May 6, 2016: Mother's Day is coming up this weekend! The students in the Life Skills classes added scented oils to Epson salt to make bath salts for Mother's Day. Ms. Elliot created gift cards. They were very pretty. Thank you, Ms. Elliot!  The students also made oatmeal cookies. The students used a switch connected to an electrical interface to take turns turning a hand mixer on and off to stir the cookie dough!

 

May 13, 2016: Ready, set, action! On Friday May 13, the Life Skills students are going to see the "Jungle Book" movie at Deerbrook Mall.  Parents, please fill out the permission slip sent home Monday May 9.

 

May 17, 2016: Welcome incoming 9th grade students! Humble High School is a fun place to learn and have friends. On Tuesday May 17 current Humble High School students will welcome incoming 9th grade students from Ross Sterling Middle School who will be visiting. Life Skills students are going to make a cake to serve at the event. Every student will get a chance to decorate the cake. 

 

May 17, 2016:  UPDATE!! On May 16, 2016 the Life Skills students made a white and purple marble cake. The cake cooled over night. On May 17, a "Welcome to HHS" message was written in the colors of red, blue, and green on purple icing. Each student participated in making and decorating the cake. The activity was a tribute to our transitioning friends visiting from Ross Sterling Middle School who will be Wildcats next year! Welcome! The cake was enjoyed by all! Thanks to all Life and Applied Skills team members, both students and adults, from Ross Sterling Middle School and Humble High School. I have very positive feelings about our upcoming year!

 

 

 

May 19, 2016: Congratulations, graduates of 2016! Three students--Uriah, Gustavo, and Elsi-- in Laura Stokes' Life Skills classroom will celebrate their graduation. One student--Erick--in Jinnie Rodriguez Stanley's Life Skills classroom will celebrate his graduation. Also, Jared--a student in Kristy Salvitti's Applied Skills classroom--will celebrate his graduation. A graduation party with cake and finger foods will be held Thursday May 19 in the Humble High School Library.

 

May 19, 2016 UPDATE: The graduation party for our 5 seniors--Gustavo, Erick, Elsi, Uriah, and Jared--was an outstanding success. Thank you to all who helped by bringing food, setting up, and cleaning the library after the event. There were many parents, staff, and students that attended and had a great time. Thank you, Liz, for providing such a great variety of music. All the students had fun dancing and listening to the music. I wish all of our graduates great success and happiness in the future. I am truly blessed to know and work with each one of you! 

 

 

 

SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 23-MAY 27: 

 

No late arrival Thursday May 26, 2016.

Early release at 12:20 on Thursday May 26, 2016.

Early release at 11:25 on Friday May 27, 2016.

 

May 23-27, 2016: All Life Skills students in my class will help to prepare for our move from room 1016 to 1020. Everyone will get to make choices of favorite items that will be moved. Also, students continue to make choices about communication. Please note the above modified schedule for class, arrival, and release time. The cafeteria is open only for breakfast on May 26 and May 27.

 

 

No late arrival Thursday June 2, 2016.

No school on Monday May 30 for Memorial Day Holiday. 

Early release at 12:00 Tuesday May 31, 2016.

Early release at 11:25 Wednesday June 1, 2016.

Early release at 11:25 Thursday June 2, 2016. 

 

May 31-June 2: Life Skills wildcats continue to move rooms, The team is busy sorting, cleaning, and decorating room 1020. /We look forward to sharing our room and  getting to interact with the other Life Skills and Applied Skills students next year. The new phone number to our classroom is 281-641-6476. Please continue to keep our open lines of communication! Remember, May 31 is a 12:00 early release day; June 1 and June 2 are an 11:25 early release day. The cafeteria will only be open for breakfast May 31-June 2. 

 

June 2: During 7th period (7:25-9:25 am), the Adapted PE class led by Stacie Khalaf will walk to McDonald's. Students will order breakfast using the written menu or a picture menu. The class will socialize during the field trip while learning how to walk in a group, assist others, order food, and handle money. Thank you, Ms. Khalaf for arranging our outing!

 

June 2: There have been severe storms all over this area. Thankfully, the weather calmed down for a while, and we were able to walk to McDonald's at the corner of Will Clayton Pwy and Wilson Rd from Humble High School. The students ordered food and drink from the menu. Our non-verbal students used a preprogrammable voice output device to place their order! Everyone enjoyed the food and company. That was a great field trip, Ms. Khalaf! 

 

June 2: Last day of school! Have a great, safe, wildcat summer! We are looking forward to seeing our students in August. 

 

WELCOME BACK TO SCHOOL! 

 

August 22, 2016: First day of school for the 2016-2017 school year! I am excited to see my returning students and to meet my new students. I will have a parent letter sent home in the students' communication notebook. If possible, please sign the permission form for pictures of your student to be put on our website. If you would rather not, that is fine. We plan to practice peer relationship building skills and communication while engaging students in activities in which he/she can learn something new about a classmate. Parents, thank you so very much for all of your support. I am looking forward to this year!

 

August 29, 2016: This is the beginning of our second week of school. Our first week was fantastic! We got to see our friends from last year, and we met some new friends. Welcome to all!! Last week on Friday we made pancakes. We all did a great job.  Yummy! This week we are going to continue working on our communication skills.  We have all been working hard on our IEP goals and job boxes. Have a great week, ya'll!

 

September 6, 2016: What a great first two weeks of school. Everyone is getting to know each other and participate in a variety of learning activities. Our students participate in activities centered around living as a young adult. For example, the students make choices with food items, activities, and conversational starters. This week, we will explore earth science including making volcanoes from baking soda and vinegar mixed in a "crater" or "bowl" made of modeling clay. Students will request materials and speak comments about the activity.  Open House is Wednesday September 7, 2016 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. A warm welcome to all! 

 

September 12, 2016: We just finished a third great week! The third week progress reporting period ended 9/9/2016. Progress reports will go home the week of September 12-16.  Everyone of my students have done an outstanding job! All my students received A's because they do such great work on their individual goals and class activities. The volcanoes came out great! We learned about lava, magma, and igneous rock. We also made thank you cards for Humble firefighters by coloring soapy water, blowing bubbles into the water, and placing white card stock to the overflowing bubbles. Each student signed their name and stated their age in their thank you for service note. This week our unit will be on the colors of the rainbow and light. We will learn about how white light is made up of colors--Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet or ROY G BIV. We will make melted crayon rainbows using shaved crayon wax, wax paper, and a warm iron next week. Fun  and learning will be had by all! 

 

September 19, 2016: What a great week for our life skills students! We are fortunate enough to have a new Peer Tutor who works with our life skills students. That gives us a peer to communicate with by vocalizations, laughter, a few words, and facial expressions. To continue of study of light, we will make "stained glass" creations by using shaved crayon wax, wax, paper, and  a warm iron. Look for our display outside of room 1020. Upon completion of this project just described, we will conduct a scientific experiment in which a chemical change works to clean dirty pennies. We will learn what a chemical and physical change are, and we will list examples of physical and chemical changes. Communication is key when we are engaged in learning. Remember to make requests, ask for help if needed, and make comments.

 

September 26, 2016: Well, another great week has come and gone.  All students did a great job in interacting with others, completing individualized lesson plan activities, and communicating wants and needs using their voice or a pre-programmed voice output device. Our "stained glass" art project turned out great! Like I said last week, come by and see the students' work hanging in the hall to the left of room 1020. We are going to wrap up our discussion on physical and chemical changes by highlighting in yellow examples of chemical changes and by highlighting in orange examples of physical changes. Our science experiment cleaning pennies with vinegar and salt was a success. We used communication boards and words to ask for help or request materials used in the activity. We will start our unit on the five senses Tuesday. We will talk about sight by watching a short video. Hearing will be explored by listening to music. Taste will be covered by tasting a little bit of sugar and a lemon. Touch will be represented by feeling sensory balls and making "goop" from glue, borax, and paint. Smell will involve smelling a lime, lemon, and orange. On Tuesday September 27, 2016, the applied skills and life skills students will participate in a district Integrated Athletics basketball tournament at Kingwood High School. Fun will be had by all! Thank you to our super APE teacher, Kathryn Claxton! 

 

October 3, 2016: Thanks to all staff and student who made this a great week. All participants had fun at the Integrated Athletics basketball game at Kingwood High School on September 27, 2016. Our students interacted with Applied Skills and Life Skills students from all over the Humble school district. This week we will continue our lessons on the five senses that help us navigate our world. Last week we explored the sense of touch by making "goop"; it was slimy and wet. We also studied the sense of smell by smelling senses such as lime, lemon, orange, cinnamon, mint, lavender, and rosemary. We talked about uses for these items and listed other things like flowers and vinegar that smell. This week we will discuss the sense of taste by making ice cream in a bag with half and half, vanilla, and sugar. Rock salt will be used with ice to help freeze the ingredients to make ice cream as we shake the bag. We will use communication in the form of questions and comments to navigate though our activities.

 

October 11, 2016: I hope everyone had a great 3 day weekend to celebrate Columbus Day! A short week sure doesn't mean that we are short on learning. As I have stated before...another great week; thanks to all involved! Besides working hard on our individualized goals, we have enjoyed completing another science experiment related to our recent study of the five senses. Of course, sight was involved. We also focus on smell and touch. On Wednesday, we made sensory snow out of shaving foam and baking soda. Not only did it smell good, it also felt light to the touch and slightly moist. What a great job everyone did on communicating steps, combining ingredients, and exploring the final product. Our adapted PE class has been having fun bowling using an adapted ramp to accommodate wheelchair access to this fun game.

 

October 17, 2016: Once again, I send out a heartfelt thank you to all students and staff involved with our life skills class! I sure could not do it without you guys. This week we are going to focus on measurement. We will cover the measurement tools and units associated with measuring length, time, and weight.  We will make a "gallon man" to show the way measurement units can be converted into different units. On Wednesday, we will talk about a topic covered a few weeks ago...physical and chemical changes. We will watch popcorn dance from the chemical change occurring when baking soda and vinegar are combined. Remember what we saw when we made volcanoes using the same ingredients? Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles! Let's rally together to have a great week of learning, communicating, and focusing on the positives in our lives.

 

October 24, 2016: Wow! Another awesome week has passed; it was filled with great interactions and a variety of communication styles. The "dancing popcorn" science experiment really turned out well.  All students did a great job following instructions and using communication boards during the activity. Also, everyone successfully remembered the other time we used baking soda and vinegar...during our volcano experiment. This week we will conclude our investigation of different measurements; we are going to make sugar cookies by measuring liquids and solid. We will finish our cookie-making endeavor by icing the cookies with fall colors and decorating them with sprinkles. After we finish our measurement unit, we will start talking about living and non-living things. They are all around us and are important part of our world. Last week, I wrote a grant to get an IPAD for our life skills class; many thanks in advance to generous donors. I will keep you updated on the progress of this quest. In closing, I look forward to another great week and appreciate all the hard work of staff and students!

 

October 31, 2016:  Like I am always privileged to say...what a great week our class had. The cookies turned out great. All students did a fantastic job of measuring the liquids and solids that went into making the cookies. They even timed the baking of the cookies. Thanks to all. We all enjoyed our unit on living and non-living things. I was proud of how much all the students knew about our living and non-living world. On Friday our class carved a pumpkin for Halloween. Everyone got a chance to draw something on the pumpkin. It turned out really super! This week we will plant the seeds; we will monitor the growth of the seedlings to practice our skills at measuring things. What a great example of a living thing. Look forward to seeing a picture of the final product on Monday evening. I previously had forgotten to take the picture before I left school on Friday. This week we are going to the Texas Renaissance festival in Plantersville, Texas on Wednesday November 2.  I am looking forward to seeing all the costumes and attractions. We are all going to have a fantastic day on our outing! Many thanks to our awesome principal, Ms. Ullrich, for paying for our buses. Thanks also goes to our bus drivers who will get us there safely! On Tuesday, we are going to review all the topics we have discussed so far. We are going to make ice cream in a bag once again. Measuring, knowledge of living and non-living things, chemical versus physical changes, and the five senses we be addressed in this one activity! How fun! Have a great week everyone.

 

November 2, 2016: All our students had a fantastic time at the Texas Renaissance festival today! We saw beautiful costumes, looked at various arts and crafts, ate a bunch of good food, and watched some period dances. 

 

 

 

 

November 7, 2016: What a great week we all had! It was filled with learning new things and visiting the Texas Renaissance Festival for a field trip. I think the best part of the Renaissance Festival was the beautiful costumes we saw. On Thursday, we planted the dried pumpkin seeds from our Halloween pumpkin carving activity. I wonder how long it will take them to sprout! This week we will learn more about the cells that make up living things. We will label and color a plant cell and an animal cell. We will also learn the organization of an organism from cell organelle to the complete organism. On Tuesday, we will once again complete a science experiment...this time about density. In this investigation we will make predictions about what types of candy will sink or float. Then we will test skittles, starburst, milky way bars, snickers bars, 3 musketeer bars, and twix candy to see which ones sink or float. We will learn that things that have a density less than that of water will float and things with a density greater than water will sink. Of course, we will focus on communication by using communication boards and the spoken word. Wednesday brings us a new activity...an integrated athletics basketball tournament at Kingwood Park High School. Thank you, Ms. Claxton and other sponsors for hosting the game. Go Wildcats!!

 

Pumpkin seed update: It took 2 full days for our pumpkin seeds to sprout. They have grown a great deal since they poked their leave through the dirt. They are a healthy green color. You can see the white roots growing through the clear plastic cup in which they are planted. The root mass is more pronounced than the green part of the seedlings. Watch for more updates! This photo was taken 1 week after the pumpkin seeds were planted.

1 week old seedlings 2 week old seedlings.

 

November 14, 2016: Last we week we were honored to get to attend the Salute to Veterans at Humble High School! Thank you to all our armed services men and women who protect and serve our great country of the United States of America. As you may have noticed above, our pumpkin seedlings are thriving. Keep looking for updates. What a great job every student did when we carved our pumpkin, dried the seeds, and planted the seeds. This week we are going to continue our study of living things...namely labeling and coloring a plant and an animal cell and measuring our pumpkin seedlings. We will review what plants need to survive---water, sunlight, dirt or other medium for support. Before I forget, I have listed the schedule for the week before Winter Break from December 19, 2016 until January 3, 2017. An important note is that there is early release at 11:25 on Thursday December 15, and Friday December 16. Also, on those 2 days the cafeteria is open for breakfast only. On a second note...the Thanksgiving holidays are November 21, 2016-November 25, 2016. I hope each of you and your families have a fantastic, peaceful Thanksgiving break! I just know how thankful I am that I get to know you and teach each one of your students. I am truly blessed. Parents, HHS staff and administration, and all support staff...I thank you for all of your support!! In the next couple of weeks our class is going to have two very important visitors, Laura Dowdy and Dr. Poe Prochaska, occupational therapists, join our learning activities, namely a science experiment called "Magic Milk". This experiment will lend itself to multiple opportunities to use communication and make choices as well as using fine motor skills to mix, squeeze, and pour liquids. On Wednesday we are putting on our scientist hats and conduct a science experiment called "Fireworks in a Jar". Remember, communication is the key to working with others. Thursday we are going to try something completely new...making cinnamon rolls from scratch. This activity with yeast lends itself very well to serving as an example of a living thing and an example of a single celled organism. We will measure the circumference of the dough before and after the dough rises from the action of the yeast respiring. On Friday the Life Skills classes and the Applied Skills class are joining together to have a Thanksgiving feast, areas where games can be played, and places for artwork creations.

 

 

 

November 17: CINNAMON ROLL BAKING DAY! We all had a great time making the cinnamon rolls. Before we started cooking, we had a short lesson on yeast and how it is a living organism in the Kingdom Fungi just like a mushroom; we learned that the yeast respire and give off carbon dioxide and that is what makes bread rise. Also, we discovered that the yeast bud to produce more yeast cells. Look at our cool pictures of the dough before and after the yeast had risen and of the cinnamon rolls before and after they were cooked and iced. They were yummy!

 

dough before and after yeast rises 

 

 

cinnamon rolls before baking    cinnamon rolls after baking and icing

 

November 28, 2016: Like I said before, I am so thankful to work with such wonderful students and staff at Humble High School.  I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving break! I sure enjoyed my time with my family.  I look forward to this week, however.  On Tuesday, we look forward to having Poe and Laura, occupational therapists, visit our Life Skills class. We are going to conduct a science experiment called Magic Milk. Students will get to make choices and communicate to choose colors and request materials. Depending on individual communication skill levels, students will use pictures of real objects, communication boards, and/or their own voice to communicate needs and wants. Other activities in which we will engage this week include completing a variety of vocational tasks, completing a worksheet about following directions, exploring a new News-2-You topic, and conducting an experiment with yeast and sugar. The yeast was combined with sugar in a small amount of water. A balloon was placed over the mouth of the water bottle that contained the ingredients. In one bottle, 1 teaspoon of sugar was added to one packet of yeast and 3 tablespoons of sugar was added to one packet of yeast in a second bottle.  We hypothesized that the one with the higher sugar content would blow up the balloon faster because more carbon dioxide would be produced. We were right!  

We had some free time so we made chocolate chip cookies. The students used pictures of the ingredients and their voices to make requests and comments. Everyone did a great job measuring the ingredients and mixing up the cookie dough. After baking the cookies, the students got to eat a cookie while we played the card game Uno to celebrate it being Friday! 

Only 3 weeks until our Winter Break. Make sure you are familiar with the change in schedule for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. There is no late arrival on Thursday December 15. Notice there is early release at 11:25 on Thursday December 15 and Friday December 16.

 

Update on our Magic Milk science experiment that we conducted when our occupational therapy friends, Laura and Poe, visited on November 29 during 5th period...Before we started the experiment we came up with a hypothesis that using high fat content half and half would make the food coloring that was added move more than fat free milk. We found out that the fat free milk made the food coloring move more and dissipate in larger circles than the half and half did! Everyone did a great job using the pictures and communication boards. Great fun was had by all! 

 

December 5, 2016: Wow! Only two weeks until our winter break! How fast has this fun year gone! Please review the schedule below for a change in arrival and dismissal times on Thursday December 15 and a change in dismissal times on Friday December 16.  Students will also study the layers of the Earth as part of an Earth science lesson. He or she will label the layers of the Earth and color the different layers. Look for our work displayed in the hall outside of room 1020. On Wednesday, we will conduct another science experiment to make bouncy balls out of glue, water, and borax. I love this experiment. The slime that makes up the bouncy ball feels so awesome! It is a great sensory item that all students can explore. On Friday, all students will participate in making oatmeal cookies. We will relax by playing the fun card game, Uno while we munch on our oatmeal cookies.

 

December 12, 2016: One week until our winter break. But, it's going to be an active and fun week. We will all enjoy each other's company as we participate in our learning activities. On board for the week, we have some puzzle worksheets that deal with counting leaves and making some computations as well as a following directions activity. We also will explore a new News 2 You headline story. This week it is on one of my favorite Holiday cartoons...How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The story is 50 years old this year. I think this story has such a heartwarming ending in which a negative force, the Grinch, undergoes a change of attitude. He learns to embrace the good in others and this time of year. On Wednesday, we will watch the 30 minute cartoon version of this tale. For our cooking activity, we are going to make a marbled red and white cake. We will make choices as to how to decorate the cake using white icing and sugary candy cane sprinkles. The cake turned out great! Everyone did a great job stating the steps, measuring liquids, cracking eggs, and using a mixer! Thanks my friends. Keep reading our work each week to keep up with the exciting activities in which we engage ourselves! Happy Holidays to all students, staff, and parents. I truly wish you a peaceful time. See you in 2017!!!

 

 

Monday December 12, 2016: Regular School Day

 

Tuesday December 13, 2016: Regular School Day

 

Wednesday December 14, 2016: 

 

 7:25-9:03: 1st period exam

9:08-10:46: 2nd period exam

10:51-12:26: 5th period class and lunch

 12:31-2:09: 7th period exam

2:14-2:50: 8th period class 

 

Thursday December 15, 2016    NO LATE ARRIVAL! SCHOOL STARTS AT 7:25 AM

 7:25-8:41: 3rd period exam

8:46-10:03: 6th period exam

10:08-11:25: 8th period exam

The cafeteria will be open for breakfast only. Early Release at 11:25.

 

7:25-9:25: 4th period exam

9:30-11:25: 5th period exam

The cafeteria will be open for breakfast only. Early Release at 11:25. 

 

January 4, 2017: I hope everyone had a great winter break. I had a peaceful time with my family, and I am very grateful! Just as a reminder...there is no late arrival on Thursday January 5, 2017. School starts at 7:25 a.m. Getting back in the routine of learning, communicating, and commenting will be a great start to our school week. I look forward to seeing everybody. One topic we will be studying is the rock cycle. On Wednesday January 4, 2017 we will set up our rock candy experiment in which we will make homemade rock candy using sugar, water, string, and a jar. Over the week, we will watch the crystals grow on the string. On Friday, hopefully our friend and occupational therapist will come to help us set up our Chia pet experiment. We will use stockings, dirt, Chia seeds, and potting soil to construct the Chia pets. We will monitor the experiment by measuring the growth of the plants. Watch our site for pictures of our progress with the rock candy and Chia pet activities. Another topic we will be exploring is the hot, new News-2-You article about the Kids Baking Championship. We will practice our reading and direction following skills!

 

  Rock candy experiment...Just waiting for crystals to form.

 

 Set up for chia pets. Keep watching for more pictures

 

 

January 9, 2017: I'd like to start off with a huge thank you to Dr. Poe who helped make our chia pet construction activity very successful! All students did a great job participating by communicating, pouring, transferring materials, and asking questions. Thanks, guys and gals! Monday starts off a new week filled with learning and interacting with staff and peers. We will continue our work with the Meville to Weeville curriculum to practice learning new words and focusing on our literacy skills. Luckily we have plenty of time this week to explore in depth the Kid's Baking Championship News to You article. We all enjoy reading the new information, learning about new people and places, and participating in skills that help fine motor skills. We will also complete our final activity on the rock cycle unit. In this activity, we will practice reading and interpreting a labeled drawing of the rock cycle. After our IEP work, we will practice skills such as sequencing shapes, spelling words, and adding and subtracting numbers. There is late arrival on Thursday January 12, 2017. Also, there is NO school Monday January 16, 2017 in observance of Martin Luther King Day. To commemorate Martin Luther King Day, all students will practice their writing and direction following skills by completing some worksheets about Dr. King. Have a great week everyone!

 

January 17, 2017: I hope everyone had a great three day weekend. I am glad we have a day to commemorate such a wonderful leader as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Our crystals have really grown. See the pictures below to see what they look like.

Our chia pets aren't doing so well. I think the holes in the stockings that we used are too small for the sprouts to go through. Just remember, science is all about making predictions and conducting an experiment. Sometimes, the experiment doesn't work. We will water them on Tuesday January 17 and keep an eye on them. Wednesday we have two special guests visiting us to watch our science experiment for the week. This week we will be making bouncy balls. Watch the website for pictures. The special guests are Hiedi Bassett and Cheryl Lyons. Welcome friends! We look forward to show you how we cooperate to conduct an experiment and use our communication boards as well as our voices to make requests and comments. Our News to You article will be about the upcoming inauguration for Donald Trump as president of the United States.

 

January 23, 2017: Well, it is official...our chia pets didn't work out because the newly sprouted seedlings couldn't go through the tiny holes in the stockings. We will soon redo the experiment using cheese cloth. The empty spaces in cheese cloth are bigger than in the nylon stockings we already tried. I think it is important to always think of a variety of ways to accomplish something; that is what science is really about. On a positive note about a successful endeavor...the bouncy balls turned out really well. All students did a fantastic job of making requests and comments about actions taken to form the bouncy balls! Thank you Hiedi and Cheryl for taking time out of your busy schedules to watch the Humble High School Life Skills class in action! This week we will read about eagle watching during our exploration of the News to You newspaper article. We will complete activities to review and restate what we read, always using communication to request and comment. Dancing Raisins is the title of our weekly science experiments. We will make predictions and observations about how using carbonated versus still water affects the movement of raisins. Activities on the solar system will challenge students to name planets and state facts about our universe. On Friday, our fifth period activity will be making chocolate chip cookies from scratch! We will enjoy eating them during a competitive game of Uno! Have a great week, my friends!

