Wondering how to get started with your transition program for special education students? Here are some helpful tips!
Wondering how to get started with your transition program for special education students? Here are some helpful tips!
Community Based Instruction is such a valuable learning tool for special education students, let's dive in on ideas of places to go!
Your guide to the most trendy early fall outfits that will keep you looking stylish & feeling comfortable as you move into the cooler months.
Discover the benefits of using a scope and sequence guide in developing a successful transition curriculum.
Special education teachers are no strangers to the revolving door of students coming and going to various services. It can be overwhelming and distracting but my team put together some procedures that made the transitions a few years ago that made a huge difference. Create A Master Schedule I have tried a few different formats, but the one that worked best for me and my team was a chart that includes each student's weekly schedule. I kept a printed copy taped onto the inside of a cabinet door behind my desk. I referred to the chart often when I was planning special activities or tests that I didn't want anybody to miss out on. I have an editable version of this chart in my TpT store. Give Students Responsibility If your students are able to read a schedule and tell time, you should give them a written copy of their personal services schedule. If you already have a master schedule like the one above, it is easy to just print an extra copy and cut it apart. When I worked in an inclusion room where we stayed in the same room the entire day, I had it taped to their desk. When I worked in a grade level that transitioned between departmentalized teachers, I taped their schedule inside their homework folder that went to each class with them. Find the Bibliography Guide By Clicking the Photo Have Therapists Inform You Of Absences The therapists I worked with were wonderful about letting me know if they were not going to be able to take a student for their designated time. When I received an email about an illness or another obligation such as testing or a meeting, I would write a note on the board. A simple "No OT Today" on the front board will let your students and paraprofessionals know what to expect for the day. Use Signs Instead Of Words During my first year teaching in a large inclusion room, it was confusing when a therapist came to my door. Some of the students were not able to keep track of their schedules yet so the therapist would call out their names. Sometimes our group work was loud so it was difficult to hear which names they were calling. It was so distracting for the entire class! After a few weeks, we came up with a new plan. The therapists created a binder with a page for each session. One the page included the names of the students they were pulling for THAT session only. When the therapist would come into the classroom, they could hold the sign up and the correct students would line up. This was a total game changer! Send Appropriate Work With The Student The reason students get these related services is to lessen deficits and to make it easier for the student to access the curriculum. If a student has an Occupational Therapy goal of improving handwriting, send some written classwork with them. This helps keep the student caught up in their class but it also prevents the student from doing busy work just for the sake of therapy. I worked with a speech therapist that asked for vocabulary words each week. She wanted to reinforce the language we were using in our classroom with her therapy sessions. This will not work for all therapy sessions. Talk to the therapists in your building and ask what will work for your student and their therapy goals. Create A Buddy System Partner your students that need to leave the classroom for a service with another student that does not need to leave the room during that time. Have the buddy collect papers or take notes for the student that is not in the classroom during that time. I have also successfully used paraprofessionals in this buddy role. Invite Entire Team To Meetings You may already meet with your paraprofessionals on a weekly basis. If you're not already, here is a previous blog post about how to implement and make those meetings successful. The related service therapists that work with your students are also a part of your team! Invite them to join you for your meetings. A weekly meeting may be too much for their busy schedules, but have the join you once a month instead! You can learn so much about your students and what can help them from their therapists. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Having students coming and going all day long will always come with challenges. However, the therapies and services your students attend are vital to their education. I would love to know if there is anything else that you do in your classroom to make all of the transitions more manageable!
Come check out how I organize, decorate, and utilize spaces & activities to be functional on this Adult Transition classroom tour!
