The spirit of giving is alive and well in our Middle Years Unit!

The Junior Crew would like to pass on an enormous thank you to Stephen and Trish's classes for giving us a Christmas present of cash to spend on lunch at Mc Donald's!

The Middle years group have raised money all year preparing lunch orders for the whole school and decided to give their profits away to every class in the school.

It was very generous and kind of you and extremely delicious for us!

Thanks also go to Jan and Marg's classes. This group of dedicated young cooks have prepared the most fantastic spreads of hot and cold foods for staff to devour at our whole staff meetings each fortnight. Well done guys!

Please do it again next year :)

Connections

Hi Everyone,

The Junior Crew have gone PowerPoint crazy! Over the past two weeks we have learned how to copy and paste pictures, type in text, create special effects and even insert sound files. I am amazed at how quickly the kids have developed their skills using this program and how well they have made connections and transferred these skills to other applications.

I was also pleased to discover that our Friends in Siberia have received the package of books and music that we sent to them a few weeks ago. One of the best things about blogging is how it helps us to connect with new Friends from all around the world. If you would like to read their post about our package click on the hyperlink or on the puzzle pieces.

This week I received an email from Jim Spiralis from the Department of Education and Children's service, Special Education Resource Unit in South Australia. Jim wanted to let us know that our network of blogs has been cited as a special education resource for teachers in that state. Jim also invited me to present at the Special Education EXPO in Hindmarsh South Australia in July next year. I am so excited!

As most of you know, this year I have been completing post graduate studies in Autism Spectrum Disorder. My last lecture was on Saturday. I have made some very special connections with lecturers and teachers who have shared the journey with me which I hope will continue for years to come.

The course has meant that I have had to spend a considerable time away from The Junior Crew this year while I have been completing practicum placements and visiting other schools to provide mentoring and coaching services. While I have been away the children have been learning how to connect with some amazing casual relief teachers and learning how to cope with change. I am so grateful to this group of talented and caring people who have treated my class as if they were their own.

Bakers in the Making

Hi Everyone,
On Friday The Crew spent the morning at a local bakery that has a kids cooking program. We made bread and shortbread in the industrial kitchen with the help of the bakery staff. While the bread was cooking we played in a local park and fed some ducks. The food was delicious and there was plenty to bring home so our families could sample what we had made.
Quite a few of The Crew have decided that they now want to be bakers when they grow up. What would you like to be?
What did you want to be when you were their age?

From Russia with Love

Hi Everyone,

The Junior Crew were very excited to receive a package from our buddies from the 'Friends ' blog in Siberia. They sent us some postcards, badges , flag and a safety poster that was written in Russian. The Crew didn't have to be able to read Russian to understand it because the pictures carried a very strong message and we were able to figure out all of the rules.

Our class has sent some Australian songs on a CD and some picture story books by Australian authors. to our Friends in Russia. We hope they like them.

On the Mend

Hi Everyone,

I have been away from school for most of this week helping my husband as he recovers from surgery. Michelle has been doing a great job of looking after the Junior Crew in my absence. Thanks Michelle!

I will be back at school on Monday and I am looking forward to finding out what The Crew have been up to while I was away.

Congratulations Paula & Kerry

Paula and Kerry got married on Friday. The Junior Crew wishes them happiness for their future together.

We're Back!

Hi Everyone,

This week has been full of events to celebrate. Tim turned 10, Eleanor turned 9 and I turned 44! We have been eating lots of birthday cake this week but nobody is complaining.

Nicole joined us to replace Paula at the end of the week because our other big news is that Paula got married on Friday! We had a great time choosing a present and card for her when we went shopping on Friday. We had a present wrapping 101 session with Sarah because I am not known for my gift wrapping skills and spent lots of time thinking of just the right thing to write in the gift card. Sarah left early to attend the service and she has promised to take lots of photo's at the wedding so that we can see how beautiful Paula looked. We are really looking forward to seeing them.

We also began our new theme 'The Dreaming '. This term we will be exploring Aboriginal Dreaming stories through story telling, drama , music and art works. If you would like to know 'Why the Crocodile Rolls' follow the link to the Student Blogging area, in the left margin to watch a video of the story.