 

January 30, 2017: Hello, friends! What a great week our class had last week. We accomplished all of our goal such as delving into an exciting News to You article about watching eagles, completing our weekly science experiment about dancing raisins, and learning interesting facts about our solar system and universe. The Dancing Raisins experiment didn't work like I expected. Even in the carbonated water, the raisins didn't move very much from the action of the bubbles. Perhaps we should have put the raisins in the cups first before adding the water. We will try again soon. As I always say, "Science is about experimenting and exploring new things." We have to remember that things don't always turned out as planned. This week holds some exciting activities. Our class will finish the unit on eagle watching by defining new words, stating facts about the News to You article, and matching symbols. Our weekly science experiment is called Gummi Bear Science. We will put 3 gummi bears in each of 4 different glass jars. In jar 1 we will put plain water. In jar 2 we will put vinegar. In jar 3 we will put water and 2 tablespoons of salt. And finally, in jar 4 we will put water and 2 tablespoons of baking soda. The jars will be left overnight; observation of changes seen in the gummi bears will be documented. I wonder what will happen! To progress further in our learning about the planets and stars found in our universe we will cut and paste the planets in order from the sun to the farthest planet, Neptune. We will round out our week by completing a scavenger hunt for words associated with our unit on the universe. Communicating, commenting, and requesting as usual will be seen in all activities. Before I go, our life skills class welcomes our new peer tutor, Zuri to our 4th period class. We also welcome Mahagoney, a peer tutor, and Genesis, a health science students, to our 1st period class. Thank you, ladies, for all you do!

 

February 6,2017: I am happy to proclaim that the students and staff had a great week last week. But that is the norm with the great group of staff and students we enjoy! Our solar system cut and paste activity was a success. Students used visual and verbal prompts to put the planets in order. Our Gummi Bear Science investigation was a huge success. Students guessed what would happen to the gummi bears that were put in 4 different glass jars. The gummi bears in the water swelled up a little when compare to a gummi bear out of the package. The gummi bears in the vinegar almost completely dissolved. We learned that to dissolve is to go away. The gummi bears in the salt solution shrunk and turned almost completely white. Finally, the gummi bears in the baking soda solution swelled up considerably. They were huge! This week we will redo the gummi bear experiment so we can take pictures. Here is the picture of the experiment setup.  Experiment setup: Day 1

Results after 24 hours in solutions. 

 For our science experiment this week, we will plant chia seeds in cups to test to see if the seeds actually sprout. This activity will be connected to our unit of the week---plant science. We will be able to label the parts of a flower and draw the diagram of flower parts. Friday we will attend the Special Kids Day at the Humble Livestock Show. Students have been talking about animals and things one can see at a rodeo. I really look forward to our outing. Thank you Dr. Fagan for paying for the buses. We appreciate you! Genesis, I hope your new rotation is going well. We all welcome our new health science student, Keyana. Along with Mahagoney, Keyana does a great job of conducting our class's morning meeting in which we discuss days of the week, months of the year, classroom rules, where we live, and of course, good things. One unexpected activity presented itself...we all made Valentine's Day cards for our friends at Oakmont nursing home. Ms. Salvitti's and Mr. Allen's Applied Skills students are taking them to the nursing home on Wednesday! Here are the students' masterpieces!

 

February 13, 2017: Hello friends! Last week was a blast! We had fun planting our chia seeds; we are eagerly waiting to see if they sprout. My hypothesis is that the seeds have been treated since they are a food product and that they won't sprout. We should see them sprout this week if they are going to. Stay tuned for more photographs of our experiment! Speaking of photographs...below are pictures of our time at the Special Kids Day at the Humble Livestock Show. Everyone had a great time. The weather was very pleasant. It was warm and dry. What a great time all the students and staff had looking at and interacting with the animals--pigs, cows, goats, horses, lambs, turkeys, chickens, and rabbits. All the students working at the show were so helpful and friendly. Check out an example of the talented student's work face painting many of our event attendees. Thank you again, Dr. Fagan, for paying for the buses to the event.

 

Let's look forward to our upcoming week. Happy birthday on Monday February 13 to our friend Taylor. We all wish you the best. Tuesday is Valentine's Day, and we will make cupcakes to celebrate the day. Students will use their communication skills to request ingredients for the cupcake recipe, make comments about their activities, and interact with peers and staff. Wednesday will bring us to another fun science experiment! This week will make Gak, a gooey, stretchy materials that is fun to manipulate as a sensory activity. The materials are simply glue, water, and borox (a type of detergent or soap). Of course, the students will pick out a color for their Gak. Our News to You newspaper article is one that touches my heart. It is about kindness. I really respect people who are kind to others. Here is a favorite quote about kindness. "Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love." Lao Tzu. Lastly, we will finish our discussion about plants by labeling a plant. Look for our work posted in the hall! Have a great week everyone. Remember...be kind.
  

 February 21, 2017: Look here! Pictures of our cooking activity show what a great job all the students did in making Valentine's Day cupcakes. Thanks to everyone.They were yummy!

 Wow! My hypothesis was wrong about the seeds! They sprouted. You can see them here. Look how they bend to follow the light. After we observed them, we turned them around. Let's see how they bend towards the light again. Another success we had the week of February 13 was our science experiment in which we made Gak. The glue and borax mixture produced great examples of the slimy, stretchy material we call slime or Gak. Great job everyone of using your communication to request and comment.

We chose a color for our Gak. We mixed red and blue to make purple, and we mixed yellow and red to make orange. Here's two pictures showing an example of our Gak.  It is really cool because when you form a ball with the Gak it bounces! This week will bring another science experiment to the table. This week we will explore the Magic Milk experiment. We will use milk, dishwashing liquid, and food coloring to see how the detergent disperses the food coloring in the milk. Of course, we will use our communication skills to comment, request materials, and interact with our peers. During our news story on kindness, all the students gave great examples of how to be kind to one another. Great job, my friends! This week our News to You article is on Black History Month celebrated during the month of February. Some of the fun activities found in our News to You article include a Sudoku puzzle, cut and paste matching, and identifying symbols referenced in the reading. Another great week was enjoyed by all! But the week flew by, and we didn't get our labeling of plant parts done so we will label a plant and a plant cell. Of course, we will monitor the growth of our Chia seeds. As the week draws to a close, we will make oatmeal cookies to munch on while we play a competitive game of Uno. Remember that Monday February 20 is a holiday for students and a work day for staff. Thanks to all students and staff. Enjoy your week!

 

February 27, 2017: I hope everyone had a great three day weekend last week when we had a student holiday to celebrate President's Day. Thanks to all students and staff who worked so well as a team to have a great week. The Magic Milk experiment went well. The movement of the food coloring as the detergent came in contact with it looked really cool. We did the experiment in cups.

 

I think it might work better if it were in a plate or a large bowl. Tuesday I will do a demonstration of the Magic Milk experiment using a plate. Remember science is all about trying different things to produce a successful outcome. Our News to You newspaper article is on whale watching and counting. I think whales are a fascinating animal. I am sure we will learn something new about these amazing creatures. Our chia seeds are growing really slowly; I wonder why! I will keep you updated on their progress. We all had fun combining ingredients to make oatmeal cookies! We used our voice and a preprogrammed voice output device to make comments, request items, and ask for help! Great job, everyone. Our science unit this week will focus on food chains and the transfer of energy from one living thing to another. One of our activities on food chain science will be to construct a food chain and filling in the blanks to show how to read a food chain. Our science experiment for this week is called Fireworks in a jar. We will observe and comment on how food coloring, water, and oil interact when they are mixed. Keep an eye out for pictures. I'll remind you next week, but I want to let you know that our athletes will participate in an Integrated Athletics Track Meet on March 7, 2017 at the Humble High School track at Turner stadium. Go Wildcats! Have a great week everyone!

 

March 6, 2017: We have a big week coming up! On March 7, 2017 our Adapted Physical Education teacher, Ms. Kathryn Claxton, and many students at Humble High School will host the Integrated Athletics Track Meet at Turner Stadium at Humble High School. All of our athletes will compete in individual and relay events. It doesn't matter who wins. All competitors will be winners! The goals are to have fun, compete with others, and make positive comments to others. Thank you, Ms. Claxton and friends! Last week we performed the Magic Milk experiment using a plate instead of cups. The experiment worked a lot better with the milk having a larger surface area. The detergent really made the food coloring disperse and make a cool tie dyed effect. Take a look at our new tower garden with a water circulation system and integrated plant lights! The plants growing are mint, egg plant, cilantro, strawberries, and several strains of lettuce. Last week during our Wednesday science experiment Fireworks in a Jar we combined oil and water based food coloring into warm water. The colors made little droplets in the oil because the colors are water based, and oil doesn't mix. Look at our success! This week our science project is called the Exploding Lunch Bag. You guessed it...we are going to combine a small tissue filled with baking soda with 1/2 cup of vinegar in a zip lock bag that is tightly sealed. Of course, we will use communication boards, preprogrammed voice output devices, and our own voice to make requests and comments. Our News to You article is about something that fascinates me...driverless cars. I wonder what we will learn from this article! Imagine all the new technology that allows us to have cars that move without a driver! Don't forget...Spring Break is Monday March 13, 2017 to Friday March 17, 2017! Have fun and stay safe!

 

March 20, 2017: I hope everyone had a fantastic spring break! I enjoyed time with my family and planning for our exciting week coming up! First of all, I would like to brag about how well our Exploding Lunch Bag experiment went on Wednesday. Every one of the bags expanded as would be expected when vinegar is mixed with baking soda. Some actually exploded. We made a mess, but we had fun. Thanks to all who made this experiment successful!

ingredients for our Exploding Lunch Bag Result of experiment

Big news...the Integrated Athletic Track and Field Event was cancelled on March 7; it was rescheduled for March 21! So, we have a great event to look forward to during this week. I think it is supposed to be beautiful weather. We can enjoy the company of other students from different schools, communicating and commenting about others' strengths. This week our News to You article features commentary about the movie "Beauty and the Beast". We planned to see the movie on Wednesday at Deerbrook Mall, but I am not sure about the status of this outing. I will keep you updated when I find out what permission slips were signed and if the buses are available. Thanks for your patience! A new science topic is on the horizon for this week---ordering the steps of the scientific method. We will put our investigative abilities to use when we create sensory snow. Of course, we will communicate needs and comments as we participate in our science experiment for the week. Let's have a great week everyone!

 

March 27, 2017: Well, I fell short of updating you about the movie. Sorry. :(  The good news is that the students got to see the movie "Beauty and the Beast"! Everyone had a great time and did a great job of communicating and paying attention! All the staff had a great time as well. Last Tuesday, all Life and Applied Skills students participated in the annual Integrated Athletics Track and Field Event. There are some great pictures on the district website homepage. Thank you Ms. Claxton, Staci Khalaf, and others for putting on such a great event for our students. Due to our participation in our fun field trips, we never got to complete the Sensory Snow science experiment. This week we will engage our selves in the Sensory Snow experiment on Wednesday. We will invite our occupational therapist friend Dr. Poe Procaska. I just sent her an email! Our News to You article features March Madness basketball tournaments. We will make the connection between sports when we talk about basketball and our track meet events. We will conclude our studies on the steps of the scientific method by completing our word matching worksheet. This week we have Staar Testing so we will have an alternate schedule. Remember there is NO late arrival on Thursday March 30, 2017. School starts at 7:25 am. We also have an exciting event coming up on Friday March 31, 2017...the annual SUCCESS Golf Tournament at KPHS. We will participate in a fun golf activity. Can't wait! We will see our friends at the tournament. Yeah! I do apologize that there are no pictures this week.

  

April 3, 2017: Well, we have had a couple of fun field trip activities to keep us busy and engaged. Friday March 31, 2017 was the day of the SUCCESS Golf Tournament at Kingwood Park High School. We all had fun playing golf and seeing our friends from other schools. Many thanks to all the student volunteers from KPHS who made sure all the guests were active and happy. As you can see from the pictures below, our Sensory Snow science experiment was a huge success. We all had fun touching the foamy mixture of shaving cream and baking soda. When we were through making the snow, we added vinegar to the mix and watched as a bunch of bubbles formed.  

 before adding baking sodaafter adding baking soda

We will finish our News to You article on March Madness before progressing to our next article about rocket building. Everyone has a great time working on the activities associated with the article of the week. We are going to revisit our unit on volcanoes and carry out an exciting science experiment making volcanoes out of clay, vinegar, and baking soda. We'll add a little twist by choosing colors of food coloring and glitter and adding those ingredients to the mix! On Friday, we will have a cooking lesson and make chocolate chip cookies. Finally, we will round out the week by playing UNO while enjoying the fruits of our cookie-making labor...eating yummy chocolate chip cookies.  Thanks to all the staff and students who will participate in giving or taking the Staar Alt 2 assessment in English I, Biology, Algebra I, English II, and US History. Have a great week!

 

April 10, 2017: Everyone had a great week! Remember it is short week this week. Friday April 14, 2017 is a school holiday; I hope everyone enjoys their 3 day weekend. But, before we can relax at home with our families, we have some fun activities to round out the week. We will learn about the moon and the phases of the moon. We will showcase our creations on the wall outside of our room so everyone can see. This topic works perfectly with our News to You article about rockets. Our science experiment this week is called Dancing Popcorn. We will look at what happens to kernels of popcorn when they are put in a mixture of baking soda and vinegar. My hypothesis is that the bubbles formed by the vinegar and baking soda will cause the popcorn to move. What do you think will happen? The fun part of science is making guesses are exploring actions to explain the ideas.

 

April 17, 2017: I'd like to start off this weeks writing by inviting you to join Best Buddies here at HHS. Ms. Salvitti (room 1016), Ms. Stanley (room 1018), Mr. Allen (room 1016), and I (Ms. Stokes room 1018) are starting a new chapter. We would love to have a bunch of students participate. If you are interested in joining Best Buddies, please contact one of the teachers mentioned above or email me at lstokes@humbleisd.net . We are having a lunch recruitment for members and officers of the club on April 25, 2017 during all lunches in the HHS cafeteria. Please come see us. Also visit the Best Buddies website at www.bestbuddies.org to learn more about the organization. Thanks. Now on to our upcoming week! One special happening is the freshman field trip to Kemah Boardwalk in Kemah, Texas on Tuesday April 18, 2017. I will be accompanying three of our freshmen on the outing! What a great time we are going to have! My 5th period class will make posters advertising the new Best Buddies chapter this week. We never got a chance to start our new topic on the moon last week so we will start our discussion on the moon. We will have a fun science lab on Wednesday...we will make the phases of the moon using Oreo cookies. Watch for pictures of our creations! Completion of our News to You article about rockets will complement our notes and cut and paste activities about the moon. Friday activities will include making chocolate chip cookies and playing UNO while communicating and fostering our friendships with our classmates.

 

April 24, 2017:  Due to inclement weather, the field trip to Kemah was postponed. The new date for our Kemah trip is Monday April 24, 2017! I look forward to accompanying 3 of our awesome freshman on our trip. Remember we will be back at school about 3:45, and there are no buses so you will have to pick up your student. Tuesday is our lunch recruitment for Best Buddies! Come be a friend, and make a friend! Well, last week was filled with learning, communicating, and commenting! Our moon phase study went wonderfully. Look at our creations of the 8 phases of the moon using Oreo cookies.

 

Our News 2 You article will be about the new movie Born in China about animal families that live in China. This will tie in perfectly about our lesson of the week...continents. We will have fun learning about new places on our planet Earth. Another fun activity will be playing 3 letter word BINGO in which we practice our letter and word recognition. Our weekly science experiment will be one that we never got to a couple of weeks ago due to special circumstances. This week we will explore the experiment Dancing Popcorn. My hypothesis is that the popcorn kernels will move around in an up and down motion due to the mixing of baking soda and vinegar. What do you think will happen? Let's all have a great week. Soon I will have the end of school schedule.

 

May 1, 2017: Well, my friends, it has been a year since I have been talking to you all on a weekly basis! Where has the time gone! I guess the saying that "time flies when you are having fun" is true. I truly love my time with all my students. They inspire me on a daily basis. Last week falls in line with all the others...successful! Our cooking activity this week was baking chocolate chip cookies. Everyone had fun selecting ingredients, measuring, and communicating with friends. Look how yummy those chocolate chip cookies are! We enjoyed eating them while we played Jeopardy. Again, everyone enjoyed time together while being challenged.

 

Our science experiment planned last week never got completed due to time restraints. So, this week will delve into our science explorations by doing the Dancing Popcorn experiment. Some students will use their voice to request materials; others will use a pre-programmable voice output device to participate. Communication boards used by all will enhance everyone's interactions. We will finish up our unit on continents by labeling a map of the continents and cutting and pasting continent forms onto a blue paper while recalling the names of the 7 continents. We will wrap up our unit on continents by finishing the News 2 You article on the movie "Born in China". Everyone does such a great job working through the activities that come with the News 2 You newspaper. This Saturday May 6 I will be participating in a Best Buddies 5K walk in Houston. Ms. Salvitti and Ms. Springer may be able to attend. I think the Best Buddies program will be a great addition to our school. That reminds me...the lunch recruitment of Best Buddies members went very well. Thank you Danielle Gonzales for coming to our school and participating in such a great event. So come on my friends and BE A FRIEND! MAKE A FRIEND! by joining Best Buddies. The link is www.bestbuddies.org. Thanks to all staff and students who make my job so fun!

 

May 8, 2017:  Wow! What a great week we all had. The Dancing Popcorn science experiment went very well. Check out the good photos we took as we progressed through our activity.

Our study of the 7 continents also was very successful. Students effortlessly named and identified the continents. The News 2 You article on the "Born in China" movie challenged each learner to read new words, write definitions, and determine syllables in the vocabulary words. Our upcoming article is entitled Wind Turbines. We will explore new words and learn about renewable energy sources. In a way, this will tie in with our science experiment of the week...making volcanos because both topics are about nature and our planet Earth. We will round out our science experiment by matching vocabulary words associated with volcanoes with relevant pictures. We will also have a challenging word search involving terms associated with volcanoes. Just a heads up! There is no late arrival May 25, 2017 and June 1, 2017 since there are senior and underclassmen finals.

 

May 15, 2017:  Another week has flown by! It was a great week for all students. A quick, but huge, shout out is given to all of our peer tutors who work so expertly with all of our Life Skills students. Thank you for all you do. Everyone participated daily in communication skills and academic work. Our science experiment was a huge success. Thanks to our awesome speech therapist, Ms. O'Connor, who helped our class during our making volcanoes, predicting outcomes, and requesting materials. It is fun making a mess while learning!  

 

 This week we will embark on a new unit...cells. We have looked at two types of cells, animal cells and plant cells. This time we will look at the cell more in depth. We will learn the scientific name for organelles, or parts of cells. We will also learn their function in cell life. On Friday, we will make an edible 3D model of the cell out of gelatin which represents the cytoplasm in a cell. The organelles, or parts of the cell, will be represented by a variety of candies such as gum drops, gummi worms, and grapes. Hopefully, our Occupational Therapist, Dr. Poe Prochaska, will be able to participate in such a great activity. Of course, we will review the names and functions of the organelles. Part of our learning will be writing names of organelles while practicing a fine motor skill, using a ruler to draw lines and match letters to make words. This week our News 2 You article, Amazing Athletes, goes right along our plans for the week...an Integrated Athletics soccer tournament at Atascosita High School on Tuesday May 16, 2017! Our athletes have been practicing often during Adapted PE. One great thing about Integrated Athletics events is that all students in Life Skills and Applied Skills gets to participate in such a fun activity. It is not limited to participates in the Adapted Physical Education class led by our super star...Kathryn Claxton. You do a great job. Thanks for all you do! Just a reminder. There is no late arrival on May 25, 2017 or June 1, 2017. School will start at 7:25 a.m. There is also early release Friday May 26, 2017 at 11:25 a.m., June 1, 2017 at 11:50 a.m., and June 2, 2017 at 11:25 a.m. Ok, one more reminder. All medications need to be picked up by a parent from the nurse by 10:00 June 2, 2017. Have a great week, ya'll!

 

May 22, 2017: Yippee! Another great week with all of my students engaged in communication and learning. Thanks to everyone! Our 3D cells turned out great. Thank you, Mr. Allen in Applied Skills, for sharing this great activity and candy to represent the cell's organelles. Listed below are a few items used to represent the cell and its organelles: candy sprinkles=ribosomes, fruit by the foot=rough endoplasmic reticulum, gum drops=nucleus, jello=cytoplasm, and baggie=cell membrane. We spent some great time reviewing functions of the organelles while we were making the 3D cells. 

 

This week our News 2 You article is on Lego Life. We will have some fun examining these popular building blocks by reading the article, cutting and pasting icons that represent the content, and learning new words. I have some exciting news this week! I wrote a grant to the Humble ISD Educational Foundation, and the grant was funded! We are going to get a second IPAD for use in the classroom. With this technology, we will follow picture schedules, make comments using a great app Sounding Board, and learning new things by accessing a variety of apps. Thank you so much to the Humble ISD Educational Foundation! We will all get some great use of this new IPAD. Remember there is no late arrival on Thursday May 25, 2017, and there is early release at 11:25 a.m. on Friday May 26, 2017. Congratulations to all the 2017 graduates. I would like to point out two awesome seniors that work with our Life Skills class: Mahoganey and Samia. You are very talented at working with individuals with disabilities. You are cared for by all staff and students. We all wish you the very best in the future.  We will round out our week by making Bouncy Balls using glue and borax. Of course, the activity will be paired with loads of learning, commenting, and requesting by using voice or communication boards. Lastly, we will make oatmeal cookies and play Jeopardy! I look forward to our last few days of the 2016-2017 school year.

 

May 30, 2017: I hope everyone had a great Memorial Day weekend! I want to send out a special thank you to all of our past, present, and future men and women of the armed forces who so bravely protect our freedom! Well, one more week of school for this 2016-2017 school year. It has really been a great year. I have enjoyed all my students and activities we did this year. Remember there is no late arrival June 1st. There is early release at 11:50 on June 1, 2017 and at 11:25 on June 2, 2017. This week our News 2 You article is called Gopro Mountain games. It is about outdoor athletic competitions in Vail, Colorado. We will read the article, highlight specific words called out by the teacher, and cut and paste icons to answer questions. Our unit of study this week will be on measurement. We will practice using rulers to measure lines, create objects to measure with playdough or clay, and measure a variety of objects. Some more learning will involve completing vocational job boxes with as much independence as possible. On Wednesday our super coach, Ms. Claxton, will lead all the life and applied skills students in a number of different athletic activities! There will be food, fun, music, and time for cultivating our friendships and wishing everyone a great summer. On Friday, the entire class had a great time making M&M cookies and playing Jeopardy. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures. We never got a chance to make the Bouncy Balls so that will occur this week. I will remember to document our activities through pics. Have a great week everyone.

 

 

Thursday May 25, 2017: No late arrival; school starts at 7:25 am 

Friday May 26, 2017: Early release at 11:25 a.m.

 

Thursday June 1, 2017:  No late arrival: school starts at 7:25; Early release at 11:50

Friday June 2, 2017: Early release at 11:25 a.m. 

 

 

August 28, 2017: I hope everyone had a fantastic summer! I did! I spent lots of time with my family. I taught summer school at Atascosita High School and met lots of awesome students and staff. I invite you to follow my weekly updates, make comments, and gather information about our Life Skills class from the website. My conference periods and contact information are found under the WELCOME tab. You are an important part of our Life Skills team! Thanks for your support. I look forward to working with all my parents, students, and staff. I hope everyone stayed safe during our inclement weather with hurricane Harvey. Please continue to watch the media and wait for emails about the first day of school. I hope we have school; I am ready for our students. We will have a lesson on weather and hurricanes. We will make tornadoes in a bottle to represent the movement of the hurricane. Of course, we will choose food coloring for the water and glitter so we can observe the movement of the water in the bottle. Our first science experiment will be making GAK on Wednesday August 30, 2017. All students have fun conducting the experiment and communicating wants, needs, and comments. Look each weekend to see pictures of our activities. The rest of the first week will be to get to know each other and communicate about our summer experiences. New and returning parents, please note that we have late arrival on Thursdays at 9:00 unless I send home a notice that there is a different schedule. In closing, I hope all students have a great year and make learning fun! Talk to you soon.

 

September 5, 2017: Before I begin, I just want to send all my thoughts to those affected by Harvey. It has been a catastrophic disaster. As I am sure you are aware that school won't start until at least Thursday September 7, 2017; stay tuned to the media for more information. I welcome all of our students, and I look forward to the first day of school. We will spend a lot of time getting to know each other and listen to our friends about summer fun. We will still make tornadoes in a bottle to review the natural occurrence that caused so much devastation. We will practice our routines and get used to the schedule during our school day. I will keep you posted about whether or not we will have late arrival on Thursday September 7 if we have school. I would like to invite all of our students to join Best Buddies. It is a social club that promotes inclusion of all who have a disability. There is no cost, and it will be fun! Watch the link in my website for activities, updates, and pictures. UPDATE: School for students will start on Thursday September 7, 2017 at 7:00 a.m. There is no late arrival that day. I can't wait to see all my peers and students. See ya soon.

