TRANSCRIPT - Creating Motivating Learning Environments for Children with Special Needs Ð 9/30/24 >>Kirstyn: Hi, everyone. Thank you, guys so much for coming. I am so excited to share with you today a little bit about Active Learning. And before we get started, I would like to reiterate if you have any questions, please put them in the chat so we can discuss it as we are talking about that topic. And then before we get started, I'd like to know what is everyone's experience level with Active Learning? Has anyone -- feel free to type in the chat if you've used Active Learning before, if there's a certain piece of equipment that you have used, or if you are brand new. Sara has a little experience. That's awesome. I'm going to share my screen and get started talking about Active Learning. If you guys are new or if you already know a little bit, we're going to build on that. All right. So, like everyone said, I am Kirstyn Martino and I am from Penrickton Center for Blind Children in Taylor, Michigan. My background is in recreation therapy and I use recreation therapy in all my work with the kids at Penrickton. And if you don't know about us, we are a private, nonprofit organization serving individuals who are blind with an additional disability. So we have kids with low vision, kids with visual impairments and they all have an additional disability. So some of our kids have cerebral palsy. Some have autism. Developmental delay, epilepsy. So we do have a really wide range of ability levels and everything that we do is free of charge to families. So just a little bit about what we do here at Penrickton. And we all use -- in the building we use the Active Learning approach. So if you have never heard of it, it was developed by Dr. Lilli Nielsen, who was born in Denmark. She actually had seven -- or six siblings and four of them were blind. She would go to school and take them with her and the teachers did not really know how to teach blind individuals because back then there were not specialized programs. So Lilli would take them to school. She realized she was making progress with them and wanted to share her work. She received her PhD in spatial relations and she was award add very prestigious award in Denmark for her work in the field of special education. So then Active Learning really is based on the idea that everyone can learn. So an individual can learn throughout life, no matter how young or old they are. They can learn according to their physical, cognitive, and emotional abilities. And no matter what type of disability they have. So we really believe that any child, any adult can learn. And if they are not learning from their environment, it is something that we can change to help them be able to learn. So then what really is Active Learning? So a lot of people probably have heard of it but you're not quite sure. Active Learning is an approach. It is a way of working with individuals. So it is not just the Little Room, it is not just the HOPSA dress or certain pieces of equipment that you may have heard of, it is also not just the curriculum or the assessment. It really is a whole way of working with the kids and any individuals that you're working with. So through learning, through the prerequisites we break things down to the steps that an individual can perform independently. And through the prerequisites that enables our clients to learn at higher and higher levels. So it really occurs by establishing enriched environments. So motivating environments that make a child want to learn. And then we really talk about the fact that learning can occur in any position. Oftentimes kids have an easier time doing certain fine motor tasks if they are in a prone position. So we do things in prone, in sitting, in laying down. We try to get kids up in a standing position. So really trying to use all parts of their body and help them get information whatever way they can. So there are plenty of factors that limit learning, which is where the adults' feedback is necessary. Learning can be restricted by a lack of opportunities, an insufficient environment, so maybe not enough things to be motivating. Learning is really restricted by mobility. If a child does not have the freedom to move in their environment, then they are not going to be able to make full access of their experiences. So especially an individual who is unable to grasp. They are unable to make full understanding of what they are experiencing, which obviously then impacts their cognitive awareness and their processing. So we will show you plenty of ways to help combat these factors that limit learning. So there are five key concepts that really help to keep Active Learning going. So we really talk about active participation. Repetition. Developmental learning. What is reinforcing or motivating to that learner. And then the limitation or appropriate response to interruptions. So these five concepts help to create an Active Learning environment. And now we're going to go a little bit deeper into each one. So starting with active participation. So on this screen I do have a photo of a child sitting in a feeder seat. He's about 8 years old. He is smiling, as there are chimes hanging over him and he's reaching for