Transition Words and Definitions, Transition Words For Essays Transition words are words that connect two sentences, phrases, paragraphs. words such as ‘but’, ‘and’, ‘so’ are used to provide this connection. Transition words can connect anything from short phrases to paragraphs. Transition Word Types: Transition words are divided into different classes according to the type of transition we want to make. There are several words specific to each classification. Sometimes they have the same meanings and sometimes they have different meaning. Transitions also show the relationship between the main idea and the sentence (or in the paragraph) within the author’s necessary
A free printable of transition songs and chants for lining up and moving in the hallway for preschool, pre-k, and kindergarten classrooms
When Junior High and Middle School was introduced in 1909, the children sat at desks, were lectured, and encouraged to study in preparation for a career as the primary focus. Over the past century, the curriculum has been updated by legislators, and new textbooks have been issued, but not
Who is prepping more work boxes this summer? I just love getting new ideas, especially for our older life skill students! Christina Bailey, a transition life skill teacher, offered to share a bunch of her work boxes on my blog! Thank you Christina! Christina works with transition aged students (19-26 years old) with severe cognitive and/or health impairments. Her school serves students from multiple school districts within the county who learn best in an alternative placement. Are you ready? Here they are!! Putting together (or taking apart) flashlights. Bonus points if students can get the batteries in correctly and get the light to turn on! (Motivation!!) Ice cube tray and colored pebbles with tongs. I love the fine motor aspect added here. Marker packaging. I absolutely love this task and would be a great one to buy during back to school marker sales (especially on those really cheap markers you don't really want to use in your classroom!) Erasers on pencils. This has always been one of my favorite tasks! Silverware sorting. A must for every work task station, am I right? And a super easy and cheap one to put together. Silverware rolling / packaging. I love this task as it is perfect for vocational preparation. Putting together curlers. Ribbon threading around a wire basket. I never would have thought of this task! I love using the wire basket to thread the ribbon, and bet students would have fun with this task too. Sewing kit packaging. Packaging tasks like this are great! Tea candle sort. I love this age appropriate color sorting activity. Toiletry packaging. Wouldn't it be awesome to get donations of items like this and put together kits to give out to the homeless as a classroom service project? So, there you have it! Did you get some more good ideas? Happy task box prep! If you ever have anything you want to share, feel free to email me. I love being able to share your fantastic ideas with other special education teachers like yourself!
Are you lookg for ideas on what other adult transition classrooms look like when it comes to schedules and lesson plans? Check check out my class...
Are you looking for a way to keep your students learning while transitioning in the classroom? Singing is Learning is a compilation of many of the songs and chants that I use during the school year to keep my students focused and learning. Singing/Chanting is a huge part of my management system. I never send my students back to their seats with out a chant to keep their mouths busy and their minds learning. *This is also a great way to get those extra reviews of skills! Included in this 34 page file you will find: 10 different classroom management song posters 6 different writing song posters 4 different holiday song posters 6 different math song posters Each song/chant has also been prerecorded by me or my past classes for you to listen to. The recordings are great for teaching your class the songs. Many are sung to familiar tunes. You will download these songs to your computer. I hope you enjoy this file and the music as much as I do. My parents are always emailing me asking about certain tunes that their kiddos are singing at home. I love that they are sharing the words and that the learning is sticking with them at home. Please email me with any questions at [email protected]
When teaching narrative writing in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade, there are so many writing skills to cover. They range from creating a sequence of events (beginning, middle, and end) to more difficult
We have an excellent range of articles, infographics, videos, and other resources specifically designed in an easy-to-understand format which will assist you
Every teacher needs a few fun, fast, easy, tricks up his/her sleeve. Here are a few easy classroom management tricks I've picked up over the years. Need a Second to Get Ready for the Next
5 ideas for better activity transitions in middle and high school classes