In art sessions, Neville has been teaching the children the meaning of some of the symbols that painters from some of the Aboriginal Nations use to tell stories in their art and the kids will be having a go at painting their own Dreaming stories.

This week I will be sharing my love of Sally Morgan's beautiful art works and we will be searching the Internet for other contemporary indigenous artists and looking at their art works.

Mr Nobody Says...

Turn off the:

• TV
• Radio
• Lights
• Game console
• Computer
• Heater
• Air conditioner

I don't use them while you are out of the room!

You can make a difference to climate change :)

Positive Pester Power

A message from the Crew!

Did you know that if you wash with hot water and tumble dry you will make 6500 grams of green house gas?
If you wash with cold water and line dry you will only make 200 grams of green house gas.

Please wash in cold water!
You have the power to make the difference to climate change!

Solving the Problems of the World

Hi Parents and friends,
The Junior Crew kids are on an environmental mission. We intend to use 'Pester Power' as a positive force. This week our task is to ask family and friends to switch to washing clothes in cold water. The evidence for switching really does speak for itself and it is such an easy way to help protect the environment. Click on the picture to take a look at the Visy Enviromaniacs site which is packed with great games to play and information about how to protect our environment. Will you help us solve the problems of the world?

Cooking - We like it hot!

Hi Everyone,

The Junior Crew kids have been learning how to make simple meals for themselves this year using all sorts of plug in 'makers' . We have made a variety of pies in a pie maker and sandwiches in a sandwich toaster and over the past few weeks we have learned how to make omelets in an omelet maker.

Learning to use these simple electrical gadgets has meant that all of the children are able to make themselves simple healthy snacks independently. We do watch over the kids while they are cooking to ensure that nobody gets burnt.

When this group of kids were younger they learned how to spread fillings, stack them into sandwiches and how to make simple drinks and desserts by combining ingredients. They also learned how to use a peeler and how to use knives and cutting boards for chopping. This week we have mastered the art of cracking eggs and whisking!

Using heated electrical equipment independently is the next important step in being able to move onto creating whole meals when they reach Middle Years .

Click on the picture to read some fantastic omelet recipes.

Asia Pacific Autism Conference 2009

Hi Junior Crew and Friends,
Today I few to Sydney to attend the APAC 09 conference. I will spend the next 3 days listening to experts form all over the world share their knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorder. Click on the plane to find out more about the conference.
Paula and Sarah will be supporting Melinda who will be looking after the Crew in my place for the rest of the week.
Yes Tim, I remember saying that I will bring you all back a present from Sydney if you are good. So Crew, make sure you keep up your end of the bargain!
Sue

Signs of Winter, Signs of Spring, Signs of Creativity.

Hi Everyone,
The Junior Crew and staff have been hit by one 'bug' after another this term. Even my lap top got a virus and has been taken away to be fixed.
The Crew have noticed some signs that Spring will soon be here . We have posted some art work in our Virtual Gallery based on our observations of trees in the school yard.
Check out the Kids Blogging Area for ideas the Crew had to reuse or recycle plastic bottles and coffee lids. Very creative indeed!

Settling in for the Day & the 21st Century

Hi Everyone,

The Junior crew kids arrive at school all sorts of ways. Some walk, others come by car but most arrive on buses. The children start arriving at school at 8:40 am and the last one arrives at about 9:10 so we spend until 9:15 each day working on settling in activities.

Tim has been working on this rocket made from recycled materials for over a week. It's fantastic !

I was watching an environmental program during the school holidays which cited that 95% of products manufactured in any one day are thrown away within a week of purchase.

I'm not sure about the accuracy of the statistic but it made me think that it is important to give every object that is manufactured more than one use. I'm glad that the Crew bring in lots of boxes and containers from their home recycling bins to make things with and that the materials used for Tim's rocket have had more than one use before they end up in land fill.

We are all starting to 'see the signs' that our environment is struggling to maintain and repair itself because of our misuse of resources. The Junior crew challenge for this week is to find ways to use an object at least one more time or purpose before it is thrown away. Are you up for the challenge?