 

September 11, 2017: Check out our tornadoes in a bottle. We all had fun making choices to decide what color to make the water and what color glitter to use. We also all did a great job of communicating and requesting.

All students did a great job of connecting the lesson with the storm that caused so much devastation in our region. Our thoughts still go out to all of our friends. This week we have a special event occuring on Wednesday September 13, 2017--OPEN HOUSE from 6:30-8:00. Come join us in celebrating what a great Life Skills team we have here at Humble High School. During the day on Wednesday, we will make chocolate chip cookies to have available for all of our Open House guests. Once again we will use our voices and voice output devices to make requests, comments, and ask questions. We will practice measuring ingredients and following directions. All students will be able to mix the dough because we have an electrical interface connected to a jelly bean switch.

 

 

This week we will all log into the computer and start learning our usernames and passwords. All students have an email address and we will learn how to check our email. Our News 2 You article deals with the Cassini spacecraft that was launched in 1997 and reached Saturn, one of our solar system's large planets, in 2004. We will practice prerequiste reading and writing skills as well as cutting, pasting, and sorting. That article will launch our solar system unit. Let's have a great week everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

March 19, 2018: I hope everyone had a great spring break. I am ready to get back to school, enjoy the company of my students and staff, and participate in fun learning activities. One of our favorite endeavors is to explore current events by reading our interesting newspaper article provided by News 2 You. This week we will read about the return of the popular music reality TV show, American Idol. We will practice learning new vocabulary words, finish sentences from a choice of words, identifying singular and plural words, and naming the beginning letters of our new vocabulary words. Our interactive science experiment for the week will be "Exploding Lunch Bags". We will observe the action caused by the combination of vinegar and baking soda in a closed Ziploc bag. Of course, we will communicate our requests and make comments by using communication boards, our voices, and preprogrammed voice output devices. To fill out the week, we will practice reading analog clocks, using calculators, and practicing sight words. On Friday we will have a fun time baking chocolate chip cookies. For this activity, we will go high tech and use a communication board on our class IPAD. We will enjoy eating the cookies while we engage in an exciting game of Uno during 8th period on Friday. As a quick reminder, there is late arrival Thursday March 22, 2018 so school starts for our students at 9 a.m.

 

March 26, 2018: Two annoucements before I forget! There is NO late arrival Thursday March 29, 2018 so school starts at 7 a.m. Also, there is no school on Friday March 30, 2018 due to the Good Friday holiday. I hope everyone has a peaceful 3 day weekend. I look forward to seeing all my students and collegues on April 2. Everyone really enjoyed our task of baking chocolate chip cookies. We used our classroom Ipad to request materials and make comments, much like we do on our low-tech communication boards. Our peer tutors said they were delicious...and I agree. Thanks to all. This week our fun activity is to make rice crispy treats and put the mixture in a plastic egg. Students will request materials and comment to their peers. Check out these cool pics courtesy of Dr. Poe!  Another exciting News 2 You article is waiting for us to delve in! This week the title of the article is titled the "King Tut Exhibit". This topic opens many doors to related topics such as Egypt, mummies, and the pyramids. Exploring these will take us all on a trip far to the east of Humble. On Thursday, all will participate in identifying three letter words in an interactive game of bingo. Let's all have a great week! 

 

April 2, 2018: As per my usual... an announcement first! There IS late arrival Thursday April 5, 2018. I hope everyone enjoys their extra time on Thursday morning. I hope everyone had a peaceful three day weekend! I sure did, but I am ready to see my students and collegues. Well, last week was extra busy with Easter activities so we didn't get very far in our study of the News 2 You article on King Tut and Egypt. We will continue our study of this fascinating topic this week by completing a packet of learning activities such as a vocabulary word crossword puzzle, symbol matching, and vocabulary development. In addition to learning about new words and places, students have a chance to practice fine motor skills such as cutting, writing, and pasting. Our science experiment will be the one planned for last week..."Dancing Raisins". Of course, we will make predictions of what will happen given the materials we will use. One thing I would like everyone to be ready to describe is the similarity between this experiment and other science experiments we have done using vinegar and baking soda. With the short work week and lots of Easter activities, we just didn't get as far as planned. Being flexible is one of my team's greatest strengths. I would like to express how happy I am for one student in particular...Taylor. He recently became the proud owner of a high-tech electric wheelchair. He is doing a great job learning to drive it safely. Great job, Taylor. Lastly, we will complete our week filled with fun learning activities with a great game of Uno, bingo, and other social games. As I always say, let's have a great week, y'all!

 

April 9, 2018: There is state testing this week so there is a special schedule which includes NO late arrival on Thursday April 12, 2018. Don't forget to mark your calendars. Before I get to writing about the activities of the week, I want to congratulate all my students who did such a great job taking the Staar Alt 2 test last week. Thank you for your hard work. We missed seeing Dr. Poe, but look forward to seeing her this week. We will also invite Mr. Malone to observe our weekly science experiment. We are going to make GAK out of glue, Borax, and water. Since we have done this before, I expect all my students to complete this task very independently, making sure to hypothesize what will occur and to identify necessary materials. Of course, we will use our communication boards to assist us in engaging in meaningful communication with our peers and teachers. One fun step in this process is to select the color or our GAK! It's great to have choices. We have two new group games...Preposition indentification and Food Jingo. This week will enjoy socializing and learning while playing these two games. On Tuesday, we will complete a science lab using a ruler to measure common objects in inches and centimeters. Another fun activity will be baking cookies with mini-M and M baking bits. These sort of activities always lend themselves to requesting and commenting with our communication partners. Extra time will be filled in with academic activities while using our News 2 You resource. Because we didn't finish it last  week, we will conclude our study of Egypt and King Tut. I am looking forward to our activities and time together. Go Wildcats!

 

April 16, 2018: There is no late arrival on Thursday April 19. School starts at 7:00. Check out the cool artwork all of our students created last week...watercolor flowers made out of coffee filters decorated with markers and a spray of water.Thank you Ms. Kimberlee for coming up with such a great project. I am so glad spring is here...it's my favorite season. We had fun making GAK, or slime, for our science experiment this past week. Thank you for your visit, Dr. Poe. As for our science experiment this week, we will conduct the Magic Milk experiment. We will hypothesize what will happen to drops of food coloring sprinkled in milk that comes in contact with dish soap on a cotton swab. Our experiments are a favorite part of the week. They lend themselves to opportunities to communicate requests, make comments, and interact with peers while demonstrating a science concept. Our News 2 You article is on Spring in the United States. This week we will concentrate on math associated with the article instead of language arts and vocabulary development. We will compare numbers, interpret charts, and explore graphs. Our week will be rounded out with a fun art activity...melting crayons in wax paper to create suncatchers. We will also practice multiplying numbers using a multiplication chart, identifying beginning sounds of short words, and completing division problems using a calculator. Watch for pictures and enjoy you week everyone. Remember we have an exciting field trip planned for April 25...putt putt golf at Kingwood Park High School. 

 

April 23, 2018: I know it's really confusing about when we are having late arrival or not, but I'll keep you posted! There IS late arrival this coming Thursday April 26, 2018. All students will get an opportunity to sleep in! Well, we have a great week coming up. On Wednesday we will travel by school bus to Kingwood Park High School to play SUCCESS golf with our life skills students from all over our great district. We always have alot of fun putting the ball and interacting with our friends. Our News 2 You article will be on the Disney Dolphins movie, an exciting documentary about our aquatic pals. We will participate in vocabulary building, recalling facts, and identifying singular and plural nouns. Also, we will explore math concepts such as graphing and comparing numbers. Lots of learning fun! On Tuesday we will complete our weekly science experiment called "Sink or Float Candy"; different types of candy will be placed in water to see which ones will sink and which ones will float. Students will complete a data table to list predictions and results. Thursday will lend itself to a great game of word bingo during 8th period. On Friday, we will make oatmeal cookies and use the IPad to make requests, comment, and ask questions. Let's have a great week everyone. I am looking forward to being with all my students and life skills staff. 

 

April 30, 2018:...now for my weekly announcement...There is no late arrival on Thursday May 3, 2018; school starts at 7:00. Summer is just around the corner, but we have many exciting events planned between now and our last day of school. Take a look at our critters hanging around! They are tadpoles. Some are already developing legs. What a great idea Ms. Kimberlee to bring them in so we can watch how they grow and change. Eventually, they won't live in water. They will breathe air and hop around on land. On Monday, we will finish our packets on the Dolphins movie. We will practice vocabulary building, completing fine motor skills, and matching words to icons in our News 2 You activity. Congratulations to one of our life skills students, Ian, who was chosen by district physical education teachers to play a 9 hole game of putt putt in the Woodlands. He will eat lunch with 4 other students from the district and have alot of fun. When Wednesday rolls around, we will participate in our weekly science experiment. This week we will combine oil that has drops of food coloring in it with water and watch how the food coloring disperses throughout the water. Before we begin the experiment, we will formulate a hypothesis about what will happen. On Thursday, we will make blueberry and cherry empanadas to compliment our fiesta on Friday to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. It will be a messy task, but we will all have fun. Soft and crunchy tacos, rice, and beans will make up our feast. Check out Archie! He looks so handsome in his outfit. Great job, Sierra. Wow, I can't wait. We will round out our week by competing with our peers when we play a variety of games such as Sorry!, the plant game, and bingo. Have a great week everyone!

 

May 7, 2018: Hear ye, hear ye! There is no late arrival May 10, 2018. There is state testing next week so we have a crazy schedule all week. But, as always we will have a great time in class. I just want to extend a warm welcome to our students who are transitioning from Humble Middle School and Ross Sterling Middle School. The staff and students are eagerly awaiting their arrival. We have a fun time here at Humble High School. Our cooking lesson in which we made cherry and blueberry empanadas turned out excellent! We all had fun getting our hands messy with dough and flour. Thanks everyone for a great activity. Our tadpoles are growing and developing legs at a fast rate. Soon we will release them to live out their lives in the small body of water in front of our school. As for our News 2 You article...it is on baby zoo animals. We will have an interesting lesson in which we can watch some cool videos about baby animals. Our activities will include practicing fine motor skills, learning new vocabulary words, and categorizing words as nouns, verbs, singular, and plural. Our big activity of the week will be tie-dying white shirts! How fun! If we have time, we will conduct an experiment in which we combine vinegar and milk to make a plastic substance; we will compare how whole milk versus non-fat milk behaves when the vinegar is added. My hypothesis is that the whole milk will work better because of the high fat content. Let's have a fantastic week everyone!

 

May 14, 2018: Hey, everone! There is late arrival Thursday May 17; school starts at 9:00. This is our last late arrival day for the 2017-2018 school year. I know it has been hard keeping up with the days of late arrival and no late arrival, but we got though this withG flying colors. Now for a glimpse of what's to come during our last two weeks of school. On May 24, 2018, there is no late arrival. On Friday May 25, 2018 there is early release for all students at 11:25 am. If you are a graduating senior, there is a mandatory graduation practice from 4-7 pm on May 25, 2018 at Humble High School. Graduation for our seniors will be Saturday May 26, 2018 at 5:30 pm at NRG stadium. Congratulations to our two seniors, Maya and Taylor. Both of these great students will be attending the Mosaic program next year. What a great experience this will be! Well, my hypothesis about the whole milk or cream working better during our experiment in which we combine milk with vinegar to make a type of plastic material did not hold water. Actually, the nonfat milk by far worked the best. Science is always so exciting! This week we will make fluffy slime out of glue, cornstarch, and shaving foam. Contact lense solution will be used as well. Of course, all students will be making a choice of what color(s) to add to make this more interesting. I can't wait to compare this fluffy slime with the regular slime we make out of glue, borax, and water. Another fun activity will be exploring the feel of tapioca beads that have been boiled for approximately 2 hours. We will enjoy our sensory endeavors this week. Our News 2 You article touches close to home for me. It is about Prince Harry's and Meghan's upcoming wedding. I say this hits close to home for me because my husband, Wayne, is English. English people are proud of their heritage. It will be a great day for royals and the general public alike! Of course, we will focus on vocabulary building, writing, matching, and graphing. Telling time using analog clocks will be practiced as well! Our week will be rounded out by continuing our morning meeting to prepare for the day, playing word bingo, having a social game day on Friday, and exploring words by completing a word search! Let's have a great week everyone.

 

May 21, 2018: What a week we having coming up! As far as scheduling goes, Monday through Thursday will host the regular school hours of 7:15-2:55. On Friday, all students will be dismissed for the day at 11:25. During the upcoming week of May 28 though June 1, Tuesday and Wednesday will be regular school hours of 7:15-2:55. On Thursday, students will depart for home at 11:50. Friday's dismissal time will be 11:25. Monday May 28 is Memorial Day so there is no school for staff or students. I would like to congratulate our seniors, Taylor and Maya, for their outstanding performance during their high school career. Monday brings us to a fun event at Atascosita High School...an indoor soccer meet for the Life Skills and Applied Skills high school students in the district. This reminds me that I am scheduled to be an Integrated Athletics teacher along with Mr. Allen next year. I am excited about this because I think it will be alot of fun. I am really into sports and fitness! Most of the Life Skills and Applied Skills students will be participating in this great program. This Tuesday, Wildcat Pals will host a graduation party for our seniors. There will be music, games, food, and friendship. Some of the treats we will enjoy are nachos, ice cream sundaes, chips, dip, and fruit punch and lemonade. Many thanks to all the Life Skills and Applied Skills staff who brought snacks for our party. Also, a huge thank you goes out to Joe and Liz Navarro for providing the music.  Our fluffy slime experiment was fantasitic. All students had a great time manipulating the sticky mess; our own Kimberlee Windham mentioned that when she did this same activity at home with her daughter, it wasn't as sticky. This brings me to want to redo the investigation and try adding more cornstarch and using a borax and water mixture instead of contact lense solution. Like I always say, science can be challenging but exciting. Other activities filling our week will be completing our News 2 You article on Harry and Meghan's wedding in England, practicing using a calculator to solve multiplication problems, and playing a variety of games to foster communication and personal interaction. Our awesome peer tutors that attend 8th period will facilitate a favorite science experiment in which student combine vinegar, water, and baking soda in a ziploc bag. If there is time, we will whip up the popular treat of oatmeal cookies. We all enjoy cooking activities that promote all to request ingredients, make comments, and practice real life skills. Enjoy the week everyone!

 

May 29, 2018: Well, the last week of school is upon us. I wish everyone a safe and happy summer. I look forward to seeing all the students and staff to kick off our 2018-2019 school year. The last week of school has a different schedule with early release days on Thursday and Friday. On Thursday May 31, students will depart for home at 11:50 a.m. Friday's release time will be at 11:25 a.m. Graduation for our awesome students, Taylor and Maya, was awesome. Both students proudly proceeded across the stage and greeted principals and board members. Great job, seniors; congratulations. We all wish you the best in the next chapter of your lives. Remember you don't have to attend school May 29-June 1. That brings me to one more reminder...There is no school Monday May 28, 2018 in observance of Memorial Day. Our students will study the history and meaning of Memorial Day and use their good fine motor skills to glue pieces of colored tissue on a paper copy of our nation's flag! Another fun activity will be making ice cream in a bag on Friday. This is definitely one of the favorite science experiments we do on a weekly basis. Everyone will get a chance to make requests, comment to a peer or staff member, and ask for help using our communication boards and assistive technology. Then, if you choose, you can eat the tasty treat. As a special treat, everyone will be able to pick some sprinkles to put on their ice cream. Eventhough it is the last week of school, all students will continue their learning to use a calculator, alphabetize words, and identify beginning sound for short words. We will wrap up the week and school year by enjoying a movie. Recreation and leisure time can be computer or ipad time if all work has been completed. Have a great last week of school. Looking forward, school will start on August 20, 2018. Have a great summer!

 

June 12, 2018: Welcome to ESY 2018 at Humble High School! I look forward to working with all students and parents. We are going to have a great summer. I am really excited that ESY is at my home campus of Humble High School. We have a great variety of activities to keep us all interested in learning this summer. I update this section of my website every week so you all can stay informed about events and activities for the upcoming week. I always enjoy getting comments so I hope to hear from you. I will send a handout home every day telling you about your student's day. Please send a light snack if you want your son or daughter to eat mid-morning. Feel free to comment and send the form back. I look forward to communicating with each of you often throughout the summer. The very best way to communicate with me is by email. I get updates from my email account throughout the day so I should be able to respond quickly. I also keep track of my emails during the afternoon and evening. I go to be early so if you email me after about 7:45 p.m., I probably won't get it until the next morning. My email is lstokes@humbleisd.net. This first week we will start off by completing a fun science experiment in which we will make ice cream in a bag. We will use communication boards, pre-programmed voice output device, and our voice to request materials, make comments, and/or ask for help. Friday we will use a switch connected to a electrical interface to run an electric mixer to make chocolate chip cookies. During this activity, we will use high-tech equipment to communicate with our peers and staff...I love iPads! I will send home a sample. Hope you enjoy! We will round out our week playing word bingo, completing work jigs, and reading a book. Let's have a great week everyone!

 

June 18, 2018: Our first week of ESY was awesome! It was really good to see some familiar faces and meet new friends. I am working with a fantastic team of professionals and students at a wonderful school. I couldn't be happier! Our ice cream in a bag science experiment was alot of fun...and yummy! All students did a great job at using a variety communication methods to make comments, request materials, and ask questions. This week holds some exciting happenings. We will conduct a new science experiment called "Fireworks in a Jar". Students will use communication boards to perform some of the same communication tasks as last week...making comments, asking questions, and requesting materials. In the experiment, our young scientists will pour vegetable oil mixed with drops of food coloring into warm water and make observations about what happens. Another engaging activity will be making oatmeal cookies while using an Ipad to identify and request ingredients. We will round out the four short days in the week by playing word bingo, accessing student equipment, and completing vocational tasks. Ready, set, go for a awesome week of learning. Thanks everyone!

 

June 25, 2018: What a great week! Our super students did a great job of communicating, following directions, and learning new things. Thanks to all! This week brings more fun and friendship. Just a quick reminder that there is no school the week of July 2-6, 2018 in observance of Independence Day. I hope everyone has a great 4th of July holiday with friends and family. Our science experiment for the week is Gummy Bear Science. Students will place gummy bear candy in three different solutions; twenty four hours later, our young scientists will describe the changes that occur. The solutions will be salt water, water with baking soda, and water and vinegar. I hypothesize some will get bigger and some will shrink. What do you think? Another engaging activity will be baking chocolate chip cookies. All students will use communication devices, body language, and vocalizations to communicate with each other to make comments, ask questions, and request materials. As usual, we will explore our world with sensory time, work on our bodies by spending time in various pieces of therapeutic equipment, and practice fine motor skills. Let's have a super week. 

 

July 16, 2018: Hello, everyone! I had a great week of training. A huge thanks to all who arranged and carried out the training. I learned a lot! I am glad to be back in the classroom this week, however. Looking ahead for the week...we will do a fun science experiment called "Exploding Lunchbag". We will combine baking soda and vinegar in a small Ziploc bag. What do you think will happen? Of course we will progress through the activity while using our communication boards and voice output devices to request materials, make comments, or ask questions. Other fun activities will be solving puzzles, matching items, and playing food bingo. Everyone will get multiple chances to call out the food clues using a voice output device. Our group will enjoy leisure activities while in their equipment. I love the saying...a sound mind and sound body equals health. Remember the last day of summer school will be July 26, 2018. A short break follows and then our 2018-2019 school year will start August 20! Let's have a great week everyone!

 

July 23, 2018: Well, this is the last week of summer school! I know it will be a fantastic week. We have a lot of fun things planned to go along with our IEP work. Some scheduled events will be working on job tasks, completing a science experiment, and playing word bingo. The science experiment for the week will be "Dancing Popcorn". Students will use their communication boards to request materials, ask questions, and make comments as the young scientists hypothesize about what will happen when vinegar and baking soda are combined with 10 popcorn kernels. Students will make comparisons to the "Exploding Lunch Bag" experiment we completed the week of July 16. We will take some time to explore breaking news by reading and discussing  the articles in News 2 You. Remember school starts August 20! Is everyone ready for a great week! One of our students is raising money to fund his animal for FFA. Christopher is having a fish fry on Saturday August 11 from 11:00-2:00. The meal is $8.00 and includes fish (swai, catfish, or tilapia), salad, and your choice of macaroni and cheese or fries! The address is 1121 Brenda Lane Humble, TX 77338. Let's support our awesome young man.

 

August 20, 2018: Welcome to the 2018-2019 school year here at Humble High School! I am really looking forward to this year. We have an awesome Life Skills team made of administrators, teachers, paraprofessionals, service providers, and students. Let's have a great year everyone. Most of our first week will be getting acquainted and reacquainted with our adults and peers. We will also work hard on IEP goals, participate in activities that reinforce job skills, and engage in other learning activities. Our first science experiment for the year will be one of my favorites...Exploding Lunch Bag! Students will hypothesize what will happen when baking soda and vinegar are combined in a sandwich size Ziploc bag; communication of requests and comments will be augmented by a colorful communication board and preprogrammable voice output devices. We will bake a vanilla cake with buttercream frosting for one of our returning Wildcats, Ian whose birthday is August 22. Happy Birthday, Ian! Look at these pictures of our awesome students helping to bake a cake.  Keep checking out our Life Skills website and have a super week, ya'll!

 

August 27, 2018: What a great first week of school for all students and staff. We were very busy getting to know our new friends and reestablishing our relationships with our returning friends. Everyone has so much to bring to our Life Skills team. This week we will finally get to complete our science experiment, "Exploding Lunch Bag"; there just wasn't enough time during our first week to do this activity. But, we have a special treat this week during our science experiment. Dr. Poe Prochaska, our Occupational Therapist, will visit and help! Thanks, Dr. Poe! In addition to hypothesizing what will happen when we combine baking soda and vinegar in a plastic bag, we will use picture communication boards to request materials, ask questions, and make comments. We will engage our efforts in this activity on Wednesday at 9:00! Keep checking our website to see pictures of our endeavors. This week our News 2 You article will explore the pros and cons of a four day school week. What do you all think about a four day school week? I am good either way. I just like being able to spend quality time with my students and colleagues. Group games, vocational job boxes, and sorting activities will occupy our time in between IEP work and communication practice. Happy Birthday to one of our awesome 9th graders, Dorian. There is late arrival on Thursday August 30, 2018; school starts at 9:00. Check with transportation at 281-641-8720 if you have questions about pick up times. Well, that's all for now. Have a great 2nd week everyone.

 

September 3, 2018: There is no school Monday September 3, 2018 in observance of Labor Day. I hope everyone has a great 3 day weekend.  One of my amazing students, Cornell, traveled with his family to have some fun in San Antonio. Look at him outside of the Alamo! What a great picture. Thanks for sharing with me, Ms. Wilson! We want to send out a very warm welcome to our new staff member, Ms. Mayra Rosero. Thank you for joining our awesome team. And for 1 more announcement: remember there is no late arrival on Thursday September 6, 2018. School starts at 7:15. Now for the events of our upcoming week. Our first order of business on Tuesday will be mixing and baking a delicious strawberry cake for our awesome birthday boy, Cornell. He did a great job using a voice output device to request a strawberry cake. Everyone will practice requesting ingredients, making comments, and using a switch interface to run the handheld mixer.  Wednesday brings us to another cooking activity---baking chocolate chip cookies for open house. Open House is Wednesday September 5, 2018 from 6:30-8:00. I hope everyone can attend and enjoy some yummy chocolate chip cookies. We will all practice checking our visual or object schedule to make necessary transitions throughout the day and know what academic work we need to do. A favorite part of the day is the elective class the students attend. It opens doors to make friends and learn how to navigate through our school. Make sure to check out the portion of this website that deals with the activities carried out in Integrated Athletics and keep up to date on the fun we have in there. Our News 2 You newspaper article will focus on food truck festivals. I think food trucks are cool and offer a great alternative to a regular restaurant. Let's use our fine motor skills to cut and paste while learning definitions of new words and making observations about our topic. Have a great week! Many thanks to our staff who make our days wonderful and filled with learning. 

 

September 10, 2018: This is a very special week! It's Homecoming at Humble High School; I really hope to see some of our 2018 graduates return for a visit with me and our students. I would like to have all these awesome Wildcat Buddies meet our new students. All of our students are superstars! This week we will learn about a Weather Ready Nation by reading our weekly News 2 You article.  There is late arrival on Thursday September 13, 2018. School starts at 9:00! This week we will add the presentation of a communication board via our projector to give us new words to learn about this topic. Dr. Poe, our fabulous occupational therapist, will visit as we cover a unit tied to our News 2 You article---hurricanes and tornados. We will round out this lesson by making a colorful, glitter-filled tornado in a water bottle. One new science phenomenon that we will learn about is the Coriolis Effect which dictates which way a rotating mass will turn due to the spin of the Earth in space. Wednesday we will complete an exciting science experiment called Fireworks in a jar. In this activity, students will combine oil and water to demonstrate the concept of density. A choice of food coloring will be added to watch the effect as the food coloring disperses throughout the oil! Of course, we will document our progress on our goals, engage in meaningful communication, and make choices! Have a great week. 

