There are literally less days of my academic year than I have fingers. And it’s been a busy year academically for my students. At the beginning of the year, one of my students had no clue that text books were able to be used to help answer his questions he has in class. Another student could successfully run 4 laps around the track with little stopping. My student who eats just about anything he can find, well he limits his eating now to mostly food. Most of the time.
But the days are winding away. I’ve started teaching one of my students to use his AAC to ask if he can sign a year book. I’ve started teaching another student how to write “Have a good summer” and sign his name. First and last name. Some of my students are learning to study for finals for the first time.
We are going to celebrate in these last 9 days. My students have earned that pleasure. Not everything is going to be a party. We still have tests. We have to enforce behaviors. We have to continue with our routines. School still has needs and demands, even though we are going to end. I still need to be honest and upfront with students, case managers, parents, general education teachers, and my co-workers.
Reflecting on year ParaEducate had from most recent to when we started this year:
- We joined the flashblog #Autismisnotacrime. It was an opportunity to express a sadness in my home state.
- The blog got updated but we lost access to old posts but we will get on that in 11 days.
- We joined the flashblog #Autismpositivity 2014.
- We went to CSEA Paraeducator’s Conference 2014. Our rooms were filled to capacity.
- Topics we covered this year included: field trips, behavior, disability awareness, and taking care of our paraeducators.
- We continued to reach out and help connect our readers with materials they can really use to make their jobs easier.
Another book is on the horizon for a summer release by ParaEducate. At least one. We have the material, it’s just a matter of fact checking and formatting for the publisher. One is on its way to completion. It’s been an exciting few months here at ParaEducate producing that material as quickly as possible and organizing it to be useful. But mostly, while ParaEducate thinks about the future, our eyes are on summer. Hot days spent biking around getting errands done and cooling off at the public library to get some research done. Other days reconnecting with the world and people we know and love. Taking care of the things that matter.
ParaEducate will post one blog during the summer. If you need us, feel free to email paraeducate at paraeducate dot com. And we’re always available on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
And before I run away totally excited that this is the last post of the 2013-2014 academic year, ParaEducate will return in time for the 2014-2015 academic year.
ParaEducate Blog had some technical difficulties last week. We will re-post old blog entries over the summer. If there is a specific entry you want immediately, please email us and we will get it up sooner.
Do you have a question for us? Find ParaEducate online here, here and here. ParaEducate is company interested in providing materials, information, and strategies for people working in special education inclusion settings for grades K-12. ParaEducate, the blog, is published weekly during the academic school year on Thursdays, unless a holiday. ParaEducate’s last post is May 29th. ParaEducate shares their findings at conferences, through their books, and their academic adaptations.
