How I use Fidget Toys as reinforcers in my Classroom Sensory Help your students focus and keep calm while keeping little hands busy. When collecting fidget toys make sure they’re robust enoug…
4 ways I communicate with parents in my special education classroom: daily communication logs, texting/calling, Seesaw, and Google Classroom
How I use Fidget Toys as reinforcers in my Classroom Sensory Help your students focus and keep calm while keeping little hands busy. When collecting fidget toys make sure they’re robust enoug…
Want to try a FREE differentiated lesson on Kindness? This lesson is leveled and includes lesson plans for 1-2 weeks! Click to learn more!
Data collection for special education teachers doesn't have to be a tedious or all day task. As a self-proclaimed data nerd, I am here to tell you that it's possible to collect data daily without feeling overwhelmed. Click to learn more about this data system, tested and implemented by licensed special ed teachers.
Replacement Behavior for Hitting- tips to change behavior for students with Autism and in LIFE Skills. Includes FREE Printable guide.
How I use Fidget Toys as reinforcers in my Classroom Sensory Help your students focus and keep calm while keeping little hands busy. When collecting fidget toys make sure they’re robust enoug…
Student strengths start IEPs in a positive way. Here is a list of student strengths to use on your next IEP.
This Ultimate IEP Binder Took KIt is the simplest IEP Organizer available to get all your papers and research organized so you can focus on making the school district help!
Have you been curious about how to set up your elementary autistic support classroom? Join me as I give you a
What do you do as a special ed. teacher when a student with autism refuses to work? It depends on the function of the behavior! Learn the 12 Best Strategies!
Label items when told its function picture cards for Autism, Special Ed, Early Intervention, Speech Therapy, Occupational Therapy and ESL. This pack includes 84 picture cards (21 items/targets with 4 exemplars for each ). This product addresses the objective "Labels items when told its function G15" of the ABLLS-R Assessment and Curriculum. This resource enables BCBAs, teachers, tutors, and parents to set up lesson plans for children quickly and makes working on ABLLS based skills easy. Regardless of whether you use this for ABLLS or not, this printable resource provides great visual performance practice for students in general! Whats included upon purchase? - 1 pdf file with 84 picture Cards (refer to the preview) to be printed on letter size paper (8.5 x11 ) If you like my product please leave me a review and follow me on: Instagram :) Thank you and happy teaching! Related Product: (DISTANCE LEARNING)ABLLS-R Matching identical pictures to sample: B5 |BOOM Cards™ Copyright information: Purchasing this product grants permission for use by one individual. If you'd like to share with others, please purchase an additional product.
Is your head spinning at IEP meetings because of all the acronyms? Here is a chart of IEP and Special Education Acronyms.
These 20+ Special education organization email templates are a time-saving hack for a sped classroom. The special ed teacher email templates are digital, printable, and done for you along with a video tutorial for easy set up as templates. The SPED IEP-paperwork templates are perfect teacher email templates for repetitive messages they have to send. A video tutorial is included for setting up email templates Templates include: Out Sick Input/ Survey- Parent Input Survey- teacher Scheduling a parent/teacher conference Scheduling an iep meeting Field trip/ CBI trip Link to virtual meeting Newsletter Draft IEP Donation Letter Schedule Discipline Attendance Password Issue Change to schedule Office Hours Just a little nudge Meeting Reminder Brag Mal Service providers for teachers Services providers for parents Thank you for the donation note Want to earn Free Credits: How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: • Please go to your My Purchases page. • Beside each purchase you'll see a Provide Feedback button. • Click it. Give a quick rating & leave a short comment for the product. • Your feedback will give you credits to use on future TPT purchases. • If there is a small mistake on an item, or you have suggestions/constructive criticism, please let me know under the Q and A section before leaving negative feedback! Please give me a chance to fix it and improve my product. Thanks!☺ Follow me & receive updates about my products: • Look for the green star next to my store logo. • Click it to become a follower. • Yay! You will now receive email updates about new products in my store. Follow us on TPT ,Instagram ,Pinterest andFacebook to stay up to date on new products! Tag us on social media when using The blog is also full of ideas for you to use in your special education classroom. This digital download will help save you time during the back to school season as a special education teacher while building rapport with the students and families you get to work with this year.