them with both hands. So we're talking about active participation, which is the ability for kids to independently interact with their environment. So we want them to, instead of being passive in their activities, find a way for those activities to be active. So now I'm going to play a video for you guys. So in this video there is a child with cerebral palsy laying on his back on a swing. And he is covered up by a blanket. So his arms are resting up by his body. His hands are a little bit fisted. And I just want you guys to watch this video and I will talk over it with descriptions. And I want you guys to just think about what you would expect this child to get out of this activity. [ Video ] [ Music Playing ] >>Kirstyn: The child is in the swing. The swing is moving just a little bit. He's, again, covered up by a blanket. [ Kids playing in background ] Now I'm going to fast forward and show you what happens when we change the environment a little bit. So now the child is on the same swing. It is the same exact day. They have made the environment more motivating for him by putting crinkle paper under his head. So if you have never heard of that, it is really high feedback, mylar-type material. So that is underneath his whole body and there is a grasping board to his right and a doorstop board to his left so that he can practice grasping. And then hanging over his feet is a bead curtain, which is motivating him to kick. I'll go ahead and play the video. [ Video ] So you might notice that before while he was swinging he was passively swinging and now he is active. So by changing the environment, we've made to to where he now is active in his activity. If you notice, he's actually kicking the beads so hard that it's causing the swing to move. So now he's actually swinging himself. And with repetition, with this activity, he may learn over time that when I kick my feet, I swing. So now he's actually learning to swing himself and he doesn't have to wait for an adult to come by and push the swing. He can independently engage in that activity. So I have one more video to talk about active participation. So we know that sometimes it can be hard to get kids interested to start moving and start learning. So what we'll often do is we will hang objects or find a way to place the objects either really close to or directly touching their body. So that when they make a little movement they get feedback. And then if they get that feedback, they will be motivated to continue moving and repeat that activity. And maybe compare that experience to the last one. So we are really trying to motivate all of those cognitive processes of learning. So in this video I have another child who has cerebral palsy. He is laying down on a large gathering drum. And by his feet there is a -- kind of like a switch-activated board that makes animal sounds if he were to move his feet. And then he has very contracted hands so there is a chime hanging right by his left hand. And then there are chimes hanging by each side of his head. The only thing that we would redo, if we were to do this activity again, there should be something hanging by his right hand. But we're not always perfect. So let's go ahead and watch this video of RJ. [ Chimes ] So RJ was moving his head left and right to activate the chimes. He's also reaching with his left hand. He's actually even trying to open his fingers to see if he can get a grasp around that chime. So this is a way for RJ to participate in an activity where he is independently active. >>Kaycee: Hey, Kirstyn, this is Kaycee. We have a few questions. One specific to this video. Is there any support under that drum or do you only use that with students who are very lightweight so they wouldn't fall through and break the drum? >>Kirstyn: Yeah. In this case there is not anything under it. He is a pretty light kiddo but we have done that in the past as well, put another mat underneath for that purpose. >>Kaycee: Perfect. And these videos, are they located on the Active Learning space website for people to access if they wanted to watch these videos or share them with others? >>Kirstyn: Yeah. Most of these videos are. I believe the two that I already shown, they definitely are on Active Learning space. >>Kaycee: One more question. Somebody asked where they could purchase the swing that was in the video prior, if you know where swings like that could be purchased. >>Kirstyn: The name of that is called a Sky Curve swing. I do not know exactly where it was purchased but I can get back to you on that. >>Kaycee: Perfect. Thank you so much. >>Kirstyn: You're welcome. Thank you. So that was a little bit about active participation. We are now going to move on and talk about the next main concept, which is allowing for repetition. So it is really important that the kids that we work with -- and, by the way, I work with kids. Active Learning is not only for kids. It can work for all ages but I tend to say kids because I work with kiddos. It is really important to allow or offer an activity over and over because of the slower processing speeds of the individuals that we work with. They need to practice it over and over in order to really master a skill. So we may offer the same activity