LABBB Collaborative  Newsletter
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May 2014
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Message from the Executive Director
*Special Announcement*
by Patric Barbieri
Dear LABBB Community:
The Bedford High School Best Buddies were voted the #1 Chapter in Massachusetts!
On Friday, May 30, the Bedford High School Best Buddies held an event at Bedford High School with LABBB students, which was attended by Glee star, Lauren Potter, and Best Buddies founder, Anthony Kennedy Shriver. The Bedford High Best Buddies were being honored as the #1 Chapter in Massachusetts. Potter and Shriver spent time answering questions, taking pictures with LABBB students and their buddies, and speaking about their experiences with Best Buddies.
The Bedford High School Best Buddies is led by President Ben Driscoll, who has taken this chapter to a new level. They are not only a significant part of their school environment, they are also recognized and held in high esteem in the Bedford community because of Ben's leadership and outreach. The relationship they have created with the LABBB program has been outstanding, and I want to thank Ben and the BHS Best Buddies on behalf of the LABBB community. LABBB students are an integral part of Bedford High School because of the Best Buddies.
The Bedford Best Buddies are now being considered for the National Best Buddies Chapter of the year!
If you have time, please watch Part I of the video below, which Ben developed as part of his application for Best Buddies National Chapter of the Year. It is amazing, and we wish them the best of luck.
 | | Bedford Best Buddies National Chapter of the Year Application (PART ONE) |
 | | Anthony Shriver, Elle (Vice President of Best Buddies) Ben Driscoll (President of Best Buddies) |
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Twitter
Please follow LABBB Collaborative users and hashtags:
@patricbarbieri
@LABBBrec
@LABBBnurse
#labbbafterschool
#labbbbasketball
#LABBB
#LABBBdisney
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Butler School's Room 207 is Zooming into Math!
Hannah, Theo, Nayeli, Talia and Meredith
by Laura Stewart
We had a challenge this year for our students, double digit addition. Manipulative's are fine to a point, and then they become extraneous, especially when we're trying to foster some independence. They fall on the floor, they become a play object or flying objects when frustration creeps into the equation. We tried base ten blocks and number lines, but got little results. We needed a way to teach this concept that was motivating and fun, but with results. All our students are at so many different levels, it was a challenge . The Smart Board was our choice for this challenge . We could keep the students attention for longer periods of time and it's versatile enough to allow for changes as we go. The boards you see are a compilation of a few facilitation boards we have used in the past. The lines beside the blocks are for the students to draw lines on for counting and the colors are for place value. As you can see, we are able to use them with all our students. We do this during circle time every day and the kids are actually motivated to participate and get excited when they complete their problem correctly and on
their own. The important thing is we are getting results.
 
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LABBB Upcoming Events
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June 11 1:00pm - Chenery Middle School Graduation
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June 12 8:30am - PAC meeting; more information below
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June 18 6:00pm - John Glenn Middle School Graduation
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June 19 5:30pm - High School Graduation, National Heritage Museum, Lexington
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June 24 2:00pm - Ottoson Middle School Graduation
LABBB Collaborative Parent Advisory Council Meeting
Panera Bread
1684 Massachusetts Avenue
Lexington MA
Thursday June 12th, 2014
8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
We hope you can join us for refreshments at Panera Bread in Lexington Center to review the LABBB PAC's progress this past school year. We will also discuss potential activities, workshops and parent presentations, as well as develop plans and goals for the next school year.
PAC Meeting Agenda
Introductions
LABBB PAC By-Laws
Summary of the 2013-14 School Year
Planning for the 2014-15 School Year
Please RSVP to Theresa LeBlanc by Tuesday, June 10, via e-mail ([email protected]) or phone 781-861-2400 x1013 if you plan on attending the morning meeting or if you have further questions.
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J"Good Job Alternatives"J
By Jannessa Roberts, Teacher LABBB Wellington Elementary School
Parents and teachers often say "good job" as an automatic response to a child's action. "You ate all of your peas. Good Job!" "You did a good job putting away the toys." A "good job" now and then it's fine but it doesn't help children understand
why it worked, or why it shows they are capable. Try some of the following suggestions to give children specific detailed information that recognizes their achievement s and encourages their learning. This is how The "LABBB Wellington" delivers positive reinforcement to encourage self-regulation and language.
Use sentence starters......Say "I see you, "I hear you" or I noticed" followed by a description. Or try openers like.... "Tell me more about" or "You worked really hard to."
Notice and give feedback about efforts......."Jack, you spent a long time figuring out where to put the last two pieces of the puzzle. You kept working until you were done!"
Invite children to talk.......Children's learning is enhanced when they talk about their explorations and creations, "That looks really interesting. How did you do that?" "You wrote a lot of words on your paper. Would you tell me what they say?"
Pay attention to details........When talking about a painting, tell the artist what shapes, lines, colors, textures and forms you see in the work.
Say "Thank you".....When children are helpful, thank them.
Identify a goal before responding......Ask yourself: do I want to acknowledge a positive behavior and act of kindness, or use of problem-solving skills? To encourage self-regulation you might say, "How kind you are, you helped Jorge zip his coat, even through you wanted to do something else."
Give nonverbal feedback......A gentle pat on the back, a smile, a wink, or a fist bump tells a child, "I see you are learning." This is especially appropriate for children who are dual language learners.
Use mirroring.......when a child goes up and down the slide on their own for the first time, notice her smile, then smile back with a specific comment.
Highlight children's work.......Invite children to help find a place to hang a painting. Plan a time when children can share their work with classmates. Include photos that demonstrate children's efforts and accomplishments in a blog or a family newsletter.
Encourage next steps............After a child has one positive experience, suggest something that he or she can do that leads to another accomplishment.
Teaching Young Children VOL 7 No1
NAEC.ORG
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History Happenings In Ms. Bartlett's Classroom
Room 111 Chenery
by Linda Bartlett, Teacher, LABBB Chenery Middle School
Students in Room 111 at Chenery recently worked on a History Project about a president of their choice. The students put together a poster and/or report having to do with pictures and events relating to the president they chose to research. Once they completed their projects, they presented the projects to their classmates and took questions from classmates about the president they studied.
Students enjoyed working on the projects with their families and having discussions with their class about interesting facts surrounding their president and what they learned.
Great job Room 111 students!! J
 