Running to Town

Hi Everyone,
Our class blog featured in the 21st Century e Learning Conference today. I participated in a online presentation which showed others how blogs can be used to create links between mainstream and special education schools and help teachers and students in the two settings to learn from each other. I didn't even have to leave my home to show people all around Victoria how capable and amazing our kids are.
In maths sessions this week we are looking at measurement topics. Last week we borrowed a trundle wheel from the Seniors classroom and measured the bicycle track on our school oval. We discovered that it is 140 metres long. We also know that it is a 6 km trip from here to the centre of the next town. Google Maps is such fun to use!
Over the next few days the Crew will be running around the track to see how long it will take us to run the equivalent distance to town. I love integrated units of work. Maths + great exercise+ sensory modulation = 1 fantastic activity.
Click on the hyperlinks or picture to visit the Google Maps site.

Design Creativity & Technology

Hi Everyone,

For the past two weeks the Junior Crew kids have been working on a new DC&T project. We have been painting pieces of wood and decorating them using all sorts of materials and fasteners to create some sculptural pieces that we will arrange and photograph in lots of different positions.

It sure has given our fine motor skills a work out and has us working on patience big time. Tim took the photograph of the three students displaying their 'works in progress'. Well done Tim and well done Crew!

Oh dear. It's not a good sign.

Hi Everyone,
This week has been very busy. A big thank you to Helen for looking after the Junior Crew while I was away. The kids had a great time playing Helen's obstacles course game and making 'Beware of the Monster' signs. while I was gone.

We have been looking at and writing about lots of different signs this week.

If you click on the student blog link in the left margin you can see how the Crew responded to some questions about some specific signs. Some were very familiar and others required them to do a little bit of research.

Tomorrow we are off to the local library to borrow some books and look at signs that help us there. We will also be responding to the sign that you see above. I wonder what they will say ?You can find out tomorrow by checking out their responses in the student blog link . Click on the sign and we will take you there.

Where is Sue?

Hi Junior Crew and friends,

I will be away from school on Monday and Tuesday this week.

I will be visiting schools and supporting teachers who are involved in the Positive Partnerships Program. This program supports teachers who are new to teaching students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

The Australian Autism Education and Training Consortium have a fantastic web site which provides teachers and families with free online training about living and learning with ASD. Click on my picture and I'll take you there.

Junior Crew, I will be back at school on Wednesday.

Until then, see you later alligators!

PS : No online recorded speech service today as the Vocaroo site is having technical problems :-(

Auslan Sign 3 - 'Message'

Click on the picture to learn how to sign the word 'message' in Auslan.
If you click on the kids blogging area picture in the left margin you can look at the environmental signs that we have started to learn about in class. The children made a fabulous 'talking sign' PowerPoint about the camping sign. Unfortunately our school server will not let us have access to any voice recording programs that we can use to both record at school and embed in our blog but I am on a mission to find out how to do it!

Auslan Sign 2 - the Word 'See'

Click on the picture to find out how to sign the word 'see' in Auslan.
Then you will be able to tell everyone that the Term 3 theme is 'See the Signs'.

Welcome Paula

Hi Everyone,
We would like to introduce you to Paula. Paula is the latest member of the Junior Crew team.
Our first day back at school was very wet and cold but at lunch time we had a lot of fun playing outside, on the basketball court, with frisbees between rain showers. If you click on the picture of Paula you will find a web site full of great games to play with a frisbee.
In the afternoon we got out hammers, nails, tacks and wood and had a fabulous time making lots of noise and creating patterns on some off cuts. Nobody hurt their fingers or thumbs in the process. It was lovely to be back together again and a great first day back.

Auslan Sign of the Week 1 - The Word 'Sign'

Hi Everyone,
Would you like to learn to speak in Australian Sign language?
Click on the picture to watch a video that will teach you how to say the word 'sign' in Auslan.
We will show you some more words later in the week.

It's Back to School Eve

Hi Junior Crew,

It's Back to School Eve !

That means that part of today will be spent making sure that everything you need for school, is clean or ready to be packed into your back pack, for school tomorrow.

I wonder what you will pack for your healthy lunch and snack ?