or a similar activity for days, weeks, months, or even years until they have mastered that skill. So in this slide there is a photo of a child. He is actually laying in a Little Room. So there are objects hanging over him. He's touching with his left hand. He's touching some plastic blocks that are in strands of two. By his mouth are some Combs and there are some veggie brushes and also some hair curlers. So plenty of objects hanging from the Little Room. And he is smiling as he touches those objects. So then I have a video to show you the importance of repetition. So this is another video of RJ, who is that same kid in the last video. And he is just laying down and, again, he has very contracted hands. So this is a video that is zoomed in on his hand and what is being held by his hand is a massager. So I have these little massagers that create great vibration. So what's happening here is an adult is holding the massager right next to his hand and he is practicing opening his fingers to get a grasp on it. [ Video ] So he's batting at the massager. That is him making kissy sounds. He's still doing a batting motion as he's reaching toward the massager. He's trying to open his fingers up to get them around it. And he gets it. But then he goes right back to batting. [ End of video ] >>Kirstyn: You can see he was trying. He really was working for it. And what some people might do in this instance is move the massager into his fingers. The reason that we don't want to do that is that would actually take away the opportunity for him to learn that skill independently. And in real life, objects don't follow you around. You have to find them. So we are reinforcing that practice of that opening of the fingers. And he batted over and over and once he finally got it around it once, he then went back to batting because that was hard work for him and that was all he could do for right now. So now he's going to go back to batting and he's going to keep practicing and repeating that action over and over as he works to master that skill. So it will be really important for the adults in his life to continue offering opportunities that motivate him to do -- open his fingers in that exact same way. >>Kaycee: Kirstyn, this is Kaycee again. We have a couple more questions. Somebody asked, in the previous video of RJ, there's those wind chime tubes that are hanging down. What are those called? >>Kirstyn: I believe they are called shanty chimes. With a CH. Yes. >>Kaycee: Perfect. Another question a little bit more specific, somebody shared that they have made a tactile sensory board before for a student that she's been working with as her intervener for over eight years. But the student gets overstimulated and is orally and tactilely defensive and asked what are some ways that she can create a larger activity or sensory board without it being overly stimulating for her. >>Kirstyn: Sure. That's a big one. So as we get through this slide show, once I get to the end, I do plan to talk a little bit about some of the materials that we have made. So I'll show you some of those and that might be helpful. And, if not, if you could please reach out to me later and we can discuss that. Because it sounds like I might need to know a little bit more about that student. Is there any other questions before I go on? >>Kaycee: Nothing right now. >>Kirstyn: Okay. Thank you. So that was about active participation and repetition, two of the important concepts to keep in mind. And then the next one is developmentally-appropriate activities. So if we are offering activities that are too hard, the kids get frustrated. If it's too easy, they get bored, so you have to find that perfect balance. So on the slide I have three photos. An example of how we, at Penrickton, how we did a group activity but we adapted it for each individual level. So I have three different kids. On the left is Brian and he has pumpkin seeds -- we were doing a pumpkin carving activity. It was around fall. And he has a large pumpkin that has already been cut open and a ton of the seeds are on a cookie sheet in front of him with beads also on that cookie sheet, because Brian likes to bang. If Brian bangs on the pumpkin seeds with the beads on the cookie sheet, it's going to make loud sounds and he will be exploring pumpkin seeds during our activity. He may be motivated to explore what is on his tray and then he would be touching the seeds. In the middle, there is a photo where the child is holding one piece of a shape of a pumpkin has been cut out and he's holding it above his head as he's about to throw it. And then in front of him, there is a bowl of guts that have been already taken out of the pumpkin for him to explore, if he chooses to. And he is in the stage of throwing. So we put containers nearby so that he can throw into it. And then on the right we have another child, who is very sensory motivated. So she has a pumpkin in front of her and she's got all the guts in her hands and the little smile on her face as she is feeling the slime and all the textures. She also has, in front of her, a muffin tin that she has placed some of the pumpkin seeds into, kind of like a sorting activity. So just an example of how to adapt any