That seems to be one of the hippest ways to engage a peer now a days, but certainly not a good way to address a police officer or your grandmother.  You and I know this, but a student with autism or Asperger's Syndrome may have figured, since he (or sometimes she) heard it on her favorite television show, it must be okay.  So many students with Autism Spectrum Disorders or other cognitive disabilities don't understand the "unwritten curriculum" at their middle school or high school.

Carol Gray, who created Social Stories (I call them Social Narratives, since Carol trademarked the name) also created Comic Strip Conversations, using a grid system, pictures and cartoon balloons.  I've given them a try, as a way to support the script writing and rehearsal that I have been pursuing with my guys in my social living class.   I love them.  They have proven to be a really effective way to write and rehearse social interaction.  I am calling mine Cartoon Strip Social Interactions, since I will be using them both to teach, practice and reinforce learning how to engage others.   As well as an article to explain how to use them, I also provide free printable pdf's of request comic strips, focusing on different audiences.  I plan to expand my offerings to include initiating interactions, greetings, entering conversations, small talk and negotiations.

I hope these will give those of you supporting students with social deficits a place to start.  Keep your eyes open, there will be more cartoon blanks coming your way to support your efforts to build your student's social skills.

I don't know about your students, but my guys really struggle with writing.  Sometimes it's short term memory challenges with spelling.  Often it's fine motor challenges that either make their writing unreadable, or leave their hands sore and stressed out.  I decided I needed some support.

It's been kind of hard to get hold of my assistive technology person:  my district is huge, the fifth largest in the United States. I took advantage of a workshop on assistive word processing resources so I could learn how to us Co-writer.  Boy, am I ever glad I did.  I share those resources with you in an article about Assistive Word Processing.

Ironically, the program I'm most excited about is  Pixwriter.  It uses a grid as a keyboard and you load words by typing them in.  I have a couple of students who know how to read words but haven't entirely figured out how to use language.  I am excited that I will be able to use vocabulary from the books I'm using from Reading A-Z.  I will also be using the words from the Dolch Lists that they will be learning.

I'm also going to be hunting up the AlphaSmarts at my school: They'll be great for my two reluctant writers, who love to use the computers.  It will free the computers up for the other boys, who I will be putting on RAZ kids pretty frequently.

All in all, a great opportunity, but also a reminder that I need to spend some time checking out assistive technology resources.  I checked what was already up, and found it wanting.  Many of the links are to manufacturers.  I plan to ask Sue Lucia, our Assistive Technology Director in Clark County to keep new product recommendations coming my way, so that you can benefit from her expertise.  I also plan to add some lesson plans and ideas for using these technologies in your setting.

It's hard to keep ahead of all of the needs I see among my colleagues.  I know that this is the time of the year when behavior is becoming a real challenge  Where I'm teaching, here in Las Vegas, I don't have to deal with the gray, wet and cold weather of the North East, North West and Midwest, but our kids still can give us a run for the money.  No question that we really need something to celebrate.

February can be a busy month.  I'm going to combine Black History Month with reading and some geography, connecting places and people.  Presidents' day also falls near the end of the month.  The one that students enjoy the most is Valentines Day.

I will be spending time on adding resources for social skills:  with middle school boys it's time to use their growing interest in girls to talk about how they initiate interactions with the opposite sex as well as how to choose appropriate topics of conversation.

In the mean time, I've gathered up a number of new and old Valentine resources:  They include Valentines Dot Marker Art and a new art project you can use.   Hope you enjoy using them!

Watching traffic to Specialed.about.com and listening to my colleagues, it seems halfway though the year is about the time when things start getting crazy.

We are starting to get students moved to our Middle School after they've been chucked out of another school and sent to a behavioral program.  Dread is rising.  Some of the classrooms in our building send out regular calls for assistance from the hall monitors, and I can only imagine, with the noise I hear from neighboring classrooms, that they represent only the tip of the iceberg.

On the other hand, I am tutoring in an ELL classroom, partnering with a reading teacher who also is supervising the ELL program.  I am having a blast, even though it's math which is not exactly my strength (okay, it's sixth grade math and I do know rational numbers.)   I also know that Amy Jo runs a tight ship, and students who come to work with me know that we're there to help them succeed, not goof off.  I have also seen other neighbors who regularly teach with their doors open, 30 students in their 6th and 7th grade classes, and not a peep.

All this focus on the behavioral problems made me consider how important having the right resources can be:  I put up another article about teaching students with Behavioral Disturbances:  this one about the Emotional Disturbance Classroom.  If you find yourself struggling with maintaining order, you will find some suggests that will work in most any middle school through high school classroom.  Most of those quiet classrooms in my school use the techniques I describe:  routines, clear expectations and not engaging students in power struggles.   I hope you'll also take a look at Positive Behavior Support resources at my site.  I hope these will help you get things under control and rediscover the joy I have found tutoring typical 6th graders in math.