New App! Zones of Regulation App!

I wanted to take a moment to highlight a FABULOUS, must-have app for both iOS and Android platforms to go with the curriculum, The Zones of Regulation!  The Zones of Regulation (2011 Social Thinking Publishing), written by OTR, Leah Kuypers is one of the very best resources I have found to work with students on emotional regulation.   The tools in this resource weave together concepts of Social Thinking  (Michelle Garcia Winner  – www.socialthinking.com), the Incredible 5 Point Scale (Kari Dunn-Buron & Mitzi Curtis – www.5pointscale.com), and elements of sensory integration, into a comprehensive program to teach emotional regulation to students.   Using a cognitive behavioral approach, students are able to learn to categorize their emotions and levels of alertness into 4 colored “Zones”.  Now, there is a mobile App to use to continue to reinforce skills learned!

The app was released last week and has an unbelievable price point of $4.99 as of the date of this blog post.    This app has it ALL!  Throughout the app, students of all ages learn to tools to manage different feelings  in each Zone, individualized “triggers” for particular Zones, and problem solving skills.  The app layout is a fun, interactive game to engage kids – teaching moments are interwoven throughout a game-interface where players can earn achievements, coins to earn extra “powers” or clothing for their characters, and challenges.    This week, I used it with a very “spirited” group of six 2nd and 3rd grade students under the Autism Spectrum umbrella, and this app has kept them engaged for daily social skills group 5 days this week!  This group can be a tough sell – but they have been excited to come back to group the next day!

Here is a link to the app at the iTunes App Store:  https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/the-zones-of-regulation/id610272864?mt=8

Here is a link to the Zones of Regulation website – if you do have this resource yet – put it at the top of your ordering list!

http://zonesofregulation.com

Here are some screen shots:    Get it TODAY!!!

Teach Kids to Ignore…the right way…

As you know, I have been working with kids on Attention/Focus skills – I wanted to highlight another tool I use with my elementary-age kiddos to teach them what “IGNORING” means.  I often find that many of my kids don’t really implicitly understand broad concepts such as, “Use nice words”, “Respect others”, or “Ignore please.”  I find myself needing to really concretely define what these concepts mean – in a way that literally describes what the concept “looks like, sounds like”, etc.  Much of my caseload is composed of students on the autism spectrum, kids with ADD/ADHD, etc – and they need this level of defining.  Simply asking them to “ignore” is too abstract for many of my kids to apply.  They are often the kids who struggle the most with maintaining attention and focus – yet they are also the same students who cause disruptions in the learning of their classmates.  So, I created this little PowerPoint for kids to help them understand in a very direct, concrete way, what “Ignoring” means – how to DO it, and when NOT to do it….

Here are some screen shots from this 13 slide PowerPoint and here is a link for you:  ignoring PPT for kids  Best wishes!  Jill

Self-Monitoring Distractor Blasters

Hey all – just a quick post today.  I wanted to share a sheet that I used with students recently to track how successful the use of a Distractor Blaster was for them.  Here is a picture of it, and the link to the document:  Distractor Blaster Self-Monitoring

Distracter Blasters!

As I mentioned in my previous post, many of my 4th and 5th grade students have been learning about managing their Attention and Focus skills.  In this post, I am sharing a resource I created to help students learn about ways to manage these distractions – I call them “DISTRACTER BLASTERS!”  In order to create even more excitment about these tools, we used one of those fun, stomp-air-rocket toys, where you stomp on a pedal and a rocket shoots out.  I borrowed one from my friendly OT, and used one that looks like this:

I created some pictures of various ideas for “Inside the Brain” Distracter Blasters, and “Outside the Brain” Distracto\er Blasters.  I spread the pictures out on the floor. As each child chose a picture, they described how the tool could be used to improve their attention, and what “kind” of Distracter type it would work for.  Then, they got to count down 5 to 1 and proclaim “Distracter Blaster!!!”  as they stomped on the air rocket (hoping to not injure a ceiling tile in my classroom).

