PPS Unveils Spending Priorities To Support Mental Health -QMHP (OT?) to all K-5, K-8s

Trivia:  What year was occupational therapy officially recognized as a Qualified Mental Health Provider (QMHP)?

Upcoming Seminar on Self-Regulation, ADHD, Autism, and Sensory Regulation

https://www.pesi.com/events/detail/77450/2-day-advanced-training-neuroscience-and-self-regulation

A Message from the PPS Sped. Director

A Message from the PPS Sped. Director 

“If you are feeling busy there is a reason for that!  And believe it or not we are starting to plan our budget for next year and building in additional staffing to accommodate our growth.  

Please let your SpEd Admin team know if you are in need of additional support and we will do our best to support you.”

Mary Mertz, Jan. 28, 2020

Why Do We Lose Control of Our Emotions?

https://youtu.be/3bKuoH8CkFc

New Service for Visually Impaired and Others: https://aira.io/

One of our team members told us about a new service for the visually impaired and many others.

The company claims, "at just the touch of a button, users (also known as Explorers), are connected to remotely-located, highly-trained agents." The agents can then guide the Explorers on functional tasks through a video chat. Pretty cool. I think there is a free trial, but multiple call-backs might be possible as long as it takes under 5 minutes.

https://aira.io/

NPR: The Key to Raising a Brilliant Kid: Play

NPR: The Key to Raising a Brilliant Kid:  Play

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/10/769052767/the-key-to-raising-brilliant-kids-play-a-game

PPS Looks for Community Input for 2 Billion in New funding

Make your voice and priorities heard.  Fill out this survey and please advocate for our most vulnerable populations.

https://bit.ly/2P8nKTM

Https://bit.ly/31ueTOQ

https://bit.ly/31xVvR7

Book Creator - Free for Educators

https://spark.adobe.com/page/Gn7HwKfZW02ce/

All teachers now have access to Book Creator, a simple tool for creating digital books. You can create your own teaching resources or have your students combine images, audio and video to create: interactive stories, digital portfolios, research journals, poetry books, science reports, instruction manuals, comics, and much more. To get started, follow the simple steps below. Check out the Resources for Teachers page to help you make the most of Book Creator in your classroom.

1. Create a teacher account by signing in to app.bookcreator.com/sign-in/teacher. You'll create your first library as soon as you start using the app.
2. This library will have an invite code which you can give to students. Next, students sign in using Clever. They can also sign in at app.bookcreator.com. They can use their district Google account to sign in.
3. Once students have signed in, they'll enter your library invite code and join your library.

Sample Books

https://read.bookcreator.com/library/-LCESe5qTaw-qLZCBqm3

Organizational system and fine motor opportunity

I found this three layer tray at IKEA. They also sell butcher paper. My daughter and I outlined the tray and cut out the shape from the butcher paper. This can act as a liner, writing surface, snack mat, etc.  Students can practice their fine motor skills by cutting out the mats.

It’s a Spectrum” Doesn’t Mean What You Think.

“It’s a Spectrum” Doesn’t Mean What You Think | The Aspergian | A Neurodivergent Collective

https://theaspergian.com/2019/05/04/its-a-spectrum-doesnt-mean-what-you-think/

What happens when you add loose parts to recess?

Earthstock 2019 - Now Happening: https://www.earthstockpdx.com/

https://www.earthstockpdx.com/

A Nice Resource for Attention Deficit and Learning Disability

https://www.understood.org/en

Easy Shoe Tying


Shared by Melissa Williams PPS OT

Kawa Model - A way to visualize the flow and blockages to our life and growth.

In the Kawa Model water represents your life flow.  The rocks represent barriers or blockages to that flow.  Drift wood can enhance or block life flow.  The silt at the bottom can be past experiences and also shape the flow of your life.

It can be therapeutic to draw your own Kawa Life Flow model and label the components.  You can also help your client or friend do the same.  Recognition of the variables, people, and experiences that influence life, may help you better shape the way you move through it. 

http://www.kawamodel.com/v1/2017/07/06/681/

Makey Makey Project

Neurosequential Model Explained

Full article can be found here: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UN0UeATzd6aTnAi7mZ9e6KQAvzQh3nz3/view?usp=sharing

Additional Article found here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vF88aGiIOdVW9MNztJ3bPGnbFepA2rKu/view?usp=sharing

Modified Trays for Sorting Activities - Kathy Toomey COTA

Kathy Toomey recently helped me fabricate some nice trays for students with CP.  The modified tray allows students with limited upper extremity (UE) mobility to practice sorting (pre-vocational) activities and bringing UE into or crossing midline.  Thanks Kathy!