How do you encourage positive student behavior in your classroom? I have tried too many behavior systems to count - clip charts, flipping cards, behavior contracts… you name it and I have tried it. What I have found over the years is that no matter what, students genuinely want to do well and
Echolalia- Learn strategies for your Autism classroom. What echolalia is and how to reduce it with activities to decrease repetitive speech or non-authentic communication.
This post will be great for anyone looking for ideas for including students with autism in their classroom. Students with autism and other disabilities need support to be successful in general education classrooms. Lot of visual supports and ideas with some freebies as well.
A blog about autism resources and support from a special ed teacher with first-hand experience.
We have been in school for almost a month. (I can't believe it either!) So far, this is the BEST year yet! My kids love art and I love teaching through the arts. I am always on the look-out for amazing art resources to use with my kiddos, but they are hard to come by. This summer, I found an incredible resource that was created by Whimsy Workshop. She does ALL of the work for you! There are background information sheets for each type of art that she includes. There are 3 art projects for each country, and each project has step-by-step directions with pictures! Not only are we learning about cultures from around the world and geography, we are also creating lots of art and learning about different techniques. Here are some of the projects we have completed already this year. Surfers from Australia Boomerrangs Chinese Dragons Chinese Flower Blossom Fans (before we folded them) Koi Fish Pretty amazing, huh?! The techniques that Whimsy Workshop shows, are easy enough for kids of all ages and abilities to be successful! My kids are so proud of their work! Check out her product, Art Around the World.
Available digitally on Google Slides. These morning meeting questions are a perfect way to start out your day! Incorporating a question of the day shows students you want to get to know them and allows them to start off the day successfully (as the questions have no wrong answers). Love my first daily question pack? This one is just like it but with new questions! We use these questions during our morning meeting time and each student answers the question, telling us sometime they like (or don't like). There is no right answer for a majority of these questions, so students are able to answer errorlessly. Each question includes answering visuals so both readers and non-readers can answer. Each question also has a consistent answer structure template in order to help students answer in a complete sentence, either verbally or written through the leveled journal pages. 10 journal pages with 4 levels include options to draw, write, or extended writing. There are 180 total pages of questions including 90 questions with 2 visual options and 90 visual yes/no questions. See how I use this in my classroom in this blog post. In my classroom, students set up the question each morning and during independent work time, each student prepares their answer, either on their device or in one of the adapted journal pages. During our morning meeting, we graph our classes responses and see what we have in common with each other. I used this with my high school special education class, but would be appropriate for any grade special education and early childhood classrooms as well.
I have gotten SO many emails and questions about Smarty Symbols lately! I am so excited to share with you all my new love! Smarty symbols is a web based program much like Boardmaker, except I feel as though they are more up with the times. Depending what CD you have, Boardmaker can be tedious, […]
What do special ed teachers actually do all day? From meetings to planning, there is little downtime and always something to do!