Here are the Distracter Blasters:

Here is a link to the document:    Distractor Blasters

Have a great time Blasting Off with your students!  Watch the next post for a Self-Monitoring sheet for kids to determine if using a particular Distracter Blaster works for them.

Best wishes… Jill

Teaching Kids about Distractions

Lately I have worked quite a bit with my elementary students to teach them about how to improve their Attention & Focus skills.    I have focused on my 4th and 5th grade students – and this has been quite the under-taking!

Like all skills, I wanted to help my students understand what distracters were – then progress toward having them identify what kinds of distracters may be more prevalent for them individually.   I taught them about “outside the brain distracters” - environmental influences on their learning,  and “inside the brain distracters” – cognitive or emotional influences on attention to learning.

We have done several activities surrounding this topic.  Here, I am posting a document with 3 parts:  1)  Definition of the Types of Distracters, 2) a self-reflection sheet for kids to identify which specific elements may influence their ability to attend, and 3)  some game cards to discriminate between “inside the brain” and “outside the brain” distracters.  The link is at the end of this blog post.

First, we explored the definitions of these two distracter types, with page 1 of the linked attachment.  We talked about examples from each category, and brainstormed our own examples.

Then, I enlisted the help of a much-loved game in my classroom, “What’s in Ned’s Head.”  If you are not familiar with this game – there are countless uses!  Here is a link to the game on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Fundex-2460-Whats-Neds-Head/dp/B000096RFF 

We used this game to discriminate between the distracter types.  Here is how my Ned’s head looked as we explored our Distracter Types:

On the file attached below, you will see that on the 3rd page, you cut out the Distracter examples, and if the example is an “inside the brain” distracter, the kids shove that little paper right into Ned’s nostril or ear!  If it is an “outside the brain” example, we taped it right to the outside of his head.  This was a ton of fun for the kids!

Finally, we used the 2nd page of the attachment for each student to think about what specifically distracts them at school.  I also asked each child to take this sheet home and ask their parent(s) and siblings in their home what are some “inside” and “outside” distracters that impact them at work, school, etc.

So-  here is a link to the full PDF document:  Distractor Types

In an upcoming post, I will share some ideas to teach kids about “Distracter Blasters!”  Best wishes…. Jill

New Workshop for 2012-2013: Executive Function Skills!

Hey all – I have been researching, reading, writing, and working on my newest workshop.  Here it is:

NEW!  Facing the Frontal Lobe:  Strategies to Support Executive Function Skills in Students with Planning, Organization, Emotional Control, Working Memory and Attention Needs.  (6.5 hours)

Executive function skills have come to the forefront in the world of education.  Recent research suggests a strong correlation between students’ executive functioning their academic success.  It also has been noted that deficits in executive functioning results in difficulty with organization, time management and task completion, problem solving, on-task behaviors and social interactions.

Participants in the workshop will explore the impact of Executive Functioning on student learning and social interaction.  The workshop is designed for all educators as attention is given to those skills needed by kindergarten through middle school students to be successful in a general and special education classroom.  Participants will learn about the five domains of cognitive skills and will be given resource ideas and strategies that are designed to support strong cognitive skills in students.  The strategies presented focus on skills that promote effective organization and time management, task completion, independent work, student goal setting and accountability.  Additionally, the intervention ideas also provide a foundation to assist student self-monitoring, impulse control and emotional management.    Jill is widely known for her energetic presentation style and for providing teaching ideas that are user-friendly and immediately applicable in the classroom.

If interested in checking my calendar for a workshop for your group, check out the tab on this site called, Jill’s Presentations. 

Angry Birds Articulation Games

Hello all – well, I am just coming off of the most un-fun spring break ever!  Yet, it was quite productive around the house.  Lets just say…. a lot of money was spent at The Container Store, and my closets look a whole lot happier.

