This week brings in the first day of SPRING! Can you believe it? I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I am so excited for warmer weather. Sunshine, lemonade, outdoor activities that
don’t require four layers! YAY! With spring though, comes spring cleaning. This not only applies to homes and personal spaces, but school work too! We need to make sure students have cleanly and cleary understood concepts we are teaching. For this #MotivationalMonday, I want to talk about a “neat” tip to incorporate more multisensory tools into classrooms and homes: always have a manipulative available! Whether it be pom poms, coins, chips, or even elkonin boxes, these materials are used to teach concepts through more than one of the senses for better retention! More about this on my Instagram this week, as well as my #TutorTipTuesday on the schwa over the second vowel.
The schwa over the second vowel is an important but sometimes confusing concept for students. It is the concept that dictates how words like “ribbon” and “phantom” are said. It is also an important aspect of learning to spell longer words due to the effect of stressed/unstressed syllables in English and how the words may sound differently than they are spelled. It is difficult to teach as it requires very advanced phonemic awareness skills that require the ability to discern different vowel sounds within the context of multisyllabic words. So, I will be talking about how to teach this in a way that I have found is most effective for students.
St. Patricks Day is this Wednesday! Don’t forget to wear your green! Here’s a fun fact for you: Leprechauns are one of the main reasons you're supposed to wear green on St. Patrick's Day! The tradition is tied to stories that say wearing green makes you invisible to leprechauns, which like to pinch anyone they can see. Make sure you warn your students beforehand about those pesky little guys!
This week’s #FunctionalFriday is a continuation of last week's social skills. However, this week will focus on social skills in online school/virtual learning. By this time, we have all experienced Google meet or Zoom school, and we all have different preferences for how it is used during class, but there are some manners that are universal in this type of learning environment that I want to make sure each student has access to!
● Sit where your device remains immobile (on a table or desk) and the camera is directly on your face.
● Lighting is best if it is behind the computer, not behind you (if possible).
● Respect your teacher and classmates while in an online session by not interrupting others.
● Make sure to dress appropriately for a class session.
● All students need to mute their mics, unless the teacher calls on you.
- Tip - move your cursor to the bottom of the screen to see the microphone
button
- When appropriate, raise your hand to the camera so the teacher can see that
you would like to say something/use the “raise hand” button!
● Limit background noise, so your teacher and classmates can hear you clearly when
you speak.
● Do not share your screen unless asked to or given permission to by your teacher.
● Keep your video on unless the teacher directs you to turn it off.
● Stay focused on your class and pay attention when others are speaking.
● Wear earbuds or a headset to mute household noise, if necessary.
● Do not make faces or exhibit other distracting behavior.
Have a great week!