Special eduction law can be a bit gray at times. Although it should be clear cut, it can be difficult to get explicit answers to some of the basic questions that pop up in the day-to-day life of a special education teacher. Here is a scenario that you may have run into before. You need to set up an IEP meeting, but have been unable to confirm a meeting time with the family. How many attempts do you need to make to set up an IEP meeting with a family? What do you do if they don't respond? Can it all be done through email and phone calls or does one of the attempts need to be a letter? Does one attempt need to be a certified letter? While there are laws related to these questions (which you can find HERE), you may find the answer given still leaves you a bit confused. When it comes to these questions, and many more, the law does not give specifics. The specifics tend to come from each state's interpretation of the law and from court case rulings. So how is a special education teacher supposed to make sense of the scattered out information and try to teach at the same time? Well... it's really hard. Some districts have incredible administrators who have a deep understanding of the law, current court cases, and best practice. Many of these districts also reach out to lawyers for guidance. They do the leg work so you can focus on providing your students with what they need to be successful. With that being said, it is still in everyone's best interest to know how to seek out the answers to your own questions. If you do not have this level of support in your district, you will have to take the extra steps to become informed of your role and responsibilities as a special education teacher. I cannot answer all of your questions here. However, I can provide you with some links and resources that will empower you to become more informed and confident in your understanding of special education law. I am going to share a ton of information. I recommend bookmarking this page so that you can refer back to it as questions arise throughout the school year. But first, let's start with the basics. There are three main federal laws that address disabilities. I recommend you click on the links and skim through each of the laws. The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) - The primary purpose of IDEA is "to ensure that all children with disabilities have available to them a free appropriate public education that emphasizes special education and related services designed to meet their unique needs and prepare them for further education, employment, and independent living." IDEA (2004) This is a major law in the world of special education and there is a lot jam packed into this act. You can use the search feature on this page to find information related to a specific topic. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - This is a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination based on disability. This law is less applicable to public education, but is still valuable to review. Section 504 Rehabilitation Act - Section 504 extended civil rights to people with disabilities in education and other settings. The act outlines the need for a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) which may include reasonable accommodations. Unlike IDEA, students do not need to qualify for an IEP to fall under the umbrella of 504 services. Please note - this is why it is extremely important that the accommodations listed in the IEP or 504 plan are being followed. If they are not, it becomes a civil rights issue, not just a special education issue. Click on Subpart D for information related directly to preschool, elementary, and secondary education. If reading through those three acts seems daunting, don't worry. I am going to share with you some great resources for synthesizing the plethora of information found above. WrightsLaw - I cannot recommend this site enough. It is run by Pete Wright, an attorney who represents children with special needs, and Pam Wright, a psychotherapist who has worked with children and families since the 70s. They summarize court cases in a way that is easy to understand and provide concrete takeaways from the rulings. They have also written numerous books related to special education law and provide training around law and advocacy throughout the country. Make sure you sign up for their newsletter to stay on top of current court cases. The website has quite a bit of information and can be a little difficult to navigate. However, you can click HERE to watch a quick video about how to sift through all of the information. Center for Parent Information and Resources - This website was produced under the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs. While it is geared primarily toward parents, it serves as a great resource for anyone working with students with special needs. Their resource library provides links to documents related to disability services and special education. This site is easy to navigate and the information is accurate and concise. National Education Association (IDEA & Special Education) - This site offers "IDEA Briefs" to explain developments about and aspects of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). They are presented in a question and answer format, and are quick and easy to read. The site also offers a nice summary of the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA found HERE. Department of Education - The specifics surrounding special education law can vary between states. Search your state's department of education website for state specific laws, codes, and policies. You can search for your state HERE and get a list of helpful links. State Specific Education Association - Many states have their own rules and regulations that expand upon those found in IDEA. Your local union (if applicable) may have resources to help you learn more about special education law in your state. If you are unable to find answers on the website, don't hesitate to reach out to your local union reps to see if there are any resources or training opportunities that may be available for special education teachers. Understanding the law is a huge undertaking and I hope that this post has given you some guidence and resources to make it a bit easier. Do you have any other go-to resources for special education law? Please share in the comments below!
Editable Digital + Printable Data Forms for Special Ed | Data sheets are a special education teacher's best friend. This bundle of editable, printable and digital data forms is the perfect addition to any special education classroom.
Do you know how to give preference assessments to your special education students? We talk about how to find the right reinforcer...
*REVISED: changed the font for easier downloading and editing :) Great parent communication tool for students with Autism or other disabilities.... This is a log that I use on a daily basis to communicate with my parents. Each page contains how an individual student's day went for two days. I make back to back copies of this page to and hole punch them into my students' binders that go back and forth from school and home. It's a quick way to inform parents how their child did that day without having to write a paragraph at the end of the day! I saved this file as a pptx (Power Point) file that can be edited. Please let me know if you have any problems or questions! Thank you! - The Special Ed Scoop
Communicating with parents has to be one of the most important things we do as special education teachers in the sub separate setting. Many of our students cannot communicate things about their day when they get home as their typical peers do. It is our job that parents have the information they need to be […]
Need an effective way to organize all of your students' IEP goals, progress notes, work samples and all else?! Click to learn about color coded IEP binders.
