Tag Archives: classroom strategies

Classroom strategies encompass OT-informed approaches that support attention, posture, sensory needs, and motor skills to help students succeed academically and socially.

I Can Work! Paving the Path for Vocational Success

Events & Conferences, Life Skills and Transition Planning, , ,

At the Fall “Kick-Off” Saturday Seminar Series presentation on August 25th at Therapro, Angela Mahoney, M.Ed. generated an electric environment infused with her passion for helping students and young adults develop the foundation for “career readiness” skills. Angie is an educator and is the author/creator of I Can Work!. Her seminar, I Can Work! Paving the Path for Vocational Success, drew an audience of occupational therapists, parents, and educators, who participated in active dialog with Angie and each other throughout the seminar.

Angie is an ardent educator who continuously strives to modify, expand, and develop I Can Work! Currently she works as a special education middle school case manager in Danbury, Connecticut. For the past 17 years she has worked with students of all ages in a variety of settings, including a private school where she worked with over seventy-five middle school and high school-aged students on a weekly basis, running an inclusion-based elementary program for students with autism, as well as co-teaching core academic classes as part of a team comprised of fellow middle school educators.

Angie stated her goal as an educator is to “help kids find success.” Throughout her seminar, she provided life skills ideas and pre-vocational activities within a structured framework that is applicable to learners of varied abilities. In order to build career skills, Angie discussed the importance of students learning “Vocational Soft Skills” and “Vocational Hard Skills.” Vocational soft skills are interpersonal skills: language skills, social skills, teamwork, communication skills, time management, and more. Angie reported that research indicates that being able to communicate effectively is the most in-demand soft skill. Learning to use soft vocational skills effectively in a pre-vocational environment helps build confidence for when the student is in an actual work environment. For example, learning to maintain a positive attitude and work well with others will be important skills to develop in any chosen career.

“Vocational Hard Skills” are abilities that can be taught and have three characteristics: can be mastered quickly, can be quantified, and can be built over time. The I Can Work! curriculum consists of 5 modules that focus on career readiness: Job Readiness, Clerical, Retail, Food Service, and Grocery. For each module, related vocabulary is taught, tasks are practiced, and visual supports are provided. In addition to exploring career interests, data collection takes place to track learning and success. Opportunities are provided for students to share and reflect on their jobs. Angie advocated the importance for students to have opportunities at home to reinforce pre-vocational skills learned at school with activities like sorting and folding laundry, filing by letter or word, etc.

After hearing the attendees passionately express the need and importance of a solid pre-vocational program for students, it makes good sense that I Can Work! could fulfill this demand. Angie convincingly demonstrated that this curriculum could provide a strong pre-vocational foundation for all, beginning in elementary school and continuing beyond high school years.

Here are some of the many positive comments from seminar attendees:

“This topic is so needed. I would like to ask my school to pay for Angela to come and speak to my district. Also, since she is a sped teacher, my sped teachers can relate!” – Karen B., Occupational Therapist

“Presented in a manner which is easy to follow and incorporate into the school. Data collection sheets are very helpful.” – Pam M., Occupational Therapist

“I would recommend this seminar to increase awareness in schools and SEPACS, maybe local programs.” Aly M. – Teacher, Parent, ABA

“This seminar “honed in” on the need for an available program for pre-vocational and vocational skills beginning from upper elementary through adult.” – Sue R., Occupational Therapist

Thank you, Angie!

Filomena Connor, MS, OTR/L
August 25, 2018

Improving Student Hand Function: Activity Analysis Strategies

Events & Conferences, Fine Motor & Hand Skill Development, , ,
Marcia Bridgeman, MHA, OTR/L, presented at the seminar entitled, Analyzing Activities for Improving Student Hand Function!,

The March Saturday seminar at Therapro was presented by Marcia Bridgeman, MHA, OTR/L, fine motor expert and author of the revised Fine Motor Olympics (2016). In her seminar entitled, Analyzing Activities for Improving Student Hand Function!, she methodically reviewed hand development from birth to elementary school age, and then discussed how the development translated into functional hand use.

Marcia has extensive experience in school-based practice and currently provides both consultation and direct service through her private practice in several Massachusetts school systems. She specializes in providing services to students from preschool through age 22.

Fine Motor Olympics has been revised to include a new Manual and 64 beautiful color photo cards of children’s hands performing fine motor tasks with instructions for the activity on the reverse side of the cards. A Guide to Hand Function, Quick Screening Form, Fine Motor Observation Checklist, Record Form, and In-Service Training Program are included in the Manual.

Within her comprehensive review of motor development and hand function from newborn to age 6, Marcia discussed functional fine motor skills expected at the corresponding developmental stages. For example, around the age of 8 months, development of the arches of the hand begins, essential for providing stability, mobility, and opposition of the hand. She matched simple therapeutic activities to this developmental level, including cupping the hand to shake dice, rolling up paper, fastening a zip lock bag, and cutting with a knife, to name a few!

