Blue Sky School

Numeracy Groups - by Michael This week we started math groups. The coaches had noticed that some people where not accomplishing their math goals independently, so they had everyone sit at tables with people at a similar math level to them. Deagan works with a group of mathematicians! Numeracy Tutorial Videos - by #charlotteworldwide This week, all Blue Sky learners made a priority to make a Numeracy tutorial video teaching a  specific math trick or strategy relating to operations. In some groups, we presented our tutorials and asked for stars and planets afterwards. This feedback was also recorded and sent to learners through email, They are soooo excited to watch their own faces talk! 

“Sketch-noting is a fun and productive way for me to express myself artistically” -Alicia, Blue Sky Learner Lately at Blue Sky, we have been watching some intriguing documentaries on topics such as dreams, K-pop and anxiety. During this educational period, us learners are encouraged to sketchnote about the key points/information that stuck with us. Sketchnoting doesn't just have to be writing in fact, it can be fun to push ourselves to try doodle out some ideas for another perspective on how our brains generate ideas. 

Group work has always been a challenging hole to fill in the traditional school system with all the unique diverse ideas and reasonable participation in every student, trying the activity before deciding not or to participate. Today several kids at traditional schools are highly struggling with the outdated curriculum on social skills and  building healthy relationships. Thoughout this blog post I would like to break down some main factors that I believe help others when working in a group that is diverse. Assumption of “ Special Needs Or Disabilities” At my former school I  witnessed a lot of discrimination of neurological needs and disabilities in group work,  I know this has been happening because I have been one of those people. I was diagnosed with Autism when I was only 3 years old and ever since then it has been challenging to tell my peers about my “ Special Needs” because they sometimes didn’t understand me or made assumptions about how I learn bas...

Helping my community ( and the world) be more aware and treat our Autistic peers with with the respect they deserve. People with Autism may learn differently than others just like the rest of us. Ask them “how do you learn’’. Don’t reject their answer just because it’s different than the way you learn because there is no right way to learn. People learn in different ways on different days. Everyone needs to feel unconditionally loved, including Autistic people. Give them the amount of support you would want but don’t walk around supporting them all the time. They can handle some situations on their own. Events like Autism On The Hill give me hope for a future that has a better understanding of Autism. Fantastic Five Tips for Being a Friend to Someone with Autism 1. People with Autism like support.  We like it when people tell us what we do well instead of what we do wrong. Sometimes we like it when you give us credit and recognition. But don’t walk arou...