Made it Monday.....(on a Thursday)

I know its Thursday but this was out Made it Monday activity this week.....Our class loves to play with little fidgety toys so our fabulous occupational therapist decided that she would have our students make their own stress balls!!! These are so easy and they are great for the teachers students to keep at their desk to use throughout the day. Here is how we made them: 

Supplies: 
-water bottle (top half)
-balloons
-play dough

This is so simple I promise :)

cup the top of the water bottle so it looks like this: 

next take the balloon and place it over the top of the water bottle

have the students roll small balls or snakes using the play oh and place them into the balloon 

  once the balloon is full of the play doh you can take it off and tie it closed

  now the students can use their stress ball :) 

We are always looking for fun OT activities to do with our students....if you have any suggestions please comment below :) 

Sunday Scoop 4/26

How is it already Sunday?!?!?! 

I have linked up with Teaching Trio for their Sunday Scoop Linky Party!!

*3 things I HAVE to do:

1. Finish up my lesson plans....I have them all planned out it is just that last step of typing and printing them out that I always seem to put off 

2. My husband is a director of a local gymnastics and day care center and they are having a booth at a local street fair and I offered to go and shop at some local vendors help him out 

Diamond Gymnastics

3. Laundry....the dreaded L word! I have let my clean clothes pile up and it is getting out of hand...I always find other more important things to do besides putting them away 

*2 things I HOPE to do:

1. I would love to find some time today to create and work on some of my TPT products that are still hanging out in my Working on folder

2. I have a love/hate relationship with Netflix...I am binge watching Dexter right now but it seems to be taking up a lot of my time....what Netflix shows have you binge watched lately? 

*1 thing I am HAPPY to do:

1. We are getting our backyard leveled out and a fence put up!!! I was so excited when I woke up this morning and heard all of the trucks and men working in my backyard! 

What are you up to on this beautiful Sunday??? Make sure to head on over to Teaching Trio to link up :) 

Schedule link up!

Hello!! We are linking up with Ashley  and Angie for their #2getherwearebetter monthly link up!

Being a self-contained special ed teacher (in a Title 1 school) my schedule is INSANE!!! No two days are ever the same and there are rare times throughout the week that I actually have my entire class at one time. I teach grades 3-5 and currently have 4 students who are all on different grade and ability levels. My students go our for mainstream specials, some mainstream core classes, OT, PT, speech, and counseling. It is crazy to keep track of everyones schedule. This is what my schedule looks like.......

 (sorry it is sort of cut off on the side I wanted it to be big enough so you could see :/ ) 

Every day I write the schedule on the board more for myself so I don't forget to send the students where they need to go....they are pretty good at reminding me when the time comes for them to leave the room :) Some of my students have their daily schedules on their desk as well as a picture schedule to help them get through their day.

The most challenging part of the schedules is when something has to change. It isn't so much the rescheduling that is the difficult part but talking to the students and getting them prepared for he change that is the tough part. My students know their schedule and they need this type of consistency in their daily lives.

How do you help your students deal with changes in their schedules? I would love to hear some of your ideas!