Helping Students Succeed Beyond the Traditional Classroom
“Falling on my tongue and nose,
As I make the snowman pose,
Stalling in the cold wet snow,
Calling to my mother, “No!”
I want to play.
I want to stay.
Even on this frightful day.
For playing in the snow is fun,
Even if there is no sun.”
by Abby (7th grade)
Product Manager
for
iHomeEducator (c) 2011
Photo by Maryann Barth
The Land of Light
Falling lightly and so brightly
All around, a land of light.
Even on a frightful night
It still can be a wondrous sight.
For some it means a frozen street
And others a special, special treat
And when you go in for the night
You can warm yourself by the firelight.
by Abby (7th Grade)
Product Manager
for
iHomeEducator 2011 (c)
photograph by Nancy Barth
by Christian Ravard
My last discussion for this class was to take the two chapters we were to read and infuse your own “art” into what you learned and what you understood. This chapter was on Approaches to Reading…….
Literacy is,
Has been,
And will always be,
The tool that develops,
Defines,
And Redefines,
US,
As Individuals,
Based On Our Ability,
To Think,
To Comprehend,
And to Speak.
Reading Requires Knowledge
Skills
And Temperaments
That not only affirm our student’s
Right to
Think,
Comprehend
And SPEAK,
But ALSO
ANNOUNCES TO THE SCHOOL,
THEIR TEACHERS,
THEIR FAMILIES,
And their NEW World .
That they are confident,
ABLE,
And Willing
To take literature
Passages,
And TEXTBOOKS
And CONSCIOUSLY
Deduce them down
To the very facts
AND FIGURES
That they represent
On a LEVEL
Students Understand
and teachers Can
Comprehend!
As a NATION BUILDER
Our approach to reading Instruction
Can
AND WILL
Differ.
Whether your approach is
Literature BASED
Marinated in BASAL
Or Simply Spoken
THROUGH
Language Experience
Our Goals
REMAIN
ONE AND THE SAME.
To continue to Educate
CHALLENGE
AND Inspire!
ESSAY
By Joel Bluhm
I am no Olympic athlete but I have experienced what a luge rider might enjoy while zipping down a hill.
The wind blowing on your face, my body free from prison. I felt very much like a bird flying over his domain.
In freedom lies solace.
My body never felt such moments like that day of freewheeling sightseeing before. I will always remember that feeling and relive it over and over again. I imagine the Olympians and I have that part in common. One special moment to live and relive all our lives.
The End
March 2, 2010
Joel was a participant in the academic seminar on the 2010 Olympics that I helped facilitate at The California Learning Connection in February/March 2010. You can read here what finding his voice has meant to him.
I met Joel through an academic seminar I helped facilitate at The California Learning Connection in March of 2010. The students were teens and young adults with autism or other communication challenges. Most were in the beginning stages of using Facilitated Communication. This is a speech that Joel wrote and ‘spoke’ through Facilitated Communication. You can read his essay from our seminar here.
June 24,2010
Joel’s Presentation for August
well my story is quite remarkable. when i was born something was really not right. my brain had seizures on top of seizures . the smartest doctors couldn’t stop them. we tried every medication known to man and none worked. so we did the unthinkable and removed some of my brain. while it reduced my wild brain electricity it created other challenges. the right side of my body is gone away. i remained trapped in a silent prison until just two years ago. a very unique wonderful lady who loves purple arrived in my life and boy nothing has been the same ever since.
i was very reluctant to show mom how much i really knew after all, i have a great service in place. the thought of having to really participate is scary when you haven’t ever before. it took the words of another previously silent person to wake up my desire for more in my life. the truth is i have more desire to live my life now than ever before.
when i think about my life now a whole new set of possibilities come into view. i have always loved music especially the thought of being a composer. this took place in my silent mind space and seemed like an impossibility until my purple avenger entered my life. the reality of having totally untethered possibilities is almost beyond thinkable for a man confined not only by my physical limitations but also imprisoned in lonely silence. being without communication became a life sentence that was imposed by a system full of color blind professionals who found my silence acceptable. they never even considered it a possibility that i might actually have something important to contribute to this world beyond occupying space and resources. i eventually gave up and decided my life was to be spent as a piece of furniture being moved from room to room. what an uninspired existence. i went on like this well into my adult years. my mom being the optimist of the group kept her eye out for something that might at the very least offer me some simple life choices. im not so sure she even envisioned what i am doing now. truthfully i didn’t think i would find real communicative freedom in this lifetime.
when the purple freedom rider arrived in town the reality of my impending parole became paralyzing as i typed each letter. the piece that terrified me the most was wondering how much my life would change and could i meet the demands set by my newly discovered intellect. when i had the opportunity to actually ask a beautiful young woman out on a date well that sealed the deal for me. there is nothing i am not willing to try now. the future is yet to be written as i am just completing chapter one here today. so buckle your seat belts this novel promises to be a real barn burner. my immediate plans are to attend college so i have some credentials on paper to earn a legitimate wage. something that might attract a certain asian beauty that has stolen my heart forever. maybe i can produce some wonderful music and write some books that will leave my mark on the world and not just wheel chair tracks in the carpet. thank you for listening to my opening chapter. you can contact me on face book.
Poems, Essays, Jokes, Book Reviews, Short Stories…there’s a world of creativity out there in our kids!
I just had to create this category after reading this stunning poem .
Dechere’s teacher explained that it was a poetry assignment. The class was discussing couplet poems and symbolism and for homework, each student chose a symbol from the magic hat, a symbol for them to write about. Her symbol was of a black man and a white man shaking hands. They were to interpret the symbol however they wished and write a 10 couplet poem. The beautiful poem that Dechere wrote is what came out.
Symbolic Poem
Dechere Grant, Grade 8
Century Community Charter School, Inglewood, CA.
When the first slave ships landed on American shores,
Black people were treated like they walked on all fours.
With the crack of the whip they were forced into slavery,
Until people like Tubman stood up with bravery.
Even some whites like Lincoln and Brown,
Wouldn’t let slave owners keep blacks down.
In 1864 blacks were suppose to be free,
But they still had to deal with inequality.
The south was a dangerous place for a black man,
Who always had to deal with the Ku Klux Klan.
Until a man came along named Martin Luther King,
Who decided that the whites should do the right thing.
They did the right thing and passed civil rights,
Now everyone can shake hands whether you’re black or white.
Barth Educational Consultants 