People With Disabilities Are Entitled to a Free Lifetime Pass to National Parks

People With Disabilities Are Entitled to a Free Lifetime Pass to National Parks - lifehacker.com If you or your child has a permanent disability you may be entitled to a free, lifetime pass to visit the National Parks and Federal

#repostedbyMelissaWilliamsOT

ODE Recommends Increased OT/PT Supports for Oregon School Systems

ODE recommendations for improving some of the problems in Oregon schools:
https://www.oregoned.org/images/uploads/blog/DisruptedLearning_Report_2019_v5.pdf?sfns=mo

What Makes a Good Fidget? A School-Based Approach and Tip Sheep

What Makes a Good Fidget? 

A School-Based Approach and Tip Sheep

What makes a fidget helpful? What makes a fidget annoying? 

Kids and school-based occupational therapists (OT's) may be the best people to ask the first question.
Teachers may best be able to answer the latter. As an OT working in the schools I see too many fidgets fall into the category of annoying.  Then I see them literally fall into the waste bin.  This could be because there was insufficient training when the fidget was handed out.  It could also be the design of the fidget or the distractibility of the students or teacher.  Regardless, there are some ways to make fidget a useful tool for dealing with anxiety, the need for movement, and in developing fine motor skills.

For more tips and guidelines, check out this ever evolving document:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1t-Ub-j5KM-8p1ZpJ8ScZtmY2dQMBjAxYB2A5nGTQsLw/edit?usp=sharing

A stressed society: What is plaguing our kids?

PORTLAND, Ore. — We’re a stressed society, and it’s impacting adults all the way down to kids.

“What we’re seeing is more people under more stress and, therefore, children struggling more with typical developmental challenges that they have to face,” said Dr. Ajit Jetmalani, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at OHSU.

ADHD, or attention deficit hyperactive disorder, anxiety and depression are the most common psychiatric or mental health diagnoses for children.

Full article here:

https://katu.com/features/kind-is-better/a-stressed-society-what-is-plaguing-our-kids

Video:

https://katu.com/features/kind-is-better/a-stressed-society-what-is-plaguing-our-kids

Foot Golf For Charity: OT's and Timbers Help Children in Africa

KPTV - FOX 12

"Release" Mindfulness in Schools - A proactive and mindful approach to modern day stresses in school.

Mindfulness in Schools - A proactive and mindful approach to modern day stresses in school.

PPS's Community Transition students testify at State Legislature

Clever Badges (K-3 and Special Needs Students) allow easier access to Chromebooks

The IT department has started rolling out Clever badges for easier login to Chromebooks.  Badges will be issued for K-3 with some special exceptions on a case by case basis.  Melissa Limm and the fine IT staff understood the need to have the badges accessible to some high needs students.  Thank you for making this possible.

https://sites.google.com/apps4pps.net/clever/home

For IOS login:
https://support.clever.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003629943-How-do-I-use-Clever-on-iOS-

Resources for Summer Activities:

Thanks to the Autism coaches for putting together the list of resources below:

Parks and Recreation:
https://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/39830

Local Summer Camps:

Full list of resources can be found here: 

What Do Kids Want in an Educational Environment? A survey of 68 NE Portland, OR students

We asked 68 students (k-5) what they wanted in an educational setting.  This is what they said:

Question:  What kind of space would you like? Rating scale from 1-10 (1 = no interest, 10 = most interest)  The results below show the most popular aspects of a desired space.  

Below are the some of the comments from students:

I want to and like to:

Stanford Study: Research shows Later startng Kinders (6 year old in K) are Better Able to Self-Regulate

Stanford research show regulation benefits for late entry Kindergarten. 

February 23, 2017

By Carrie Spector

GSE faculty explore ways to help students take on the challenges of the kindergarten classroom.

It’s that time of year for families of preschoolers: kindergarten enrollment. This milestone can be fraught with uncertainty for parents who question whether their child is prepared—socially, academically or otherwise.

What does being ready for kindergarten look like? Researchers at Stanford Graduate School of Education (GSE) have investigated this issue from all angles, offering strategies for parents and teachers to help make the transition a smooth one.

Clear expectations

First, it’s wise for parents to get a handle on what exactly will be expected of children in their particular classroom.                                                                                                                       

Full article found here: https://ed.stanford.edu/news/ready-or-not-stanford-researchers-weigh-kindergarten-preparedness

Can Kinders Catch Up?

