Here is another task that is helpful for visual recognition. Students place pictures of various items to the business that it matches. I simply used a poster board and went around our town taking pictures and placing them all around the board. I chose one item that you can only find at that particular place for them to match. This activity is good for them so that they know more about the area businesses and what they provide.

Wow! I haven't posted in awhile. I have been so busy, but with the new school year approaching I am looking into developing some new tasks for the students to help with their vocational time. I am working on other tasks to reinforce core curriculum as well. Here is just a sample of one of the ideas. This meal prep task helps the student to learn choices when creating a meal plan and how to make a list to go with those choices for shopping. I simply saved a few frozen food trays and made copies of various foods to choose from. This is also great for sorting our main dishes and sides or taking it a step further and having them tell what food group each item would belong. Looking forward to more posts soon!

Domino Math

What a great hands on way to teach math basics! There are other great printable pages on this site as well as leads to other educational sites. http://firstgradeschoolbox.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-01-03T16%3A51%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=7

Apps for IEP's

I really like the following site because it shows apps that are specific for IEP goals. We are having success with the iPad in our classroom and showing specific apps like this should be very helpful in reaching each students goal. http://techinspecialed.com/appy/iep.php

St. Patrick's Day

Getting some ideas ready for St. Patrick's Day when I came across some fun green treat recipes at the following blog site. Being in a lifeskills classroom, we look for recipes to make with the kids and add some fun things to do during the holidays. I could go for any of these!

http://www.chickabug.com/blog/2012/02/green-recipes-for-st-patricks-day.html

Ipods in the classroom

This video link is wonderful for showing just how much technology can change the way students with special needs can progress with their learning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VTSM0m6aT9M

Parents Helping Their Children Who Have Learning Disabilites

The following link is to a really good article for parents about helping their children who have learning disabilities. As educators we are to help children with these disabilites to progress and meet IEP goals. The article discusses how you as a parent can help your child be more successful in reaching these goals. It is important for teachers and parents to work together in this process becasue the progression does not stop in the classroom, it needs to reinforced in the home as well. As stated in the article "Try to recognize that the school will be only one part of the solution for your child and leave some of the stress behind. Your attitude (of support, encouragement and optimism) will have the most lasting impact on your child." http://www.helpguide.org/mental/learning_disabilities_treatment_help_coping.htm

Visual Tasks

Visual tasks are an important tool to help complement learning in the classroom or in the home. Many times students do not process what they are hearing effectively without a visual. Task boxes can help to fill in that missing link in order to help them understand. Albert Einstein once said, "If I can't picture it, I can't understand it. The following link has visuals like the one above to help make task boxes that are helpful for everyday living and work skills. http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/table-top-tasks/18700628?productTrackingContext=search_results/search_shelf/center/1

I just love when tasks can be made simply by recycling items from the home. This blog site has several task ideas that are very useful for learning basic skills. http://theprincessandthetot.blogspot.com/2011/08/whats-on-tray-aug-8-12.html