activity, really, for each individual's level. So then I have one more example of this same activity. So this is a video of a kiddo at Penrickton Center who is one of our higher-functioning kids. He does have some autistic-like tendencies. And this is him holding a rubber mallet and there are shapes in the pumpkin that have already been cut out. And now he's using the mallet to try and bang them through. So I'll go ahead and play that video. [ Video ] >>Now that the inside is pretty done, do you want to start -- >>Kirstyn: I forgot to mention they are using cookie cutters to bang the shapes that have been cut. There's a cookie cutter placed on top of the pumpkin and they're hitting it with a rubber mallet to try and bang the shape through. [ Banging noise ] >>I'm right-handed. >>Hard! >>You got it? You want to do it? >>I might need some help. >>Almost there. >>Kirstyn: So you might have noticed that the childcare worker, who is working with him, has her hand on the tool. I'm just going to use this as an example. But his hand is also -- he has full tactile access to the tool as well. So she's not using the hand over hand approach, she's instead holding on at a separate part of the long handle and still allowing him to have control of the object, while she's still able to provide guidance. But, instead, this way he can still feel the texture of the object and he can still feel like he's in control and gaining that experience. She started off by helping quite a bit. And then she backed off a little bit. And we actually heard him say I want to do it. And then he later said, can you help me? So we are providing just as much guidance as necessary for the child to be successful. But trying to back off as much as we can. So I'll just play the rest of the video while they get the shape. [ Video ] >>Here we go! Try to push it out now. Do you want to push your fingers in there, get that piece out like this? Look at that. Bless you. Put your fingers in there. Got it! You want to pull on it? Good job! >>Kirstyn: Then here he is doing it all by himself one more time. [ Banging ] So, again, that's just an example on how to adapt any activity, making sure that it is the right level for that student. So in this case he is at the level of starting to use tools and manipulate items that way. So he actually is interested in tools. So to incorporate his interest into the group activity and still allow everyone to learn about pumpkins and carving pumpkins is going to be good for their development to keep doing it at their own level. So then the next big concept that we keep in mind every time we set up activities is focusing on the correct reinforcement. So there is another photo in this slide of a child in a wheelchair. It is RJ again. He's got those shanti chimes hanging over him, they are a favorite. And he's sitting in his wheelchair with adaptive switches on either side of his head and he's got a big smile on his face. So we're talking about what is motivating to that student. So what is motivating, what is reinforcing, what makes them want to participate. So if it's a kiddo who likes loud noises, how are we going to get them to do a certain activity? If I want a kiddo who really loves noises to participate in a social/emotional activity, how am I going to motivate him to do a turn-taking activity? Well, I might use something that will make loud noises. I have a video of a child, his name is Zander, and he is pushing a metal barrel back and forth with his childcare worker. So there is a metal barrel filled with chime balls. So I don't know if you guys know what chime balls are, but it is a small metal ball. When you shake it, it makes a nice sound that a lot of kids like. And especially inside that metal bin they're creating a really nice sound. So this is how we motivated Zander to participate in a turn-taking activity. [ Video ] >>Kirstyn: They're pushing it back and forth. So Zander is happily laughing and smiling as he pushes the barrel back and forth with his childcare worker. You can tell, as soon as it makes that loud sound, that's when he really has a big smile and he starts doing his happy rocking. We definitely found what was motivating to him in order to help find an activity that we could try and motivate him to participate in a social/emotional activity. >>Kaycee: Kirstyn, what were the names of those balls that make sound again? >>Kirstyn: These are chime balls and in the video there are larger ones too. Yeah. And so I do have one more video to help show the way that we use motivation to encourage a certain activity. In this case, this is a little boy who we were trying to motivate him to increase his vocalization. So we wanted him to obviously make any kind of sound that he wants to make. There is a large gathering drum that is stood up vertically behind him to echo back at him. And then him and his childcare worker are taking turns making sounds into a metal bowl. If you hold a metal bowl by your face and start "ah" it echoes back at you. And by putting the drum behind it, it's kind of creating an echo that comes back towards him. So he is being motivated by his own sounds being amplified. So I'll go ahead and play this video. [ Playing and vocalizing ] >>Ba, ba, ba, ba. Ba, ba. >>Kirstyn: So that is a good example of motivating a child by using a certain activity setup. So you really think of what you want them to do and what's going to motivate them to do that. So the next thing we want to talk about is the limitation or appropriate response to distractions. And on this slide there is a photo of a young boy. He is laying on a resonance board. And there are bowling pins and a variety of bumpy balls. This is a goosebump ball. It's got a pretty cool texture. And then he has an O ball that he could get his finger caught in. He's got a big smile on his face. And we are talking about limiting distractions. So we want to limit as many distractions as we can. So, you know, when you get in the zone with an activity and you're really, really engaged and learning from it, you don't want distractions. So even sometimes talking can be a distraction. So if I notice a kiddo is super engaged in their activity and they are, you know, fixated and they've kind of tuned everything else out, that's when I know they're really in the flow of learning. And that's when I don't want to distract them. So even in the case of, you know, oh that's a spoon that you're touching. Instead of distracting him during his activity, I'm going to wait until he's done and then I will talk about those things. So we -- with the exception of if they're trying to share their experience with you. We obviously are going to promote that and respond. And we occasionally give concise comments or reinforcement. Like, oh, I see what you did there. That was a cool sound. But for the most part you don't want to distract them from their learning. If they are really in the zone, you want to wait until that activity period has ended to then share that experience and build on that. In this case, I do have an example of a kid. He is in dance and movement. He's standing up and he is hula hooping on his arm. So he has a hula hoop on his wrist and as he throws it, it's going to actually hit him in the head. I want you guys to hear how his dance and movement therapist responded to that distraction. [ Video ] [ Laughter ] >>You like doing that? Woo! [ Laughter ] You are very good at that, young man. [ Laughter ] >>Kirstyn: So the distraction was, as he was swinging the hula hoop it fell and it hit him in the head. And he kind of squinted and he waited. You guys know how kids, a typical toddler as they're running, they fall and they wait for your response. They're not sure whether that was a big deal or not. They need to wait and see what you think. So in this case his therapist responded by laughing. She said, oh! That was funny! Did you like that? And by laughing and bringing the focus back to the activity, he actually responded by swinging the hula hoop again. Where it's a possibility that if she were to say, oh, no! Are you okay? He may have been aversive to continuing that activity. So our responses to distractions can prolong an activity or it can aid in the ending of an activity. So if you want the activity to keep going longer, you need to try and eliminate whatever distractions you can before you start. So right now is anyone hungry, thirsty? Are you hot? Are you cold? And if you are you're probably not giving your full attention to this presentation. Because even those things, if you have to go to the bathroom, those are all distractions. And in order to give your full focus to something you want to eliminate as many of those as you can. So prior to starting an activity, I want to make sure that the kiddo has, you know, been to the bathroom recently. If they need a drink, all of those things. And then we get started. >>Kaycee: Kirstyn, we have a couple of questions. >>Kirstyn: Yeah. >>Kaycee: We found those chime balls, people who were looking for them, but haven't been able to find them as large as they were pictured in the video where they're in that metal tube. Do you happen to know where those come from? >>Kirstyn: I would check. I know that we get a lot of our stuff from a site called Music is Elementary. >>Kaycee: We can check that out. And then some folks were asking about the resonance boards. And we have lots of resources that have come in in the chat where they could buy them at Lilliworks.org or they could make their own from the spaces on the Active Learning website. Those have been shared. Yeah, we will look up that resource on the chime balls. Thank you. >>Kirstyn: You're welcome! I would like to show you, since there was a question. So this tray that I'm showing now is a -- basically a mini version of a resonance board. So it is a piece of plywood that has a trim border. And it can be used -- it's meant to be used actually the opposite way of the video that I showed. It's meant to be used upright. And it creates -- the lip underneath creates a little bit of vibration when you drop an object on it. You can actually feel where it came from. And it also has obviously some extra sound. So dropping an item on this compared to on the carpet in our multi-purpose room, the kids can find an object easier that way, when we use a resonance board. And then we have another purpose board as well. You flip it over and then you can fill it with balls and they don't go anywhere. You can