 

September 17, 2018: Last week was great! It was filled with learning and communicating. Thanks everyone for a great week. This week lends itself to more learning, developing friendships, and practicing life skills. Our first order of business is to make sure everyone knows that there IS late arrival on Thursday September 20, 2018. School starts at 9:00. All students get a special chance to sleep in! Enjoy! On Monday, we will have two awesome ladies visit our class to see how things are done here at HHS. Welcome, Ms. Walker and Ms. Bassett. To celebrate their visit, we will direct our learning to a science experiment called Dancing Popcorn. Students will investigate what happens to popcorn kernels when vinegar and baking soda are combined in a clear glass jar. Students will compare the events that unfold in this experiment with what happened in our Exploding Lunch Bag experiment a couple of weeks ago. Of course, we will use our communication boards and voice output devices to make comments, request materials, and ask questions. Our News 2 You article is called Spacecraft to the Sun. It explores the importance of the sun and why it's important to learn more about this important star. We will explore new vocabulary, learn new facts, and practice reading. Let's have a great week everyone!

 

September 24, 2018: Another week has flown by. I guess that old saying "Time flies when you are having fun." is true. Remember there is late arrival on Thursday September 27, 2018 so school starts at 9:00. What a fantastic week. Our visit with Ms. Walker and Ms. Bassett went amazing. We were all glad to see them and show off our wonderful class! This week we have a special project for our science experiment. It is called "Ice Cream in a Bag". This experiment will take place Wednesday when Dr. Poe can come participate. This is a particularly fun project because we have a sweet treat when it is done. Cream, sugar, and vanilla are combined in a ziploc baggie. This is placed in a bigger baggie filled with ice and ice cream salt. This experiment lends itself to learning about how a solute (salt) can change the freezing point. How cool. Students who can't eat the ice cream still benefit from this lesson because they can feel the coldness of the ice, smell the vanilla, and feel the frozen ice cream through the bag. Of course, this activity will be filled with communication to request materials, make comments, and identify the next step. This week's News 2 You article covers information about National Newspaper Week that is scheduled for October 7-11. All students will use a switch or their voice to help read the article. After reading the article, we will learn new vocabulary words by matching the word to its definition with a cut and paste activity. Other activities will be using a ruler to measure lines and real objects, playing word bingo, and completing vocational tasks. Students will continue to attend their elective classes and interact with their peers. Have a great week everyone. OWene more thing...Wednesday October 3 is our Integrated Athletics Field Day at Insperity Sport Complex. Check out the additional information under the Integrated Athletics tab on this website. It's going to be a fun day. 

 

October 1, 2018: Look here at one of our Wildcats playing baseball for her team, University of Kentucky Wildcats. She is just a Wildcat all around. Great job, Valentina. I want to take this opportunity to invite parents to text or email me pictures of your son/daughter engaging in extra-curricular activities. If I know some of the fun family and friends activities, your student and I can spend time talking about the activities. I know each of them have a lot to say! I like to talk about what is going on in their lives. Another one of our Wildcats enjoys spending time with her new puppy, Kurt! He looks so happy hanging out with Dorian.  He is so cute!Now for announcements. Wednesday is our first Integrated Athletics event...Field Day at Insperity Adaptive Sports Complex. We will be at the event from about 8:30-1:00. Some students purchased a pizza lunch. Let's have a fun day. Look for exciting pics! There is late arrival Thursday October 4. School starts at 9:15. I wish I could sleep in like our lucky students! This week our science experiment will be Gummi Bear Science. Students will investigate what happens to gummi bears when they are left overnight in a cup with vinegar, baking soda and water, or salt and water. We will all have a chance to hypothesize what will happen. This activity will be on Tuesday; hopefully, our friend, Dr. Poe, can visit. As usually, we will use our communication boards, voice output device, and/or voice to make predictions, request materials, and make comments. Of course, this week we will continue practicing our IEP objectives and engage in a variety of activities such as sorting shapes, packaging highlighters, and proceed on our Vizzle lessons on the computer. Lastly, our News 2 You article will focus on learning about fall pumpkins. This will open the door for discussions about living things and seasons. Let's have a great week everyone.

 

October 10, 2018: Remember everyone that there is no late arrival on Thursday October 11. School starts at 7:00. No sleeping in this week! We will, however, have a fun, learning filled week. This week we will concentrate on engaging in our individualized goals, completing vocational tasks, and playing group games. More specifically, we will practice our communication skills by using our voice and preprogrammed voice output devices. This week we will complete the activity that we never got to do last week...Gummi Bear Science. In summary, we will investigate what happens to gummi bear candy when the pieces are soaked overnight in either water, salt water, vinegar, or a solution of water and baking soda. We will communicate using communication boards, voice output devices, and our voice. Our News 2 You article focuses on the date of October 8---Octopus Day. This article explores the amazing ocean animal, the octopus. I think the date, the 8th, is very fitting since an octopus has 8 legs!  This week brings a bit of bittersweet emotions. Our good friend and teacher, Jinnie Rodriguez Stanley is leaving the Wildcat family to pursue a great goal and career promotion by moving to San Antonio. She will be missed by all; we wish her the best and are very proud of her accomplishments. Good luck, my friend and colleague. Keep in touch. Although this is a short week, let's have a great time everyone!

 

October 15, 2018: There is late arrival October 18! School starts at 9:00. All students can relax and sleep in! We are going to engage in fun learning activities such as sorting objects, matching textures, and working hard on iep work. Students will participate in activity preparation by requesting materials, stating upcoming activities, and making comments about needs. Our science activity of the week will be Magic Milk. Students who have visual impairments will explore this activity by feeling the coldness of the milk and hearing it shake in a bottle. Visual learners will make choices of coloring to be added to the milk and will watch as dishwashing liquid is applied to the center of the food coloring droplets. I bet there will be a blast of color. Let's watch and see. What do you think will happen? Our News 2 You newspaper article will focus on the World Series. Good luck Houston Astros. Let's have a repeat of last year. Not only will we focus on reading skills, we will participate in fine motor skills such as cutting and pasting. We will use communication devices to make choices and comment on actions. Wednesday we will make oatmeal cookies for Crystal's birthday. We all hope she has a wonderful day. Thanks everyone for being on our Life Skills' team! Have a great week!

 

October 22, 2018: And now for our weekly annoucement...there is late arrival on Thursday October 25, 2018. School starts at 9:00. We have a fun outing planned for November 7, 2018; it is a trip to the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville, Texas. We will see period costumes, listen to people speak in an English accent, and learn about activities in the Renaissance period of history. This week will be like our other weeks because we will engage in fun learning activities. We never got to complete the Magic Milk experiment so on Friday we will participate in this cool science experiment as it was outlined in the previous week's writing. Choices will be a part of this activity because students will choose what color they want to use. Also, they will make comments on how the milk feels and sounds when the bottle is shaken. We will explore what other ways we use milk and dishwashing detergent. Students can use their voice to communicate their answers or activate a preprogrammed voice output device to answer. As usual, requesting materials, asking questions, and making comments are an integral part of all our class activities. This week our News 2 You article will focus on our nation's National Trails. We will learn new vocabulary and explore new places while using fine motor skills such as cutting and pasting. Time will be filled with interactive games such as sight word bingo, building representations using preposition words, and identifying parts of a flower in The Flower Game. The life skills team takes their hats off to the fantastic work of our peer tutors, Amber and Valeria. We as so happy to have you both as part of our great team! Have a great week, everyone.

 

October 29, 2018: I want to start out this week by welcoming the new Life Skills teacher here at Humble High School. Her name is Andrea Glazebrook. I look forward to working with her as part of our awesome Wildcat team. Parents and students! Let's give her a warm welcome! And now for announcements. There is late arrival November 1, 2018. School starts at 9:00. Also, remember that the time changes on November 4, 2018 at 2:00 a.m. Turn your clocks back 1 hour! This week we will celebrate Halloween on Wednesday by using small pie pumpkins to make a spooky jack-o-lantern. We will use communication boards to request a turn, request materials, make comments, and ask questions. Some will use their voice or a pre-programmed voice out put device to communicate with our teachers and peers. In our Halloween experiment, we will combine vinegar and baking soda and watch what happens. We can relate this procedure to other science experiments we have completed such as exploding lunchbag and volcanoes. This week our News 2 You article focuses on the flu season. Take precaution against the flu by eating healthy, exercising, and having great hygiene. We will fill our time not working on iep goals by playing group games, completing work boxes, and exploring sensory items. Let's have a great week! Just a quick addition...I would like to celebrate one of our students, Christopher, who is raising a goat. Here is a picture. The goat's name is John Billygoat Solomon! Great job, Christopher! My team members found this awesome hat for me to wear on Halloween. I got a spirit ticket for wearing it!Our furry friend, Archie, enjoyed showing off his great costume at doggy day care! Thanks, Archie!

 

November 5, 2018: Well, with this new week upon us, we look forward to engaging in some great experience. Before I forget, however, remember there is late arrival on November 8. School starts at 9:00. One our biggest events this week is to attend the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville, Texas on Wednesday November 7! Ms. Jones and Ms. Springer, thank you for getting our bus transportation worked out. I am so eager to attend with my students and see all of the amazing costumes, hear the British accents, and eat yummy food! On Wednesday as we get ready for our adventure, we will learn about the Renaissance period in England by watching a great video and using our communication device to answer questions and make comments. Each day we complete our routine of having a morning meeting to review days of the week, months of the year, where we live, and classroom rules; after lunch we participate in our warm up activity of choosing Jenga blocks and reading the question written on the block by accessing communication devices and using our voice. This week our News 2 You article is about a new trend...pop up museums. This article focuses on a pizza pop up museum. I have never heard of this. How cool! Another bit of news. We have a pep rally to celebrate the last football game this season on Friday November 9, 2018. Go Wildcats!! Another important event this week is Humble High School's salute to veterans during 1st period on Friday November 9. I want to extend a heartfelt thank you to all present, past, and future service members. Also on Friday, we will partner with Dr. Poe to bake chocolate chip cookies! Let's have a fantastic week everyone. 

 

November 12, 2018: Let's start out with announcements...there is no late arrival on Thursday November 15. School starts at 7:00 a.m. No sleeping in this week! Also, Thanksgiving break is November 19-November 23. I just want to say again how thankful I am to get to work with all of my students and colleagues. I have the best job in the world! If you've looked under the Integrated Athletics tab, you would have seen our last announcement for this week. Our Integrated Athletics Basketball tournament is November 29 at Summercreek High School. Parents, come out and support the Wildcats play against their peers in the district! We were all grateful to get to honor our veterans during the event on November 9. Thanks to everyone. This week our News 2 You article focuses on the new movie Ralph Breaks the Internet. We will explore vocabulary, match words to icons, and practice writing skills. We will check out the official trailer promoting this new movie. Students will use preprogrammed voice output devices to read the article and answer questions. We never got a chance to bake those chocolate chip cookies so we are planning on doing it on Monday...with help from our friend, Dr. Poe. On Wednesday, we will complete a fun science experiment to make Gak! This is definitely a favorite. As we always do, we will use our voice, communication boards, and preprogrammed voice output devices to request materials, make comments, and ask questions. Besides our IEP work, we will play a variety of learning games to identify time on a clock, demonstrate prepositions, and identify money. I am ready for a fantastic week! 

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING...I am thankful for all of our students and staff on our awesome Wildcat life skills team!

 

November 26, 2018: I'd like to start my communication with a shout out for one of our life skills students who participates in floral design. Here she is holding an amazing floral arrangement for Thanksgiving. I love the colors and design! I hope everyone had a peaceful, fulfilling Thanksgiving holiday with friends and family. I had a great time with my family. Today starts us off to a busy, fun and learning-filled week. Wednesday brings us to an exciting Integrated Athletics Basketball tournament at Summer Creek High School. There will be a variety of games, each one featuring a specific skill level. We will get to watch and listen to a Humble High School students present the national anthem. I am so proud of her; she has an amazing voice and presence. There is late arrival on Thursday November 29. School starts at 9:00! Take this chance to sleep in! On Friday, we will make GAK because we never got around to making it last week. I look forward to having students choose colors using a spinner, request materials using a communication board and a preprogrammed voice output device, and ask questions about what they observe. This week we will explore a News 2 You article on Thanksgiving traditions; each student will get to relate their family's tradition. Extra time will be cherished by each one of us engaging in learning games, vocational work boxes, and communication with peers and staff. Have a great week everyone!

 

December 3, 2018: Well, winter break is almost here! Three weeks of school before the break. I'd like to take this time to wish everyone a peaceful holiday and happy new year. My first order of business...to remind you there is late arrival on Thursday December 6, 2018. School starts at 9:00. This week our News 2 You news article is on Operation Santa Paws. We will explore how awesome it is to be kind to all creatures and help those animals in need. We will practice reading using our voices and activating a preprogrammed voice output device. All will participate! On Monday, we will explore one of 5 senses--smell. We will state our like or dislike of a variety of scents such as rosemary, spearment, eucalyptus, lemon, lime and orange. Some of us will use a communication device, our body language, and vocalizations to show our preference; others will use our voice and body language to communicate. We will fill our learning time with activities such as shape and texture matching, sorting and packaging highlighters, and playing sight word bingo using an all-turn-it spinner. We all had a fantastic time at our basketball tournament at Summer Creek High School on Wednesday November 28! All athletes received an awesome trophy and formed lasting memories! Let's have an awesome week everyone!

 

December 10, 2018: There is late arrival on December 13; school starts at 9:00. Are you guys ready to sleep in? Another bit of information...remember there is early release at 11:25 a.m. on Wednesday December 19 and Thursday December 20. Only breakfast will be served in the cafeteria. And now something to look forward to--on Wednesday December 18 during all lunches we will have our annual feast. This year we are having pizza, fruit salad, and a variety of desserts. During our party, we will watch a variety of classic holiday shows! Let's enjoy! This week we will complete an exciting News 2 You lesson on baking cookies, a favorite activity of our life skills class. During the lesson, we will learn new vocabulary words, read sentences using our voice or preprogrammed voice output devices, make choices, and cut and paste words to definitions. On Wednesday, we will decorate a variety of holiday cookies and distribute some to our friends here at Humble High School. Friday brings us to a fun science activity, making Gak. Participants will request materials, make comments, and ask questions. We will all make a hypothesis as to what will happen when we combine the materials of glue, borax, and water. Lastly, we will use a communication board to identify materials and procedures. Besides completing our IEP work, we will engage in a variety of learning activities such as sight word bingo, shapes bingo, and Vizzle lessons on the computer. I look forward to our week!

 

December 17, 2018: Well, it's our last week before our winter break! Remember there is no late arrival on Thursday. School starts at 7:00. Also, there is early release at 11:25 on Wednesday December 19 and Thursday December 20; the cafeteria is open for breakfast only on those two days. We have an exciting week! On Monday we will have a donut with our Health Science friends! We will participate in singing songs and using musical instruments and playing sight word bingo. I appreciate all our Health Science students led by Ms. Snapp. On Tuesday, we will all enjoy pizza and cookies while we watch a holiday movie. Also on Tuesday, we will complete an interesting science experiment...shiny pennies. We will use communication boards, our voice, and preprogrammed voice output devices to hypothesize, request items, and make comments. Our News 2 You article this week is on remembering notable events during 2018. Everyone will get a chance to tell staff and peers something outstanding that happened to him/her. Everyone will get several chances to explore websites on the computer, complete vocational work boxes, and excel on IEP goals! I wish each one of you and your loved ones a peaceful holiday and a happy New Year. See ya in 2019!

 

January 7, 2019: Welcome all to a fantastic new year. I hope everyone has a great 2019. This year will be filled with fun learning activites, relationship building, and open communication here at HHS life skills. We will start off the new year by continuing our classroom routines such as having a morning meeting with all students to comment on a good thing going on in our lives, reviewing the days of the week and months of the year, and stating where we live. We will also start off the new year with a bang by completing our Exploding Lunch Bag science experiment. Everyone enjoys participating in this activity by requesting materials, hypothesizing about what will happen when vinegar and baking soda are mixed in a closed ziploc bag. Other activities will be playing educational games such as sight word bingo, shape bingo, and Grow a Plant board game. We will also learn vocabulary, make associations, and complete sentences about an exciting News 2 You article. When the topic is posted, I will update you all. Let's have a fantastic week! Oh, one more thing...there is NO late arrival on Thursday January 10. School will start at 7, and we will follow a regular 7 period schedule. 

 

January 14, 2019: Well, we never got a chance to do our Exploding Lunch Bag science experiment so we will start off this fantastic week with the fun activity. Although it is a very cool, exciting experiment, we will practice our skills of communicating, recognizing icons or pictures of materials used, and making a hypothesis. Other activities will be group games of shape/color bingo, sight word bingo using a spinner to choose words, and one on one games such Connect Four. Use of communication to interact will be stressed during all activities throughout the day. We had a fun change in plans last Friday when we made a cake using a switch interface for Josh's 17 birthday on 1/11. Everyone participated in mixing the cake, timing the oven time, and serving it to peers. Happy Birthday Josh!! This week, we will have another important birthday. Liz is our birthday girl on January 17. Happy Birthday, Liz. We'll close our communication by letting you know what fantastic News 2 You article we will study...Hobbies are Fun! After learning new words and icons and reading sentences using our voice or assistive technology, we will make the receipe for the week Hobby Ham Wrap. As one final note, there is late arrival this week January 17. Let's go have a great week!

 

January 21, 2019: What a great week everyone! Thanks to all staff and students who are such an important part of our life skills team. Let's start off with announcements: Monday January 21 is a holiday celebrating the life of an amazing, important man--Martin Luther King Jr. Have a great 3 day weekend. Also, there is NO late arrival Thursday January 24. School starts at 7:15. This weeks science experiment will bring familiar tasks such as requesting, commenting, and coming up with a hypothesis; it also exposes us to a new endeavor of making sensory snow out of shaving foam and baking soda. I know one challenge I will give my students, and that is naming other science experiments in which we used baking soda. I think this Sensory Snow experiment is fitting to do in the cold of winter! A heartfelt thanks to Ms. Cindy for giving our class a neat experiment...growing crystals. We combined the crystal powder into boiling water and added a beautiful blue insert. You can actually already see crystals form! How cool! This week we will learn about vocabulary, spelling, and syllable identification in our weekly news paper, News 2 You, highlighting an article about Dinosaurs in Chicago! I bet it is about a museum exhibit. What do you think? Of course, we will have plenty of time to work on our IEPs, play group games, and enjoy recreation and lesuire time. I want to send out a shout out to our peer tutors, Shawn in 2nd period and Alex in 1st period. Thank you both for all you do for our students. Let's have a great week everyone. 

 

January 28, 2019: Of course, I will start off our weekly communication by letting you all know there is late arrival on Thursday January 31; school starts at 9:00. This week our News 2 You article will be on the Super Bowl! During our lesson, we will use our voice or preprogrammed voice output device to read the information about who is playing in the Super Bowl this year. Ater we read, we will practice matching definitions to vocabulary words introduced in this lesson. We will also practice identifying how many syllables our vocabulary words have, comparing numbers to identify less and more, and writing letters using a pen or pencil. Since we never got a free moment during this busy week to do our sensory snow science experiment, we will start off this week by completing this fun activity. Of course, we will use communication boards, our voice, and preprogrammed voice output devices to request materials, make comments, and state steps in the procedure. During 1st period on Wednesday, we will use a mixer attached to a switch interface to mix the dough for chocolate chip cookies. Our awesome 1st period peer tutor will get to help all of our students and partake in the yummy treat! Have a great week, my friends. 

 

February 4, 2019: Hey friends! There is late arrival this Thursday February 7! School starts at 9:00. Another great week is upon us, and lots of fun activities are planned. Friday February brings us an exciting adventure...visiting the Humble Livestock Show and Rodeo at the Humble Civic Center. Also, all cowboys and cowgirls will munch out on a tasty donut while they are there. Our very own Christopher will be working there with the Humble High School FFA and showing his outstanding goat--John Billygoat Solomon. Look for pictures after the event. Our science experiment will use salt and vinegar to make dull pennies shiny in our Shiny Penny science experiment. Before we begin the activity, we will recall in what other science experiments we have used vinegar. We will hypothesize about what will happen to the pennies. Besides using a communication board to request materials, make comments, and ask questions, we will count out 10 pennies, describe the feel of the salt, and describe the smell of the vinegar. We never got a chance to make chocolate chip cookies this week so we will engage ourselves in this activity on Wednesday during 1st period. Another fun activity will be exploring this week's News 2 You article on famous musicians such as Louis Armstrong who played jazz, BB King who excelled in blues music, and Aretha Franklin who sang soul songs. Other activities will be playing sight word bingo using a spinner to select words, building representations of preposition words, and playing life skills jeopardy. Let's have an awesome week everyone!

 

February 11, 2019: Our first announcement...there is late arrival Thursday February 14, 2019. School starts at 9:00. What a great week we all had. One bit of news. We didn't get a chance to go to the Humble Livestock Show and Rodeo on Friday February 8 because it was so cold! We enjoyed having a warm donut and watching rodeo videos with our awesome peer tutor Alex! Thanks for all you do for us, Alex. This week our News 2 You article focuses on a new sport...esporting. This is a competition in which online users compete playing video games. We will learn new words, practice breaking words down into syllables, and summarizing the main idea of our reading. Our science experiment will be exciting! We will see the physical and chemical changes that occur when milk is poured into a Coke! I can't wait. In addition to working hard on our individual goals, we will complete a variety of vocational work boxes and play some group games. Our favorite game is to play sight work bingo; we also like playing our "Watch a Plant Grow" game. This helps us practice counting, choosing colors, and matching plant parts. We have two birthdays coming up this week--Caleb and Alexcia. Happy Birthday. We will celebrate by making cupcakes for each birthday. Our choices of flavors will be chocolate and rainbow confetti! Ready, set, go for a great week!

 

February 18, 2019: Hey, guys! This week there is NO late arrival on Thursday February 21. School starts at 7:00. No sleeping in this week, my friends. Speaking of sleeping in...Monday February 18 is a school holiday! I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend with family and friends. After our holiday, we have lots of fun things planned for this week. Our science experiment will be Magic Milk. Everyone will get a chance to choose a color, add 5 drops of the coloring to milk in a bowl, and touch the milk with a cotton swab that has been dipped into dishwashing liquid. After we hypothesize what will happen, we will use our sense of sight to see what happens. For our students with a vision impairment, they will get to touch the cold milk and answer a great question...where does milk come from. They will also get to do the experiment and squeeze the food coloring containers to dispense the color. We look forward to having our great friend, Dr. Poe visit and participate in the experiment. This week our News 2 You article is about the exciting new movie that comes out on February 22--How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World. We will get a sneak peak at the adventures in the movie, and we will watch the official trailer. I hope everyone has a fantastic time watching and learning. Some activities will be matching definitions to new vocabulary words, breaking words down into syllables, writing the beginning letters of the vocabulary words, and picking out phrases that best describes a picture. Of course, we will have plenty of time to work on iep goals, play group games, and interact with our peers. Let's have a great week!

 

February 25, 2019: First of all, I am sorry it took me so long to get this posted! I had some unforseen circumstances come up, but here we are now! There is late arrival February 28; school starts at 9:00. Get some extra sleep, my friends! The time changes soon...Sunday March 10th to be exact. Remember it's almost spring so you can remember your clocks spring forward one hour. We had a great Tuesday today...we played sight word bingo, did some texture matching, and played Life Skill Jeopardy. This week, Dr. Poe will visit us during our science experiment time on Wednesday. This week we will be doing the Exploding Lunch Bag, one of my favorites. This is a great experiment to hypothesize about what will happen; and we will learn one new word "chemical change". We will choose colors to make the activity even more exciting. This week our News 2 You is about Reading Across America Day which is March 2! Reading is one of my favorite activities; there are many ways to access books even if someone has sight problems. We do two everyday...Tumblebooks and Storyline Online. We will start reading a short novel each day after we do our warm up and practice remembering characters and story lines. One more week until our March 6 Track and Field Event at HHS's very own Turner Stadium. It is supposed to be a little chilly, so wear some warm clothes. Enjoy your week everyone.

