After a long break. . .day 18!

So, being out with H1N1 doesn't lend itself well to observing a student. . .at least I'm supposedly immune to it now! The substitute just LOVED Zack. . .he's hard not to love! He's very affectionate and frequently tells people he loves them--he's quite the charmer! She talked about how much he enjoyed the free exploration with the math manipulatives, particularly the cubes, and I am really disappointed I missed it. I will have to watch his interactions during our math exploration time this next week to see what she's talking about.
So we've had a few staff/scheduling changes with Zack and who's in my room with him, and it has gone surprisingly smoothly. I'm so thankful that my personality fits well with all of the vision team members. They are always willing to help me out (like passing out napkins for a surprise snack and jumping in when I need a hand), and they are so flexible. With being out all of last week, I didn't have any plans done for this week. They have had our literacy program (two hours every morning, 45 minutes in the afternoon) brailled since last spring, so I guess the most important piece of our planning is done already. Math is pretty simple to modify since Zack is being taught to use an abacus, and it seems to work okay "off the cuff." During writing time, anything I have planned is just transferred for Zack to do on his braille machine rather than on paper. Hmm. . .that's pretty much our entire day. . .maybe I don't have to be as planned as I thought!
I let the kids pick a partner for a math game after lunch today, and one of the sweet girls in our class who hadn't been "intrigued" with Zack (I have a few kids who just love to sit with him and be his partner) went over and asked to be his partner. He seems to be building relationships with lots of the kids, and I didn't notice today that he was much different from the other kids. He had the help of his vision teacher during the game, of course, but he seemed to be interacting with the little girl pretty well.
We have moved Zack to be more in the middle of the group during carpet time rather than at the back, and I think it is helping on several fronts. First of all, the kids don't forget about him because they can see him and can identify him as part of our group. Next, I think he feels more involved and is having an easier time of focusing because he is closer to my voice. I also think it helps me to include him when I can see him better. I wish we had done it earlier in the year!
I am going to try blogging every day for a little less time. . .I think my posts are getting a little too long! We'll see. . .this is a new adventure. . .