What & Why.  It is often helpful to mirror the screen of your tablet (for me, and iPad) unto your Macintosh computer.  Maybe you want to model using an AAC system that matches that of one of your students.  Maybe you want to show how to build words using the Word Wizard app.  I find multiple uses for this trick almost every session!! Yes, you can do this through a mirroring app, but that puts demands on wifi signal.  And yes, you can use a document camera, but that often results in glare, or a less-than-stellar image.  This solution has been highly effec ..read more

 Where and Why.  The idea for this post came from the pool.   That's right, the pool!  I've been taking Aqua Zumba and Aqua Exercise classes. Pools are LOUD!  And the music is LOUD!  The instructors can't rely on their voices to give instructions. The more effective instructors are masters of multi-modal communication.   How Do They Do That?  They use many components, including:  • Broad Gestures.  They point to a body part that will be involved in the next activity, such as slapping their right thigh two times to indicate: "Use yo ..read more

 WHAT:  Poems for 2 voices are meant to be read aloud.  Or listened to.  Or performed.  Paul Fleischman made this genre popular, with his book / audio version of I Am Phoenix.   WHY:  Two voice poems are wonderful for supporting students in learning to compare and contrast.   Students can: • Pick two characters from a book, two objects that have some features in common and some different, etc. WHO:  These poems are fantastic for: • Students who are exploring their AAC systems.    HOW:  Show students samples of ..read more

 Why Prank?  Oh, seriously, do I have to ask that?   Well, here are a few ideas from Krista!   When to Prank?  April Fools Day comes to mind.  But, seriously, ANY time is a good time to prank.  It's such a great way to start a fun interaction. How to Prank?   1) Get a 'partner in crime' – having a pranking buddy makes it way more fun! 2) Read the book that Krista and I wrote.  It has some great ideas.  Better yet, read it WITH your friends who use AAC – hopefully it will motivate you to 'get your pranks on!'  Here ..read more

At Fletcher Miller, we’re always looking to increase ways our students can engage meaningfully with their AAC at school and AT HOME.  At home, many of our Miller families report that they like watching shows like “America’s Got Talent” and “The Voice” as a family.  To set students up for success using their AAC at home during these important family times, we’ve included fun events like our own “Fletcher Miller’s THE VOICE” to allow students a fun and engaging opportunity to practice using their AAC for such activities.   To do this, we: Practiced being “The Voice” jud ..read more

February is almost here and that means LOVE and FRIENDSHIP are in the air!!! Are you looking for a little inspiration to find some new fun, motivating, and age-respectful activities that promote and celebrate the authentic use of AAC??  We’ll share a few ideas of activities in the works at Fletcher Miller in February.  Comment below and share yours, too!  What better way to get your kids engaging meaningfully with their AAC than talking about those they love and admire the most!??   Create a Valentine’s Day playlist-  Is your school/class planning a dance?  ..read more

Looking for a fun activity to promote the functional use of AAC?  Miller’s secondary students LOVE a good game of “Fact or Crap?!”  (If this title might raise some eyebrows, feel free to call it “You or Boo??!!”) In this game, students use their AAC to create several truths and several lies about themselves.  At Miller, we made a special gameshow out of Fact or Crap and pitted our three secondary classrooms against each other.  Students’ AAC-created statements were presented to the two opposing teams.  For students with a variety of sensory learning needs, we also w ..read more

Before jumping into the journey of our school newspaper, I wanted to introduce ourselves. We will be contributing here and there with some fun ideas around teaching emergent literacy! Fletcher Miller is a self-contained school in Jefferson County Public School District in Lakewood, Colorado. We serve students ages 3-21 all with multiple, complex disabilities. We have roughly 100 students in our school, of which about 90% are emergent literacy learners. We are passionate about creating age-respectful and meaningful literacy opportunities for our students. We love to think of creative ways to re ..read more

 What:  This is a songboard that I made more than 20 years ago.  It was part of a ''Social Studies' CD that I was working on, but never finished.  There were some fun songboards, that have been added to my Singing to Learn 'CD' (a.k.a., dropbox).  For more information about that dropbox, use this link:  Caroline's 'CDs'/ Dropboxes Flyer The MLK songboard folder includes PDFs of all symbols and images needed to create this songboard.  It also includes the lyrics and goals, relative to standards (see below). How:  The MLK Songboard is design ..read more

 Unleash Your Creativity – The Handout!! Brenda Del Monte & I did a very fun prezzie at CTG - the last in a series.  I promised to post the handout quickly on this blog but . . . well . . . um . . . I forgot!  Anyway, here it is!  Enjoy! Unleash Your Creativity ..read more