I DID have some cleaning avoidance behavior this week though, and spent some time creating some articulation game boards with a good ‘ol Angry Birds twist!  I hope you enjoy them! – Jill

Angry Birds K & G sound Articulation Gameboard

Angry Birds L Sound Articulation Gameboard

Angry Birds S Sound Articulation Gameboard

St. Pattys Day Resources for SLPs

Hello all – well, St. Patrick’s Day is coming up and that means this week will be filled with all kinds of fun shammrock-rainbow-leprachan-themed fun.   I am quite Irish – my maiden name is McNamee - how much more Irish can you get with a “Mc-” name?  So, given my educator blog following addiction, I thought I would highlight some bloggers ad resources I have found in the past couple of weeks that have some great-and free – resources for SLPs to use this week.  Make sure to check out the blogs these resources came from – many of these fabulous teachers regularly create free resources, and have other resources available on teacher-sale sites like Teachers-Pay-Teachers or Teachers Notebook, etc. 

Hope you enjoy these this week! 

The blog, Playing with Words 365, has some great free activities to go with the book, There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover, by Lucille Colandro and Jared D. Lee.   Blog author, Katie, has created resources targeting re-telling skills with a re-telling necklace, and a game, “Feed the Old Lady”, and direction following skills with a barrier game.  To access these resources, visit her blog here by clicking on the link above, and scroll down to find her blog posts with these resources.  As of right now, they are the 1st, 2nd and 5th titles on her front page.  Just click on the post title, and it will take you to here resources.

Open-Ended St. Patty’s Day GameBoards & Re-telling Shamrock: Lisa from the blog, LiveSpeakLove, has created some fun activities – get them at this blog link:

http://livespeaklove.com/2012/03/06/more-st-pattys-day-fun/

 

Leprechaun Homophone Concentration Game:  Blogger, Mrs. Thiessen, has created this concentration game….Click on this link to get the game:

Leprechaun Homophone Concentration

LUCKY Bingo Games Packet:  The blog, Prepared-Not-Scared, shared a packet of super cute Bingo cards with St. Patty’s themed graphics and cards for calling:  Click here to get the game:

Lucky Bingo Game Packet

Syllable Sort for 1-2-3 Syllable Words:  Laura Martin from Peace, Love and First Grade,  shares a syllable sort game with cards containing 1-2-3 syllable words and a recording sheet for students.  Click here to get the game:

Searching for Shamrocks Syllable Sort

St. Patty’s Day themed crafts:   Here are a couple crafts that you could probably pull-off in a 20 minute speech-language session:

Paint Sample Shamrock:  http://www.childcarelandblog.com/2012/03/paint-chip-shamrocks.html

Bell-Pepper Shamrock Painting:  http://www.allkidsnetwork.com/crafts/st-patricks-day/bell-pepper-shamrock-craft.asp

Multiple Meaning Words, Evaluating Logic, Problem Solving/Inferencing, Sequencing:  One my very favorite blogs is written by Jenna Rayburn over at Speech Room News.  Jenna offers tons of FREE, creative activities for SLPS. In this blog post, she has created 4 activities for upper elementary aged students for St. Patty’s Day!  Click on her link here, and scroll down through the pictures and you will see a link to download all the activities:

http://speechroomnews.blogspot.com/2012/02/st-pattys-for-upper-elementary.html

WEBSITES – All St. Patty’s themed!  Another great blog, Technology Rocks Seriously, creates a blog with links to tons of websites related to the current holiday or season.  This list features websites with interactive stories, mad libs for St. Patty’s Day, a themed MahJong game, a word find, cross-word, Find the 4 Leaf Clover game, Shamrock Sudoku, Catch a Patty (like Whack a Mole), Spot the Difference, and many more! 

