August 1, 2012

Comments Count!!! The August Reveal!!!!

It is August 1st and you know what that means!!! Time to “reveal” how many comments were made this month !!! This month I chose to have my Comments for a Cause go to my sister in law-Colleen!!! I don’t think she even knows it so how surprised is she going to be tomorrow when I give her a check for ………..????????? Colleen is a special education teacher in Ohio and every year she puts in hundreds of dollars of her own money to ensure that her students have the best possible experience. For one student it meant buying small packs of Legos and for each task that was accomplished or good behavior he was awarded a piece until he got a complete toy to put together. How ingenius is that??? My father in law always used to help out a bit at the beginning of the year by giving her a little bit of cash to help her get supplies that she needed that were not in the school budget. Since he passed away last August my husband and I are going to carry on that tradition and with your generous comments this past month ( 289 to be exact) we will be giving her a neatly rounded up $150.00 to get her year started! Thank you all!

As always I get all excited about my new “cause” and this month is no exception!!! I was looking for another school related project and wanted something local to support. After surfing around the internet a bit I remembered a website —DonorsChoose.org that I had visited before when another teacher friend had a wish for something for her classroom. A quick search and I found a teacher right here in Mason City who had a profile and a project request for a tablet to use with her special education students!!!!!! I was beyond excited!!! I did a little digging and found an email address and Mrs. Amanda Hill and I have been exchanging emails back and forth and I am so thrilled that “she” is going to be my Comments for a Cause this month!!! She even sent me a couple of pictures of herself (how cute is she???) and of her classroom!!!!!

We even did a little interview so you could learn more about her! The great thing is that not only can you comment on my blog anytime on any post during August you can also go here (just click on the underlined highlighted link) and help her out directly by donating through DonorsChoose to her project!!! Maybe with all of us we will be able to fully fund her project !!! I will donate 50 cents for each legitimate comment on any post on my blog during the month of August to DonorsChoose for this project. Thanks so much for always commenting and supporting my efforts to reach beyond my own world into the world of others. I have the best blog followers in the world and am so grateful for each and every one of you.

Below please read what this super teacher has to say about herself, her students and the job that she loves! Thanks, Amanda, for letting us support you!

This fall will be my second year of teaching. As they like to say, I am the young and energetic generation ready for challenges.

I like to think I have one of the best jobs in the world being a special education teacher. I have had many people come up to me and say they are glad I am doing this job because they could never do it. It always catches me off guard because I see it as a privilege to work with these various students. Everyday is rewarding for me. It is the little things like the students coming in my room every morning smiling to that moment when they have understood something. Even when a student is having a bad day, it is rewarding to be there to help them through it and to see them in the next 5 minutes or next day smiling again. Everyday I come home from my job no matter how great or awful it was and can think of things of how the students made it great. Each day I am given a challenge and every day bring something new. One particular story that I can think of is last year, the parents of one of my students came in for conferences and wanted to tell me about how happy they were. Every morning their child gets out of the car and came running up into my room and smiling (remembering that this is 7th grade). The said previous years he would not want to get out of bed to go to school. I was really touched by this because I did not think I was doing any extraordinary for this student.

I will use the tablet to help teach my students in reading, writing, math, social skills, and behavior skills. The first reason I want to use it is because students love it! A tablet keeps students from getting frustrated because it keeps a student’s attention longer by keeping them engaged. This in the long run helps the student learn. I would be able to get various apps on the tablet to help meet the needs and different learning styles of every student in the academic areas. The students would be able to make their own videos to help the students with social skills and behavior skills. The videos would allow students to watch themselves to see how they need to act in specific situations. There are quick and great incentives, such as games, built in on the tablet to help keep students motivated. Most important it removes some obstacles because students can take this tablet into the general education setting to use to take notes, have the notes in front of them on the tablet to follow along when a teacher is lecturing, and use it to communicate.

I started last year out with 6 students and ended with 9. I will start this year out with 9 students. They all are 7th graders. I am the cognitive special education teacher so I have level 2 an level 3 students. Typically, resource teachers have level 1 students. The students I work usually have multiple disabilities and personal needs. Some examples include Autism and Brain injuries. My students will have classes out in the general education setting, but not all are there for academics. Some go to the classes for social skills. The students range from functioning at a kindergarten level to a fourth grade levEl

I married my high school boyfriend (well, kind of, we dating throughout high school but he went to a different school in the same town) last year. I have started working on my Masters in Education because I want to continue to learn to be able to help my students. I like to spend my free time watching movies, outside reading in the sun, and on Pinterest.