Can a child who starts kindergarten with few reading or math skills catch up?

Teacher Maryellen Whittingham was worried about Giuliana Tapia, 5, who entered her kindergarten class at the Telesis Academy in West Covina far behind other students, unable to recognize letters or sing the alphabet.

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times)

By TERESA WATANABE

NOV. 27, 2016

 

8:25 AM

Giuliana Tapia was way behind her classmates.

She was just 5 years old, starting kindergarten at Telesis Academy of Science and Math in West Covina.

At a kindergarten screening two months before her first day, she happily chattered about her dog Toodles, her favorite color pink, her Santa Claus pajamas, her nickname Gigi, her outings with dad to see SpongeBob SquarePants movies.

But many of her 21 classmates already knew most of the alphabet, colors and shapes. Two of them could even read all 100 words — at, the, there, like — that kindergartners are expected to know by the end of the year.

About half had been to preschool; Giuliana had not.

“I don’t know,” she said when she was asked to identify letters on a sheet of paper. 

Kindergartner Giuliana Tapia struggles to write her name on the first day of school in Maryellen Whittingham’s class at the Telesis Academy. 

(Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times )

Then, anxiously, “But that’s OK, right?”

Giuliana is not atypical of Latino children, who have the lowest rates of preschool attendance among all racial and ethnic groups. A 2015 UC Berkeley study of 4,550 children nationwide found that although Latino children showed roughly the same level of language comprehension as their white peers at 9 months old, four-fifths had fallen up to 5 months behind by the time they were 2.

The study found that only 28% of the Mexican American mothers who spoke English at home, as Giuliana’s mother does, read to their children daily, compared with 59% of white mothers.

No preschool. No daily stories read out loud. Could Giuliana catch up?

To read full story follow this link:  http://www.latimes.com/local/california/la-me-ln-kindergarten-expectations-adv-snap-20161109-story.html

Article: Benefits of movement in schools

http://www.creativitypost.com/education/the_benefits_of_movement_in_schools

NPR News: Supreme Court Ruling: Implications for Public vs Private Education

Guide Dogs in PPS

Opinion Piece: PPS Bond Survey an Opportunity for improved Accessibility and Safety

   Recently, PPS released a bond survey to get community input on what issues it should prioritize when allocating the 1.6 billion dollars in current and potential bond funds.  The implications for the allocation of these funds are substantial.You can find the survey link and my response below.  

https://docs.google.com/a/apps4pps.net/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdVR-tOuKH6vc8YtvBf6Yil_qK8wD5LjXyazu0NsZQsT8F08A/viewform

What questions do you have about this bond process?

How will you be able to maximize the tax payers money to make schools safe and accessible?  I could imagine millions of dollars could be saved if the right (really smart) people figured out a way to maximize efficiency without compromising safety or cutting corners.  I am also curious about what the plan is to deal with the lead in the water.  My understanding is that lead levels are at legal and safe levels if the people ran the water for a few seconds before drinking.  Rather than replace the entire plumbing infrastructure, couldn't plumbers install a water catch timer system that would functionally do this (let the water run) prior to being available to drink?  I'm not a plumber or engineer but would love to see some updates on different proposals for creative and cost-effective problem solving by our best plumbers and engineers.  Thanks for the survey.  

Can PPS incorporate a timed water flush system into our infrastructure to save millions?  Please respond in the comments section if you are a plumber, hydraulic engineer, or have expertise in this area.

What would you like the Board of Education to consider when deciding on a bond package to refer to voters?

I think making the water safe to drink again may be the most pressing issue that voters will most likely support.  However, almost as important are access and universal design considerations (ex: wheelchair, stroller, bi-pedal can all use ramps/curb cuts).  

Is there anything else you’d like to share about the bond proposals?

After safety and access issues are addressed I would love to see some funds allocated to build safe, accessible, and fun school playgrounds.  While some playgrounds are accessible, there are very few that are fun and accessible (see Harper's Playground as an example).  I would love to see Harper's playground design team incorporated into future development of schools and playgrounds. 

Pete Carpenter  MOT, OTR/L  (and father of two)

Affordable magnetic mounting systems

http://www.buythebest10.com/top-10-best-magnetic-car-mounts-review/

One hand shoe laces

http://quickshoelace.com/#/

Parenting in the screen age

Why Kids Need Recess, and why it's endangered

https://www.google.com/amp/www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/505850/

Linking inspiring indoor and outdoor accessible environments

A recent interview with Cody QJ Goldberg sparked a potential collaboration between PPS and Harper's Playground and their design team.  Their innovative work on accessible, natural, and fun playgrounds inspired this OT to attempt to apply design techniques to existing sensory spaces within PPS.  Updates to come...

