Hello all....3rd quarter is behind us now - time for a strong finish! This week we have been finishing up our literature circles and discussion/work on our disabilities unit. My practicum student, Natalie Baydo, taught a lesson on the ADA (American Disabilities Act) on Monday that required the students to create a floor plan for a school per the legal guidelines for accessible buildings - lots of discussion and questions - made them think quite a lot about the ways in which they are "capable". We are also watching the movie I am Sam - also lots of opportunities for discussion. I showed a brief clip today on a young man named Patrick Hughes - quite inspirational if you want to Google him :) We will finish up the movie tomorrow - have our final discussion on the student's independent research and then assemble our bulliten board which will include sections of their lit circle packet and a place for students to pledge to omit the R word from their vocabulary - look up the r-word.org campaign on the Special Olympics web site. I will be out of the classroom for track and a writing curriculum day on Th. and Fri. - Mr. Harms will begin a brief unit in Civics on Foreign Policy. No homework for now :) Maybe later :( Hope you enjoyed the sunshine today!!!!