WH St. Patty’s Day Gameboard AND Guess the Leprechaun Game for auditory processing practice:  “Miss Speechie” over at the blog, Speech Time Fun, has shared a free WH Gameboard and a really fun game to work on auditory processing called, Guess the Leprechaun.  Click on these links to download the PDF files:

WH question St. Patty’s Day board game

Guess the Leprechaun

“Go For the Gold!  Adjective Game, and WH Question Game:  Another great resource from the Speech Time Fun blog!  Click on this web link for these two fun games…check out the other great, free resources on this SUPER blog written by “Miss Speechie”

http://speechtimefun.blogspot.com/2012/02/go-for-gold.html

Once again…I hope you enjoy these resources from fellow bloggers!  Be sure to check out the other great resources they offer on their websites.  Have a GREAT week!  To my fellow Minnesota pals – It is hitting 70 degree this week   Enjoy!

- Jill

One Million!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YEAH! Yipee!! Weeha!   My website has now had over 1,000,000 hits as of TODAY!!!!!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you to the many personal and professional folks that have supported social/emotional work with kids!  Just about 3 1/2  years ago, I started this little web venture.  I started speaking and presenting locally about 5 years ago and folks would continually ask me to email them documents that I spoke about.  Finally, I decided that if I just posted them online, they would be easier to get access to.  Now, three years later I have been honored to be invited to speak to many audiences across the country as well as all over my home state of Minnesota.  Over the past few years, I have met so many wonderful new colleagues, educators, families, and fellow bloggers.  Thank you so very much for accessing my site and all the stellar work you do!  I want to offer a special thanks to my fabulous husband, Bryan, and our 2 sons.  Bryan does so much to inspire me, support my crazy travels to speak, and pick up the slack around home when I am spending hours on my laptop at night.  Thank you to my family…

My goal has always been – and ALWAYS will be – to share teaching  resources, inspire educators, and collaborate to meet social/emotional communication needs of children.   I am truly humbled by the thousands of folks who subscribe and follow this site.  Thank you so very much…. Jill

Teaching Kids about Change – Using the 5 Point Scale

Good evening everyone!  I wanted to share a couple of more resources I have used when teaching kids about Handling Change!.  You may have seen a recent post with a PowerPoint lesson for kids I shared called, “A Kid’s Guide to Understanding and Handling Change.”  In these new resources, I use the fabulous 5 Point Scale (Kari Dunn-Buron & Mitzi Curtis – http://www.5pointscale.com/).  

The 5 Point Scale is  a wonderful tool I incorporated to this topic to help kids understand what “SIZE” of a change they might be facing.  This tool helps kids “quantify” and compartmentalize what might constitute a small change versus a bigger, life-altering change.  Remember, many kids with social/emotional challenges have difficulty seeing the “grays”, and the exceptions to the rule.  They are “all-or-none” folks.  These kids perceive situations and feelings as exaggerated and “huge or intense” much of the time.  Many times they need a concrete, visual tool that breaks down information in a way that they can process. 

There are two documents here:

1) A worksheet to help kids think about what “Expected” Changes they encounter, versus “Unexpected Changes”.

Click here:  Change Worksheet 

2)  A two-page document using the 5 Point Scale.  The first page has a graph of the 5 Point Scale and some operational definitions of each SIZE of change, with some examples.   There is a section for kids to record some of their own personal examples for each size.  The second page is a page with just the definitions.  Now, keep in mind that I have kind of systematically tried to “define” each type of change.  Of course, these definitions are not written in stone, nor are they the Gospel.  But, I wanted to provide something concrete for my students to wrap their heads around.

Click here:  Change 5 Pt Scale

When CHANGES occur in your classroom, or even for book characters, read aloud characters, etc – stop and take a moment to review the 5  Point Scale provided here and ask your students, “What size change is this?”  “Was this an expected or unexpected change?”, “Do you think this change is welcome or unwelcome?”.  Using this visual and asking these questions during langauge arts work and read aloud time can help to transfer some of the social/emotional learning points into other aspects of the child’s school day.

Enjoy!  – Jill