The case for learning through movement

There is building evidence for the importance of students learning with movement.

See full article here: 

https://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/nov/21/schools-education-teaching-exercise-better-learners

Alternative classroom model

• Project-based learning  is relevant to students. In Johnsonville, students explore issues like buying a home, paying rent, starting a business, and managing finances. Students see adults face these same issues and can relate what happens in Johnsonville to the real world. Relevancy makes each lesson memorable, meaning students are more likely to remember the overall concept of a lesson as opposed to memorizing facts for a test. It encourages collaboration. Desks are designed for individual students—which is why I don’t have any. In my classroom you will only find tables, collaboration bars, and sofas that are perfect places for students to think creatively and problem-solve. It is important that students take an active part in their own learning and are able to solve problems using what they know and have learned. By using critical thinking skills to collaborate and complete performance-based lessons, my students are fully engaged throughout the entire school year.  
• Students are in control. Other teachers trying PBL often tell me, “my kids can’t do it” or “it’s a lot of work.” I think the real issue here is teachers not wanting to give up control of their classrooms. PBL gives me the freedom to facilitate and encourage critical thinking. Additionally, I find students work better when the teacher isn’t hovering over them. PBL promotes students to think creatively and build the 21st-century skills they need to be successful in today’s job market. Students are using pre-built, credible, standards-aligned curriculum. I have discovered Defined STEM is a great tool to help me create relevant lessons I can incorporate into Johnsonville. The supplementary curriculum provides students with research resources, videos, and project prompts that encourage students to think outside the box and put them in real-world situations.

On test scores:  The state of North Carolina does not test students on collaboration and citizenship, but does consider critical thinking a key ability. I’ve discovered the best way to test student’s critical thinking skills is through project-based learning. In addition to working in the realm of Johnsonville, students complete at least one project a month to show what they’ve learned in a real-world situation.North Carolina State testing shows that my PBL model improves student scores. At the end of the 2016 school year, my fifth-grade students scored an average of 85 percent on the state science exam, while my school as a whole scored 58 percent. It’s not a leap to suggest the focus on PBL and hands-on learning was the catalyst for this major boost.

It’s important to remember that every child is different and learns differently. Relating classroom lessons to real life helps students at any level connect with the content and interpret it in a way they are able to understand. When students become part of their own learning, they take pride in their education and become more engaged. PBL not only keeps students busy, but it allows each one to show what they’ve learned in a creative, supportive, and collaborative environment.

Full article here: 

http://www.eschoolnews.com/2016/10/07/i-made-my-classroom-look-like-the-real-world-and-test-scores-soared/?ps=jreed%40nsf.gov-0013000000niJym-0033000000vVvvC

PPS Teaching, Learing & Technology

https://spark.adobe.com/page/zoiwin4o9R6PR/

NEWSLETTER • ISSUE 3 • NOV. 10, 2016

Sign up for GSUITe training here: 

https://support.google.com/a/answer/7039472

Social Stories for School and Life

Social Stories (search by topic)
https://tp053.k12.sd.us/Following%20Rules%20at%20School.htm

Social Narrative resource (search by topic)
http://www.kansasasd.com/socialnarratives.php

Edutopia resource: Move Your Body, Grow Your Brain

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/move-body-grow-brain-donna-wilson

Kim Levine Shares Sensory Spaces at the Pioneer Program

Kim Levine, OT at Pioneer Program, shared some of the sensory spaces she helped set up.  Some of the rooms features include: adjustable lighting, sound effect machine, multiple swings, squeeze machine roller, trampoline, and sit & spin.  She was able to fund some of the equipment through a Donors Choose grant.

OT's Share Tools at Staff Training at Pioneer

Gina Barnes and Debbie Angle, from the PPS OT Team and Motor Development Team present strategies on emotional and sensory regulation.  They gave an excellent overview of the Zones of Regulation curriculum.

Handwriting and Brainwaves

PENCILS AND BRAINWAVES: AN ANALYSIS ON HANDWRITING AND MEMORY

On September 25, 2013 in General by Timothy Huneycutt

This week we reached out to our Director of Elementary Development, Freddie Kendrick – you may remember reading about her efforts to transform elementary teaching – and she provided us with a wealth of insight into the benefits of handwriting. There’s a lot more to writing things out than initially meets the eye, but we’ll let Freddie explain it herself:

~*~

[Freddie] Despite the fact that more and more people are communicating through text, and even though technology is making an increasingly significant impact on our classrooms, handwriting is an invaluable skill to teach and master. In fact, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) actually include standards for legible manuscript writing in kindergarten and first grade. However, there is no mention of it elsewhere in the other grade levels that I have found, and this is a travesty that should be reversed.