 

March 4, 2019: One more week until spring break! Spring break is from Monday March 11 through Friday March 15. I hope everyone has a great time with family and friends. I will be visiting my husband's family in London, England. They are very special to me. Now for announcement our weekly annoucementsabout late arrival. There is late arrival Thursday March 7. School starts at 9:00. And now for news about the spring time change where we spring forward one hour; this occurs on Sunday March 10! This week is our Integrated Athletics Track and Field Event at HHS's Turner Stadium. Come out between 9:00 and 1:15 and support all of the district's athletes...especially our Wildcats! This week our Science experiment will be using clay, baking soda, and vinegar to make Volcanoes! I am sure all my students will do a great job helping to mold the clay, choosing colors, and choosing glitter to make this exciting! This week we will bake chocolate chip cookies on Friday. We'll use the classroom I Pad to make choices and identify materials. Our News 2 You article is about Amazing Women like Clara Barker and Dr. Mae Jamison! I can't wait to learn more about them and their amazing lives. Of course, we'll spend plenty of time working on iep goals and playing group games! Have a great week all my friends. 

 

March 11, 2019: Happy spring break everone!

 

March 18, 2019: I'd like to start out today by welcoming an awesome colleague, Ms. Lyons; she will be covering the other life skills class for the remainder of the year. I so enjoy working with her. Welcome! I hope everyone had a fantastic spring break. I am looking forward to seeing everyone on Monday March 18! And now for my weekly announcement: there is late arrival on Thursday March 21. School starts at 9:00. Another fun event is happening this week...our annual Integrated Athletics Track and Field Event. March 20 is the new date after it was cancelled on March 6 due to cold weather. This week we will welcome Dr. Poe and two occupational therapy students as they visit us for our weekly science experiment. This week we will do Fireworks in a Jar, a favorite of mine. All participants will identify materials, request materials, make comments, and make choices of colors to add to the oil water mixture. This week our students will read a great article in News 2 You about art in school. Many of our students enjoy art as an elective. All the art teachers help our students so much! Thanks, teammates. Back to our News 2 You; we will complete our regular activities of learning new words, identifying syllables, and filling in facts about the article. We will also create our own art project where we shave crayons and melt them between sheets of wax paper with a warm iron. Let's just remember, safety first! Have a great week, team. 

 

March 25, 2019: Like always, I will start off with announcements...there IS late arrival Thursday March 28, 2019. School starts at 9:00. Also, Friday is our SUCCESS golf challenge at Kingwood Park High School. This week we will have a great time practicing our golf putting skills. I can't wait! This week brings some great activities besides the golf tournament. One activity will be learning about "Fun Baseball Traditions" when we read this week's News 2 You article. We will continue practicing tracing letters, counting syllables in vocabulary words, and matching words to definitions. One of our own Wildcats, Valentina, plays baseball after school with a team called the Cubs! We are so proud of her. I can't wait to attend one of her games. On Friday, our good friend Dr. Poe will visit us. During the visit, we will bake chocolate chip cookies. All students will get to participate combining ingredients and using a switch connected to an electrical interface to use the mixer. We will talk about where different ingredients come from such as eggs coming from a chicken and flour from a plant. Of course, we will work hard on our IEP objectives, play group games, practice golf putting skills for our tournament on Friday, and relax listening to music. Enjoy your week everyone!

 

April 1, 2019: Here's my announcement for the week...there is late arrival Thursday April 4, 2019; school starts at 9:00. We all had a great time on Friday March 29 at our SUCCESS golf tournament at Kingwood Park High School. Everyone received an awesome medal and a t-shirt! I am proud of the way everyone participated in practice sessions and during the event. Great job! Thanks to all the staff and students who made this a great event. Thanks so much to Ms. Lyons for the beautiful cake for my birthday.  Also, thank you so much to Francisco for the lovely flowers. This week our News 2 You article is about a new production on Netflix called Our Planet. I look forward to reading the article, completing writing activities associated with this topic, and watching at least a partial episode when it premiers on April 5. We will use our common liquid, vinegar, in our weekly science experiment called Shiny Pennies. Students will use communication boards to request materials and make comments in addition to using a preprogrammed voice output device to count the pennies. Last Friday we never got a chance to make our cookies. Therefore, this Friday we will certainly complete this fun activity. Of course, all will be able to participate by using a switch connected to an electrical interface to power a mixer. We will practice requesting and measuring ingredients. Parents look out for a treat on Friday! Best wishes to all students who will work hard to do a great job on the upcoming Staar Alt 2 test. Have a great week everyone!

 

April 8, 2019: This week is state testing so our schedule looks a little different. Besides having big blocks of time for testing, there will be no late arrival on Thursday April 11. School starts at 7! April is grilled cheese month so we will jump straight into a lesson on the history and make up of the grilled cheese sandwich when we read our News 2 You article. As we always do with our News 2 You article, we will learn new vocabulary words, identify syllables in a variety of words, and practice our writing skills. On Friday we will conclude our lesson on grilled cheese sandwiches by preparing, cooking, and eating our very own grilled cheese. Let's all be very careful when we use the hot griddle to cook the sandwiches. Our fun science experiment this week will be making Gak. Communication boards will be used to request materials, make comments, and ask questions. Everyone will get to choose a color for our Gak. We will practice mixing colors to come up with a second color. For example, we can use blue and red to make purple or yellow and red to make orange. To fill in the time between these activities and IEP goal work we will practice using communication devices, playing group games, and completing job tasks such as packaging highlighters or sorting silverware. Let's get ready for our fun week!

 

April 15, 2019: Well, testing is over for a little while so our schedule will return to normal events. This week there IS late arrival so school starts at 9:00 on Thursday April 18. Friday April 19th and Monday April 22nd are student holidays for Easter break. I look forward to seeing everyone on April 23! Our week, although only 4 days, will be filled with fun activities! Wednesday our whole class will participate in making GAK! To facilitate our communication we will use communication boards to request materials, make comments, and ask questions. Everyone will get a chance to pick the color of their GAK. We will use one of our 5 senses, the sense of touch, to manipulate the GAK. It's amazing how combining only a few materials can create something stretchy and soft from glue and Borax. Borax is often used in laundry or cleaning tasks. This week our News 2 You article covers an amazing animal, the frog. In addition to being grilled cheese month, April is also called frog month. Last year, we watched frogs that hop on the ground grow from tadpoles that swim in the water! How amazing. If there is time, Monday we will practice our cooking skills by baking chocolate chip cookies. Of course, we will have plenty of time to play group games, work on our goals, and socialize with our many friends. Have an awesome week everyone!

 

April 23, 2019: As usual, I'll start off with announcements. Monday April 22 is a holiday for students. Also, there IS late arrival on April 25. School starts at 9:00. This week our group science experiment will be Sensory Snow. We will use two white ingredients--shaving foam and baking soda--to make our soft fluffy sensory snow. All students will get a chance to feel the soft stuff and make comments! We will use our communication boards, voice, and preprogrammed voice output devices! I know that all our scientists have a lot to say. This week our News 2 You article is about one of my favorite places, the Grand Canyon in Arizona. We will learn about how it was formed, all the activities people can do there, and animals that live there. Of course, we will see some great videos of this beautiful place. In between working on our individual goals and learning from experimentation, we will play group games, read books about exciting topics, and complete job tasks. I hope everyone had a great 4 day weekend. I am looking forward to our week together. 

 

April 29, 2019: There is late arrival on Thursday May 2. School starts at 9:00. Get a good rest sleeping in and be ready for a fun day! Last week, we had the opportunity to welcome our incoming freshman from Humble Middle School and Ross Sterling Middle School. We are going to have a fantastic group join us in our high school classes. Tuesday is our indoor soccer tournament at Kingwood High School! Go Wildcats! This week our science experiment will be Magic Milk. Our scientists will use communication boards to request materials, make comments, and ask questions. We will investigate what food coloring drops do when they are put into a bowl of milk and a drop of dishwashing detergent is placed in the center of the food coloring drops. We will talk about where milk comes from, and we will choose the color to put in our bowl of milk. This week our News 2 You article is on the spring dances schools are having for their students. We will learn about different venues for the dances and the variety of cool clothes that can be worn to dances. Have a great week! Let's learn everyday!

 

May 6, 2019: There is a special testing schedule this week so there is NO late arrival on Thursday May 9. School starts at 7:00. I know we have a few more weeks of school, but I want to let you know about the days that there is early release. On the early release days, the cafeteria is open for breakfast only. Here are the dates of early release: Friday May 24 school gets out at 11:25 a.m. There is early release at 11:25 a.m. on both Thursday May 30 and Friday May 31. Contact me if you have questions! This week our News 2 You article explores the fun game of miniature golf! This is a great article because we had a fantastic field trip to play putt putt golf in March of this year. Everyone had a superb time. We never got time this week to do our Magic Milk science experiment so we will complete it this week. We will use the communication boards and voice output devices to communicate about the procedures and outcome of the experiment. During the other times of our school day, we will play group games, read books, complete vocational tasks, and practice writing either independently on hand under hand. On the last note, our graduation party for our seniors was a huge success. Thanks to everyone; the team did a fantastic job with the ceremony and the party. Let's have a great week everyone. 

 

May 13, 2019: Due to the fact that Friday May 10 was a bad weather day and there was no school, there is NO late arrival on May 16. School starts at 7:00. Make a note of this because this is different than what is written on the paper I sent home listing late arrival days. I hope everyone was safe during our stretch of bad weather. I want to start out today by announcing that the Integrated Athletics team of coaches will host an ice cream social on May 16 for all athletes. Everyone will get a chance to make choices of toppings and enjoy their tasty treat. We really appreciate this fun event. I am so proud of how all athletes did at every event this year. On Wednesday, our very special guest teacher, Martha, will lead us in making snow cones. These are perfect activities as the weather gets hotter! Thank you, Martha. This week our News 2 You article will focus on three endangered animals---the panther, a species of sea turtles, and a species of crane. We will use this time to reiterate how important it is to protect all life. In addition to learning new vocabulary, completing a crossword puzzle, and answering questions, we will watch clips from the internet to learn of other endangered animals and what all humans can do to protect these animals. Our science experiment this week will be making volcanoes. I'm going to see who remembers other science experiments that we use vinegar and baking soda for! This activity lends itself to having all young scientists experience a sensory aspect---molding modeling clay. Which one of our 5 senses do we use to manipulate the clay? Our awesome wildcat, Dorian, did a great job at the 2019 orchestra concert. Enjoy your week our fabulous Life Skills team of students and staff!

 

May 20, 2019: There is no more late arrival days on Thursday this year. This week seniors have finals; there is early release on Friday May 24 at 11:25 a.m. The following week underclassmen have finals, and there is early release on Thursday May 30 and Friday May 31. School gets out at 11:25 a.m. both days. Despite the different schedule, we will have a fun, learning filled week. This week our News 2 You article covers the Denver chalk art festival. We will practice using our words and voice output devices to define new vocabulary words and make comments about this interesting article. Of course, we look forward to reading our "knock, knock" joke about the article information. On Monday we will use our hands to mold clay into craters and form volcanoes using baking soda, vinegar, food coloring, and glitter. Everyone will get to make a choice of colors and glitter! We had such a busy week that we never got to this activity. We did, however, complete a science experiment making butter after talking about the days of the pioneers. We also put together styrofoam airplanes and practiced flying them! During other times in the school day, we will read, play group games, and communicate with our peers. Have a great week everyone!

 

May 27, 2019: I hope everyone is have a restful Memorial day. Well, this is the last week of school. Is everyone ready for the summer? I will miss everyone. Parents, please keep in touch; I care very much about your student. You all have my cell, and I hope you will text or call this summer. Also, you should have my email: lstokes@humbleisd.net. There is no late arrival Thursday May 30. There is early release on Thursday May 30 and Friday May 31. Students get out at 11:25. Remember the cafeteria is open only for breakfast these days. Although there is a different schedule this week, we still have lots of fun activities planned! Wednesday we will make oatmeal cookies; during this lesson, we will practice using a communication device to request ingredients and make comments. We will also use a jelly bean switch connected to an electrical interface so that all students can have access to using a mixer! How fun and yummy! This week our science experiment will be making volcanoes. We just couldn't squeeze that experiment into last week's busy schedule. I love molding clay! Everyone will get a chance to do this before choosing a color for our magma made from vinegar and baking soda. Our News 2 You article is on the new movie Toy Story 4 coming out June 21. In addition to reading about this fun movie and watching the official trailers, we will learn new vocabulary and revisit other skills such as writing letters, matching definitions with vocabulary words, and identifying the beginning letter of words. I really hope everyone has a fantastic summer! See you August 12, 2109 for our first day of school.

 

WELCOME TO THE 2019-2020 SCHOOL YEAR!!

 

August 12, 2019: Well, the day is finally here...the start of an amazing new school year. We welcome all of our new staff members and HHS students. Our first week we will learn new routines, schedules, names, and faces. Most importantly, we will investigate in depth components of the PRIDE expectations. Remember, P=Preparation, R=Respect, I=Integrity, D=Discipline, E=Effort. We will engage in team building games, exercises to learn names and likes, and activities to learn behavior expectations. In between lessons and sensory breaks, we will play group games of food bingo, computer Jeopardy, and sight word bingo. This week our News 2 You article review is called Landing on the Moon. We will practice reading using our voice and preprogrammed voice output devices to read the exciting information about the moon landing 50 years ago. In addition to reading, we will learn new vocabulary, pick out the main ideas, and identify beginning letters of words. We will incorporate learning a new word everyday to round out our learning. Be sure to keep focused on our objective of the day by reading the WE WILL and I WILL statements on the board. Mainly, we will concentrate on getting use to our new school day routine and getting to know all team members. As a quick note...there is LATE ARRIVAL on Thursday August 15. School starts at 9:00! Students, enjoy your time sleeping in! Have a great week everyone. Keep up to date on announcements by checking the Life Skills website. Please always feel free to contact me. I care about our HHS team of staff and students. 

 

August 19, 2019: What  a great week we had for the first week of school! I really enjoyed seeing our students who were here last year and meeting new Wildcats. Now for our weekly announcement: there is late arrival Thursday August 22. School starts at 9:00. This week our News 2 You article features information on tiny homes! After we complete the activities to learn new vocabulary, match letters to beginning sounds, and sequence statements after looking at a picture, we will take a look at tiny homes on the internet. Everyone will use their voice or a voice output device to say if he or she would like to live in a tiny home. Our 1st science experiment of the year will be using our five senses to explore items. By the end of the lesson, we will be able to state the five senses and name the part of the body that we use for each sense. Have a great week everyone! Thanks to our Life Skills team of students and staff for an amazing week. 

 

August 26, 2019: Another great week in the books! I am so proud of all the students and staff. We have a lot of fun packed with learning new things. As usual, I will start out with announcements. There is late arrival August 29. School starts at 9:00. Also, Open House is Wednesday September 4 from 6:00-8:00. Please come join us to meet the teachers and see all the things we do here in Life Skills. This week our science experiment will be making Gak or slime as some people say. We will use communication boards to make requests and comments and ask questions. We will practice making requests for materials and help! Everyone will get to choose a color for their slime and take it home in a baggie. Our News 2 You article is entitled the Great British Baking Show. We will learn about a new place called England. This country is near and dear to my heart; my husband's family is from England. After we use our voice or a communication device to read the script, we will practice matching definitions to new vocabulary words, identifying beginning letters, and figuring out how many syllables our vocabulary words have. I look forward to playing group games, completing vocational task boxes, and working on individual goals. I wish everyone a fantastic week! 

 

September 3, 2019: Let's start out with announcements! Monday is the Labor Day holiday. I hope everyone has a great time with family and friends. There is NO late arrival Thursday September 5. School starts at 7:00! Get ready to learn and have fun! Open House is Wednesday September 4 from 6-8 p.m. Come join us and see our classroom, meet the teachers, and see all the activities we do during our school day. Hope to see you! On Wednesday, we will make oatmeal cookies to go with the cheese/fruit tray for all to enjoy during Open House. Of course, this activity lends itself to a great lesson: measuring, requesting ingredients, connecting ingredients to their source, and using our 5 senses. We had a busy week last week. One of the best activities was the pep rally on Friday during second period. All the Wildcats had fun cheering the teams on to victory on Friday night. Speaking of busy...we never got to do the fun science experiment of making GAK (slime). This week we will explore chemical reactions that make slime out of glue, borax, and water. Plan to come ready to use a communication board to request materials, ask questions, and make comments. Also, be thinking of the color you are going to use in your slime! This week our News2You article is about tidying up! This may not be our favorite task, but it's important both at school and home! It's great to stay organized. Let's explore vocabulary, match beginning sounds of words, and write new words. Of course, we will enjoy one on one time to complete IEP objectives and group time to play sight word bingo! Hope to see all the parents and students on Wednesday evening. Have a great week everyone!

 

September 9, 2019: And now an announcement for the week...there is late arrival on Thursday September 12. School starts at 9:00. Get some well-deserved rest, my friends. Thank you to all the parents who visited our awesome school during Open House last Wednesday. This week brings us to an interesting News 2 You article on a new author, Roald Dahl. He wrote some amazing books for children. After we read the article, we will practice saying and spelling new vocabulary words and identifying the beginning letter. After our work, we will read one of his books! Our science experiment for the week is one of my favorites--Magic Milk. Be thinking what you hypothesize (guess) will happen when we put a drop of dishwashing liquid in the middle of drops of food coloring. Everyone will get a chance to pick a color, make comments, and ask questions using his/her voice or a pre-programmed voice output device. I hope everyone is ready for a learning-filled week and lots of fun. 

 

September 16, 2019: Drum roll, please...there is late arrival on Thursday September 19. School starts at 9:00. Sleep in my friends, or spend so valuable time with family and friends. This week our science experiment will be Fireworks in a Jar. Everyone will use a communication board to request materials, make comments, and ask questions. Before we start our experiment, students will use their voice or a preprogrammed voice output device to hypothesize what will happen when oil and water is mixed and drops of food coloring are added into the oil. We will conduct a side experiment by seeing if better results are seen when the oil and food coloring is mixed and poured into the water or when the food coloring is added to the oil layer after the water and oil are mixed. Our News 2 You article this week features Harry Potter in an article titled Wizards Unite; it is about an exciting new game. All students will practice reading, matching definitions with vocabulary words, and writing the definitions. When we finish the unit, we will see what good videos on utube can give us another way to look at and investigate the game. If there's time this week, we will make oatmeal cookies! Everyone will get to use a switch connected to an electrical interface to run the mixer and help put ingredients into the bowl. Of course, we will get to taste our creations. Have a great week everyone!

 

September 23, 2019: I start my writing with sincere hopes that everyone was okay during our recent storm. My thoughts go out to all. We won't have to make up the days in February, but we will have 3 late arrivals cancelled; dates for these days will be posted when the district releases those dates. There is late arrival Thursday September 26. School starts at 9:00. Strangely enough, our News2You article is entitled "Hurricanes". I know Imelda wasn't a hurricane, but tropical storms are the precursor to a hurricane. We will take this opportunity to learn how they form, are named, and monitored. Everyone will get a chance to share personal stories of this or another storm. We will round off our lesson on hurricanes by learning new vocabulary, using the vocabulary in a sentence, and matching short definitions to the words. This week our science experiment is the Exploding Lunch Bag! We will use our communication board to identify materials, make comments, and ask questions. Everyone will get a chance to hypothesize, or make a prediction, of what will be produced and what will happen when baking soda and vinegar are combined in a Ziploc bag. Students will be asked to recall other experiments that use these common ingredients. Follow our experiments on Twitter under #ElevateToExcellence @LauraSt22174249. This week, we will play group games such as food jingo, the preposition game, and/or sight word bingo. Let's have a learning filled week! 

 

September 30, 2019: Well, next week is a well-deserved break for our students and staff. Remember, there is no school the week of October 7-11. I hope everyone has a great time with your family and friends. Before the break, however, there is late arrival on Thursday October 3. School starts at 9:00. This week our News2You article is called Fat Bear Week. It is about a contest held at Katmai National Park in Alaska. Many people watch the bears online because this park is far away from where most people live. We will use our technology and watch the bears through a website. After we read our article, we will practice using new vocabulary words, learn new definitions for words, and match pictures to a statement about the picture. For our weekly science experiment, we will do Sensory Snow. We will use a familiar material, baking soda, to mix with shaving cream! Everyone will get a chance to use their sense of smell and touch to explore the snow we make while using a communication board to request materials, make comments, and ask questions. Oh, one more announcement...our Integrated Athletics Field Day will be Friday October 4 at Insperity Adapted Sports Complex. I hope everyone has a great time showing off all the skills we practiced daily in our Integrated Athletics class. Have a great week ya'll!

 

October 21, 2019: Sorry I didn't post anything for October 14. My mistake. I got side tracked with our week break. Everyone had a great week. We made chocolate chip cookies, made sensory snow by adding water to a fine grained powder...the stuff they use in diapers. It was amazing to see it expand as the water was added. This week our News2You article is called Celebrating Dinosaurs. All student will get to participate in the reading by using their voice or a preprogrammed voice output device. We will practice writing the definitions for new vocabulary words while learning to pronounce those words. This week we have a special guest, Dr. Poe, who will come on Monday and lead an interactive, fun activity of practicing pre-writing and handwriting skills. Some students will use their sense of touch to trace the shapes and letters of their name. Be sure to follow us on Twitter under #ElevateToExcellence @LauraSt22174249. Other activities will be playing sight word bingo using an All Turn It spinner, identifying prepositions using a manipulative, and working hard on individual goals. I appreciate all staff and students; have an amazing week!

 

October 28, 2019: Let's start with announcements--there is late arrival October 31. School starts at 9:00. Students, get some rest and be ready for the day! On Sunday November 3, don't forget to set your clocks back an hour. Our News2You article this week in titled "An Awesome Kid's Museum about the National Kids Museum in Washington D.C. All students will read the article using their voice or a preprogrammed voice output device, learn new vocabulary, be able to identify Washington D.C. on a United States map, and practice the fine motor skill of using a pencil to write! After we conclude our activities, we will watch a short video about this famous museum. On Wednesday, we will carve a pumpkin and save the seeds to plant next week. More about this to come...Other activities this week will be playing group games, completing vocational work tasks, and having fun in our Integrated Athletics class when we practice basketball skills. Just a short update about my Twitter account. Follow this great group of life skills students by following us on Twitter under #ElevateToExcellence @LauraStokes_hhs. Enjoy the week everyone!

 

November 4, 2019: There is late arrival on Thursday November 7. School starts at 9:00. Due to Imelda, there have been three late arrivals cancelled. They are November 21, February 13, and March 5. School will start at 7:00 on those days. This week our News2You article features a show that I watched when I was young---Sesame Street. The article is about Sesame Street turning 50 years old in 2019. Students will learn to pronounce new vocabulary words, identify beginning letters of the words, and identify how many syllables the vocabulary words have. On Wednesday, we will use a communication board to state the steps we will take to plant those pumpkin seeds we scraped out of the pumpkin before Halloween. As they grow, we will measure them in inches and centimeters for 5 consecutive days after they germinate. Other activities will be working hard on IEP goals, playing group games with our peers, and working on vocational tasks. Let's have a great week!

 

November 11, 2019: Let's start with announcements, everyone! There is late arrival on Thursday November 14. School starts at 9:00. Remember that late arrival has been cancelled on Thursday November 21. School will start at 7:00. This week our science experiment will be making plastic by combining milk and vinegar. Students will get to choose a color to add to the milk. Thanks Aria for finding this cool experiment. Our News2You article talks about a growing trend--podcasts. One podcast for kids is called KidNuz, which brings current news to kids. After reading the article, students will practice vocabulary words by pronouncing the words, writing the words, and identifying beginning letter of the words. Students will practice fine motor skills by practicing writing the definitions of the vocabulary words. Of course, we will have to start measuring our pumpkin seedlings as they sprout! Enjoy your week, my friends!

 

November 18, 2019: Rember there is NO late arrival on Thursday November 21; school starts at 7:00 so that time can be made up for the 2 days we missed due to Imelda. This week we have some fun activities to celebrate Thanksgiving before our week off November 25-29. We will make choices and write what we are thankful for when we make a colorful placemat to use at our Thanksgiving feast on Thursday November 21! The students chose between chicken, pizza, hot dogs, or nachos. Nachos were picked by the majority of students. Thanks to all the staff for contributing food for our festive event. Before our feast, each student will get to plan a meal by cutting out pictures of favorites from a grocery store ad and gluing the pictures on a paper. Students will practice picking out the coins/bills needed to cover the price of the meal after a calculator is used to add up the cost of the ingredients. This week our science experiment is super fun and delicious! We will make ice cream in a bag. Students will use ice cream salt to help the ice freeze the cream and sugar mixture. Students will get to choose their favorite spriinkles to top off our treat! Our News2You article spotlights the new movie Frozen 2. A few years ago, Life Skills students participated in a field trip to watch the first Frozen! After we complete our drills of learning new vocabulary words, identifying syllables in vocabulary words, and using fine motor skills to write definitions, we will watch the official Frozen 2 movie trailer! Have a great week before your week off! 

