Week 1

Week 1 is over.  As 1st weeks go this was a pretty great one! :)  Catching up with all my colleagues after an amazing summer was great but seeing my students was even better.  Hearing "Mrs. Edge!", the smiles, and the grab of my hand completely filled my bucket and reminded of why I do what I do.

Every year, I pick a professional goal to target.  My goal this year is to fully implement core vocabulary.  I've worked with our districts print center to create an interactive core board in both of the structured classrooms I work in.  I'm super excited to put them in place!  My husband is attaching them to some rolling carts that we had at school that weren't being used.  Once they are complete, I'll attach some pictures. :)

While the boards aren't done, therapy doesn't wait. :)  Within the primary classroom, we targeted the word "want" for the week.  I'll be honest, I'm not a huge fan of "want" but felt the first week was a good week to target using our words vs. behavior.  Our language group this week looked like this:

Video Song	What do you want?
Video Book	Want from AAC Language Lab (may require annual subscription of $19.99)
Interactive Smartboard	Animated PowerPoint "Want"  (TPT purchase)
Video Song	Want Video Model Song (TPT purchase)
Mystery Bag	A big old bag filled with preferred items that would be of interest to each student!

Over the summer, I purchased an annual subscription to AAC Language Lab.  Holy smokes!  Best $20 bucks, I"ve ever spent on a professional item.  What a wealth of information/materials!

Sam, the primary teacher, and I made eye contact multiple times during the group that stated "wow".  It was amazing how well the students were engaged and present especially during a week 1 group. "Want" for the win!