Ahoy! Welcome Aboard to ESY!

Teaching ESY always inspires me. I think it might be simplicity of it. There are specific objectives for each student and in our district's case, there are four weeks to review, practice and maintain those objectives. It also is a time to break free of the intervention mandated curriculum, use our imaginations and BE A TEACHER.

Preparing

Before I meet the students, I receive their IEPs with the objectives their case manager chose for them. The case managers are contacted, I asked questions about health, adaptive needs and behavior support. I make a document to compile the responses. Most of the time they email, so copy and paste works well!

Over the years, I have tried different ways to consolidate the academic information and the most effective is to make a Google sheet for each subject. I make one for reading, writing and math. There is  a column for the most prominent areas, for example, the reading had a column for letter names/sounds, ORF (oral reading fluency) 1-2, 3-4, comprehension and so on. It depends on what kind of objectives there are.

Next, it is helpful to prepare individual data sheets for each student, put it in a folder with their name. I've used binders too for this, but the folder just seems to help keep it organized. Depending on how diverse your ESY class is, it can also be a good place to put worksheets and notes about the student.

Last, I pack! In our district, ESY for elementary students is in one centrally located school building. The middle and high school levels are usually in a nearby middle or high school. Those of us who are hired to teach are responsible for gathering the materials needed. The sending teachers will send materials too, especially if they want specific ones utilized. A district truck is sent to our schools to pick up our boxes. 

Here is a copy of the forms, they are a free resource in my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

(it doesn't include the Google Sheets form, I haven't got that altogether yet)

Week One

The first week we meet our students, establish routines and get warmed up to learn.

Make a copy of the daily presentation slides.

The lesson plans.

The Writing Response is from Glyph Girls at Teachers Pay Teachers. It is a great resource, there is a writing/art project as well. I'm not sure we will have the time to try that. 

The art project for the week was the incredible magical balancing parrot!

This project came from another teacher and it is awesome! I tried it with another bird that was symmetrical but I couldn't get it to work the same way. The secret is apparently the shape and the penny that is taped at the top of each wing on the underside.

I'll include a document/slide of the bird in the next posting.

 It was a big hit, they all went home on the last day of the school week with one, balancing it on their nose, ears, fingertips and pencil top.

Making children happy is a powerful feeling! I'll wrap this post up. Next time, I'll share our second week and a copy of the balancing bird.

Take care,

Paula