 

December 2, 2019: Hello all! I have an email into a principal asking about late arrival. I will update you when I hear something. There is NO late arrival on December 5 or 12. School starts at 7:00! I hope everyone had a fantastic week off for the Thanksgiving break. I had a great time with family and friends. Afterall, that's what the holidays are all about. This week our News2You article centers around the upcoming holidays in an article called "Holiday Giving".  After reading the article with our voice or a preprogrammed voice output device, we will practice matching vocabulary words to short definitions, identifying beginning sounds, counting syllables, and writing vocabulary words. Our science experiment this week will be an art project highlighting the change in state of matter, namely crayons melting from solid to liquid. Students will use fine motor skills to sharpen crayons after they choose the colors. The shavings will be placed between two sheets of wax paper. Teachers will use an iron to supply the heat to melt the crayons. A stained glass look alike will be produced. Students can use it to make holiday cards for their family. Enjoy your week everyone!

 

December 9, 2019: Well, friends, there is no late arrival Thursday December 12; school starts at 7:00. Remember everyone that Tuesday December 10 is our Integrated Athletics basketball tournament at Kingwood Park High School.  We got a great start to our art project making holiday cards for our families. Everyone did a great job sharpening crayons to get the shavings to melt between two sheets of wax paper. This week we will glue the wax paper to a card with a cut out star; we will write a short message and sign our names. Afterall, the holidays are a great time for giving. Our News2You article features the new Star Wars movie. As usual, we will practice learning and writing vocabulary words and their meanings. Other activities using the News2You information will be identifying pictures referenced in the article, identifying the number of syllables in the vocabulary words, and identifying beginning letters of the words. After working on iep goals, we will fill our time with group games such as sight word bingo, Life Skills Jeopardy, and colors and shapes bingo. Our science experiment will be using a picture to make edible treats that look like Santa hats. We will identify different food items such as marshmallows, strawberries, grapes, and banana slices. Let's all give everyone a compliment to show our holiday cheer! Have a great week.

 

December 16, 2019: There is no late arrival Thursday December 19; school starts at 7:00. Also, there is early release at 11:25 on Thursday December 19 AND Friday December 20. This week we will complete our cards that we are making for our families. We will do a fun writing activity on Monday with our amazing occupational therapists, Dr. Poe and Ms. April. Thanks, ladies. Another creative art activity will be making decorated trees using paper plates, green paint, tiny pom poms, and glitter. We will all make choices and use our fine motor skills to complete this task. Watch for us on Twitter! Our News2You article focuses on "Remembering 2019" with mention of the birth of a new royal baby in England, the women's World Cup in France, and the 50 year anniversary of the moon landing. Learning the meaning of new vocabulary words, identifying syllables of the words, and sequencing events based on pictures will be a few of the activities related to this interesting article. I really hope everyone---staff and students---enjoy their two week break and holiday festivities. Thanks to all for being so amazing. Enjoy your week!

 

January 7, 2020: I hope everyone had a very peaceful and restful holiday! I really enjoy spending time with my family, but I also look forward to a great spring semester here at Humble High School! The article featured in News2You hasn't been released yet, so I will be updating you about what we will learn this week in regards to News2You. Of course, we will practice writing and pronouncing vocabulary words, identifying syllables of the vocabulary words, and choosing statements that match a picture about the article. This week our science experiment will be one of the favorites---making slime out of glue and borax. Students will hypothesize about what they think will happen, request materials, choose a color for their slime, and give their opinion about whether they liked the experiment or not. One thing I look forward to in the spring semester is meeting the students who will be incoming freshman in the fall of 2020. We welcome one and all! Our recreation and leisure time earned from working on IEP objectives will be filled with games, listening to music, and reading exciting books. Everyone will get ready to participate in our district wide track and field event for Integrated Athletics that will be held Wednesday March 4 at Turner Stadium at our very own Humble High School. Have a great week!

 

January 13, 2020: Important note---there is late arrival on Thursday January 16th. School starts at 9:00. Get some extra rest, my student friends. Staff, see you bright and early at 7:00! We are all looking forward to January 24 because we will visit the Humble Livestock Show at the Humble Civic Center from 9:00-11:30. Let's be thinking about what we see and learn that day! I can't wait to see all the animals and young FFA students. This week we will make slime because we didn't have a chance to get to this activity last week. Students will use glue, borax, and food coloring to make a gooey mess! Our News2You article will be on the BTS band from a faraway country, South Korea. Always remember that music is a universal language! Students will learn new vocabulary words, how to locate South Korea on a map, and match definitions to the new vocabulary words. Students will also practice writing and counting syllables. I hope everyone is glad to be back at school after a restful break. Enjoy your week, my friends.

 

January 21, 2020: Hello friends! There is no school on Monday January 20 so that we can all celebrate the life and accomplishments of Dr. Martin Luther King! Also, there is no late arrival on Thursday January 23. School starts at 7:00. Well, our field trip to the Humble Livestock Show and Rodeo is quickly approaching. We can't wait! Our very own Christopher Solomon is featured in the event to showcase his young goat, Jacob Billygoat Solomon. Great job, Christopher. This week we will delve into the world of politics as we read our News2You article on the upcoming election of the president; we will learn about the republican and democrat parties and the long road to a presidential election. Everyone will practice saying new vocabulary words by using their voice or a preprogrammed voice output device, writing letters found in the vocabulary words, and sequencing statements about the reading. Our group science experiment this week will be Magic Milk! Our young scientists will hypothesize what a drop of liquid dish detergent will do to drops of food coloring placed in a plate of milk! We will take this experiment a little further...we will see if it works better in skim milk or whole milk. Do you think the fat content of the milk will make a difference on the outcome of this experiment? In our free time after we work on IEP goals we will play sight word bingo, complete vocational tasks, and relax listening to music. Have a great week everyone!

 

January 27, 2020: This week we will have late arrival on Thursday January 30. School starts at 9:00. Remember the week of February 3-7 is a holiday week for teachers and students. I hope everyone has a great time with family and friends. But until January 31 at 2:50, we will be hard at work learning about independent living skills, working on IEP goals, and practicing communicating with staff and peers. This week we will use an electrical interface and switch to use a mixer to make a vanilla cupcakes for De-Khala's birthday on January 30! Everyone will get a chance to participate in the cooking activity. Our News2You article is on the upcoming Super Bowl XIV between the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Who will you support? I know it will be a great game. One thing I am really proud of is how all students are engaged in using their communication devices during work and recreation/leisure activities. Enjoy your week!

 

February 3-7: Enjoy your week break with family and friends. 

 

February 10, 2020: There is no late arrival on Thursday February 13; school starts at 7:00. I am ready for a new week after our break! This week we will focus our efforts on learning new vocabulary, practicing recognizing the number of syllables in words, and matching definitions to vocabulary words in our News2You article on Important Leaders. February is African American History Month. Our group lesson will be following directions to use our fine motor skills to make Valentine's Day cards for parents and thank you cards for the amazing counselors at our school. After working hard on IEP goals and objectives, students will play group games and work on social skills! Some games that the students engage in are Grow a Plant, sight word bingo, and Guess Who! Great job, everyone. Have a great week.

 

March 23, 2020: I hope this post finds everyone well and safe. I care about each of you and your families. Please reach out to me by text or email to keep me posted on how things are going with you. Right now, the district has gone to online learning. Life Skills has a Google classroom with assignments and daily posts. The code is 2byibg2; please log in and have fun learning! I will be doing the daily science fact and notable quote through Google classroom. Please contact me on my cell or via email to get all the student login information for Google. I will be meeting each student in a one on one meeting using Zoom or Google hangouts. Also, contact me about your Vizzle login information. Please be patient with me; I am learning all this technology stuff! Have a great week and talk to you soon!

 

March 30, 2020: Hello everyone! No new updates about the rest of the year as of right now. I will keep you updated as I find out facts. We should be finding out about what grades will look like. Don't worry, all of my students are doing a great job grade wise. I hope you all are following my daily comments on the Life Skills Google classroom code 2byibg2. Please check your students email on a daily basis. As for this week, all students will be emailed about a group Zoom meeting Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1:00. We will each tell at least 1 good thing in their life, review the days of the week and months of the year, and read News2You. This week the article is on the Coronavirus. On Wednesday, we will watch me conduct a science experiment called Magic Milk. On Friday we will watch a few videos together after we do our meeting. I still want to see each of you on an individual Zoom meeting; our amazing service providers want to see how you are doing. Stay in touch. I miss you all!

 

April 6, 2020: Howdy friends! I want to start out by relaying the information about grades for the rest of the spring semester. Per the district, there will be a total of 6 grades to calculate your student's report card grade. Seven grades will be taken (1 per week), and the lowest one will be dropped. Like I have said before, don't worry about grades; we will work together to make our amazing students successful. Please keep checking your student's email everyday. Group Zoom meetings will be held Monday and Wednesday of this week at 1 pm. I sent the link information to your email. There is no meeting Friday April 10 because that day is a district holiday, Good Friday. This week our News2You article covers April being stress awareness month; this lesson will be covered at the Wednesday meeting. Our Monday meeting will involve exploring facts about our solar system as presented by Summit K 12. Please stay busy learning as we engage on this distance learning endeavor. Follow @LauraStokes #ElevateToExcellence on Twitter. I post something twice per week. Hope all is well with you. Take care!

 

April 13, 2020: Hey there! We have another great week planned for all of our students. Remember to join us for our group meetings on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1 pm. This week we will hypothesize what will happen when vinegar is added to baking soda in a plastic cup or a bowl made from modeling clay; this will serve to guide us through making volcanoes! Join us Friday for this fun activity. This week our science topic from Summit K 12 covers stars. This follows our learning about the solar system last week. Students will progress through various Vizzle assignments about social studies topics. What will you learn this week. Another tradition will be followed...reading an exciting News2You article. This week it covers Greta Thunberg and Earth. Students will review their learning by answering questions and summarizing main ideas from the paper. Don't forget to check the Integrated Athletics page on my website to get ideas for staying fit and active! Have a great week everyone!

 

April 20, 2020: Hi friends. Thanks for joining in on our great Google classroom, contacting me, and participating in our group Zoom meetings every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1 pm. This week we have more fun learning activities. This week our News2You article features on how to "Sharing Happiness". We all need to practice this now and in the future. It's been a crazy time, and we need as much positivity as possible. Start by giving someone a compliment and smile! Summit K 12 will cover a topic we all see and know about...weather. I look forward to learning new terms and facts. On Friday, we will use some familiar materials--baking soda and vinegar--to complete our experiment "Exploding Lunch Bag". Be thinking about what you hypothesize will happen as we combine these materials in a closed ziploc bag. This week progress reports go out. Check the home access center to get your current grades. One last thing...please contact me by phone, text, email, Google classroom, or by posting comments on this website. I care about you all and want to know how you are doing. Stay safe, active, and engaged in learning! Talk to you soon.

 

April 27, 2020: Howdy amazing students! As always, I hope this email finds you happy, safe, and well. I miss all the students, staff, and routines. Seniors, Humble ISD is planning a graduation in July; more information will be coming soon. I'll keep everyone posted. I can't believe it's almost May. Summer is right around the corner. In the meantime, we have great lessons planned. I want to start off by focusing on our weekly News2You article that teaches us about a famous family, the Irwin family in Australia, who are helping animals be safe from wildfires. We will explore the causes of earthquakes and volcanoes in our Summit K 12 lesson. This information will be relevant now...Mt. Aetna in Italy recently erupted a couple of weeks ago. Friday we do a fun science experiment called "Fireworks in a Jar". Let's get ready and hypothesize what will happen as we drop food coloring into a clear container with water and oil. Be thinking, do you think oil and water mix or does oil float on water? We'll see! Please keep in touch and have a great week!

 

May 4, 2020: Hello everyone! I can't believe May is already here. These fun-filled weeks are flying by. I really wish we were at school and participating in all the activities involved in closing out a school year. Never fear...I have more interesting activities for this week. Let's start out on Monday by learning about our Earth's Changing Surface: weathering and erosion on the Summit K 12 website. Remember last week we explored volcanoes and earthquakes. On Wednesday, we will read from our News2You article about Thanking Hospital workers. When Friday comes around, we will do one of my favorite science experiments...making slime! I wonder what color the students will choose to make the slime. Keep checking the Integrated Athletics page for great activities and ideas on how to stay fit! Check out my video of me walking my dogs. As always, keep in touch and stay safe. Enjoy your week!

 

May 11, 2020: Hi friends! I want to start out my post this week by celebrating how perfect our slime turned out on Friday! I like the new procedure using contact lense solution instead of borax. We'll definitely incorporate this into our fun science experiments next year. Are you all ready for another great week? I can't believe there are only 3 weeks left of school; I really miss the excitement and sense of accomplishment of closing out a school year. I just look forward to seeing everyone in the fall. But let's focus on this week...Monday we will learn about animals and their traits and habitats as we work through our Summit K 12 lesson. Wednesday unfolds as we study about growing food at home when reading our News2You article. Another exciting science experiment is planned for Friday. This week we will complete the ice cream in a bag activity. I hope to see you all on our scheduled Zoom meetings Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 1 pm. Have an awesome week!

 

May 18, 2020: Welcome to another great week of learning and being in touch during distance learning! Remember Monday May 25 is a school holiday--Memorial Day! I send a sincere shoutout to all the armed forces members who protect our country and keep us safe; we will all remember you on this special day. This week our News2You article is going to cover growing food at home. We never got to it last week because a more important lesson about saying thank you to hospital workers was posted. That will occur on Wednesday at 1 pm. On Friday, we will explore a new science experiment courtesy of Ms. Cindy! Thank you for finding this cool experiment. We will make lava lamps using oil, water, food coloring, and an alka seltzer tablet. Be sure to check your email or the comments in Google classroom for the link. I am really looking forward to meeting our new Life Skills students transitioning to high school from Ross Sterling Middle School, Humble Middle School, and Timberwood Middle School. Stay safe and enjoy your week! 

 

August 11, 2020: Welcome all my wonderful students and team members to the 2020-2021 school year! I look forward to working with all of you whether the student is learning online or in person! Some very important things...please login to Schoology everyday and submit your daily assignment for attendance purposes. We will learn how to do all of this Schoology stuff together! I am just learning Schoology as well. Thanks for your patience. We will have a general Zoom meeting August 11 at 10:30. Here is the link: August 11 Zoom at 10:30  Please check your email everyday. Let me know if you have trouble logging in to My Humble. This first week we will focus on learning about each other and the routines in my Life Skills classroom. We will also learn about the pandemic that is requiring some of our learning to be online. Also, check my website often for announcements under the WELCOME tab on my website. That's it for now...contact me if you need to. Have a great Wildcat week!

 

August 24, 2020: Sorry I missed last week! Thanks for understanding. This week we will have a great science experiment called "Exploding Lunch Bag". What do you think will happen when we combine vinegar and baking soda in a closed zippered bag? Let's make a HYPOTHESIS, or educated guess. Remember to always be safe when you are doing a science experiment. Daily Zoom meetings are listed in the green resource folder under the course names in Schoology. There is one link for the 8 am meeting and a separate link for the 2 pm meeting until October 2. Please join! I love seeing my students. This week our News2You article will be on "School Year Decisions". Students will read and complete worksheets on how different the school year will look because of the coronavirus pandemic. Check out the other sections of my website. As always, have a wonderful Wildcat week!

 

August 31, 2020: Hi my wonderful students! Another exciting week is upon us, and I look forward to working with all my students whether I see you virtually or in person. Remember to join our daily zoom meetings at 8 and 2 Monday through Friday. The meeting ID will be the same for the 8 am meeting all year; a different meeting ID will be the same all year for the 2 pm meeting. Because of the days off for the hurricane, we never had a chance to complete our cool science experiment "Exploding Lunch Bag". Therefore, we will complete it this Friday during the 8 am Zoom meeting! Be ready to hypothesize and follow procedures while having fun! This week our News2You features news about the Kentucky Derby to be held on September 5; this race is usually in May but the coronavirus caused it to be delayed. I used to ride a horse. That was my favorite pastime when growing up. All students will practice vocabulary skills and identifying the main ideas of the News2You article. Parents, please email or text the IEP amendments back to me by Tuesday September 1. I need to upload them with your student's ARD paperwork. Thanks for all of your support! Have a great week everyone!

 

September 8, 2020: Hi everyone! I want to start out by inviting everyone to start watching my weekly video that will be posted in your English Schoology class under the green RESOURCES folder. I will touch base about our upcoming events like I do in this website post. This week we will do one of my favorite science experiments...Ice Cream in a Bag. We will learn that adding salt to the ice lowers the freezing point and allows rapid solidifying of the liquid cream. Of course, all young scientists will have the option of tasting this creamy treat! Our News2You article will talk about the NFL being 100 years old this year. I love watching football in the fall and winter months. Who is your favorite team! My favorite team is the New Orleans Saints! As always, I welcome your participation in my daily Zoom events at 8 and 2. Keep in touch and have a great week! 

 

September 14, 2020: Wow! Everyone did a great job of using their communication board, following directions, and answering questions while doing last week's science experiment "Ice Cream in a Bag". I hope all my students are ready for another great Friday experiment at 8 am. This week we will do a different experiment. It's called "Bread in a Bag". Our very own Ms. Hayes, vision specialist, is coordinating this activity. I look forward to learning how to do a new experiment. Be ready! Last week we never got to complete our News2You lesson about the NFL turning 100. I look forward to learning about new places, new facts, and new people. Hope you all are ready. This will be my first week to post my weekly video. As a reminder, check the green RESOURCES folder in your English class to view. I'll be honest...making a video of myself makes me nervous, so be patient with me. As always, reach out to me if you have questions, suggestions, or concerns. I care very much about all of my students. Have a great week. One more thing--keep checking your text messages and email to get the link for Humble High Schools virtual Open House Monday September 14. Hope you can join. Stay safe!

 

September 21, 2020: I'd like to start out with an important announcement...this Friday September 25 Wildcat athletes will participate in a basketball skills competition in the gym. All participants will engage in fun activities such as dribbling a basketball through an obstacle course, engaging in timed dribbling and passing activities, and shooting free throws. Unfortunately, no spectators will be allowed to attend due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Be sure to check out the Twitter feed #ExcelTogether @LauraStokes_hhs for awesome pictures of our event. This week we will complete our hands on science experiment to study chemical changes by making slime on Thursday morning. Let's all use our hypothesizing skills and communication skills. Our News2You article will investigate the iheart radio musical festival that has been going on for a whole decade! We will study new vocabulary words, match pictures to sentences describing an action, and completing sentence stems. Of course, we will progress through our work on IEP objectives, engage in vocational tasks such as doing laundry, and enjoying recreation and leisure activities. Have a great Wildcat week!

 

September 28, 2020: Another fun week has passed, and we are quickly coming to our fall break scheduled for October 5-9. I hope everyone is looking forward to a relaxing week with friends and family. I am, but I will be thinking about all of my wonderful students. However, before our break we have lots of fun activities planned for this week. One thing I am looking forward to is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Week. Life skills classes will participate in cooking and serving 3 delicious lunches. We will have tacos on Monday, Nachos on Tuesday, and Mole on Wednesday. I hope everyone enjoys! Our News2You article honors brave dogs; man's best friend can work in a variety of services such as being a therapy dog, being a guide dog, serving as a military dog, and being a police dog. Dogs are one of my favorite animals; I have three huskies. They are my babies! We have so much fun walking and swimming! This week our science experiment will be Magic Milk. This year, we are taking it one step further...we will transfer the beautiful colors to a piece of watercolor paper and send it home with love to the students' parents. Lastly, Life Skills artists will create posters for our amazing principal, Mr. Hollier! Let's have a great week everyone. Stay in touch! 

 

October 19, 2020: Our first week back from break has been so much fun! Another great week is quickly approaching, and we have lots of great activities planned. The first thing I would like to cover is our News2You article; this week we will learn about Very Endangered Animals. We will read about the endangered animals, practice writing the definitions of vocabulary words, match pictures to statements, and follow directions to complete writing and coloring tasks. This week our science experiment will be sensory snow. We will learn what a hydroscopic substance is and what happens to it when water is added. A huge thank you to the Humble High School health science students for assisting the Life Skills students during these great experiments. I want to extend a warm welcome to our newest paraprofessional, Ms. Savanna Garcia. We are all so glad you are here and are a part of our great team. One last bit of news...Integrated Athletics athletes will continue learning new skills to display on our campus field day December 4. Look under the Integrated Athletics tab to learn about activities we will be doing during this great unit. Have a great week! Go Wildcats. 

 

October 26, 2020: Hi everyone! Thanks for a great week. Last week we welcomed another Wildcat to our Life Skills team---Miss Ja'Nya, a ninth grade student. Welcome!! We all really look forward to working with you and having you here with us. This week our News2You article covers the approaching presidential election. I can't wait to see the outcome on November 3. As part of our learning, we will practice matching vocabulary words to definitions, breaking words into syllables, and completing a crossword puzzle. I hope everyone has as good of a time with this week's science experiment as they did with the sensory snow! This week we will carve a pumpkin, see what happens if vinegar and baking soda is combined in the pumpkin, and plant the seeds. Everyone will get a chance to watch the seeds grow and measure them each day. Our culminating activity will be creating a line graph of the height of the seedling versus the day. We'll just roll science and math into one this week! Enjoy your week, my friends. 

 

November 2, 2020: As always, I want to thank our amazing Life Skills team of staff and students for doing a great job participating in virtual or face2face learning activities. All students are progressing on IEP goals, learning everyday living skills, and exploring recreation/leisure activities. This week our News2You article is on an upcoming NASCAR championship race on November 8 in Arizona. While learning about new vocabulary words and breaking words into syllables, student will practice fine motor skills of cutting and using a coloring instrument. Be ready to learn! This week our science experiment will be calculating the density of edible treats--Snickers, Twix, and Recess peanut butter cups. All Wildcat scientists will manipulate a triple beam balance to measure mass in grams and learn to read a graduated cylinder to measure volume in milliliters. Finally, all will calulate the density of the objects using a calculator and the density formula d=mass/volume. Have a great week everyone! 

 

November 16, 2020: Hi Wildcats! As our Thanksgiving break approaches, I want to say how thankful I am for all of my students...virtual and face2face! I am also very thankful for all the teachers and staff who contribute so much to our Life Skills class. Please always know that. This week we will be studying about a new African American Music Museum in Nashville, Tennessee during our News2You activities. All students will get to explore new vocabulary words, choose phrases that are associated with a picture, and play a fun memory game. Our weekly science experiment will be calculating the density of edible treats. We didn't get to complete this activity last week. I think it will be a great learning experience since we will uses three tools of science--a triple beam balance, a graduated cylinder, and a calculator. Let's get ready for these activities. Enjoy your week!

 

November 30, 2020: Hello everyone! I hope each of you had a very peaceful Thanksgiving break the week of November 23-27. I did. I enjoyed walking my dogs, spending time with my husband, and painting. What did you do? This week has an exciting event on Friday December 4 from 7:30-11:30...the Integrated Athletics field day. Check out the events and an informative video under the last two weeks entries under the Integrated Athletics tab of my website. All athletes have done an amazing job preparing for the fun events. Let's be ready to have fun and be active! This week our News2You article is about the Geminid meteor shower December 13 and 14. I am so interested in everything about space (and science in general); I can't wait to learn something new! Let's have a great week. 

 

December 7, 2020: Hi friends! Two weeks until winter break! I know everyone is ready to spend some quality time with family and friends. I will enjoy time with my family. This week our science experiment will be in collaboration with Dr. Poe, the occupational therapist. We will practice fine motor skills to write and draw winter shapes, put stickers on a template, and draw winter shapes like snowflakes! Our News2You article will be on the new Disney movie, Soul! After reading about this new animated feature and completing work tasks like identifying pictures that correspond to a short phrase and counting the syllables in vocabulary words, we will watch the offical movie trailer. I can't wait. Other activities will be painting Christmas cards and completing Christmas arts and crafts. I hope everyone has an amazing week! 