I have lots of fun things planned for you to do tomorrow and we have a brand new person working in our room this term for you to meet. This term is going to be the best one yet. See you tomorrow :-)

See the Signs

Hi Everyone,

This term our whole school theme is 'See the Signs' and are going to cover a whole range of topics within it. We are going to take the theme literally and explore the meanings of signs in the community We are also going to look at signs of change in our environment and in our bodies as we grow, age and change.

I have linked this photo to a site that is dedicated to Australian road signs. We have some very unique ones here. The Junior Crew would be very interested in seeing signs from our international blogging buddies too so please send us some by email. You'll find our email address in the left margin.

Junior Crew Kids, it's only three more sleeps until school starts back so it's time for you to start getting back into your school term sleeping patterns. That means you need to start going to bed at your normal bed time again so that your body clock gets back into routine. Other wise I will see the signs of some very tired children on Monday morning.

Coloured Bird Memory Game

Hi Junior Crew and friends,
I hope that you are enjoying your holidays.
How good is your memory?
Do you remember things best by listening , looking or a combination of both?
This is a fun memory game for you to play online. I played this morning and my best score was 10.
Can you beat that?

Classroom Makeover

Hi again,
Our room has had a make over! We had some new carpet laid on Monday. It will make a big impact on reducing the noise, especially echo, in the room.
Many of the Junior Crew kids are auditory defensive which means that they are very sensitive to sound. The new carpet will help us all to feel calm and concentrate on our learning.
We had a bit of a technology crisis during term 2 which is why we haven't been able to post much lately but our Smart Board arrived during the second last week of term and we also had 2 new computers installed during the last week of term. Room 12 is very high tech now!

Winter Garden

Hi Everyone,
I dropped into school yesterday to check out how our our vegetable patch is doing. Look at how many daffodils we have growing. I hope that there are some still in flower at the end of the school holidays, Junior Crew kids so that you can see them too!
The heavy rain has knocked down our scare crow so we will have to put him back up again when we get back to school. Luckily it didn't fall on top of our snow peas which are starting to climb the trellis now.
Are you enjoying the cold rainy weather? We haven't had this much rain for a long time. It's great!

Do You See What I See?

Hi Everyone,

I love these optical illusion pictures. In the one above the circles ( snails) look like they are moving but if you concentrate on just one you will see that they are actually quite still. If you are finding it difficult to stop the image from moving put your finger on one of the circles to still the image.

The junior Crew kids have been doing lots of eye tracking and peripheral vision exercises over the past few weeks. We have added the Eye Can Learn web site to the blog margin so that you can see the types of activities we have been working on each day.

It is really important to ensure that our eyes are working correctly if we want to learn how to read and write.

Click on the link and have a go at some of the activities. Do you see what I see or do your eyes need a work out?

Local Library Visit - 5 Books 2 Rules

Hi Everyone,

Each week I take a small group of children to the local library to borrow books. This group of Junior Crew Kids have an insatiable appetite for information books.
Even though we had time to read inside the library, I heard nothing but complaints about my sensible rule banning reading on the bus ( to prevent bus sickness) so we sat in front of the library, in the glorious sunshine, to read before we headed back to school.
The children use the 5 Finger and Goldilocks Rules to select books that are 'just right' for them to read.
Each student borrows five books to bring back to school to read and share with others during relaxation and choice time. Some tricky books get put into the bag each week because as well as reading on your own it is also lovely to have someone read to you.
If you would like to find out more about the 5 Finger and Goldilocks Rules click on the picture or any of the hyperlinks to visit the Book Nuts Reading Club site.

Autumn Fun

Eleanor
My daffodils, carrots and snow peas are all growing well.
We all had a leaf fight. Sue said we could. I didn't get leaves in my jumper.



Joshua:
We had a leaf fight and Ricky put leaves down my shirt.

Ricky:
We had a leaf fight. It was fun and it was amazing. I was checking on the seeds and bulbs. There are the daffodils the carrots and the snow peas.


Tim:
We went to the vegetable garden to have a leaf fight. We threw the leaves . I threw the leaves at Eleanor. She was happy and surprised.

Danny:
We had a fight named ' The Leaf Fight'. I did the leaf 'burst of ability' move on Eleanor. She was scared.

