B is for Blogging

BLOGGING

The real reason I love to blog is that i have always envisioned myself as a columnist.  This format gives me a foundation for that dream.

nvisioned myself as a columnist.  This format gives me a foundation for that dream.

The capital letters are to show you how excited I am that I am part of a challenge where I must blog everyday for a month.  The title says educational journey and in my profile I list myself as a child of God, a teacher and writer.  All are a journey and sometimes they seem to be a challenge in and of themselves:

The stage of the journey is all about the letter B:

Boost:  I need the boost from A to Z challenge to write.

Book Reviews:  I love to read, and belong to a few book review sites.  In addition, this is an area that post reviews.

Blended lessons:  a few posts back I wrote that I would list some play dough lessons.  This is a huge challenge that I have placed on myself.

Bible:  There are several promises, people and reasons that I am learning about.  My current lessons are coming Jonah.

If you have some B’s you would like leave in the comments, PLEASE DO SO!!

A to Z challenge BEGINS (Actually on April 1)

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Auxiliary

       The first blog for the A-Z challenge and the title is Auxiliary.  The idea behind this title is that we all have a hobby that we especially enjoy doing and want to spend more time at it.

My auxiliary, my hobby is walking, not hiking.

       There are a number of individual who have different auxiliary aspects of their lives.  As a special educator, my auxiliary title (or would like to be) is educational technology person, not the tech person, but the person who helps people include ET in their classroom.

       A number of teachers view educational technology as a way to make their lessons fun.  While it does accomplish this purpose, it is not the main objective, at least not for me, educational technology provides a way for all children to access the grade level standards in some manner.

       All students have diverse needs that need to be addressed in order for them to access the curriculum.  Language learners have specific needs that they need to be addressed in order to access the curriculum.  A bilingual teacher is great, but this is not always an available resource.  Children with special needs do not always need to taken out of the classroom; they may need an adjustment in their curriculum.  The same is true for students who are culturally diverse and need their curriculum adjusted to fit their educational needs.

       A teacher does not always need another curriculum, but an AUXILIARY method to present their lessons so that allot the students can access the curriculum.

Play Doh© Lessons

       Today I walked and there were seven boxes from Amazon.com© containing various items from Play Doh©! We can really develop their handwriting, fine motor skills on a daily basis.

YEAH!

       These items were funded by various individual and Play Doh© corporation. I posted the project “Daily Workout for Fingers” on DonorsChoose.org in October and the final funding occurred on December 31, 2014. 

Developing handwriting skills involves more than just picking up a pen and making marks on a paper. It involves strengthening their fine motor skills, so that they can write creatively, paint, cut and put other artistic project without tiring their hands. It is much like training for a marathon.

       The items from this project will help me entice my students to:

 Improve their handwriting

 Strengthen their fine motor skills

 Inspire them to use these items to work on those skills during free time.

The project includes a lot, and I do mean a lot, of Play Doh ©. I was concerned that the various project would not have enough Play Doh© to complete this objective over a significant length of time.

       The project includes a lot, a lot of Play doh©, which is great because I was concerned that the various projects would not have enough Play Doh©. I do! Thanks to the donors, I have three boxes that contain 36 cans of various Play Doh©.  In addition, there are toys, cooking, trucks, tools and a book to help me with the lesson.  Over the next six weeks, I will be developing unit that include tactile lessons, fine motor lessons, endurance and improve their creative skills.

       Here are the highlights of the objectives that I will develop.  I will post the units in my Teacher store and will post lessons on this blog.

1.   Do Now Exercise:

2.   Scissors skills

3.   Eye Hand coordination

4.   Creative stories (writing and projects)

5.   iPad App

Included with the lessons will rituals and routines in order to prevent damage and loss of materials. These lessons will have specific objectives designed for student with development issues, specifically in the fine motor and tactile area. The lesson can also be used for student ages 2-8 years old.

       I hope you find the hints useful and the lessons worth the time to read this blog.

THIS YEAR WILL BE DIFFERENT!!!

My word for the year is INTEGRITY!

I am not a bad person, but I don’t follow through and I over commit myself to whatever I think will help me accomplish my gals.  However, because I over commit I don’t have the time to do a good job.

This year I will do all of the necessary things in order to straighten up.  In order to do this I will follow Fly lady’s golden rule.  Just do it for 15 minutes.

I have written out my SMART goals in my writer’s notebook.  The core of my resolutions is:

1.     Relationships

2.     Finances

3.     Maintain my health

a.     Exercise

b.     Eat healthy

4.     Keep my deadlines

5.     Schedule my writing time and keeping that appointment,

6.     Treat my writing as a job regardless as to whether or not I am getting paid.

7.     Find an agent

8.     Submit regularly

9.     Establish my blogs and stores

10. Stop saying and start doing

This year will be different because I need it to be different.  God will give me the strength to do what he has planned for me to complete and be successful!!

Oh Happy Days!!

I really like new beginnings, the first day of school, the first day of new year, the day of summer, my birthday.  All of these times represent new beginnings to me.

Proverbs 16:9  "We plan the way we want to live, but only GOD mess us able to live it."

Rick Warrens' Daily Hope message today was titled

 "The Three Things You Need to Reach Your Goals"

-God's Spirit to empower you

-God's word to guide you.

-God's people to support you

In fact most of the books I have read about starting a new way of living suggests that you have theses three things in place before you start the journey.   

Strength:

It takes strength, but only through God will this strength amount to anything; 

Manual

People say we need a manual to get through life, rules to follow and what to do when we need to do in order to resolve these problems. The Bible is a manual to help you through life.

Support System:

 Finally you need people who you trust and who will support you through this journey. These are people who you know to have the values, principles and lifestyle that you want to achieve for yourself.

Enter 2015

I know what to do, it is time to do it.  Let's discuss this again in June 2015.