Learn which strategies to use with students who are engaging in escape or task avoidance behaviors in special education classes.
Looking for esl task cards to use with your english language learners? Try these picture cards that are perfect for quick and effective language practice!
Are you a college student struggling with time management? Check out these 21 essential time management for college students tips for success!
Subscribe to the Teach 4 the Heart Podcast.It was a great day when I discovered 4 magic words that just seem to dissolve tension and eliminate at least half of the arguments in my classroom.And those words are: "You're not in trouble."Students can be so defensive, can't they? (and let's be honest,
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!
Are you one of the many teachers who is struggling to teach summarizing? Summarizing can be a difficult skill for students to master. It requires strong reading comprehension since students need to be able to
If you have an extra-chatty class, check out this post with tips for how to get your students to stop talking in just one week!
Every year I have at least 1 or 2 students with really poor handwriting. You know, the students that like to write ONEREALLYLONGWORDWITHOUTANYSPACESINBETWEENANDINALLCAPS! How about the students whose letters always seem to float off the paper like balloons? Or those that can’t even read their own writing, but expect YOU to understand it! Well after years of struggling to read some of my students’ writing, I’ve come up with a few tips and strategies that have been pretty helpful. I’m sharing today in the hopes that they might help you as well! Let me begin by saying that I understand that we live in a digital world where most of what we write takes place on some form of a digital device… However, I also believe that it’s important for every child to be able to communicate effectively the old fashioned way… with a pen or pencil. So here’s how to help those poor babies whose writing might look somewhat like this… Use Graph Paper: I like to use graph paper or grid paper those kiddos that have difficulty with letter sizing. Print out a few copies of this 1 cm graph paper to have handy whenever needed. Then have the child […]
I’m not going to get into the nitty gritty of what ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is. If you are reading this post there is an excellent chance you already know what it is because you are dealing with it in your classroom. I’m also going to go out on a limb and assume that […]
How to rock your student teaching with tips from a recent graduate. 10 tips for a great student teaching experience. Tips for student teachers.
Informal math assessments for special education for K-8. Assessments are aligned with Common Core Standards. Find your students average level/abilities.
When it seems like the only word they know is "no."
Teamwork in STEM- Article featuring three STEM Challenges, posters, team-building activities, job badges, helpful tips, and more! 6 Ways to Focus on Teamwork
Through the years I have had a few students with selective mutism. When I met my first student with S.M., I thought she was just very shy. For this post, I will call her Sally but that is not her real name. But, after a couple of weeks of school, it was clear that there was more going on that a case of shyness. That is when I asked for a meeting with Sally's parents to get their insight into what was happening. Her parents told me that she would only talk to the people in her immediate family and one neighbor. She wouldn't even speak to her grandparents or cousins. After observations and meetings with her pediatrician, counselor, speech pathologist, she was officially diagnosed as having selective mutism. Luckily, Sally's parents were very open to ideas and happy to try anything that we suggested. Sally's mom would send me something to school on a weekly basis. Sometimes it was a bag of cookies that Sally and her mom had baked together. Other times Sally's mom let her pick out a packet of stickers to donate to our class. Sally's job was to hand the item(s) to me. We set the following goals: 1st: Hand the item to the teacher without mom standing beside her. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 2nd: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 3rd: Hand the item to the teacher and say you're welcome. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 4th: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher and say you're welcome. I said thank you but did not ask her any questions about the item. 5th: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher and say you're welcome. Answer teacher's question with one word. I said thank you and then asked her a question that could be answered with one word - usually a yes/no question. 6th: Hand the item to the teacher while looking at the teacher and say you're welcome. Answer teacher's question with 2 or more words. I said thank you and then asked her a question that required a few more details. Once again, Sally's parents provided extra support to help her build relationships with her classmates. Sally and her mom loved to bake. Usually students only brought treats for their birthday. I gave her mom permission to send in treats more frequently. When Sally passed out the treats to her classmates, she was concentrating on the actual process of passing out, and less about her anxiety about communicating with her classmates. We set goals for this too. 1st: Pass out treats without teacher support. 2nd: Pass out treat and make eye contact with classmates. 3rd: Pass out treat, make eye contact with classmates, and smile when student says thank you. 4th: Pass out treat, make eye contact with classmates, and say you're welcome when classmate says thank you. Sally received weekly support from our school counselor. Our counselor let Sally choose a buddy come with her. She and the buddy played games in the counselor's office. In the beginning, Sally would only smile and shake her head for yes or no. But, over time she slowly began to whisper to the counselor and her buddy. I think it helped that there was only one buddy and they were in a quiet office so she felt more comfortable. By the end of the year, she was able to invite 3 buddies to go with her. As you can imagine she became very popular because she got to pick her buddy(ies). Word quickly spread that if Sally chose you, you got to go play games. Students wanted to sit by her at lunch and invited her to play games with them at recess. There are different reasons why a student may have S.M. Sometimes it is an anxiety issue. Click HERE to read more about this topic. Interested in reading more posts? Click on the pictures below.