keep exploring them but they won't go halfway across the room. So I'm glad that someone shared that resource. Thank you for that. And then we're going to go ahead and move on. We did talk about those five main concepts. And then the next thing I wanted to talk just a little bit about are the pathways to learning. So we all know the five main pathways are sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. But we like to keep in mind that movement is also kind of a sixth sense and it is a pathway that individuals can gain information through. So as we're picking materials and activities for our students, we want to evaluate the properties of those materials related to their ability in that pathway. So if I have -- on the left I have a example of a child with a visual impairment and spastic cerebral palsy. I have all five senses. And this is kind of a quick evaluation of their pathways to learning. So it's a visual, I can see that if they have a full circle filled, then they have 100% access to that pathway to learning. So if you look at the child with a vision impairment and cerebral palsy, they have full access to smell, taste, and hearing but they have minimal access to sight. So that means -- but I do have some of that circle filled. That makes me know that that child has a little bit of vision. So I might need to go into their records and look at what can they see. So if I'm picking out an activity for that child and I have, you know, a white ball or this ball, I might pick this one because it lights up and it changes colors. So if it's a kiddo who has light perception, then by looking at my quick chart, I can see that I should pick this ball over this ball. And then with the touch pathway, they may not have full access due to their ability to open and close their hand. So in that case we can use materials like a buncher. So a buncher is a piece of elastic used -- and I can e-mail all these resources as well to Kaycee and get them out. Or I can put it in the chat before we finish. And a puncher buncher is a homemade way to have an individual hold an object in their hand. You can actually put this on any object. It's just button-hole elastic with buttons sewn to it. This way a child can practice grasping and releasing if they don't have a full developed grasp yet, they can still have an object near their hand. They may be able to bring something to their mouth this way, even if they don't have that full developed grasp. And this is going to help to feel the tactile qualities of an object by putting it directly on their hand. So another thing with touch is using objects that, if it's a kiddo with cerebral palsy, using objects that motivate them to open their fingers. So things like whisks or things with holes in them, like an O-ball or anything that's going to be interesting to open up your hand. So just keeping in mind that kids with cerebral palsy with fisted hands, it's going to be easier for them to get their hand on something with a ring. So we are trying to provide things that they can get their hands stuck on and manipulate it that way. So then if you look at the child on the right, my example shows that they have a little bit of access to sight and then they also have full access to every other pathway. So we sometimes, with our children who have a vision impairment and autism, for them the hard part is getting them to sit down or do a fine motor activity or to even just to manipulate objects. So one of the things that we do with them and with both types of kids is really think about what information can you be giving through the taste and touch pathways -- or the taste and smell. Because we tend to forget about those. We might even use a little spritzer. This is a citrus spritzer. We might shove it in an orange. If I know that a kid likes that smell. Or even if I don't and I just want to test it out. And I might spray it on a plate and now the plate has a little bit of orange. Or even just rub an orange on it. And then if I put the kiddo prone and they're working on head control, if they want to smell the plate, then they will naturally be lifting their head by doing that. So trying to use all the pathways to figure out how we can get this individual motivated to do this skill. Really using all those pathways. We use taste all the time. We sometimes put a little bit of flavor on something, if we're really trying to get the kids interested. So like I was talking about with that slide, we are designing activities around function. In this slide I do have a picture of a child, he is in his wheelchair. There is some high lar, kind of like a pompom and on his wheelchair is grasping board and also some pots and pan lids. We are talking about designing activities around function. So you really want to use equipment or materials that facilitate the skill that you're trying to teach. And then you're thinking of the ability level of their head, trunk, their hands. So really offering activities by any part of the body and using all of the pathways to try and motivate the kids to be interested in the activity that you're trying to get them to learn from. So then on this slide I have a lot of the materials I was talking about earlier. So I do have an activity