Hi LINKS!
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! I know that I am most certainly counting down to Christmas break right now, and I am absolutely sure that you all are too! It's almost here!
This week we started the Temple Grandin video. You all seemed to enjoy it a lot, as I knew you would! Choir girls, you will be missing this next week so I need you to sign up to take the DVD home to watch. Come see me and we will make a plan. I need you to be caught up for the second part of the movie on Wednesday.
One of the coolest things about Temple Grandin is her ability to voice what it is like to have autism. So many people that I have worked with are never able to do that. For someone of her incredible intelligence to be able to tell us what is going on inside and how certain things make people feel is a huge step toward advocating and helping anyone with autism. This is one thing that has made her so well-known around the autism community. You all will see how this comes to be toward the end of the movie.
I want you to be able to see the real Temple Grandin and hear (read) her words. She is most certainly an interesting woman with an opinion about how things should be. Please read this article here. It was done right before her movie came out and I think it does a great job of introducing some of her main talking points. It also gives us a good glimpse into her head. Next week I will have you watch a video of her being interviewed. You will see how well Claire Danes portrays her in the movie.
Switching topics: on Monday we will be heading off on our field trip to Ottawa Area Center. I am SO excited for you to experience a school like this. I believe many of you will absolutely fall in love with it. Others of you will feel uncomfortable, and that's okay!
Everyone who works with people with disabilities has their own special niche. Working with the more severe happens to be an area of special education that I love. Other teachers prefer to be in a resource room or in a different type of environment.
My main point in bringing you out to OAC is to show you one other type of capacity that there is for people with disabilities and the opportunity to work with them. The OAC is special in the fact that everyone who goes to school there has a disability. They have their own speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapist, and so many more types of workers housed right there in the building! It's awesome to see.
Don't forget to get your permission slips in to me before Monday, or you will not be able to go. How sad would that be? Also, part of your homework for this week is to come up with 3 questions that you could ask the teachers and guides for the day.
I want this to be a great learning experience for you and asking questions is a huge part of the learning process! No question is a bad question! Also, if you think of some more or different questions while we are at OAC, that is just fine! I just want you to be prepared to ask one (or more!).
Finally, enjoy the video posted at the bottom of this blog! We talked a lot about bullying and acceptance over the past week and I think this video is just adorable. It plays into two of my most favorite things: Special Education and International Adoption. This sister just gets it, and I love that. A special thanks to former LINK, Marissa Hooker for sending me this video! I hope you all consider doing the same thing once you are done with the class! (Silent tear).
Have a wonderful weekend, LINKS. Looking forward to Monday!
Mrs. VanLaan
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving break! I know that I am most certainly counting down to Christmas break right now, and I am absolutely sure that you all are too! It's almost here!
This week we started the Temple Grandin video. You all seemed to enjoy it a lot, as I knew you would! Choir girls, you will be missing this next week so I need you to sign up to take the DVD home to watch. Come see me and we will make a plan. I need you to be caught up for the second part of the movie on Wednesday.
One of the coolest things about Temple Grandin is her ability to voice what it is like to have autism. So many people that I have worked with are never able to do that. For someone of her incredible intelligence to be able to tell us what is going on inside and how certain things make people feel is a huge step toward advocating and helping anyone with autism. This is one thing that has made her so well-known around the autism community. You all will see how this comes to be toward the end of the movie.
I want you to be able to see the real Temple Grandin and hear (read) her words. She is most certainly an interesting woman with an opinion about how things should be. Please read this article here. It was done right before her movie came out and I think it does a great job of introducing some of her main talking points. It also gives us a good glimpse into her head. Next week I will have you watch a video of her being interviewed. You will see how well Claire Danes portrays her in the movie.
Switching topics: on Monday we will be heading off on our field trip to Ottawa Area Center. I am SO excited for you to experience a school like this. I believe many of you will absolutely fall in love with it. Others of you will feel uncomfortable, and that's okay!
Everyone who works with people with disabilities has their own special niche. Working with the more severe happens to be an area of special education that I love. Other teachers prefer to be in a resource room or in a different type of environment.
My main point in bringing you out to OAC is to show you one other type of capacity that there is for people with disabilities and the opportunity to work with them. The OAC is special in the fact that everyone who goes to school there has a disability. They have their own speech therapists, occupational therapists, physical therapist, and so many more types of workers housed right there in the building! It's awesome to see.
Don't forget to get your permission slips in to me before Monday, or you will not be able to go. How sad would that be? Also, part of your homework for this week is to come up with 3 questions that you could ask the teachers and guides for the day.
I want this to be a great learning experience for you and asking questions is a huge part of the learning process! No question is a bad question! Also, if you think of some more or different questions while we are at OAC, that is just fine! I just want you to be prepared to ask one (or more!).
Finally, enjoy the video posted at the bottom of this blog! We talked a lot about bullying and acceptance over the past week and I think this video is just adorable. It plays into two of my most favorite things: Special Education and International Adoption. This sister just gets it, and I love that. A special thanks to former LINK, Marissa Hooker for sending me this video! I hope you all consider doing the same thing once you are done with the class! (Silent tear).
Have a wonderful weekend, LINKS. Looking forward to Monday!
Mrs. VanLaan