Happiness Is...

I love having a designated area of my room where I can see the "giggles" of the day. It helps me keep a positive attitude, stay in good humor, and count my many blessings. It also helps me remember that I am ultimately here for the students (not the paperwork!). 

Last year I just threw a piece of construction paper inside my cabinet door and wrote with markers, or posted post-it notes with my "giggles." The year before, I had a paper mounted on the whiteboard by my desk. I'm not sure what form this will take this coming school year, but maybe something a little more sophisticated (?!). 

Here are some of the highlights from last year :) 

All around this page I posted all of the artwork I received throughout the year. This is inside my stand-up cabinet so I see it when I grab materials or an assessment kit...and smile a bit!

This depicts a student taking a computer-based assessment. Each question was draining and time consuming for him, so he would do this 'victory pose' at the end of each answered question! (...it was a looonng testing session!)

Pointing to a picture when giving vocabulary assessment...I said "what kind of math is this?" (assessment expected answer: addition/plus) Student answered "easy!" (can't blame him--he was a 2nd grader!)....Then, he named the "totem pole" as "art" and that just made me smile!

Speechies can appreciate this one! The game? Matching. The objective? Articulation (k/g!) With this said, the gauntlet was thrown!

(It's heart is beating.) He was very excited about the heartbeat!

OK, both me and the student were snickering after he said this one (working on s-blends). Picture: SKUNK :)

How many times have we heard this when we walk into a classroom to grab our next group of students? It's a little heartwarming that we can be so popular with the non-speech students! ("Darn it..she never takes me!")

 

Do you have any visuals you use to remind you to count your blessings? If not, I challenge you to try it this year!