To read more posts written by the Junior Crew kids, click on the student blogging picture in the left margin.

Telling the Time

Pssst...

Junior Crew parents and carers,

Between you and me, although it's really no secret, the kids are getting very good at telling the time using digital and analogue clocks.

Now would be an excellent time to buy a watch for them so they can practise reading the time and recognising times that relate to important routines in their day.

On the Road Again

Hi Everyone,

I spent Monday and Tuesday on the road this week visiting schools along the B400.

I am working with teachers who are new to working with students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and other special needs.

While I have been away from school the Junior Crew have been working with some terrific casual teachers.

It has been a great opportunity for my class to learn to work with unfamiliar people and a wonderful opportunity for me to meet with other teachers and share ideas.

As is usually the case, I think I have learned a great deal more from the schools that I have visited than I have contributed ! Thanks so much to those schools, for making me feel so welcome :)

Functional Maths and Language Skills - Supermarket Field Trip

Hi Everyone,
This week the Junior Crew hit the local supermarket and with the permission of our supermarket manager, went on a photographic safari looking for functional word displays in the environment.
We discovered that using the end of isle signs saves a lot of time when you are looking for the ingredients for a toasted cheese sandwich!
We had never noticed the top shelf signs before which is strange because there are loads of them.
The Crew also discovered that if you are looking for chicken you need to look in the poultry section!
Over the next few weeks we are going to be linking supermarket visits to our maths program. We are going to find out how supermarkets use classification strategies to organise their floor and shelf space. We'll weigh fruits and vegetables using the hanging scales and go on scavenger hunts to link maths activities with real life applications.

New Scarves for the Class of the Week!

Room 6 and 12 have scarves because we are the most famous classes. We are the classes of the week.
Tim

I got a scarf for class of the week. Everyone got one. It is a blue scarf.
Rick

We were the best class in the world because we were the class of the week
We got football scarves. Sometimes people wear them at the football. Some times people wear them in Winter.
Eleanor

The Junior Sleep-Over Night

Hi Everyone,
It's official! The Junior Sleep over Night will be on Thursday the 25th of June. That's the night before the last day of school for Term 2.
At this stage it's looking like it is going to be a pizza, hot chips and movie night, with some sleep in the mix there at some stage!
More details soon !

How Stuff Works - Mother's Day

Do you know how Mother's Day began?


Click on the Video Center picture to find out!

Speaking of Balloons...

Hi again,
This week the children began a paper mache project.
We are in the process of creating some giant bugs to act as visual reminders for strategies we can draw on when people or situations are 'bugging us!'
Blowing up the balloons with a pump was a lot of fun and gave us all a good work out.

The activity has also been great for developing patience, team work, sustained concentration and a host of maths skills to do with measuring, such as length, width, volume, capacity and estimation. We have made a great start on our bugs thanks to the support of our Inner Wheel volunteers, Val and Barb.

Dropped like a lead balloon!

Hi Everyone,

My family members don't get sick very often but when we do, we drop like lead balloons. I have been away for three days this week due to illness. The first day was spent with my husband in hospital being treated for a very nasty viral infection, followed by 2 days in bed with it myself. All being well ( I have 2 teenage sons at home who have not shown any symptoms yet) I should be back at school on Monday. In the meantime the class have been working under the care of some amazing casual teachers and of course Sarah, our brilliant Education Support worker. What would we do without Sarah!
Now that we are in bugs and flu season it is really important to reinforce those good personal hygiene habits like, hand washing, sneezing and nose blowing and all of that other germy stuff! For younger children I use the fantastic Crawford the Cat video series.

Crawford is a water waster though! You will see what I mean when you watch the videos. We had great discussions in our class about that. Click on the image to find out more.

Planting Daffodils and Encouraging a Love of Nature

Hi Everyone,
One of the great things about being in Room 12 is that we are right next door to the school vegetable garden. Dennis has given us our own special patch right next to the scare crow.
Our friend Cheryl ( Sarah's mum) dug up some daffodil bulbs from her garden and the children had a lovely time planting them in our patch today. We also intend to plant some carrots, peas and other vegetables. We all made tags with our names on them to stick in the soil next to our bulbs so that we know which person planted each bulb.

