Fine Motor Friday: DIY Chalk Paint

Chalk is a disaster for my students. They get it everywhere, sometimes it stains certain knits, or they try eating it so frequently that I cannot keep up with redirecting them all. However, it is also a lot of fun for practicing handwriting and hanging out outside. 

I had not seen much in the form of chalk paint except at craft stores and the colors are quite dull. I used baking soda, flour, and a few drops of food coloring (add more or less depending on how hot of a color you want). Depending on size and how thick you would like it to be, use about equal parts water and flour to make a mixture of 2/3s. Then, match that to 1/3 baking soda to complete the mixture. My students practiced tacting shapes, tracing, and holding the brushes with a more firm grip. I used a thicker mixture with students who had a harder time with fine motor skills. This helped it transfer to the concrete without the student showing more of a struggle than the rest of the class. After all, this is supposed to be fun!

I will definitely use this play based learning activity next year and have the students more involved with the measuring and mixing next time. 

Music and Motion in the Special Education Classroom

     Trying to break down intricate topics to my students can be tricky. I need to scaffold concepts down to the core thought and then pair with something gimmicky or eye catching. Think of when you are daydreaming and a light reflection hits the corner of your eye and pulls you out of deep thought. Essentially, my students are always inside of their own thoughts and its my job to come up with a way to present, catch their attention, and then keep them engaged for 5-20 minutes depending on the student.

     Music is, and will always be, my go to way to break down mental roadblocks. Teaching secondary students allows me a bit more freedom to play current pop songs and not the same boring renditions of classic nursery rhymes. When incorporating music videos with high energy dance moves, I notice my students' attention is quickly gained during the most intense learning activities. 

       For my Force & Motion lesson I used infographics, music videos, tactiles, and interactive experiences to teach a basic concept in Physics. The videos I used were Willow Smith's, "Whip My Hair" and an instructional dance video fot the instrumental of V.I.C.'s, "Wobble" (if you haven't seen this dance, chances are you don't live in the Deep South). 

 To grab my students attention I started with Wobble and introduced the thought of movement. I used pinwheel .GIFs to show a speed of movement, spun arrows to show direction of movement, and then introduced "Wobble" and had the kids get up out of their desks and try the dance movements. I was in heaven because it is a really fun dance, but my kids absolutely loved being silly and trying new things (SO COOL). I continued the discussion with a couple more slides with info graphics and then we made paper planes to further the discussion. I could tell I had a few kids drop off while folding the paper so I ended the slides with "Whip My Hair". I did not care how or why they moved in a certain fashion, I just wanted them moving and using their communication skills to tell me, "I'm moving". 


     Both songs feature low to mild beats per minute (BPM). "Whip My Hair"'s BPM is 81, but "Wobble" clocks in around 95 BPM. A typical workout playlist will probably feature a rate of 170+ BPM. For example, Sweet's "Ballroom Blitz" has a BPM of 227. Knowing the BPM is very important in my classroom setting because students with Autism are naturally aroused and overstimulated by their environment. Playing high intensity music at all times would emotionally exhaust the students and increase the chances of unwanted behavior occurring. 

    The last two years I have been taking data on what styles of music student with Autism react positively to. 1960s soul is by far the lead runner  (65-80 BPM) and is a style I will always play if unwanted behaviors manifest. When some of my previous students (high school angst and high functioning rears its head) were having a bad day, "Don't Bother Me" by Bad Brains typically allowed them to cool down, refocus, and go to their next class. 

    When you write your next lesson, do not forget to incorporate music into the slides or interactive lesson. Playing music in any class setting takes away the rigid feel of classrooms past and breaths fresh air into the possibility of an education tailored to the students. 

    

SXSW and #edTechWomen

     SXSW for most Austinites means traffic and not being able to do much of anything around town. This is mainly true for me---- Okay, well maybe I still spend my time watching a ton of my favorite bands play and its fun, but this year I switched it up and went to SXSWedu. I had a great time attending the #ETW15 conference and made a lot of great connections with like minded women. The theme among my conversations with others was that there is a need to support each other instead of innately pitting against one another. I think there was some validity in that, but I did not agree when I heard some women saying that those without children need to cut slack for women with children. I don't understand that. I hold everyone to the same standard and some days you choose to work, others you choose to slack. How other women manage their time isn't my concern. If something is done wrong or late that is on the person not meeting expectations. It is not the responsibility of others to cut slack. 

     The rest of the week went really well. I taught a class on the ProLoQuo2Go system to parents and district staff, saw a handful of solid educational films, hung outside of the formal parts of SX with some really great Grrrls, and was able to increase my personal growth. The week left me feeling reaffirmed in my belief that large strides need to be taken toward a technologically enriched classroom for all students, including Special Education students.