SQLITE | POSTGRESQL | MYSQL | SQL SERVER | DATA ANALYST | DATA PORTFOLIO | TRANSITION TO TECH | Increase your Data Analyst job offers by using this guide to create an effective data portfolio that you can add to your job applications! So if you want a Data Portfolio that: - is customized for your specific dream Analyst job - makes you stand out amongst 100s of applicants - gets you interviews even with zero to minimal experience - gives you projects to speak to during your interviews - increases your leverage in contract negotiations Then it's time to order this guide! What you'll learn: - How to analyze a job description - How to design and complete projects for a specific data job description - How to create dashboards in Google Bigquery using SQL - How to use Python to pull data from APIs - How to use Jupyter Notebook to create an analysis - How to publish to Github You'll get access to: - 3 portfolio ready data projects - 2 dashboards -10 data project ideas - Project writeup framework and examples - Customized data project framework The truth is recruiters won't believe you just because you write SQL and Data Visualizations on your resume, you have to show them! Data portfolios are the proof you need to win that Data Analyst job offer. Please note: -This is a digital files only, NO physical items are included with this listing -Reselling is forbidden, personal use only
Hey-O friends! How do you manage changing classes (my class doesn’t but I’m curious), or even moving from subject to subject within your own classroom? I teach in a self-contained classroom and it’s easy to shift subjects down the schedule a little when things don’t go as planned. #WhoopsWritingWasSupposedToStart20MinutesAgo? ahahahaha #NoShame When it’s time to check morning work, I play a song When it’s time to come to the carpet for a lesson I play a song. Subject change & it’s time to get out a different interactive notebook and folder— YES, I have a song for that! I keep a slew of songs on my iTunes and iPhone/iPad and I just click depending on what I need! It’s easy to say that it’s time to start something new and kids take that task as, “Okay I can chat with my friend now for 1049813582305 minutes”. If they’re singing—they’re on task and still able to talk–but they’re singing to a tune. When the music stops they must be ready! Beginning of the year I introduce a song for a new subject/idea slowly. I want the kids to get used to it and understand the rules that follow when the song […]
Come check out how I organize, decorate, and utilize spaces & activities to be functional on this Adult Transition classroom tour!
Free Line up songs for kindergarten classroom management. Make transitions easier with fun chants.
4 Tips to Consider as You Make Your Transition to TAB Curriculum Approaches % %
A compilation of ten things every middle school, high school and transition sped teacher wishes you knew about them and their students!
10 simple but effective transition strategies for kids with autism to make day-to-day tasks and classroom transitions less overwhelming.
As a teacher who teaches kids with severe disabilities, one of my biggest goals is to teach kiddos skills that will help them succeed in the "real world". Yes, I would love for my kids to be able to add and multiply fractions, but realistically, knowing money math will help them to be more successful in their futures. To work on money math, self-determination, and work skills, I am having classroom jobs that kids will get paid for (WITH REAL MONEY! Note: fake money is pointless for kids with disabilities- the generalization isn't there so don't use it). I have a wide variety of jobs for our class to ensure that even kids with wheelchairs and limited mobility still have a job they can succeed at. I think it's very important to make sure that you have a job that EVERY kid can do in your class. I have seen a lot of severe sped. teachers have class jobs and forget kiddos who are more severe intellectual and physical disabilities. Our classroom jobs: -Musician: chooses the music and turns music on and off during free-time and circle time. This job is great for kiddos with limited mobility because they can eye gaze or point to choose music and then push play button -Chef: helps to pass out snack and drinks at snack time -Custodian: wipes down table before and after snack time and keeps classroom and student free-time area tidy -Carpenter: sharpens the pencils -Mail carrier: puts papers and worksheets into student mailboxes at the end of day. This job is great for kids who are readers -Recycling chief: makes sure that all recycled goods are in the recycling bin instead of the trash can. They also collect recycling bins from other classrooms once a week with our facilities workers -Veterinarian: gives our class gerbils food and water. Help to clean the cage once a week. -Meteorologist: gives the weather each morning during circle time. This is another job that is great for kids with limited mobility or who are non vocal because they can eye gaze or point at picture symbols to tell the weather -Line leader: leads the classroom to lunch, specials, and recess. This is also a good job for kiddos who use wheelchairs. -Electrician: Turns the lights on and off when we enter and leave the classroom. Another great job for kiddos with mobility issues To make the job display, I glued clothes pins onto a piece of wood and spray painted it. I glued picture symbols at the top to indicate jobs. Students' pictures can be easily moved with the clothes pins. Students keep jobs for a week and are paid $0.10 for each day they complete their job. On Friday, students have the option to buy a Popsicle or ice cream for $0.50 if they have enough money. Students who are non-eaters can buy something else, options include: silly bands, stickers, small books, and toys. Some students need more support with jobs than others and that's okay. Students have some say in choosing their jobs each week, but be mindful that they aren't choosing a job that is too easy or too difficult. These are what I use to help the students count their money and determine if they have enough money ($0.50) to buy a treat. Do you have any other classroom jobs that are great options for kiddos with intellectual and physical disabilities? How do you reward students for completing classroom jobs? I'm always looking for new and fun ways to motivate students.