Current research shows an important relationship between writing by hand and learning. For example, in a Wall Street Journal article, Gwendolyn Bounds linked brain scans and behavioral testing together and found that participants who wrote out new letterforms instead of using a keyboard to type them out actually hadincreased brain activity. In the article, titled “How Handwriting Trains the Brain,” Bounds elaborates on this finding and discusses how information written by hand stimulates the brain and increases the retention of that written information.

Handwriting is much more than learning how to use a pencil. It is a tool with which our students can hone some of the most critical learning skills, skills that they will be using for the rest of their lives! In the book,Teaching with the Brain in Mind, Eric Jensen – a professional colleague of mine – writes that excessive stress and threat in the school environment may be the single greatest contributor to impaired academic learning. A multi-sensory handwriting program relaxes the emotional brain to reduce stress levels in students and improve learning. I also asked him for a little more insight into his thoughts on handwriting, and he provided me with an excellent quote:

“Two generations ago, 95% of people in America used handwriting. Today, most use keyboarding. Yet the skills of handwriting remain important. They are memory, focus, prediction, attention, sequencing, estimation, patience and creativity.”  

click below for full article here: 

http://nms.org/Blog/TabId/58/PostId/179/pencils-and-brainwaves-an-analysis-on-handwriting-and-memory.aspx

also see: http://www.naesp.org/sites/default/files/MJ12%20Berninger.pdf

How Trauma is Changing Children’s Brains

Full article here:
http://neatoday.org/2016/05/17/trauma-and-children/?utm_source=nea_today_express&utm_medium=email&utm_content=trauma&utm_campaign=160601neatodayexpress

Sensory at Rosa Parks

Teachers at Rosa Parks Elementary in North Portland are successfully sharing sensory tools with their students in general education classrooms

“The sensory tools have already done wonders for keeping the kids calm and focused,” said Patrice Pierre, who teaches third grade at the year-round Rosa Parks. “I did not know they would be so perfect for my whole class! The kids really understand that these are tools, not toys. A surprise has been my shyest kids who are using the fidgets for anxiety.”

Rosa Park is the first public school in Oregon to ask for and receive the Shadow Project’s Sensory Tool Kits and teacher training. In a June 2015 Portland Public Schools survey, 60 percent of the district’s staff members felt they needed more professional training, mentorship, or other support in serving special education students.

“We have wonderful sensory libraries from The Shadow Project in the learning center and counselor’s office,” said Principal Tamala Newsome. “But kids need to be able to access sensory tools in whatever classroom they are in, so they are supported throughout the day.

“We are so over telling kids not to move in class,” she said. “Our goal is to work collectively to meet kids where they are at, and keep them in the classroom, so they can focus on learning.”

Fourth grade teacher Marsha Wolfe is excited to have sensory tools in her classroom (above) 

Children in special education who are on (IEPs) Individualized Education Programs need the sensory tools for when they are in their general education classrooms and elsewhere in the school. But the tools are also a benefit for the “children of the gray” who have not been identified for special education but clearly need sensory help.

The Sensory Tool Kits for each K-5 teacher included one dozen hand-held fidgets selected by Rosa’s occupational therapist Martha Thomas, O.T., as well as kinetic sand and beanbag chairs. Teachers were trained on how to work with kids on selecting the fidget that works best for them.

“We know the sensory tools are great for empowering students to regulate their own bodies and behavior,” said Learning Center TeacherKim Giarelli, M.S. “Self-awareness is the first step to student responsibility for setting and achieving academic goals.”

Said third-grader Natalie, 8, who is not in special education: “I talk a lot. When I read, I use Silly Putty and roll it back and forth. It helps me stay calm and quiet.”

(paraphrased from this article)

Vernon Elementary: The Making of a School-Based Sensory Space

This space is the result of the collaborative efforts of Vernon administrators, teachers, occupational therapy, and generous support from the Vernon community. We hope this space will serve as an educational tool and as a safe place where students and staff better understand and meet some of their sensory needs.  We hope this space will facilitate occupational, social, communication, and educational development.  

Zones of Regulation Resource

Excellent resource for Zones of Regulation: overview, videos, models, lesson plans and more
http://mrsduranteszones.weebly.com/the-zones-of-regulation.html