Welcome to Social Skills Development!

My name is Ms. Baker.  I am an Autistic Support/Learning Support teacher at the High School.  Specifically, I teach Social Skills Development.  I am certified to teach Elementary (K-6), Middle School Language Arts and hold a Master's Degree in Special Education (certified N-12).  I am also licensed through the Pennsylvania State Board of Medicine as a Behavioral Specialist.  Prior to joining the team at Norwin, I spent 8 years teaching Middle School in a local Partial Hospitalization Program and also taught Autistic Support K-2 in Lee County Florida.  When I'm not teaching, I enjoy growing a variety of orchids, spending time with my family and traveling when I get the opportunity.

 

In my classroom, we learn about our emotions, how to manage our emotions and understand how what we do affects the emotions of others.  We also spend a lot of time doing activities that help us to regulate our emotions so we can make better choices when we have to choose between behaviors.  Many of our activities also help us to communicate with others properly; to let them know what we are thinking and feeling in a way that is respectful and productive.  We practice basic skills like looking at someone when talking to them, appropriate voice tone and intonation and reciprocal conversation skills. 

 

We follow a fairly consistent weekly schedule.  These are the activities the students can expect to enjoy:

 

Monday: Writing prompts (students give answers to writing prompts that focus on a specific skill being discussed that week).

 

Tuesday: Theme focused activity (this can include any variety of group activities that will help us practice specific skills being focused on that week).

 

Wednesday: Yoga and guided meditation (students practice grounding and emotional regulation by engaging in a 10-15 minute yoga workout followed by a 5-10 minute guided meditation).

 

Thursday:  Game Day! (students practice communication, decision making, emotional regulation and other skills while enjoying a game with their peers).

 

Friday: Just Dance! and mindful coloring or guided meditation:  (Students have fun and relieve stress by dancing.  After this activity, they practice calming themselves down by engaging in mindful coloring or a guided meditation).

 

If you have any questions or need to communicate with me, please feel free to reach out to me either by phone or email.  I am looking forward to a great year!