New Thoughts about Organizing

My friends know that one of my weaknesses is anything new under the sun that comes out in print about organizing.  When I work with students on becoming more independent in organizing their materials, desks and backpacks they look at me like I'm a crazy woman, especially when I have them follow the steps in a flip-book we create of photos of their own desk as they work through the organizing process.

So, this article is pure "eye candy" and "creative fuel" for nuts like me:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/23/garden/home-organization-advice-from-marie-kondo.html

Think there will be lots of applications to helping students and friends at school and at home.

The last sentence is my favorite one of the article.  Sadly, I can't throw every scrap of paper away--at work or at home--but I can toss out quite a bit more than I have so far.

LiveBinders

Another blog post on ScoutieGirl.com by one of my technology colleagues, Barbara:

http://www.scoutiegirl.com/bind-it-with-livebinders/#comment-54341

If you need some digital organization in your life and you don't mind looking at a computer screen to achieve it, you might try her suggestions.  She's a wonderful writer and is loving writing for a larger audience via this Richmond-based blogging team, I hear.

Listening to Birdies Singing

One of my colleagues, who is a teacher for students with visual impairments, took this bird song/call quiz with one of her middle school students. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dedfpN1fZnI&list=TLr1qLLxvv6Ew

Her student LOVED it.

My friend explained that many people with visual impairments are attracted to bird "watching" since they often have well-tuned auditory skills which allow them to locate and identify birds.  Since I have such difficulty visually locating the birds I hear maybe I should hone my auditory discrimination skills and learn their calls/songs. 

Touchy Math

One of my teacher buddies (thx, Jennifer M!) created these touchy math & geometric shapes about 4 years ago, and they're still going strong!  They have Velcro on the back to make it easy to attach them to a grabby-fabric background. 

I think I can find some willing students to help me make more of these for kids in other schools I serve.  Nothing beats making shapes out of Wikki Stix, thinking you're just having fun, while your sneaky OT is having you work on spatial, motor planning and fine motor skills. 

Dental Care and Kids with Autism

Thx to AOTA for sending along this very helpful article:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/20/for-children-with-autism-opening-a-door-to-dental-care/?_r=0

I frequently have families and teachers ask me how to help students cope with the fine motor and/or sensory difficulties associated with toothbrushing.  However, visiting the dentist is a huge undertaking and many students don't receive the care they need because of their difficulties with the sounds, smells and other aspects of the dentist's office. 

Technology, Kids, Healthy Relationships, Schools

A work buddy told me about an upcoming presentation at a local school this week but, alas, I can't possibly stay awake long enough to attend and drive safely home.   So, what do inquiring yet drowsy minds do instead--they watch the presenters via YouTube videos.

Here's one about keeping kids psychologically healthy in the digital age:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC78N44QNP4   It makes me want to serve only slow-cooked organic food, keep only wooden toys in the classrooms and hug everyone to make sure they feel loved.  I don't mean this in a sarcastic way.


Here's one about making classrooms interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qlYGX0H6Ec

When my daughter was old enough to sit in a highchair I used to turn on Sesame Street as background music so I could learn songs to sing to her while she slowly ate her pureed peas.  When I noticed that my six-month-old was staring at the screen I completely dimmed the b/w picture so we only had sound.  She returned to looking at her silly mommy and bopped around in her highchair as I sang, "C is for cookie, it's good enough for me."  She's quite a good singer today and I'm thankful for those times of talking and singing, with no visuals to compete with our face-to-face bonding. 

Improving My Mind Along the Way

This school year I'm back at many of my former schools, which are quite a distance away from home. That means--audiobooks are underway!

Years ago I read the entire Hunger Games trilogy via audiobook and they were fantastic.  Let's see what's wonderful this year.  So far the best is the first Harry Potter; what an amazing narrator!

Any recommendations???