My two plastic aquariums do not have any bugs living in them yet but I have a feeling that they won't be empty for very long.

I can honestly say that I have never before worked with a group of kids who are so into nature and the environment. I think the Earth has some marvellous caretakers coming through in the next generation.

We have been watching episodes of Pingu this week. There has been lots of laughter in our classroom. Pingu is a very expressive penguin! We have been retelling the stories in our own words after watching the DVD. I had forgotten how clever the creators of this series were. Pingu doesn't speak English and there is no narrator but the children certainly 'got the message' and that is what our theme is all about this term.

We also spoke about what we can do if we are worried about things. We discussed where we store our worried feelings in our bodies. Some students said they stored them in their tummies or throats and all over their faces. WE decided that the best thing to do when we are worried about anything is to tell a grown up that we trust. During the week we will be using the fingers of one hand as a reminder of 5 safe people to share our worries with. The children will develop a home set and a school set. Click on the picture of Pingu to read a great PDF sheet about Protective Behaviours and 'safety hands'.

On Thursdays this term we will have our art session in the afternoon. The kids are really looking forward to that.

I told you it's going to be a busy term!

Time Whizzed By!

Hi Everyone,

Time whizzed by today but we are all settled into our new classroom and the kids seem to be very impressed with it!

For the next few weeks we will only have my teacher lap top to work on as our new classroom computers have not yet arrived.

We really miss our Smart Board already!

This term our theme is 'Get the Message'. We will be looking at all the different ways in which we can communicate with each other using our bodies, our emotions and all sorts of simple and complex tools.

I hope everyone had a great rest over the Easter break because it is going to be a very busy term.

Positive Partnerships

Hi Everyone,

I am going to be out of the classroom for a couple of days attending a Positive Partnerships Workshop.

At the end of the two days I will be spending some time visiting and supporting participants from other schools who are new to working with children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). I am really looking forward to this role.
The great news is that you can get involved in this program by signing up for the online modules they offer on their learning portal.

The site has courses to meet the needs of parents, carers and educational support staff as well as teachers.

The first module takes about 95 minutes to complete. It can be broken up into smaller units and you can stop and start as many times as you like.

The Positive Partnership folk will be regularly adding new reference material and online learning courses to the site .

Click on the picture to check it out.

Online Books and Videos for Kids

Hi Everyone,
We are in the process of organising our 2009 school sleepover night!
We will announce the date after our next Junior Unit meeting.

In the mean time I have added a sleepover story to our online book shelf. Click on the picture to read Arthur's First Sleepover.

You will find hundreds of videos, online books, switch stories, magazines and cartoon shows on the Junior Crew Book Shelf too! You will be able to find a permanent link to our bookshelf in the left margin of the blog. Just look for the flying books!

Money Money Money

Hi Everyone,
I have spent the weekend searching for life skills sites on the Internet to add to my teacher resource blog . Next term the Junior Crew kids will be spending lots of our maths sessions developing their money handling skills.
During SSG meetings this term parents have asked me how they can help to develop these skills at home. Today I found a website with some great tips on how to teach money management skills to kids. Click on the picture and it will take you there!

Big Changes!

Change is in the air and I'm not just talking about hair colour! In science we have been looking at how properties of chemicals change by adding air and water. Marg took these beautiful photo's of Tey Neisha and Tim blowing bubbles in the playground.

Luke welcomed a new baby sister. Little Servanda, Nathalia, Rose came to visit us at school this week. Luke holds her gently while cousin Cory looks on. Welcome to the world little one and congratulations to Luke's family.

The biggest change happened yesterday! We have a whole class worth of new students starting at our school next term so we have had to change things around a little. I will be leaving Rooms 4 &5 with some of the older Junior Crew class members to set up a middle years transition class. We are all very excited about the move into room 12!

Change is inevitable but I wasn't expecting quite so many changes this week!

Two days of changes are coming up next week. I will be away at an Autism seminar and Helen and Liz will be teaching in my place. Liz will be the new Room 4/5 teacher next term so it will be nice for her to spend some time with the children.

Only one more week until the Easter Holiday. We're looking forward to 2 weeks break.

How about you?