Life Skills

     My name is Mrs. Iannacone and I am your child’s Life Skills Teacher!  I am part of the ACE Team.  ACE stands for, Academic Creative Expression. I make sure that I incorporate each one of those branches of what ACE means in each Life Skills Class. Here at McIlvaine, we use a great deal of terms like, “bucket filling,” and you may have even heard your student talk about what’s called the Fish Philosophy!  This is an amazing teaching tool that we have adopted here at McIlvaine and really fosters how the students interact with one another and keeps our school culture positive!  The Teacher’s live by this here at our school too!

     What is the Fish Philosophy? The FISH! Philosophy was inspired by a business that is world famous for its incredible energy and commitment to service—the Pike Place Fish Market located in Seattle, Washington.   Educators had studied the fishmongers and identified four simple practices that help anyone bring new energy and commitment to their work and learning!  Those four practices are Play, Be There, Make Their Day and Choose Your Attitude.  The students and their teachers and I are exploring these concepts weekly.  After we learn them, we live by them every day!

    You may wonder what Life Skills is, and what is your child learning in my class?  Well, in Life Skills we cover many important topics.  We cover topics such as Safety…all types of safety, being a good friend, having compassion for others, treating people equally and most of all, learning how to make a positive difference in this world!  In all my years of teaching, I can honestly say this is my most favorite job that I have ever had!  I love the look on a student’s face when they are proud of themselves for making a difference in this world, and they will have many opportunities to do just that this year!