 

December 14, 2020: Hello my fellow Wildcats! Well, it's our final week before winter break. I want to take a moment to wish all of you a very peaceful holiday season with family and friends. You all, my wonderful team of staff and students, are very important to me! This week our News2You article is fitting for this upcoming Winter season...it's about the Harbin Ice Festival in Harbin, China! Not only will we read and learn new things, we will practice writing and use our fine motor skills to cut and paste before looking at some beautiful ice sculptures from previous Harbin Ice Festival on the internet. I can't wait! Our science experiment will be making playdough to engage in sensory time using our senses of sight, smell, and touch. You may wonder about the sense of smell...we will use lavender scent to make this activity involve the sense of smell! I hope every one has a great week and a great holiday. See you all in 2021! 

 

January 4, 2021: Hello everyone! Happy New Year! I sure look forward to working with all of my students and staff in the upcoming year! That brings me to our first bit of news. Ms. Springer will be joining our amazing Life Skills team to replace Ms. Rameriz who had a great opportunity at a school closer to her home. Welcome, Ms. Springer. We will miss you, Ms. Rameriz. This week our News2You article features a zoologist who worked at the Columbus Zoo for over 40 years; he recently retired. We will learn new vocabulary words, match pictures to statements, and practice the fine motor skill of writing given a template. On Friday, we will do a fun science experiment to put our 5 senses to work! We will taste, smell, touch, hear, and see a variety of objects while getting to share a like or dislike with peers. Have a great week!

 

January 11, 2021: Hello to our wonderful students and staff! This week we have lots of fun activities. In addition to working on individual goals, we will practice job tasks, complete puzzles, and practice writing. On Friday, our exciting science experiment will be one of my favorites...Exploding Lunch Bag! Our science experiment on the 5 senses went amazing. All students enjoyed smelling and touching a variety of items. I think their favorite part was TASTING yummy cotton candy. Good job, everyone! This week our News2You article focuses on the Great Kindness Challenge. That's one thing I always have wanted to be known for...being kind to others. It just makes you feel good. What is one way you could be kind to others? Brainstorm this question and let me know! Remember that January 18 is a staff and student holiday to commemorate the amazing Martin Luther King! Enjoy your week, my friends!

 

January 19, 2021: Hi everyone! I hope you all enjoyed your three day weekend! I enjoyed being with my family and walking my dogs. What did you all do? Leave a comment and let me know what you like to do in your free time. Although this is a short week since we were off on Monday, we will have a lot of great activities! This is a special week for our country...the new president, Joe Biden, will be inaugurated into office on January 20. This brings us to the topic of our News2You article titled Inauguration Day. We will explore new vocabulary words, matching statements to a picture, and following directions to perform different tasks. We will listen daily to our news broadcast CNN10 to learn about what is going on in the world. That's all for now. Have a great week everyone!

 

January 25, 2021: Howdy! Another great week, my friends. Everyone seemed to enjoy their Monday off; I'm glad. It's nice to be back with everyone. Our February break is quickly approaching...I hope everyone has made plans to spend time with family and friends. Although we have this to look forward to, we have lots of fun activities planned for this week. To start off, our News2You article is about the upcoming Grammy Awards. We will learn new vocabulary words and probably hear about some celebrities we haven't heard of before. Every year, new talent emerges. Our group science experiment will be Making Slime. Students will pick the color he/she wants to make the slime, request materials using a communication board, and make comments to tell peers if he/she liked or didn't like the experiment. In addition to our work on individual goals, we will play board games such as sight word bingo and Guess Who. Enjoy your week my dear students and staff. 

 

February 1, 2021: Hello all my wonderful students and collegues! There is no late arrival this week; school starts at 7:15 each day, and there will be 7 periods each day. Remember this is our final week leading up to our well-deserved February break! I hope everyone has a great time with family and friends. Although this is an exciting week because it leads up to our week off, we have lots planned to stay busy and learn. All students have started a new project...washing, drying, and folding the clothes for the child development class. We continue to wash and dry the clothes worn by the dress code violators. I am proud of the way all students are doing this task. This week our News2You article is about the upcoming Super Bowl. We will practice matching vocabulary words with pictures, writing the definition of words, and recalling facts about the teams and place the Super Bowl will be played. I know I will be watching on February 7! Which team will you support? Friday brings us to a fun art project---making cards for the students' parents. We will shave crayons with a pencil sharpener and put the shavings between two pieces of wax paper. An adult will melt the shavings with a hot iron. Our life skills artists will glue the product in a card with a heart cut out. It will be a "stained glass" effect. I look forward to seeing the creations and the messages written to parents. Have a great week everyone!

 

February 22, 2021: I hope everyone had a great week off for your February break! I enjoyed spending time with my family and friends; I hope you all did too. And for our unexpected week off...I hope everyone's life is back to normal and that you fared well during our winter storm. I will say, I am glad to be back and see all my students and collegues. This week our News2You article will be on the Great Backyard Bird Count. I've never heard about this event, but I look forward to learning new vocabulary words and facts about birds. Many thanks to the health and science students who did a great Valentine's Day art project with our amazing students. Great job, my friends. This week we will continue the creative arts theme rolled out in Career Explorations to do the "stained glass" project we were going to do last week. There is NO late arrival on Thursday February 25. School starts at 7:15. Enjoy your week! 

 

March 1, 2021: I can't believe March is already here. I'm ready for spring. I have really enjoyed the beautiful weather that we have experienced this past week so that we could spend lots of 6th periods out on the track. If you didn't check the Integrated Athletics page, let me tell you about our fun event coming up on Wednesday March 10 from 8:30-11:30 at Turner Stadium...the yearly Integrated Athletics Track and Field Meet. I can't wait! This week during our science experiment we will investigate the concept of density by exploring what happens when oil and water are mixed and drops of food coloring are added to the oil. What do you think will happen? Our News2You article highlights women in history. Not only will we learn new vocabulary words and answer questions about the content of the article, we will play a memory game and answer questions in a quiz show format. Remember, there is late arrival this Thursday March 4; school starts at 9:15. Have a great week!

 

March 8, 2021: Just a quick note to start out with...there is NO late arrival Thursday March 11; school starts at 7:15. Well, friends, we have one week until Spring Break. I hope everyone is looking forward to our week off and will have lots of time with friends and family. I will spend some fun time with my sister-in-law in Virginia. Let me know what you will be doing. I'd love to have a text from you during that week! But, we have a great week planned...the Integrated Athletics track and field meet Wednesday March 10 at Turner Stadium is first and foremost on my list of fun. Another event will be our Life Skills group science experiment on Friday. This week we will continue the firework theme by doing the Fireworks in a Jar experiment that we didn't do last week. I did say the continuation of the fireworks theme. By that I am refering to Dr. Poe's creative art project entitled "Fireworks". Thanks, Dr. Poe. Lastly, our News2You article features an aspiring young lady, Gitanjali Rao, who wrote a book about science at the young age of 15. What a great way to continue celebrating women's history during the month of March. Don't forget to move your clocks foward 1 hour on Sunday March 14. Enjoy your week!

 

March 15, 2021: SPRING BREAK!! Enjoy time with family and friends.

 

March 22, 2021: Let me start out with a quick announcement. There IS late arrival Thursday March 25; school starts at 9:15. I hope everyone had a great spring break with family and friends. I sure did! Our Integrated Athletics track meet on March 10 was wonderful. All athletes did an amazing job. This week our interesting News2You article will spotlight a new app from the LEGO company called LEGO VIDIYO that allows youngster to create a music video using Lego characters. Lots of choices to make and lots of fun to be had! We will download the free app on our classroom IPads. This Friday we will play a fun game of sight word bingo. Prizes will be yummy pieces of candy. As always, I encourage you to contact me to stay in touch and have your questions or comments be addressed. Have an amazing week! 

 

March 29, 2021: There is no late arrival this Thursday April 1; school starts at 7:15 and we have 7 periods each day. However, be ready for Friday April 2. It is a staff and student holiday. Enjoy! We will do our group activity Thursday. This week we will use shaving foam and food coloring to tie dye eggs. I always loved dying Easter eggs when I was a child. I hope everyone has fun doing this experiment. This week our News2You article will focus on WrestleMania in which professional wrestles dress up as characters--heroes and villians--and complete for medals. Not only will we read the article, practice new vocabulary words, and play games, we will watch some clips of past events. I want to welcome a new friend, Jarius, to our amazing Life Skills classroom on Tuesday. He will visit with his Mom on Monday. All students and staff can enjoy a yummy donut! Have a great week! 

 

April 5, 2021: I'll start out with my usual announcement: There is no late arrival this Thursday April 8; school starts at 7:15 and we have 7 periods each day. I haven't invited you to join my daily Zoom meetings at 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. on days when we have 7 periods. Here are the links. Hope to see ya! 8 a.m. Zoom and 2 p.m. Zoom. This week we will continue Ms. Miles awesome science lesson on solids, liquids, and gases; we will explore the interesting science experiment called Dancing Popcorn. I wonder what will happen when vinegar, baking soda, and popcorn kernels are combined in a plastic cup! Our News2You article talks about a special ship that will travel the route the Mayflower took in 1620 from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts. What is so special about this ship is that there are no people on the ship; it is fully automated. It will study Earth's biggest ocean, the Atlantic. How interesting! I am ready for a fun week...are you? Enjoy!

 

April 12, 2021: Hear ye, hear ye! There is no late arrival this Thursday April 15; school starts at 7:15. Be ready for a fun day of learning. There will be no 2 p.m. Zoom on Monday April 12. However, we'll be back to our routine on Tuesday. This week our group science experiment on Friday April 16 will be an investigation about what happens when oil, water, and an effervescent tablet are combined in a water bottle. Everyone will have a choice of colors and will go home with a lava lamp that will only need an additon of another effervescent tablet. Our News2You article will highlight some of the 400 national parks found in the United States. One of our very own students will be spending a great time camping this week. Have fun Valentina! I spent many wonderful trips to a variety of national parks with my aunt when I was growing up. If you haven't read already in the Integrated Athletics weekly update, we will have the awesome opportunity to go to the track all week to practice soccer skils and have a scrimmage on Friday. That's all for now. Contact me if you have questions or comments. Have a great week everyone!

 

April 19, 2021: And now for my usual announcement: There IS late arrival this Thursday April 22; school starts at 9:15. Wednesday and Thursday we will have a block schedule. On Wednesday we will have periods 1, 3, 5, and 7. On Thursday the class periods will be 2, 4, and 6. Our News2You article features a project that started on March 22 of this year...cleaning up trash in space. I look forward to learning new vocabulary words about this interesting science endeavor. That brings me to our science project this week. We will have fun tie dying masks. Everyone will have a unique brand new mask! I can't wait to see the patterns formed by putting rubber bands on the white cloth and adding different colors! Lastly, get ready for our Integrated Athletics event at the Insperity Adaptive Sports Complex on April 27. Enjoy your week!

 

April 26, 2021: One more week of late arrival, my friends. School starts at 9:15 on Thursday April 29. This week our News2You article is about the European country of Holland. It's entitled "Tulip Time Festival". We will learn about these beautiful flowers and other interesting facts about this great country. Last week we didn't tie dye masks because two amazing ladies--Dr. Poe and Ms. Kristen--lead a fun session of yoga. Everyone did such a great job. We will continue to practice the poses. Ms. Kristen was generous and left us a 3-D shape to roll and come up with a pose. Thanks! Since we didn't do the mask tie dye activity, we will do it this Friday in room 1016. Be ready to choose colors and create designs with rubber bands. Parents, feel free to join us at Insperity Adapted Sports Complex on Tuesday April 27! See the Integrated Athletics entry on my website for details of the day's schedule. Parking is available at the Groves Elementary. Hope to see you there to cheer on our Wildcat athletes. Have a great week everyone!

 

May 3, 2021: I can't believe it's already May. The 2020-21 school year is quickly drawing to a close. I sure have enjoyed learning about and working with my freshmen and returning students. There is no late arrival this week. In fact, we don't have any late arrival days for the rest of the year; however, there will be early release at 11:25 on May 27 and May 28 for all students. Breakfast will be served in the cafeteria, but there will be no lunch those days since everyone goes home at 11:25. This week our Friday group activity will be painting masks...thanks to Ms. Miles! Students will get a chance to be creative and chose colors to paint unique designs on the masks. Our News2You article is about the video game hall of fame. We will learn new vocabulary words, practice writing letters, and matching pictures to statements. Enjoy your week, my friends!

 

May 10, 2021: Just reminding you that there is no late arrival anymore this year. This week our Friday group activity will be making slime...one of my favorite experiments. Hope you have fun too. Our News2You article is about a Youth Poet Laureate. This honor has  been going on since 2017. I wonder who it will be this year. Let's learn lots! Have a great week. 

 

May 17, 2021: Our early release days are quickly approaching. As a reminder, all students will be released from school at 11:25 on Thursday May 27 and Friday May 28. That will wrap up our 2020-21 school year. I just really look forward to seeing more students face to face! It has been a great year. This week we will play sight word bingo during our group activity on Friday. Our News2You article features the Titanic shipwreck. We will learn about new locations in our world, new vocabulary words, and facts about this famous vessel. 

 

May 24, 2021: I can't believe our final week of the 2020-2021 school year is already here. Although it has been a crazy year because of Covid 19, it has been a great year in our Life Skills class. We are going to finish strong by engaging in more fun learning activities such as learning about Jane Goodall's Roots and Shoots program to help youngsters in our weekly News2You article, playing sight word bingo, and making tornados in a bottle. Other endeavors will be painting and playing fun games in Integrated Athletics. I hope all students and staff have a great summer. Thanks to all for making my year good. 

 

ENJOY YOUR SUMMER EVERYONE! 

 

August 10, 2021: Hello my dear students! I am so excited about the upcoming 2021-2022 school year! I can't wait to see returning students and meet new students. Please always know that I am here to make each day of your high school career the very best that it can be. Parents, please stay in close contact with me. You should all have my cell and email. Just as a reminder I probably won't get messages after about 7 p.m.; I will get them the following morning. This portion of my website will be updated each week to review important notices such as late arrival or altered schedules and let you know some topics of the week. This brings me to my first announcement...there is NO late arrival this week; there is a 7 period schedule each day. Our first late arrival day will be Thursday August 19. School will start at 9:15. Our first week will be titled "Wildcat Welcome Week", and we will spend lots of time learning about our peers, teachers, and school layout and routine. There are three Life Skills teachers at Humble High School: Laura Stokes who will be teaching career exploration to our 9th graders and science to all students in grades 9-11; Ms. Miles who will be teaching math to 9-11th graders and campus work based learning to 10-12 graders; Ms. Gregory who will be teaching English and social studies to 9-12 graders. Here is a link to my science syllabus for the year: science syllabus 2021-2022. That's all for now...hope to hear from you soon!

 

August 16, 2021: Well, all of our amazing Wildcats had a great first week of school. Everyone did a great job of welcoming new and returning friends. I sure am looking forward to the upcoming week when I can see and interact with all of my students. We have a lot of fun learning activities planned, but first I need to make sure you all know that this week is our first week of late arrival. Thursday August 19 school starts at 9:15 so buses will be running a different schedule and student drop off will be different as well. Remember Wednesday will be periods 1, 3, 5, and 7; Thursday will be 2, 4, and 6. This week in science we will learn about Science in our World: tools and laboratory safety. Our science experiment will be Magic Milk. I can't wait! In career exploration, we will explore our interests, likes, and dislike in terms of a career that we may do after high school. Integrated Athletics will focus on having students learn new skills associated with the game of basketball. Also, because the Integrated Athletics group is so big, we will divide the class into a varsity and junior varsity section. Awesome! Stay in touch, friends; have a great week!

 

August 23, 2021: Another great week has flown by! It's been great getting to know our new students and have our entire group participate in fun learning activities. Don't forget that Thursday August 26 is late arrival. Please let me know if you need clarification on drop off or bus pick up times. This week in science our students will be learning about Science in our World: tools and laboratory safety. We never got to this important topic last week. In career exploration, we will be learning about work readiness skills, more specifically hygiene. Our science experiment will be Magic Milk because we never got to do this last week. Let me know if you all have questions or comments! Enjoy your week!

 

August 30, 2021: Let's start out with announcements. Wednesday September 1 is Humble High School's Open House from 6-7:30 pm. I hope to see all of you for a visit! Thursday September 2 is late arrival; school starts at 9:15. And now for the last announcement...Monday September 6 is a holiday, Labor Day. I hope everyone has a restful, fun day with family and friends. I'm going to spend a lot of time walking my dogs. This week our News2You article focuses on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. After we explore the information associated with the article, we will learn about the Australian continent, one of our 7 continents in the world. Our science experiment this week will be the Exploding Lunch Bag. Let's learn how to write a hypothesis before we practice our laboratory safety skills. Have a great week, my friends. 

 

September 7, 2021: As you know, we had a 3 day weekend to celebrate Labor Day; therefore, there is no late arrival on Thursday September 9th. School starts at 7:15. Be ready for a fun, learning-filled week. Our News2You article is about the SpaceX Inspiration4 Mission. I really enjoy our articles about science. This brings me to our science experiment for the week. We will do the Exploding Lunch Bag since we never got a chance to do it. Some other fun activities will be playing sight word bingo, playing board games, and completing learning folders. Enjoy your week!

 

September 13, 2021: There is late arrival on Thursday September 16; school starts at 9:15. I don't have any other big announcements so I'll jump right into our learning activities for the week. Our News2You article is about the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles, California. This sounds interesting! Our science experiment for the week is Fireworks in a Jar! We will practice writing a hypothesis about what everyone thinks will happen when food coloring drops are put into layers of oil and water. Density of liquids will be explored as well! Have a great week!

 

September 20, 2021: Now for my weekly annoucement...there is late arrival on Thursday September 23; school starts at 9:15. Monday September 20 is senior picture day. Smile, seniors! I want to extend a warm welcome to Life Skill's new team members, Ms. Christie and Ms. Taylor. We all look forward to working with you both. Also, I want to welcome Mr. Welter's class who will be joining us on Monday September 20 during 5th period. We will be doing our weekly science experiment with our new friends. This week we will do our Exploding Lunch Bag experiment. Be ready to show them how well you all conduct science experiments, hypothesize, and make requests and comments. Our News2You article is titled "Special VanGogh Exhibits". I look forward to reading about these events and looking at Van Gogh paintings on the web. Enjoy your week! 

 

September 27, 2021: Hey friends! This week there is late arrival on Thursday September 30; school starts at 9:15. Let's have some fun this week and get ready for our Fall break October 3-7. I hope everyone has a peaceful week off with family and friends. This week our News2You article is about The Trailing of the Sheep Festival in Idaho! That brings me around to something else we will be studying this week...states of the United States and their capitals. This Monday September 27 my 5th period class will conduct the Fireworks in a Jar science experiment with Mr. Welter's AVID students. I sure look forward to this. One more bit of information follows. Our district-wide basketball tournament will be held Wednesday September 29 at Kingwood High School. Athletes, don't forget to wear athletic shoes. Have a great week everyone!

 

October 11, 2021: Hi everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed their week off with family and friends. I did! I do, however, look forward to seeing you all on Monday. We have a great week coming up. I hope everyone is ready! There is late arrival on Thursday October 14; school starts at 9:15. This week Mr. Welter's class will join us for an exciting game of sight word bingo. Thanks for fitting your visit to our class into your weekly routine. We welcome you. This week our News2You article is about the Grand Egyptian Museum opening in Giza, Egypt late this year. I've always wanted to visit the Great Pyramids in Egypt. I hope you are looking forward to our new unit in Integrated Athletics...Team Building, Strength, and Conditioning. Our next event is Friday November 12 at Insperity Adapted Sports Complex. Enjoy your week, my friends!

 

October 18, 2021: Hey everyone! It's been great being back in school this week! Thanks for a great week everyone! This week there is late arrival on Thursday October 21; school starts at 9:15. This week Mr. Welter's class will visit us and participate in our weekly science experiment Magic Milk! This week our News2You article is on the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio! I look forward to reading about this place and listening to some music from artists in the hall of fame. Be ready for fun in Integrated Athletics this week! Enjoy your week and give 1 person a compliment each day!

 

October 25, 2021: Hi friends! Thanks to everyone for a great week of positive interactions and fun learning moments. I sure enjoyed working with all my students and staff! Now for my weekly announcement...there is late arrival Thursday October 25; school starts at 9:15. This week Mr. Welter's class will definitely join us to perform our Magic Milk science experiment on Monday. There was a scheduling conflict so these amazing students didn't get a chance to come. This is one of my favorite experiments; I love watching the colors swirl! This week our News2You article will teach us about the 175th anniversary of the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. All students will round out their week by completing IEP objectives and activities, campus work activities, and time learning on their Vizzle website. Have a great week, ya'll!

 

November 1, 2021: Hello ya'll! Great week friends. Our Magic Milk experiment went perfectly. Thank you Mr. Welter's AVID students for helping out. This week two of the students will lead our class to perform the fun, but messy experiment called Elephant Toothpaste. Thanks! We'll also start a new tradition...we will start doing a Restorative Circle with these peer tutors. This week it is entitled "What is your Why?" I look forward to the interaction. This week our News2You article is on the New York City Marathon. On Friday, the generous cosmetology teacher will welcome the Life Skills students to have a manicure and/or have their hair done. We appreciate you, Ms. Hand. Sylvia, thank you for initiating this! Enjoy your week.

 

November 8, 2021: Another week has flown by with all of our fun learning activities. Thanks to all students and staff for making this an excellent week! There is late arrival Thursday November 11; school starts at 9:15. This week our New2You article is about the Glass City River Wall in Toledo, Ohio. I can't wait to learn something new. On Monday November 8, students will have fun with Mr. Welter's AVID students as they make our famous Ice Cream in a Bag! The week of November 15 we will do another "IN A BAG" experiment...it will be a surprise! Have a perfect week!

 

November 15, 2021: Thursday November 18 is set to be late arrival; school starts at 9:15. Last week was extra special because we got to enjoy our Field Day at Insperity Sports Complex with our friends throughout the district. Thanks to all the staff who made this such a successful event. This week our science experiment is special as well. We will partner with Ms. Hayes, the vision specialist, to make "Bread in a Bag". Get ready to make a mess with flour and learn how yeast is a a living thing. Hope you have fun with us Mr. Welter's students! Our News2You article is titled, "The Reefline". It's about a new underwater park in Florida. We will learn about ocean life on a reef and animals called corals. Enjoy your week everyone. I hope you all have a peaceful Thanksgiving week with family and friends. See you on the 29th! 

 

November 29, 2021: This week there is late arrival this Thursday December 2; school starts at 9:15. This is the last week of late arrival for this Fall semester. There is early release, however, Thursday December 16 and Friday December 17 at 11:25. This week we will study the Holiday Train Show in our weekly News2You article. Not only will we read about this event, we will also learn new vocabulary, play games with the information learned, and practice writing skills. Our friends from Mr. Welter's class will join us Monday November 29 at 11:40 to help us make slime. I sure look forward to this. Have a great week! 

 

December 6, 2021: And now for my weekly announcement...there is NO late arrival this week on Thursday December 9. School starts at 7:15. Be ready for some fun learning. This week our wonderful students will play a game in which each person rolls a dice and answers a question corresponding to the number he/she rolls. Thanks Mr. Welter's class for coming up with the questions and joining us for some fun times. Another fun activity will be making cinnamon ornaments with applesauce and cinnamon. DO NOT EAT THIS! This week our News2You article will be on a topic that is very dear and near to my heart---animals. It's called Operation Santa Paws. Let's get ready to learn something new and practice naming and identifying animals. Enjoy your week...Winter break is approaching fast! 

 

December 13, 2021: Last week before winter break, everyone! Monday and Tuesday are regular 7 period days. Wednesday we have a full day at school, but we don't have all 7 periods. Thursday is NOT late arrival, but all students get out at 11:25. Friday everyone gets out of school at 11:25. On Thursday and Friday the cafeteria will be open for breakfast only. This week our News2You article is about Remembering 2021. I look forward to reviewing important events in 2021. When Mr. Welter's class comes to visit on Monday, we will have some games going and will will have fun talking to each other while we show our competetive spirit. I hope everyone has a fantastic Wild Cat week! 

 

HAVE A GREAT WINTER BREAK WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS!

 

January 3, 2022: I really look forward to seeing all the students and staff after our winter break. I hope everyone had a peaceful, restful, and fun holiday. This week there is no late arrival so school starts at 7:15. Next week, however, there is late arrival. This week we will play sight word bingo with our friends from Mr. Welter's class. Our News2You article is called the American Women's Quarter Program. I can't wait to learn what these amazing women accomplished. We will round out our great week by watching CNN 10, working on IEP goals, communicating, and completing work tasks. Have a great week everyone!