Special Education teachers are the masters of data collection! At times, collecting data can be overwhelming, especially when you sometimes have to outsource the collecting to other teachers, specialists, or teaching assistants. Tracking accommodations is necessary to make sure an IEP is being followed and can be helpful in determining which accommodations should be added to or removed from the IEP. Believe it or not, collecting data on accommodations and modifications does not have to consume your life! Share Information Be sure to share vital information with all teachers and assistants that work with your students. I have an accommodations organizer that I organize all of the information of my class. The information is in one place which is helpful for sharing information with assistants, special area teachers, and substitutes. When I first began teaching, I did not bother sharing such information with special area teachers until it was brought to my attention that a student of mine did not complete a test in physical education class. That student had trouble reading and was supposed to have his tests read. The PE teacher was unaware of his accommodations and therefore did not deliver them. I use a special form that reminds me of who needs to be informed of accommodations and modifications at the beginning of the school year and after an IEP annual review. Train Your Team If you have paraprofessionals in your classroom working with students, it is important to train them in how to deliver and how to track accommodations and modifications. Some interventions are more detailed than others. Observe your team while they are working with students and provide feedback as needed. The time you put in to properly train your team to record data the same way you would is so well spent! Use Checklists When I first started teaching, I used to write notes on a post-it that included which accommodations and modifications were used on assignments along with their effectiveness. It was very time consuming and often times, I forgot to add some things. Finally, I came up with a few checklists and forms to help the process. Level of Support One of the forms I use tracks the level of support a student needs from an adult. I use this one to determine the need for a 1:1 teaching assistant. It is useful before adding a TA and to collect data to see if continuing the intervention is a necessity. The adult that works with the student at that time fills it out while working with the student. Accommodations and Modifications Tracker I use this form two ways, depending on what I am collecting data for. As an IEP meeting approaches, I like to review the need for the interventions on the IEP. I can track the types of interventions are needed for different types of assignments and activities. More importantly, I can track the effectiveness of such interventions. I can also cut this tracker apart to staple it onto work samples. The work samples can be to show the Committee on Special Education the student's growth or regression. I also like to send work home with students with the form filled out from time to time so parents can see what kind of help the student needs in order to complete assignments at school. Frequency Tracker Another way I like to track the use of accommodations and modifications needed in school is with a frequency tracker I created. This gives me a quick visual of which interventions are being used and which are not. I focus on this during the weeks before a meeting so I can determine which accommodations and modifications need to remain, be added, or be removed from an IEP. Data collection is so important but it doesn't have to take over your entire life. Once you create a few checklists that fit your classroom or purchase one of the many checklists and charts from my TpT store, you will save yourself a ton of time and will have more data than you've ever had before!
Are you looking for tips and tricks for working with partners in the classroom classroom? Read on to learn all the hacks!
Use these methods to help the student who won't practice. These will help students get on a regular practice schedule!
Get helpful tips for how to manage data folders in the primary classroom. Download the free student data folders kit to get started!
Teach them self-reliance!
Too many classroom icebreakers require students to take big social risks with people they barely know. Or they don't really help students get to know each other. Or they are just plain cheesy.
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Classroom management and thinking through how my classroom will run is more important than the decorations and arrangement! Do you agree? My classroom has several different strategies set up; and as needed, I will adjust accordingly as my students arrive and I learn their needs. Today, I have 8 Classroom Management Tips for you to […]
Those days of forgetting their math facts? Staring blankly at a multiplication problem? Adding or subtracting when they should be multiplying? Done. Gone. Over. Those days are in the past! Today we’re going to learn how to teach multiplication facts to our students with disabilities so that they build conceptual knowledge and retention.
There are a few elements to building influential student relationships. Keep on reading to find out the six keys to fostering strong connections in your classroom.
Keep your students engaged and get them up and moving with these 5 fantastic movement ideas you can use right away and over and over again!
Wiggly students can feel distracting but do they have to be? Check out my tips and strategies for students who can't sit still!
This tip for how to calm down students after classroom transitions is effective, fun, and easy to add to your daily routine!
Fatigue from dyslexia is a real concern for our children and students. In this post, we'll take a look at why it happens and what we can do.
Got a talkative class? Check out these 5 ways to quiet the chatter!
Kinesthetic learners like to be active, and become easily bored in a traditional classroom. Here are 14 strategies for kinesthetic learners.
The Unfair Game is a totally unfair twist on Jeopardy that your students will LOVE to hate! Learn how to play and find sample game boards in this post.
Microsoft's spreadsheet program can do way more than you might realize. Become an Excel guru in no time with these 40 hacks and tricks.
Use the special ed inclusion documentation forms to keep track of service times, lesson plans, and more. Streamline it all quickly and effectively!
Technology in the classroom constantly changes and so are the classroom tech tools that we use every day with our students.
Check out this Google Classroom tutorial that includes 10 tips to help you make the most of this online teaching platform!
Have a chatty class? Do your talkative students get louder and louder during small groups until it feels like chaos? Do they talk when you'r...