 
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Reverse Inclusion
BUILDING A STRONG COMMUNITY
at Memorial Elementary School
By Samantha Beers, Teacher, LABBB Memorial Elementary School
This past month has been pretty exciting! When I joined the Memorial Team, I realized that it was important to foster strong relationships between the LABBB and Memorial students. I began meeting with the 4th and 5th grade staff and we developed a schedule to have 8 students come down to our room Monday-Friday for half an hour. Everyday a different class comes down and is paired with one student. On Monday's we share Weekend News. Our peers model appropriate "wh" questions and help our students present in front of the class. During the rest of the week, we are working on play skills, social skills, and money skills. It is wonderful to see that they are making connections with one another and that my students are excited to have visitors/friends in their classroom for a change. I would like to thank all the staff in Room 115 as well as all the teachers who are involved in making everyday a meaningful experience!!
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Great Work in Full Bloom!
By Sarah Bennett, Teacher, LABBB Chenery Middle School
This has been an incredibly busy year in room 112, and the spring season is no exception! The students have been hard at work learning about various life cycles, making discoveries, and using their creativity. I wanted to highlight a few of the experiments and projects the students have been working on and share some of what we have displayed in the room.
We started with the plant unit. The students learned about the four main parts of the plant. Throughout this unit, the students did many experiments, but one of their favorites was the carnation experiment. For the carnation experiment, the students were each given a white carnation, and a cup with water. They then each picked a color of food coloring and added a few drops to their cup of water. Then, they put their carnations into the colored water cup and waited until the next day to observe what happened. In the meantime, they made predictions about what they thought would happen to their flowers and we talked about why this would happen by discussing that flowers take in water and nutrients from the soil through the roots and stem. The next day, the students looked at their carnations and saw that they had indeed changed from a white carnation into a brightly colored carnation. The students were able to see if their predictions were correct, and they completed carnation experiment activity pages to explain their experiments. Below are some of the final carnation products!
     
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Adapted Physical Education and Recreation News for May By Paula Rizzo, LABBB Recreation and Integration Coordinator We have had a great month. We had 20 students attend the Disney 2014 trip this year. Six of the students who joined us on the trip are graduating this year, so it was their last trip with us.  The LABBB Disney group departed on May 27 and returned on May 31. The group visited Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios. We also were fortunate to catch "La Nouba" a Cirque du Soleil show. We had a dinner at House of Blues at Downtown Disney and at Whispering Canyon at Wilderness Lodge, as well as a BBQ on Wilderness Lodge beach area. There was plenty of sunshine and warm weather, and we had great time! We have some trips coming up in June so please check our LABBB web site for the adventures LABBB Rec. will be going on. Always remember to follow @LABBBREC on Twitter
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