The ECC & Me

January Recap!!!! Somehow this month flew by but also feels 5363839 days long!

Our ECC focus this month was AT- lots of great discussions about how it impacts mental health in positive and negative ways for students.

Typing, video mags, screen reader… lots of great tech practice along with other fun and learning!

Image descriptions in Alt text!

Member-Only Exclusive!
ECC & Me Members… grab your students and join us for an exclusive opportunity to learn about a new mobility app and let your students have a chance to share their ideas and current barriers!

Members- check your email for details and a student lesson plan/rubric to use for this event!

ID: ECC & Me Members! Meet Navis (with image of a phone with a map app). Teacher and Student Zoom Nov 18, 10 am CST with Touch Pulse and ECC & Me logos.

In honor of a focus on compensatory skills this month, I’m bringing out the ole slate and stylus for a lesson! My students who have been learning braille really like it!

We are using it to write on some thank you notes for teachers or friends how have helped make the transition back to school positive.

❤️ Little acts of kindness and gratitude are also a great skill for mental health - having the compensatory skills to do these things are important! ❤️

ID: thank you card with paper and two slate/styluses.

Connecting the ECC to prerequisite skills for our students with significant multiple disabilities is so important.

Building a calendar system with tactile symbols or pictures can help teach concept development, vocabulary, and concepts of time - hello compensatory skills!

Spending time with new teachers this month collaborating on our students’ calendars, and I love it!

ID: calendar box and finished box with high contrast photos. Choice board and tactile symbols in a nutshell handout.

This year as we go through our ECC areas each month, I’m looking for the connection to ways to build strong foundations for mental health. Today we talked about “reading for fun” and how it can help reduce stress. We made bookmarks together and discussed different ways we access books.

ID: Perkins brailler and textures craft materials for making bookmarks. Second picture shows hands making the bookmarks and using a Braille label maker.

One thing my students can count on from me is a cheesy-ish, fun activity that probably has something to do with the ECC. 😋
One of the ways I’m leaning into my TVI Cornerstone of Building Relationships is to help foster connection among my students. Since most are spread out across my district, I thought this fun “ECC Insta-Journal” would be a fun way to keep them connected.

This week they are filling out their profile pages, summer highlights and ECC lesson ideas as posts. 😆 I’m bringing stickers and post it’s for students to comment and “like” each others’ posts.

ID: Binder with ECC insta-journal with Instagram logo and braille. Mock profile pages and tactile smiley stickers.

I could not be more excited about this new ECC resource - an ECC workbook to help students explore ECC skills that can add to their mental health toolbox.

DM me for details- this product is included in membership, and I’ll be hosting a zoom chat to share how and why I’ll be using this resource this year!

I could not be more excited about this new ECC resource! It’s a workbook for students to explore ECC skills that build their mental health toolbox!

Included in membership … join for a free zoom to learn more about how and why I’ll be using this resource this year! DM me or check stories for details.

I’ve been having so much fun creating awesome materials and resources for our community for the upcoming school year!

Questions about membership? Ask away! ⬇️

Had such a great time this week in Fargo doing a 2-day workshop on Symbols & Meaning- a follow up approach to Sensing & Learning for students with multiple disabilities learning symbols.

ID: Stacey smiling in a red and pink dress, Stacey presenting in a room of teachers, Sticky notes of Day 1 takeaways, Stacey presenting on day 2, 4 people holding books with small objects attached, Stacey and Lacey smiling, and a Symbols and Meaning slide.

You know we gotta get some summer ECC!!
Sending home a little BINGO card for students and families to check out together… along with a few individual skills to work on.

I think we can look at the ECC like athletes look at their summers- I time to build, get faster, stronger… time to flex those muscles!

ID: Summer bingo card with dome magnifier highlighting take a walk in a new place.

End of year fun! ☀️
I have a student learning braille for the first time this year, so this was a fun project to end the year on!

ID: Sidewalk chalk of the braille alphabet and alphabet whole words and a braille message of “happy summer”