NEVER, right?) I don't know about you, but I just don't have the time or memory to scale youtube or my own personal movie stash looking for a clip to demonstrate what I'm teaching.

Which is why I was very excited when I came across this movie clips website recently on Pinterest! You can sort by traditional movie topics such as editor, genre, actor, or my personal favorite....THEME!

From there, they have topics such as:

- Character- Aggression
- Grief
- Betrayal
- Compromise
- Distrust
- Equality
- Listening

and TONS more.

Now, I do have a disclaimer: not all clips are appropriate for all ages (obviously - this is Hollywood, people!), so make sure to preview anything you play for your students and/or obtain appropriate parent permission if necessary.

I've already used tons of clips and my students have loved them!

Hopefully this will help put a little spark in your lessons :)

Pinterest Find :: Free Guided Journal Pages

Oh man...it's not often I come across something I am THIS excited about! Christie Zimmer from Grace is Overrated made these amazing guided journal pages complete with hand-drawn borders and doodles, thought-provoking prompts, and inspirational quotes. She also has a ton of cute note cards, pocket-sized journal pages, and an Etsy Shop as well!

Pages are available in black and white, color, and with and without borders! And the best part?  You can download them for free here!



I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Happy Tuesday :)

Pinterest Find :: Free Printable Monograms

I am SO SO SO SO excited about this website I just came across! It offers 3 different monogram designs in several different color options for FREE!

I had a few glitches on a Mac when I first tried to make mine, but then I noticed in the comments that people recommended using Adobe Acrobat instead of Preview on a Mac. This solved my problem and POOF, I now have a super cute monogram cover for one of my binders at school.

Happy Sunday, indeed!

Pinterest Find :: Silly Sludge

Holy cow...I found this recipe on Pinterest today and COULDN'T resist posting it. If I had everything in my house I needed, I'd be making it right now....yes...on a Sunday night! I'm pretty sure my mom used to make this with me as a child. If I remember correctly, it can kinda smell a bit strange (I mean, it's basically glue!), so maybe add a drop of an essential oil or vanilla extract or something and see if it smells better?

This is going to be awesome for my kids that use putty to calm down or for some of my kiddos with sensory needs. A tiny silly putty egg just is NOT enough for them!

Recipe Update: it calls for 1/4 cup of water several times. I've used about a 3/4 full 1/4 cup measure and that worked much better!

Pinterest Find :: Discipline Without Shame

I love Pinterest for the creative, crafty, organizational things, but I also love it because it gives me the chance to stumble across interesting blogs and articles I wouldn't normally get to read.  I was really excited when I found this blog post - it highlights so many of the points I try to make to teachers when we're brainstorming how best to help a tricky kid. I especially love the "not taking things personally." As a teacher (or parent), the moment a child "loses it" or starts to challenge us, it is REALLY hard not to! Even though this post was written originally for toddlers, I think school staff could take a lot from it!

I would summarize it for you, but it probably wouldn't do the original justice, so head on over there and give it a read!

Pinterest Find :: Time Out Bottle

I came across this the other day and I think it just a fantastic idea! These bottles are very easy to make, and you can get full directions here. Basically, you fill plastic bottles with fun things. Then, when a child needs to calm down, they take the bottle with them and remain in time out until the glitter settles to the bottom. I don't currently have children of my own, but when I do, I'm definitely using this idea! I just love them for so many reasons:

1) Watching the glitter fall is soothing and encourage a child to calm down who is in a time out (which should really be the point anyway!)

2) If they shake the bottle or get impatient, the glitter mixes up again and will take longer to all setting to the bottom

3) They're made of plastic and won't break on the ground when dropped or thrown (can't say the same for other time out timers!)

Pinterest Find :: Printable Game Boards

I came across this today and got SO EXCITED! I've always strayed away from making lots of social skills games because of the whole board issue...now I won't have to! Printable boards, are you serious!?

Well, this website has all kinds of good ones: Candyland, Monopoly, Chess, Checkers, and several others. I guess I don't have an excuses anymore!