Seminar attendees enjoyed breaking into groups at 8 stations where they tried out and analyzed original fine motor activities that Marcia created using inexpensive materials such as paper towel rolls, yarn, drinking straws, etc. The activities included activities like creating a spider web in a plastic basket and moving the spider in the web, using a variety of tongs to hunt tiny dinosaurs, balancing marbles on golf tees, and threading straws into paper towel rolls punched with holes. The groups engaged in activity analysis and shared their comments with the rest of the attendees. In addition to the new activities Marcia introduced today, she highlighted a number of fine motor Therapro products she loved, including, Boinks, Get a Grip Pegboard, Helping Hands Fine Motor Tool Set, and What’Zit Animals. She discussed conventional uses for the materials and also adapted the materials creatively and adeptly to help develop muscles of the hand. Some activities incorporated use of intrinsic muscles in translation activities, for example: moving a small single object fingers to the palm (1.5 – 2 years) and from palm to fingers (2.0 – 2.4 years).

Marcia sparked attendees to share their own creative fine motor activity ideas with the group. Everyone walked away with a toolbox filled to the brim with fresh, low-cost, and fun activities to try out next week.

We can’t think of a more enjoyable way to spend a sunny, brisk New England Spring morning than analyzing fine motor activities and sharing thoughts on how to help develop better hand function in the classroom setting! Marcia’s skill at analyzing functional hand use is unsurpassed. She offered many innovative, easy-to-make fine motor activities that support fine motor skill development.

Here’s a sample of the many positive observations that attendees shared about this seminar:

“Excellent easily implemented activities. Energetic presentation. Great product. Kudos all around.” – Beth B., Occupational Therapist

“As a Pre-K teacher, I learned a lot and will be able to look for certain signs in my 4-5 year olds and activities to help.” – Jackie K., Teacher

“Loved hearing about the development of the arches. Great refresher to help me
better analyze the activities I choose for my students.” – Jennifer N., Occupational Therapist

“It’s directly relatable in my practice!” – Jennifer C , Occupational Therapist

“Marcia was a warm, open, creative, and generous presenter who succinctly
outlined foundations of hand function. We all left with user-friendly,
inexpensive ideas we can implement immediately. Wonderful!” – Bernadette W., Occupational Therapist

Thank you, Marcia!

Filomena Connor, MS, OTR/L
March 24, 2018

Brain Gym: Using the Figure Eight in OT

Motor & Movement, Sensory, , , ,

I came across Educational Kinesiology in the early 1990s when searching for tools or techniques to help heal from a chronic illness. Little did I know that it would become an integral part of much of my OT practice. I began with Brain Gym I and II and loved the fact that the two trainers in South Africa were experienced occupational therapists trained in both SI and NDT.

Brain Gym is wonderful for assisting with goal setting, whole brain learning, stress release, and re-patterning. Although there is a specific process to follow, many of the exercises are both beneficial and transferable into a regular OT session. One that I use a lot is the Lazy 8 – a figure eight that lies on its side like the infinity sign.

What is the Brain Gym figure eight used for?

In Brain Gym terms, the Lazy 8 turns on or activates the eyes while also crossing the mid-line.

It can be used to improve ocular motor function, which assists with reading, and crossing the mid-line improves integration between the two hemispheres of the brain.

The repeated action of the Lazy 8 is also very calming. It can be used in several different formats – using the eyes, drawing the figure of 8 in the appropriate orientation, and in motion, as we shall see shortly.

The Lazy 8 can also be carried out as a motor activity, having the client walk, skip, or run around a figure eight. I love to use two hoops placed side by side on the floor to provide a visual cue. Varying the space between the hoops elongates or enlarges the figure eight. Make it more fun by having the client clap while moving around the figure of eight in time to music.

For added motor integration, combine the cross crawl with the Lazy 8. This often has to be carried out in stages:

  • Having the client carry out their cross crawl while standing until they are sufficiently at ease with the exercise
  • Upgrade to carrying out the cross crawl while walking on a straight line
  • Upgrade further to doing cross crawls while walking a figure eight

When I first began using components of Brain Gym in my treatment sessions, I would often make up my own worksheets. I am delighted to discover that Therapro has a range of products that bring the figure eight into practice for all occupational therapists. Two examples include:

The development of these tools shows how Brain Gym is becoming accepted as a beneficial modality to use within OT. It also provides an added level of professionalism, which is important for anyone who is skeptical of either how Brain Gym combines with OT or the extent to which OT itself is a recognized profession.

Once clients are familiar with the Lazy 8 through either Trace the 8s or Race the 8s, introducing the Alphabet 8 helps improve their motor memory. The Alphabet 8 incorporates lower-case letters with the Lazy 8 and is wonderful as a pre-writing activity to enhance work to meet writing goals. It’s designed for English letters but, with some creativity and practice, cursive letters for Hebrew can also be used. Note, I am not sufficiently familiar with other alphabets to know how well they can be used in the Alphabet 8.

I mentioned earlier the benefit of improving a sense of calm. The rhythmic movement of drawing or moving in the Brain Gym figure eight pattern is a wonderful addition to your toolbox for assisting clients in need of stress management and improving relaxation.

Guest Blogger: Shoshanah Shear

Occupational Therapist, healing facilitator, certified infant massage instructor, freelance writer, author of “Healing Your Life Through Activity – An Occupational Therapist’s Story” and co-author of “Tuvia Finds His Freedom”.