New School Year 2017-2018
We are coming to the starting the second month of the new 2017-2018 school year; which is also the start of the fourth year of the Social Symbolism class. The curriculum for "SoS" (e.g., the nickname my students have dubbed the course) is based off of the Social Thinking Curriculum created by Michelle Garcia Winner.
With new students, I begin with "expected and unexpected behaviors" and flexible thinking vs. rigid thinking (i.e., "rock brain" thinking). With returning students, I review the aforementioned concepts and then continue with communication skills (e.g., people/friend files), and friends (e.g., friends, friendly acquaintances, "others', and mean people). Friendships are based on common interests...
The Freshman Class of 2021 will attend the activity fair next week. All of the clubs and extracurricular activities that BHS offers will be represented at this fair. One of the requirements for the Social Symbolism class is that each student must participate in at least one extracurricular activity of their choosing. The reason for this "requirement" is that this particular class is a "skills-based" class. Participating in at least one club is essentially "homework", because the skills the students learn in class need to be practiced outside of class. Please talk to your child about which extracurricular activities they are interested in attending.
In the past, the Social Symbolism classes have participated in at least one field trip during the school year. This is a great opportunity for the students be able to demonstrate their knowledge of social communication skills, including initiating conversations and using flexible thinking that they are learning in class by using them in various structured activities. Please strongly encourage your child to participate in field trips that are scheduled!
Since I also stress the importance of setting a goal within the context of executive functioning skills with my students, we will be doing frequent agenda checks and discussing upcoming quizzes/tests and projects in order to talk about planning, prioritizing and time management skills.
With new students, I begin with "expected and unexpected behaviors" and flexible thinking vs. rigid thinking (i.e., "rock brain" thinking). With returning students, I review the aforementioned concepts and then continue with communication skills (e.g., people/friend files), and friends (e.g., friends, friendly acquaintances, "others', and mean people). Friendships are based on common interests...
The Freshman Class of 2021 will attend the activity fair next week. All of the clubs and extracurricular activities that BHS offers will be represented at this fair. One of the requirements for the Social Symbolism class is that each student must participate in at least one extracurricular activity of their choosing. The reason for this "requirement" is that this particular class is a "skills-based" class. Participating in at least one club is essentially "homework", because the skills the students learn in class need to be practiced outside of class. Please talk to your child about which extracurricular activities they are interested in attending.
In the past, the Social Symbolism classes have participated in at least one field trip during the school year. This is a great opportunity for the students be able to demonstrate their knowledge of social communication skills, including initiating conversations and using flexible thinking that they are learning in class by using them in various structured activities. Please strongly encourage your child to participate in field trips that are scheduled!
Since I also stress the importance of setting a goal within the context of executive functioning skills with my students, we will be doing frequent agenda checks and discussing upcoming quizzes/tests and projects in order to talk about planning, prioritizing and time management skills.