Promoting AAC Awareness is imperative! We are introducing our exclusive "Peace, Love, AAC" shirt – a must-have for speech therapists, AAC users, parents of autistics, autism professionals, and special ed teachers! This clever and stylish tee is not just a piece of clothing; it's a statement of support for the world of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC). 🗣️ Expressive & Fun Design: Featuring a bold and playful font, this shirt proudly declares your affinity for AAC. The catchy phrase is not only a nod to the iconic '90s hit, but it also carries a deeper meaning for those in the AAC community. The design is a conversation starter and a fantastic way to create awareness about the importance of communication accessibility. 🌈 Inclusive for All: Designed with inclusivity in mind, this shirt is perfect for anyone involved in the AAC journey. Whether you're a speech therapist making strides in communication, an AAC user embracing your unique form of expression, a parent navigating the world of autism, or a dedicated professional in special education, this shirt is for you. 🤝 Builds Community & Connection: Wearing this shirt is more than just a fashion choice – it's a symbol of unity within the AAC community. Spark conversations, share experiences, and connect with like-minded individuals who understand the significance of effective communication tools. 🎁 Great Gift Idea: Looking for the perfect gift for a speech therapist, AAC user, or a special education professional? Look no further! This shirt makes a thoughtful and meaningful gift that resonates with those who are passionate about communication accessibility. 🌟 Premium Quality & Comfort: Crafted from high-quality materials, this shirt ensures comfort all day long. Whether you're at work, school, or a community event, you'll be making a statement in style and comfort. Show your support for AAC, spread awareness, and let the world know that you're down with AAC – because communication is a right, not a privilege. Get your "Peace, Love, AAC" shirt today and be a part of the movement towards inclusive and accessible communication!
One of the first steps to becoming a more successful individual is knowing what the things around you are! I used these laundry vocabulary booklets and task cards (40 pc) with my high school special education class who were functioning anywhere between a Pre-K to 1st grade level. These interactive/adapted books are fully prepped and designed to help your child / students become more comfortable readers and more fluent speakers. This can be purchased 4 different ways by selecting "finish" upon checkout. Booklet $18 Booklet and Task Cards $36 Task Cards $25 Booklet and Task Cards (half prepped) $25 (The task cards will come uncut - 10 pages of 4 cards to one 5 mil laminated sheet. The booklet is fully prepped. You are responsible only for cutting the cards out) WAYS TO USE THE ADAPTED BOOK Reading You Read - Read Option: Parent/Teacher reads top section, student reads predictable text at the bottom section (great for beginning readers/speakers and device users) Level 1 Beginning readers only read bottom sentence Level 2 Advanced readers read the entire page Interactive Pieces Level 1 Students match the picture from the choice page to each page while they read Level 2 Students take off the picture from each page and match to the word on the choice page WAYS TO USE THE VOCAB TASK CARDS (students can point , use clothespins, or circle with a dry erase maker to show their answer) -Match clip art symbol to real picture -Errorless Matching (all the answers are the correct answer) -Match identical pictures -Match word to clip art symbol Vocab Words -laundry basket -hanger -ironing board -dryer sheets -bleach -iron -dryer -detergent -washer Would you like to prep this your self? Here is the link for the digital download: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Laundry-Vocabulary-Life-Skill-Unit-for-Special-Education-1357795
Toilet training is a big undertaking. Use a toilet training task analysis to make it simple!
Ready for these Back To School bundle for special education case managers? These special ed themes products are what you need to kick off a great new school year. Don't miss this bundle to help you feel confident on day one with all the paperwork. This bundle is jam packed with everything special education teachers need. This digital download come jam packed with 12 essential items for special education teachers. Included: Meet the Case Manager Forms IEP Snapshots Caseload Intake Forms Beginning of the Year surveys Teacher and parent input forms Sped Teacher Planner Grading Rubrics for special education students Behavior Basics resources Toileting Log Sign Language Poster And More This digital download will help save you time during the back to school season as a special education teacher while building rapport with the students and families you get to work with this year.
Replacement Behavior for Hitting- tips to change behavior for students with Autism and in LIFE Skills. Includes FREE Printable guide.
