Archive for April, 2012

Jim’s personal leave time for this school year has ended, so I volunteered to deliver a presentation, my FIRST, to a fantastic group of educators from Chattooga County Schools this morning at Summerville Elementary School. They were meeting to discuss their system’s implementation of our new CCGPS standards in math and language arts. I enjoyed talking with them and not only showing them our math manipulatives, but also hearing how we are all working to address ways to help our students transition from GPS to CCGPS. I had such a good time talking with them that I almost forgot to show them the Slide-A-Round teachers’ aids!!! After I left, I remembered that I didn’t talk about the handout of standardized test questions that are addressed with the products OR that Jim is going to design a series of student practice handouts this summer after we get back from a conference in Houston on assistive technology. (These complimentary practice handouts will be posted online for teachers to download as needed during their lessons.) All in all, I have learned that I love to talk with fellow teachers, and I need to make sure I have an index card with a list of the information I want to include! HA!  Thanks to Anna Nichols and Michelle Helie for letting the “Slide-A-Round Substitute” come in and also for being such a great group for my first presentation. 🙂 Susan

After meeting Dr. Susan Brown, Interim Chairperson of the Department of Inclusive Education at Kennesaw State University, at RESA’s meeting on April 13th, her interest in my math manipulatives has opened several doors to expand and reach out to future teachers and show them how to help the students in their upcoming classrooms. I have a meeting scheduled at KSU on May 23rd to discuss ways to make Slide-A-Round math manipulatives available to their students.

Tomorrow will be a busy day as I travel to the Alabama School for the Deaf to do an in-service presentation to their faculty and administrators. I look forward to creating an academic relationship with their school similar to the one I already have with our Georgia School for the Deaf located near Rome. Any opportunity I have to meet with fellow teachers to collaborate on ways to help their students learn is always exciting!

I will be meeting with the faculty and administration of Johnson Elementary School in Rome, GA. I continue to be excited about the opportunity to show teachers my manipulatives in person and not only demonstrate their variety and usage, but also answer any questions teachers may have on a more personal basis than over the phone or via email. In addition to the meetings and conferences I have scheduled this summer, I am also going to continue working to design more handouts/lessons to coordinate with each product and link several instructional lessons from my website to YouTube. This has definitely been a rewarding and EVENTFUL school year!