The Versatile Blogger

Karlie, over at We are ALL Special! has nominated me for The Versatile Blogger award.  Thank you Karlie!  I am very new to the whole blog thing, so I still find it surprising that anyone reads my blog!  Thanks for being one of my followers Karlie!


One of the rules for receiving this award, is to give 7 random facts about myself, so here goes...


1.  Wonder Woman is my hero!  During rough weeks, I pack my lunch in a Wonder Woman lunch box.  It always makes me feel better!
2.  I prefer the mountains to the beach.
3.  I wish I could wear a dress to work; not every day, just once in a while.          
4.  I constantly quote movies, even when I'm teaching.
5.  I love teaching Science.
6.  My favorite color is green.
7.  I love Vietnamese food.  My family goes just about every Friday to our favorite vietnamese restaurant for dinner.


I have nominated others for this award based on a few things.  First, if I was able to improve my teaching because I something I learned while reading their blog.  Second, if I was able to "steal" an idea for an organizational method or task.  Third, if I was inspired or uplifted by reading their blog.  Here are the people I nominate for The Versatile Blogger award:


Busy Bee Andrea

Adapting Creatively

Keeping it True in K-1-2


Special Ed Pre-k: Early Intervention Special Education

Adventures in Tutoring & Special Education

A Special Kind of Class



Creating and Teaching




I am supposed to nominate 15 people for this award, but I don't have 15 blogs to nominate so instead, I am nominating these 8 people for their blogs.


Thank you for helping me become a better teacher!



Here are the seven rules to follow when receiving this award:
1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.  
2. Include a link to their blog.  
3. Include the award image in your post.  
4. Give 7 random facts about yourself.  
5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award.  
6. When nominating, include a link to their blog.  
7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated. 

Data Collection...continued

Ok, so I got a bit sidetracked by my well-deserved and much needed vacation.  But I'm back now, still working, even though I have offically resigned my position.  A Special Ed teacher's job is NEVER finished! 

I have spent the last few hours trying to clean off my laptop so I can return it to the MOST awesome media tech person I have ever worked with! In the process of doing that, I came across the pictures I "lost" in my pictures folder.  Now that I have found them, I can continue my post on data. 

The Process...

of collecting data is always easier when you have the right tools.  One of my favorites...

my colored pens!  Colored pens save my eyes when it comes time to write progress reports and new IEPs.
I end up with tons in my car by the end of the week. 


This is one of my data collection sheets I keep at my Morning Meeting table.  One of my kids got carried away with the BENQ & spilled my coffee all over the table. 
 This is the type of clipboard I use.  Mine has stuff taped all over it, but I couldn't find it.  It's packed up somewhere!

This is a file folder task that is in a center basket for 3 of my kids. Some times, I have to add keys to the bottom of my data sheets, but most of them are there in the key.  I tape a lot of stuff to the back of my tasks (or to the bottom of work baskets).

This is an old data sheet that I used for a while to document the behavior of one of my kids, but it only had one behavior to track and I was constantly flipping back & forth to the pages..

so I created this one instead.

This one tracks multiple behaviors in the same 15 min increments and I can keep 2 days worth of data on the same page.

This is a data sheet that I got from someone else.  I was using it to try and determine an antecedent for behavior.  It certainly helped me narrow it down to 2 antecedents.  Too bad my kid is moving on, but so is his data, so hopefully his teacher next year will be able to tease it out even further.  I kept these in a folder near the timeout area, because it was the most convienent.  I have a folder for each of my kids that I keep in a standing file on a shelf with at least 3 pens (just in case one runs out).  The colored pens especially helped on these pages, because I would write in a different color for each day.  It helped with teasing out antecedents.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!