The Autism Teacher: 2012

So I was tagged in another blog with the following directions, and being a rule-follower, I must comply :-)

Tell 7 things about myself
Tag 7 blogs I love and
Hope those bloggers continue passing on the "cyber-accolades"

First things first, seven things about Nicole:

1. I L.O.V.E. Elmo :-) Here is part of our bonus room:

2. My undergraduate degree is in music performance (I play clarinet and piano)

3. My husband and I have two dogs (mutts - Buffy and Faith) and a parrot (sun conure - Soleil)

4. I love to sing - I am known to frequently burst into random songs at any given time

5. I am an "amateur professional" photographer

6. I love, love, LOVE Kyoto Japanese hibachi restaurant in Loganville (they put BACON in their friend rice!)

7. I can (and often do) recite every line from every episode (maybe not *every* line but pretty darn close) from Friends, Seinfeld, and the Big Bang Theory ... as well as from the movies Bring It On, Miss Congeniality, The Jerk, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, My Fair Lady - there are probably others but I can't think of them right now LOL -- if I'm not singing a song in response to something random, I am probably quoting a TV show or movie in response LOL

And now, seven amazing special education blogs:

1. The blog in which I was tagged, MD Teacher's Space, is a brand new blog but I look forward to seeing what it becomes!

2. The mother and goddess of all special education blogs, of course, Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs

3. Ms. Rachel's Room

4. Special Classroom

5. Special Education Strategies and More

6. A Special Kind of Class

7. Eliminating the Box

This is a short and sweet post just to share a little glimpse of one moment in a day in Mrs. Mays's class. A moment that provides:

an opportunity to choose (have some control over their life - they choose what color cup they want and what they want to drink)
an opportunity to be independent
an opportunity to practice a skill

I've posted before about our lunchtime routine (here and here), and if you have read my blog then you probably know that I like to try to incorporate as many opportunities to work on daily living skills as I can throughout the day. One of the things we have been working on lately is pouring.

The pitchers that I use are from Lakeshore. I have one with white milk, one with chocolate milk, one with water and one with juice. After my students wash their hands, they come to the kitchen and pour themselves a drink. Some of my kiddos are quite adept at this skill already, others need assistance and lots of practice (hence the towel). Here's one of my expert pour-ers: