If you have ever thought about having a mock "general store" or any kind of shopping experience in your classroom...do it!!!! It takes a bit of time to initially set up, but the rewards with the children are worth it. We gathered old boxes/containers/jugs of REAL groceries and priced them with stickers. We had children take turns shopping with lists (they had a set amount of money to spend, so they could not go over) and a peer was the cashier to "cash them out." I bought them all wallets and at first gave them play money to use to identify Canadian bills up to $20 and all Canadian coins. Once they got to the "cash" the peer rang them in and told them their total. They had to pull out the required money to pay the cashier. All of this practice and reinforcement really helped when we would have our real shopping experience at a local grocery store.

I found during my time in the ME room that cooking and making simple snacks is a fantastic motivator for children. They LOVED shopping and then coming back to make a small meal together. Here is a link to a cooking based website that gives ideas of what to make and reasons you WANT to cook with your kids!

This YouTube video is a great example of how individuals can work together for a common goal. It was used in my group presentation on effective communication/teamwork between teachers and educational assistants. My group members are Bernie Costa, Lisa Gambardella, Genevieve McDonough and Michael Simari. Look for our entire group presentation made on Movie Maker shortly.

This is a picture taken from my last day in the ME room in Jan/10 with the great team of EA's and CYW I worked with: Madonna, Margaret, me, Dele, and Cristina.

This is an awesome website based on life skills for special ed children. It has a little bit of everything in it from bullying, character education, safety, using manners and working with families.

Lifeskills