Gemini Classroom

Teacher: Mr. Chris Kopp
Paraprofessional: Ms. Pam

The Gemini classroom is the second classroom at our school that was designed specifically for students with Asperger’s Syndrome and is set-up very much like the first classroom (Leo). Because the classrooms are so similar, we collaborate a lot with the Leo classroom when it comes to academics, social skills, and life skills.

Our days start out with social group, which usually involves the students journaling about an issue that is relevant to them and/or reading a news article. However, these group sessions always culminate in small group discussions where everyone is invited to share what is on their mind. This is a great time for the students to interact and allows for them to express opinions and feelings in a setting where everyone’s ideas are welcome and respected.

For academics we used an online curriculum from PLATO Learning. The students each have a unique sign-in name so they can work on “core” classes that we assign to them as well as electives that they have chosen. Although the bulk of the material is learned on the computer, we still do small group and one-on-one instruction so that we can focus more on individual needs. Many times this “offline” instruction is done through playing teacher-created games on our SMART Board, just to make things more interesting!

At least once a week the students work together to prepare their own lunch in our school kitchen. This allows everyone the opportunity to learn some new recipes and skills, and also creates an environment where all of the students are required to contribute and take responsibility for preparing their own lunch. In addition to creating their own meals at school, our students frequently take trips to local restaurants to practice ordering food, paying for it, etc. All of these activities are great skill builders, and the students all have a lot of fun too!