Hello!
Welcome to Rich Vanyo's classroom page.
In our room we believe that:
The students come first.
Everyone in our room will learn something new everyday.
We will have fun while we learn.
We will be adventurous and make mistakes, but we will learn from them. Kindness and safety are a top priority.
We will show respect for individuals, their learning styles and needs.
In our class this year we will be focusing on Saint Paul Public Schools standards curriculum (modified and adapted to allow for each individual students greatest learning opportunity) they will be addressed throughout the year. In Science we will be studying Earth and Space Systems as well as Physics, which involves matter, energy, motion and many other cool concepts. In Social Studies we will be studying current events, Human Geography, U.S. Citizenship, United States History, and Transition. As an offshoot of Transition we will be learning Business, which is simply jobs and job training and associated ideas. We will be working on our Math skills using numbers, money, time, patterns, geometry, measurement, data, statistics and probability. We will also be working on Language Arts, and Health.
We will also be very busy with all-school activities, such as homecoming, rodeo, our monthly celebration of learning, Star Reporter and Meville to Weville curriculum. Our studies will explore all aspects of culture both old and new. We will include, but not be limited to: modern history, natural and ecological science, math, music, economics, art, architecture, language, politics, and sports. In short we will be creative and go beyond the standards to include in our lessons whatever allows the lesson to be motivating and meaningful to our individual students.
We will also observe the different holidays from various cultures and do activities related to local events whether they are political, social, or sports related. With this in mind we will work to incorporate these themes/subjects into all of our activities. With the help of our classroom and support staff:
Tom Olson ~ Child Development Technician
Mary Neubauer ~ Classroom Assistant
Matt Wombach ~ Clasroom Assistant
School support staff include: music therapy, developmental adapted physical education, our water safety instructor, occupational therapists, physical therapists, orientation and mobility instructors, vision teachers, and speech and language clinicians.
As a collaborative team we will work together to coordinate our activities to attain the goals
and objectives set forth in each student's Individual Education
Program. Our common goal is success in learning in a relaxed atmosphere.
In our art, history, and math classes we will work on a number of different ways of knowing and learning. We will work to think logically and mathematically. We will work on auditory/musical and linguistics by talking and listening to our students while incorporating music into lessons whenever possible. We will work on providing visual, spatial and tactile/kinesthetic information through the use of relaxation and massage. We will also work on our projects with a naturalistic viewpoint, thinking about the real world both now, and of the past. During all of this we will keep options open for all of our students to shine individually, intrapersonally, or within the group, interpersonally.
As always we will be working on Bridge View standards. These include engaging in activities to promote and improve fine and gross motor skills, functional activities, daily living skills, communication skills, and sensory activities. All of these ideals are adapted individually to allow the greatest degree learning possible.
Our classroom likes to keep busy and try to engage the students in as many activities as time allows. We do allow for free time for the students and give choices for relaxation activities, or allow them to play games alone or with peers. We will also be out in the community bowling, working at store to door, The Salvation Army, and to The Saint Paul Public Library to find support materials for our learning. We use these sites for recreation/leisure, for jobs training to work towards transitional employment, and volunteer work.
In our classroom we make every opportunity involve each student to the best of their ability. We provide choices and opportunities to interact and have fun with both their peers and staff. With differentiated instruction in mind, we make adaptations and modifications to lessons that result in a fun and exciting learning experience that is never boring. We look forward to visitors and welcome questions of interest related to our studies.
|