 

January 17, 2022: Like I said in my Integrated Athletics entry this week, I'm sorry I didn't post anything last week. I lost power due to the tornado and thunderstorm in Humble last Saturday, and I couldn't access the internet. By the time I got around to doing it, the week had flown by! I'm back. I hope everyone enjoys the three day weekend to celebrate Martin Luther King Day. There is no late arrival next week on Thursday January 20. School starts at 7:15...let's be ready for an early start! This week our News2You article is on the ice castles built in 5 cities. I can't wait to Google pictures of these works of art. I sure would like to see one in person. As for our group activity this week, Mr. Welter's AVID students will lead a fun science experiment on using our five senses. Students will give a thumbs up or thumbs down to communicate whether or not he or she liked the item. Enjoy your week, my friends!

 

January 24, 2022: Although we didn't have late arrival last week, we will have late arrival on Thursday January 27. School will start at 9:15! Students are lucky because they get a chance to sleep in! I will be looking forward to seeing everyone at 9:15. This week Mr. Welter's AVID class planned the activity for our Wednesday group; we will create bracelets and necklaces  with beads. Great idea! Our News2You article will be on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. After we read, do the worksheets, and have fun with the games, we will watch some video clips of the winter sports. Have a great week, Wildcats!

 

January 31, 2022: Hey friends! There is no late arrival on Thursday February 3. School starts at 7:15...off to an early start! I'll be ready. Just one week unti our February break! I hope everyone has a great week with family and friends. I'm going to walk my dogs often. What are you all going to do? Mr. Welter, your AVID students did a fantastic job of helping the students create some beautiful bracelets and necklaces. I look forward to this week's activity! We'll talk about it on Monday. I will try to remember to update this post with that information on Monday evening. This week our News2You article is on the Wildlife Explorers Base Camp at the San Diego Zoo. Have a great week everyone!

 

Enjoy your week off with family and friends!

 

February 14, 2022: Hi Wildcats! There is late arrival on Thursday February 17; school starts at 9:15. I hope everyone enjoyed their week off. I did, but I'm ready to be back with our HHS student and staff team. Our day with Mr. Welter's class will be a surprise this week! I can't wait to see what the AVID students have planned. Our News2You article is on Black History Month in which we will recognize and study famous doctors. Let's keep the communication lines open. Leave a comment or contact me to let me know how things are going! Enjoy your week!

 

February 21, 2022: Hi friends! There is late arrival on Thursday February 21; school starts at 9:15. Another fun week is upon us. This week we will practice measuring items with a triple beam balance and a bath scale to see how much the items weigh with Mr. Welter's AVID students. Remember mass and weight are different. Weight takes into consideration the force of gravity so weight is different in different parts of the solar system. This week our News2You article is titled "Harry Potter: The Exhibition". Of course, we'll round out our school day with CNN 10, morning meetings, vocational work tasks, IEP work, and recreation and leisure activities. Have a great week everyone! 

 

February 28, 2022: Hello amazing students! There is late arrival again this Thursday March 3; school starts at 9:15. Friday March 4 is our track and field event at Turner Stadium. Parents, you are welcome to attend and cheer on our athletes. Mr. Welter's class will have a surprise activity to do with us on Wednesday so be ready for some fun! This week our News2You article focuses on the Iditarod Race's 50th anniversary. Let's learn about a new place and a new sport. Two weeks until Spring Break! Wildcats have a great week!

 

March 7, 2022: Well, friends. Let me start out by saying that we do have late arrival on Thursday March 10; school starts at 9:15. One more week until spring break! What are you going to do in your time off? I’ll be walking my dogs often and hanging out with family and friends. This week we will have our AVID friends from Mr. Welter’s class join us and do a fun activity. Also, on Friday the peer mediators will be joining our group to lead a restorative circle and talk about kindness. This week we will learn about the Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex in Florida. I can’t wait! We will round out our week by completing job tasks, learning folders, and interactive games. Have a great week everyone!

Enjoy your spring break with family and friends!

March 21, 2022: Welcome back! I hope everyone had a great spring break. I did; I walked my dogs often and enjoyed listening to music. I'm ready to be back and make more memories with my wonderful students! This week our AVID friends from Mr. Welter's class will lead a fun activity to make invisible ink. I can't wait. This week our News2You article is on National Library Week. I spent many great Sunday afternoons when I was young in the library. Do you all like libraries? Friday will bring us together again to have a circle with our peer mediator friends. Enjoy your week students and staff. 

March 28, 2022: Hey guys! Last week was amazing. I am looking forward to another fun week. I'd like to start out by making sure everyone is aware that the Integrated Athletics Indoor Soccer event is going to be at Atascosita High School on Friday April 29. Parents are welcome to attend. This week Mr. Welter's class will be joining us to do a fun activity during 5th period on Wednesday. This week we will use an All Turn It Spinner to select a task to do such as writing your name, folding a towel, cutting out a shape, or writing a letter. Our News2You article is about the Disabled Hockey Festival in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I love hearing about these events so everyone can have fun playing sports! Have a great week everyone! 

April  4, 2022: Hi friends! There is no late arrival this week so school starts at 7:15...rise and shine!! This week our News2You article is titled, "Yellowstone is 150 years old." I've never been to Wyoming so I look forward to learning about this place and the beauty of Yellowstone National Park. Wednesday during 5th period, Mr. Welter's class will come visit and lead a M & M math lab...yes, of course you can eat some of the yummy candy! They have some great ideas for activities so be looking forward to our Wednesday visits. The peer mediation team, Neveah, Anastasia, and Trinity, do an amazing job leading an interactive restorative circle. Thanks to you ladies! Enjoy your week, Wildcats!

April 11, 2022: Hey Wildcats! There is no late arrival this week on Thursday April 14; school starts at 7:15. The good news is that Friday April 15 is a school holiday to celebrate Good Friday before Easter. I hope everyone enjoys their time off with family and friends. I'm going to walk my dogs a lot! This week we will learn about Earth Day on April 22 in our weekly New2You article. Mr. Welter's class will be visiting us on Wednesday, and we are going to tie dye Easter eggs with shaving foam and food coloring. I hope everyone has fun! Let's be ready for a mess! Have a great week all my friends!

April 18, 2022: Wildcats! There is late arrival on Thursday April 21; school starts at 9:15. I have some exciting news...on May 11 our incoming 9th graders will come from Humble Middle School to visit our great campus. They will eat lunch with us, too! I can't wait. This week our News2You article will be on the new Bad Guys movie. We'll do the regular activities and then watch the exciting trailer. This week Mr. Welter's class is bringing seeds to plant for Earth Day on April 22. I hope everyone has fun. Have a great week and get ready for some fun learning! 

April 25, 2022: Hello there! I hope everyone is ready for a fun week! In reference to our News2You article, we will learn about Toms River Field of Dreams about an inclusive park where many people with a range of abilities can participate in fun activities. When Mr. Welter's AVID students come on Wednesday, everyone will get a chance to measure their seedlings and participate in a candy density lab where all will weigh candy, measure its volume, and calculate its density. But first, we will hypothesize whether the candy will sink or float! On Friday, we will compete in our indoor soccer event at Atascosita High School. I hope everyone has a great week!

May 2, 2022: Hi friends! This week there is no late arrival; school starts everyday at 7:15. In fact, there are no more late arrival days this year. This year has gone so fast! I know everyone is looking forward to a great summer. This week our News2You article talks about Legoland Korea Resort. Another great country to explore! Our AVID students led by Mr. Welter will be playing Jeopardy with our students this week. Thanks to all students and staff for making Wildcat Country amazing! Enjoy your week!

May 9, 2022: Hey Wildcats! Remember there are no more late arrival days this school year. I can't believe there are only 3 more weeks of school. I will enjoy my time with family, but I will be eager to come back with everyone, see our returning students, and meet new students. That brings me to my next bit of news...this week our Life Skills and Applied Skills incoming freshman will visit us on Wednesday May 11 from 9:30-11:30. They will do an activity and then eat lunch with us. Probably, when they come, we will do our News2You activity which is about Monster Jam World finals in Orlando, Florida. We'll learn about monster trucks, a new location, and watch some clips of monster trucks. Mr. Welter's class will join us on Wednesday to explore our unseen world using microscopes. On May 23 at 1:15-2:15, Humble High School will host a small graduation ceremony in the Performing Arts Center for our Life Skills and Applied Skills seniors! Dr. Schleeter and I will say a few words about our amazing Life Skills and Applied Skills team of students and staff, the deaf education teacher will sign the ceremony, ROTC will present our flags, and choir students will sing the national anthem. Congratulations, class of 2022 seniors. Have a great week everyone!

May 16, 2022: Howdy! Two more weeks until the end of school. We are going to have a great two weeks! Our time will be filled with collecting data for our goals, playing social games, doing puzzles, and learning new things...right until the last day. This brings me to the news that we will read about in our News2You article entitled "Looking for lost species". Our AVID senior friends will be visiting us on Wednesday. They are planning a surprise activity to do with us. And lastly, thank you to Humble Middle School and Ross Sterling Middle School for your visit on May 11. We really enjoyed seeing everyone! I can't wait until next year. Enjoy your week, Wildcats!

May 23, 2022: Hi friends! One week until summer! I hope everyone gets to rest and relax because we have a lot of fun learning activities set up for next year. I am going to miss our seniors. This brings me to my next reminder...On Monday May 23 at 1:15 we will have our small graduation ceremony to honor our seniors Abraham Flores, Aierion Smith, Avion Turner, Caleb Randle, Dorian Moreno, Jacob Welch, Marcus Skelton, Stacy Luna, and Valentina Franco Avila. Join us for cake at 12:30 in my room 1016. Just remember to sign in at the front office. I hope it's special for all. Very important: There is early release at 11:25 on Thursday May 26 and Friday May 27. To conclude our 2021-2022 school year we will learn about the Queen's Platinum Jubilee in June. My husband is from England; he is ready for the celebration. I hope you all have a great week and summer! Stay in touch over the summer. I'll be thinking about each of my students! 

August 9, 2022: Wildcats! Welcome back! I hope everyone had a fantastic summer and is ready for an amazing 2022-2023 school year! We'll spend the first week getting acquainted with our new student and staff team members! We are going to start this year off with a "POP" during our first science experiment of the year...Exploding Lunch Bag on Wednesday. Get ready, friends! Our News2You article will be about the Great Migration in East Africa. I love learning about animals. Parents, there is no late arrival this week on Thursday August 11. School starts at 7:15. Have a great week everyone. 

August 15, 2022: Hi friends! Another great week is upon us. I look forward to seeing everyone. Let's start out with an announcement: There is late arrival Thursday August 18; school starts at 9:15. This week we will continue our learning about East Africa and the Great Migration. Cut and paste activies will precede a fun round of games about the topic. We never got a chance to do our science experiment with first week of school interruptions so this week we will make a POP! Of course, we will round out our time with movement activities, games, recreation and leisure activities, and bits of knowledge. Have a great week! 

August 22, 2022: Hello Wildcats! Are you all ready for a fun week? I am! Now for my weekly announcement: There is late arrival Thursday August 25; school starts at 9:15. This week we have a fun event planned. Mr. Welter's AVID seniors will visit us during B lunch on Monday. We are going to do the Mentos and diet Coke science experiment...I wonder what will happen! This week we will learn about the World Games that took place this summer. Have a great week everyone!

August 29, 2022: Hello everyone! Let's set out on a fun week of learning here at Humble High School! There is late arrival on Thursday September 1; school starts at 9:15. This week we will learn about the United States Air Force's 75th anniversary in our News2You activities. We'll practice reading, counting syllables, matching vocabulary words to definitions, and sequencing facts from the reading selection. We never got to do our Mentos and Diet Coke science experiment with Mr. Welter's AVID seniors, so we will do it on Monday when they come visit. I wonder what is going to happen! Enjoy your week and learn lots!

September 6, 2022: Friends! I hope everyone had a great three-day weekend to celebrate Labor Day! I did! I enjoyed listening to music and walking my dogs. Because we had Monday off, there will be no late arrival on Thursday September 8. School starts at 7:15. This week we will be learning about the water cycle in science. On Tuesday, we will join forces with Mr. Welter's AVID seniors to make a diagram of the water cycle using paper, glitter, cotton balls, and paper plates. We will learn about Hispanic Heritage Month in our weekly News2You curriculum.  Have a great week everyone!

September 12, 2022: Hey Wildcats! I'll start out by saying that we will have late arrival on Thursday September 15; school will start at 9:15. This week we have lots of fun things planned. On Monday, Mr. Welter's AVID students and Dr. Poe will join us to start working on the creative craft items purchased from the grant we won last year. Many thanks to the Humble ISD Educational Foundation! We will be stamping colorful images on wood ornaments. We will practice measuring the string to hang the ornaments. This week our News2You article is about the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca, New York. I can't wait to read about important ladies! Lastly, don't forget that our Basketball tournament will be held Wednesday September 28 at Summer Creek! Thanks to all the Life Skills students for turning in their permission form. Great job! Enjoy your week!

September 19, 2022: Hi friends! And now for my weekly announcement---there is late arrival on Thursday September 22; school starts at 9:15. Our craft items came out so perfect! Everyone did a great job stamping designs onto our wood ornaments. This week Mr. Welter's class will help us complete a measurement lab. We will measure the length of items, take the mass using a triple beam balance, and find the volume of liquids using a graduated cylinder. Have a great week! 

September 26, 2022: Hello Wildcats! One more week until our October break! I am sure everyone is ready for our well-deserved week. I hope everyone has a great time with family and friends. There is late arrival on Thursday September 29; school starts at 9:15. This week Mr. Welter's class will assist the Life Skills students to tie dye shirts for our Campus Work Based Learning students to sell so all students can learn about running a business. Our News2You article features information about the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. I have actually seen the skies when all the balloons are floating; my Aunt lived in Albuquerque so I spent a lot of time there. It is quite a sight! I love the colors. As I mentioned in my Integrated Athletic page, Wednesday is our basketball tournament at Summer Creek! I hope everyone has a great week! 

October 10, 2022: Hey there! I'm eager to be back with everyone for 6 weeks before our Thanksgiving break. I hope everyone is as happy to be back with friends as I am. This week there is late arrival with school starting on Thursday October 13 at 9:15. This week we will start our October unit from our new curriculum Unique Learning Systems and learn about science through the unit called High School Science Fair. Our News2You article will be Lyle, Lyle Crocodile movie. I look forward to navigating through this exciting tale! This week we will have our health science friends work with us as we learn new things. Welcome! Also, Mr. Welter's AVID seniors will assist us with decorating water bottles to sell as part of our grant we received with Dr. Poe. Let's have a great week!

October 17, 2022: Hey friends! There is late arrival on Thursday October 20; school starts at 9:15. I really like the topic of High School Science Fair, and we will continue to learn about five featured scientists this week. Our News2You article features Nemo's Garden in Italy. Another highlight of the week...our health science friends will join us to continue our fun events in Integrated Athletics and our learning about science, math, English, and social studies. This week our AVID friends will join us to create some fabulous tie dye t-shirts. Have a great week everyone!

October 24, 2022: Wildcats! Another fun week at school is here, and I am ready to see all my students. There is late arrival Thursday October 27; school starts at 9:15. Because we were working so hard on our Unique Learning System topic "High School Science fair", we never got a chance to complete our News2You learning activities. So, this week we will explore the topic of Nemo's Garden. Our science experiment is growing a sweet potato plant in water. Our tasty treat will be a variety of veggies dipped in Ranch dressing. We'll practice measuring using a tablespoon and identifying the variety of veggies. To round out our week we will create an aquarium scene using paint, glitter, and markers. Students will color and cut out the fish to practice fine motor skills. Mr. Welter's AVID students will assist us in painting our bird houses to sell close to the holidays. Let's have a fantastic week! 

October 31, 2022: Howdy! Let's start off by letting you know there is late arrival on Thursday November 4; school starts at 9:15. This week we will wrap up our learning in the Unique Learning System unit on "High School Science Fair" and begin a new unit named "It's a Tradition" to learn about holidays that are quickly approaching. This week our New2You article is entitled "Toyota Dream Car USA Art Contest". Our recipe is "Car Bars"...yummy! Mr. Welter's AVID seniors will be joining us on Tuesday November 1 at 11:15 to do the weighted car science lab. I hope Ms. Kosa, our amazing district representative, will join us! By the way our meeting where we painted our birdhouses was fun! They turned out perfect. Thanks again, Dr. Poe, for our fun times and for the grant you wrote. Enjoy your week! 

November 7, 2022: Hey friends! And now for my weekly announcement...there is no late arrival on Thursday November 10; school starts at 7:15. Instead of starting on our Unique Learning System's unit on Traditions, we will explore the unit Around the Solar System. I'm eager to learn things during this science unit! This week we will learn about Native American Heritage Month. Our recipe is making Native American bread. We will make bread to enjoy with honey. Our science experiment is entitled "Salt Sticks", and our craft is making pueblo pots out of flour and cornstarch. I hope everyone likes to delve into hands on activities as much as I do. Our weekly activity with Mr. Welter's seniors will be working with Dr. Poe and Ms. April to make necklaces and wooden ornaments. Have a great week everyone! 

November 14, 2022: Humble Wildcats, hello! Our last late arrival day for the fall semester is Thursday November 17 so school starts at 9:15. Everyone did an amazing job at our Integrated Athletics Field Day on November 9. Thanks to all students and staff for making it a great day. This week we will continue learning about the solar system by working through our ULS unit. Our News2You article is on the Museum of Broadway. We will be making a music note silhouette with paint and a big musical note that we will cut out. Our science explores how light is scattered and directed by mirrors in our light maze experiment. Opening night nachos will be our yummy treat for an end of week celebration. Next week is our Thanksgiving break. I want to close by saying that I hope everyone has a great week with family and friends. 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!

November 28, 2022: Hey friends! There is no late arrival this Thursday December 1; school starts at 7:15. I hope everyone had a peaceful Thanksgiving with family and friends. I did; I spent a lot of time walking my dogs. This is our last week to study the solar system unit in our ULS curriculum; next week we will start our unit on Traditions to kick off the holiday season. This week our News2You article features the ECHO robot that helps scientists learn about the Antarctic and the emperor penguins that live there. Our recipe is Penguin Porridge. Learning how penguins stay dry is our science experiment this week, and paper roll penguins rounds out our week with a fun craft project. Enjoy your week! 

December 5, 2022: Howdy Wildcats! There is no late arrival this Thursday December 8; school starts at 7:15. Two more weeks until our well-deserved winter break! This week we will start learning about traditions in our Unique Learning System learning material. Our News2You article is about the Amsterdam Light Festival. Mr. Welter's AVID class will join us to make fruit loop candy canes using fruit loops and pipe cleaners. Let's have a fun week! 

December 12, 2022: Hey friends! It's our last week before winter break! There is no late arrival this Thursday December 15; school starts at 7:15. There is early release on Friday December 16; school gets out at 11:25. Breakfast is the only meal served in the cafeteria on Friday. We will wrap up our unit on traditions in our ULS curriculum. Our News2You article is titled "Remembering 2022". I hope 2022 has been a good year for everyone. We will start off this week by visiting with our AVID friends from Mr. Welter's class. We'll do the fruit loop candy canes since we didn't get a chance to do it last week. Enjoy your week everyone. 

January 9, 2023: Wildcats! I missed talking to you last week, but I couldn't log onto my website to update it. So, here is our weekly update for this week! There is late arrival on Thursday January 12; school starts at 9:15. Students get a well-deserved time to get some extra rest. This week our News2You article will focus on the Disney Animation: An Immersive Experience. I can't wait to learn how the experts make all those great animated movies. We started a new unit called From Conflict to Change. Learning to compromise after a conflict is a very important lesson to get through life. Mr. Welter's AVID students will lead a fun activity to make lava lamps. Thanks friends! Have a great week!

January 17, 2023: I hope everyone had a great 3 day weekend! I did! I want to give a shout out to the HHS theater department, Mr. Mosher, and Ms. Rood for a fantastic musical, The Adam's Family. Ms. Bridges and I enjoyed the performance. Because of the 3 day weekend, there will not be late arrival on Thursday January 19. School starts at 7:15, and we will have a regular 7 period day. This week Mr. Welter's AVID students will plan and lead a fun experiment on Tuesday. They will surprise us with the topic on Tuesday when they arrive. Our News2You article talks about The Kiruna Snow Festival in Sweden. We will have lots of things to learn and explore. Enjoy your week, my friends. 

January 23, 2023: Hey friends! There is late arrival this week on Thursday January 26; school starts at 9:15. This week Mr. Welter's AVID students will lead our group of amazing students in a science activity to make slime! What color are you all going to choose? We'll continue learning what happens in our Conflict and Change unit in Unique. What do you think will happen? Our News2You article features the Future City National Competition. Sounds interesting! Let's learn a lot this week! 

January 30, 2023: Hey Wildcats! There is late arrival this week on Thursday February 2; school starts at 9:15. Our friends in Mr. Welter's class didn't get to visit us this week due to scheduling conflicts, but they will see us this week, and we will do our popular slime experiment. Can't wait to have you join us! We'll be wrapping up our unit called Conflict and Change in Unique this week. Also, our News2You article is about the US civil rights trail to honor Black History Month. Let's have a learning and fun filled week leading up to our February break next week. Have a great week, friends!

February 20, 2023: I hope everyone had a great February break! I did. I went to England to visit my husband's family. This week we will continue our "Dirty Germs" science experiment to test how dirty different surfaces are. Mr. Welter's class will join us along with Ms. Williams' class. This week we will continue our study of our unit in ULS...Around the Solar System. Ms. Kosa, our district supervisor, will come visit us on Tuesday to see our lesson. This week our News2You lesson will be about the Gilder Center in New York City. I hope everyone has a great week! Let's get ready to learn!

February 27, 2023: Howdy students! There is late arrival this week on Thursday March 2; school starts at 9:15. It's been a great week! I look forward to learning new material in our ULS unit Around the Solar System. This week Mr. Welter's seniors will lead our class on a great science experiment...Extracting DNA from strawberries. I can't wait. To round out our week we will learn about Women's History Month. Have a great week every one! 

March 6, 2023: Howdy friends! Another fun week is upon us, and I am ready to learn new things, practice our skills we already have, and engage in meaningful relationships with our peers and teachers. There is late arrival this Thursday March 9; school starts at 9:15. This week we will continue our journey through the solar system with ULS learning tasks. Our News2You lessons highlight The Ocean Cleanup. On Monday, Mr. Welter’s class will join us to do the Elephant Toothpaste science experiment. One week until Spring Break! Have a great week leading up to our rest! 

March 20, 2023: Hello there, everyone! With a great (I hope) spring break behind us, let's focus on the learning fun we will have until our last day of school. There is late arrival on Thursday March 23; school starts at 9:15. One thing we can all look forward to is a graduation ceremony here at school during school hours. Humble High School orchestra, choir, and ROTC will participate. It is tentatively set for May 24 at 12. There will be a small reception after the event. Until then, let's get ready for an exciting unit from News2You on the new Dig N' Zone Theme Park in Tennessee. We'll spend another week continuing our spin through the solar system in our ULS unit. Enjoy your week! 

March 27, 2023: Hey Wildcats! There is late arrival on Thursday March 30; school starts at 9:15. Wow, our school year is starting to wind down...how fast this year has gone. We still have plenty of time together to learn new things, communicate with our teachers and peers, and practice our daily living skills. This week we will finish our unit on the solar system in our ULS curriculum. Our News2You article is about Warner Brother's 100th anniversary. Sounds interesting. Our AVID friends will visit us on Monday, and they will lead a fun science experiment...Elephant Toothpaste. We look forward to seeing you all. Let's have a fantastic week! 

April 3, 2023: HHS friends! There is no late arrival on Thursday April 6; school starts at 7:15. Actually, there is only one more late arrival Thursday which will be April 13. Let's get ready for a fun, learning-filled week. This week our News2You article is on the new Super Mario Brother's movie. We'll learn new vocabulary, read about new places, and practice telling time and counting money. We'll start a new unit in our Unique Learning System curriculum...What Makes You, You. In this unit, we will learn about genetics and DNA. On Monday, Mr. Welter's avid students will join us for an egg decorating activity. Have a great week! 

April 10, 2023: Howdy Wildcats! Thirty-five days of school remain in the 2022-2023 school year. I know our seniors are ready to participate in a small graduation ceremony on May 24 in the Performing Arts Center at Humble High School and the big graduation ceremony at NRG on May 27! I am so proud of all students. This week we will learn about the Amelia Erhart Hangar Museum in our News2You newspaper. We will continue learning about DNA and genetics as we work on our ULS curriculum. Mr. Welter's class will lead a lesson on Dr. Suess' Green Eggs and Ham book. We'll do a fizzy egg experiment and create a yummy treat...green eggs (Thankfully, it will be made out of pudding and vanilla wafers instead of a green egg!) I really enjoy our AVID seniors participating in our Life Skills learning activities! Thanks, friends. Enjoy your week, students and staff!