belt. There are a lot of photos and I have most of these things with me as well so I will hold them up. I have five photos on this slide. And on the top left is an activity belt. So that is something that we've created for those kids who run around and don't want to sit down and play with objects. So we can put an activity belt on the child. And as they're roaming around the room, they may come into contact with something that is interesting to them. They may decide to explore that object further. So everything is hanging from elastic and it's also covered with tubing for safety of not being able to get the elastic wrapped around the finger. And that is the same method that we use any time we are hanging items, we are always using elastic so that it can be pulled. It can be put in the mouth. It can be thrown and then it will return back to its original position so that the child can learn to reach for it and to find it. So the next photo I have a position board. So it is a piece of polyurethane plastic. And it is full of holes that you can attach objects with elastic. So we've attached kind of household objects. Anything you can find that's going to motivate them to learn through any of their pathways. So oftentimes we're using the auditory pathway. Things that are nice and noisy. Sometimes we are using the tactile sense to get kids interested. These are just combs, hair combs. You might have these things in a junk drawer somewhere. So just start collecting things. It's things you probably already have. You might be using them for a different purpose than it's intended, so kids find interest in brushes and massagers, all sorts of things. The next thing I have on the slide is a Velcro vest. This is a piece of veltex material, if you put it over your shoulder or anywhere you can wrap it around the kiddo, then there is an object directly on their body so that they can be independently active. So if I have a kiddo with fisted hands, if they lay just like this, I might put something like this on a vest so that they can independently activate something. And then we have a photo of magnetic boards. These are a great way -- magnetic boards and Velcro boards are a great way to talk about numbers with higher-functioning kids. So by using manipulatives that they can feel, they can really show you more of their skills. So I might say can you put one ball on this side. Or can you put all of the dominoes on one side. I can also add sections by using additional sticks. So can you put one on top? Do you know what the top and bottom is? Which side has more? Which side has less. By using these manipulatives the kids can really prove to us that they have these skills. And then on the bottom right there is an example of an activity book. And then I have another slide of a child using a Little Room. And then there is a tabletop mobile. Again, objects are hanging from elastic. We use Velcro gloves all the time to get the kids engaged with their objects. A lot of the time if it's a kid who likes to mouth objects, I might Velcro something to their glove so that if they go up to mouth, now they're hearing something and now they might engage with this instead. And then the last photo is a child in a HOPSA dress. So he is in a standing position. One more slide. I know I'm running over, Kaycee. I have a Velcro board again. And you can see all the things on that board are things that start with the letter B. That was an activity where we were talking about the letter B. So we have beads and balls and bells and brushes and a bowl. And then in the middle we have a PVC pipe mobile. There is a metal container with beads hanging from it, which makes really great sound. There is a scratching board, similar to this one, for kids whose hands are really at that scratching level. It gives good feedback. Then there is a photo of an elastic board. I know we're out of time but I want you guys to really think about how can you implement these concepts in your classroom. So active participation, repetition, developmental learning, motivation, and the appropriate response to interruptions. And then also using all the pathways to learning. So thank you, guys so much for joining today. Again, a lot of this information is on Active Learning Space and if you have any other questions, you guys can contact me at my e-mail. It's Kirstyn@penrickton.org. Really any time. Please, if you come up with something that you have questions about, please e-mail me. I'll type it in the chat as well. >>Kaycee: Perfect. Thanks so much, Kirstyn. We did have one quick question. Do you have a specific type of Velcro glove that you recommend? >>Kirstyn: So we've actually made these. This is just a regular winter glove and then we cut off the fingers so that they have full access to the touch pathway still. We always cut off the fingers. And we've just sewn on some Velcro. >>Kaycee: Perfect. Awesome. Thank you so much. And then on the Active Learning Space website folks can find some pictures of other scratching boards and examples of boards they could make? >>Kirstyn: Absolutely. There is a tab called "things that you can make." And it should be there. If you can't find it, reach out to me, phone or e-mail, and I can help you find that.