Come check out how I organize, decorate, and utilize spaces & activities to be functional on this Adult Transition classroom tour!
10 simple but effective transition strategies for kids with autism to make day-to-day tasks and classroom transitions less overwhelming.
Find out how to organize your classroom to easily work on different levels of IEP goals while maintaining data collection on a regular basis.
Use this document to help students vary the type and number of transition words in their writing. The words and phrases are categorized to help students learn how and/or when to use them in their writing. It could also be used as a mini writing word wall.
Does your child need help with transitions? Learn 8 transition activities to stop meltdowns and move from one activity to the next without...
Free kindergarten worksheets and printables for homeschool & classroom teachers. We've created thousands of free kindergarten printable worksheets, game, activities, and more! You'll find kindergarten math worksheets, kindergarten reading worksheets, kindergarten writing worksheets and even a free kindergarten assessment!
At this time of year (end of August) I have so many mixed emotions. I am sad that the summer is drawing to an end, but I am excited for the new school year: envisioning my new students and the projects that we will be working on. Here are some ideas for the first week back. 1. "Trouve quelqu'un qui..." (Click here for the original document) This is always a favourite. Photocopy one sheet per student. Students have to go around the class asking other students "Est-ce que tu aimes...." then they write the student's name on the square if they find one. Can enter a student's name only once on the sheet. 2. "Qui suis-je?" Photocopy one questionnaire per student. After students have completed the questions, collect the questionnaires and choose one. Have a random student come to the front to read the answers on the questionnaire. - Class has to guess who they are describing. OR - Class members all stand up, then sit down as the description is read when they know it's not them. This continues until there is one person left. (Thanks Kim Gaiswinkler for this great idea!) I have also put the questions on a Google form. You could collect the data from the students and then look at the visuals of the data with pie charts and graphs (very cool). Please email me if you want editing access to this form. [email protected] 3. "Projet Selfie" Students go around the school taking selfies, then put together a presentation (with iMovie, 30hands, Powerpoint, Google presentations, etc.) describing where they are. Click here for the original document with full instructions. 4. "On se présente" With Voicethread.com, students describe themselves by answering questions. Click here for an example. You can make a copy of this same presentation if you create a VT account and log in. Then, - Go to the last slide - Click on "+Add to MyVoice page" - Click on gear icon (menu) - Click on "Make a copy" - Click on "Don't include any comments". Your students will have to create their own VT accounts before they can add their comments. 5. WordFoto App With this amazing app students can take pictures of themselves and then populate it with adjectives to describe themselves. Even better: have students take pictures of a friend/classmate and then find adjectives to describe their friend (it's much easier to find complimentary adjectives for a friend than for oneself!). Here is one I made for my daughter: What are some of your favourite First-week-back activities? Bonne rentrée tout le monde! Sylvia
In the school year 2017 to 2018, 13.7% of students who enrolled had a type of disability. That amounts to 6,964,000 students all in all. That’s quite a large number to accommodate in our educational system. But thankfully, there are laws in place to make it easier for the states and families to meet
Do you love Cheer Cards? Who doesn't love Dr. Jean?! I mean, seriously... The first time I attended one of her conferences, she WALKED by
