Days 9 and 10

Wow. . .10 whole days of first grade have passed! Zack has taught me volumes in the past few days, and I can't believe how much I didn't know about the blind. I learned as I've been teaching my students about capital letters that it is possible to make a capital in braille. . .who knew?! Zack has already learned to distinguish the little symbol next to the letter that indicates it's a capital, and his vision teacher made him a small homework assignment to circle the capital letters in the beginning of words. The vision team is AMAZING at modifying things quickly so Zack can meet the objectives of my lessons. . .I hope I am getting more efficient at sharing my copies and lesson plans and ideas with them so they feel prepared! I am planning to meet with Zack's primary vision teacher tomorrow to go over next week's lesson plans. . .yes, it's true, I'll be a full week and one day ahead of schedule! I am finding, though, that organization is the secret to making this a smooth year for Zack, the vision team and myself. We all work better when we know where we're going!
So I completely forgot and sent Zack homework last week that was not appropriate for his abilities, and I felt terrible when his stepmother pointed it out. I simply put the same page in all of the kids' mailboxes, and it was a cut out and glue activity without any braille--visuals only. Quite an obvious challenge for a blind student! Zack's stepmother was really understanding, and I asked her to please use her judgment and disregard any future assignments that are clearly not appropriate. I tried to assure her that I would stand behind her decision on an assignment if she didn't think it was something he could do. I also told her that it was likely I would do it again. . .Friday mailbox stuffing is not usually my best activity! I think she could see why I goofed up, too--when she came in, my desk was covered in weeds ("flowers" from my kids), I had five kids waiting and tapping me for who knows what reason, and I was still wearing my sparkly antenna head band (with springs and shiny silver balls) from testing the kids and "being on another planet" so they wouldn't disturb the testing. . .the life of a first-grade teacher doesn't always lend itself to remembering who doesn't get the homework! I just hope she felt my sincerity and will know that I trust her to make a call on homework I unknowingly (or possibly knowingly) send for Zack.
So I've been watching how Zack and the other kids interact, and I noticed one girl today sit beside him and attempt to move his legs so he was sitting "criss-cross applesauce" style. I asked her not to move him but to remind him to sit appropriately, and I'm not exactly sure why she felt like she needed to physically pick up his legs and move them. Zack is much smaller than the other kids (although the same age), and I think his size may impact how they see him. The girl moving his legs today treated him more like a doll than a peer. . .how do I go about adjusting their attitudes? I can help them to treat him like anyone else, but I can't build relationships and friendships for him. . .
We had a little incident this morning with Zack not wanting to stay in our class during literacy time. He kept making noises and talking, and he more or less refused to follow the directions of his vision teacher. He had to leave the classroom to go and have a talk with another vision teacher, but I'm not sure what was said. He came back acting much more appropriately, and I made sure to compliment him on his behavior multiple times throughout the day. I want to make sure that consequences for his behavior are effective, and it's definitely not as easy to create consequences for him as it is for other children. Being separated from the group, my most reliable consequence, is not necessarily effective for a kid like Zack who is already separated because of his blindness. . .just a thought. The vision team is AWESOME (in case I haven't said that already), and I know they can help me brainstorm consequences if necessary. Hopefully we won't have any incidents for a while, though. . .