One of my absolutely favorite things about being a special education teacher was that I had the freedom to design fun and exciting lessons for my students specific to their interests. I never had a curriculum to follow. No one ever told me what books to read to them or what activities I had to
Learn about science curriculum created for self-contained special education classrooms by a real special education teacher!
Science units are wonderful for teaching science concepts in a special education classroom… especially those with multiple grades. The science units help me differentiate and teach and reteach the science concepts year after year. Focus On Vocabulary Many students struggle with all of the vocabulary and language that come with science concepts. From scientific tools […]
Home and school communication is so important! These sheets allow students to participate in sharing their day with their parents using visual supports, checklists, and/or sentences. Multiple levels are included for a variety of students. Print and go OR customize for your students! ALL text is editable (in PowerPoint). 2018 version includes updated b&w images. Original version (still included in the download): Only the checklists are editable (in PowerPoint) so that you can customize in order to easily check off the things you do each day. Customize for your class or for each student. (Symbols are not editable in either version, but ALL text is editable and blank pages (without symbols) are also provided in the newest update so if you need to you can add your own symbols. Be sure to check out the preview to see more sample pages! ______________________________ Learn when I post new products and sales: ✯Click the green star that says "Follow Me" near the top of any page within my store and you will officially be a follower! Get connected! ✎ Follow me on Facebook for lots of great ideas and sales!
For our learners who need to work on foundational learning skills, such as simple matching, I have always love creating hands on task boxes put-in tasks and color sorting tasks. My classroom closet always looked like it could be featured on an episode of hoarders. I kept every shoe box, coffee container, baby jar, and
Explore top-tier special education resources at Supporting Special Learners for educators and parents, your go-to destination for aiding students with autism.
FREE printable All About Me Pack for preschool and kindergarten featuring the child's name, handprint, favorite things, eye and hair color, self-portrait and family portrait.
4 Must Do's on the First Day of Pre-K. Worried you missed something while lesson planning for the first day of school?
Overwhelmed and understaffed my first year as a special education teacher in the self-contained classroom, I discovered that implementing an effective independent workstation helped my students become more successful and independent. Click to learn how I got control using task boxes and independent workstations in my special education classroom. My students loved the differentiated math, language arts, science, and social studies curriculum with age appropriate clip art and real photographs.
For our learners who need to work on foundational learning skills, such as simple matching, I have always love creating hands on task boxes put-in tasks and color sorting tasks. My classroom closet always looked like it could be featured on an episode of hoarders. I kept every shoe box, coffee container, baby jar, and
Using sentence frames to get ell students writing. Click here for more:
By the end of this year, after changing our math rotations around about a bazillion times, I FINALLY feel like I figured out the perfect combo of stations to help my students learn, practice, and master skills. My favorite part of this system is that it worked seamlessly without me killing myself over prep
Functional morning work for the special education classroom.
Building Functional Pretend Play Centers in an Pre-K Classroom
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!
Teaching behavior expectations in kindergarten is important, especially in the first few weeks of school. This often sets the stage for yo...
This article will give you helpful tips and tricks on teaching music for special education classes in your elementary school.
Do you want to learn how to create adapted books for special education classrooms? This post provides a step by step list, with examples...
Looking for a simple and enjoyable way to enhance fine motor skills in children? Try paper tearing activities! Uncover the benefits and creative possibilities. Click now!
Social stories can be a very visual and concrete way to teach students social skills. Some students naturally understand social expectations and ways to behave, and others need more explicit teaching. In my opinion, social stories do the explicit teaching when done correctly. Students need to be able to easily understand the social skill that ... Read More about Using Social Stories to Teach Social Skills and Appropriate Ways to Behave
Special Educators Resource Room - Find the tools and support you need to feel calm, collected, and totally together as a special educator.
We are exploring magnets here in kindergarten! We sorted objects between magnetic and not magnetic. I wanted the kids to be able to glue down their sort to display in the hallway. You could use tape or regular glue, but in the interest of time I opted for a glue gun. This SUPER cool temp glue gun (you have to buy special glue sticks but they are not expensive) eliminates the worry over burns! But like I said, tape works too. We have some magnet sorting in our science station
Starting a task box center and system in your special education classroom is a way to increase student independence and free up staff.
Make sure you cover all subjects in the special ed classroom with the help of the Science and Social Studies Adapted Work Binders!
For our learners who need to work on foundational learning skills, such as simple matching, I have always love creating hands on task boxes put-in tasks and color sorting tasks. My classroom closet always looked like it could be featured on an episode of hoarders. I kept every shoe box, coffee container, baby jar, and
IEPs and RTI. Progress monitoring and data collection. This simple system has worked for me for years. Sharing a FREE, simple, easy, and effective way to save you time... and your sanity. Learn more now!
Support for paraprofessionals AND you! Training tips and resources to help keep everyone on the same page in your classroom.
Welcoming someone new into your classroom can be a nerve-wracking experience. Let's calm some of those nerves!
Listen to this Special Ed Podcast with 15 great ideas for Functional Centers for students with Intellectual Disabilities and Autism in High School. Read more and subscribe today!
I never would have thought I would be tracking data digitally, I am really not that savvy when it comes to tech, however, when someone pointed out how easy it was, I had to try it. You guys, its sooo much easier than my typical paper and pencil tracking system. I had data sheets EVERYWHERE!! […]
It’s been a while since I linked up for Workbasket Wednesday, but I finally snapped some pictures of my Workbaskets and just had to share them with you all! Check out these adorable Back to School tasks with a focus on fine motor skills! This task has been a classroom favorite. Students use the ... Read More about Workbasket Wednesday!
If you are anything like me, the first 10 days are a struggle. You have so many new ideas for the new year, so many things you want to implement, and you feel pressure to start on the very first day. Here’s my number one tip: DON’T. Just don’t. In special education, and more specifically […]
These kindergarten anchor charts will give you the tools you need to teach math, reading, friendship skills, and much more!
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STEM in a special ed classroom is a huge possibility. Take a look inside my classroom to see how we make it work, what we use, and more!
If there is one I have learned in my years of working with paraprofessionals, it is that paras are teachers too. My paraprofessional is my right hand and my left hand. She is the glue that keeps us together. I realize that sometimes it is our first instinct to give them passive work because their
Pencil Names - Name Building Practice Printable comes with eight editable pages, containing two pencils. Each pencil has pieces for two letter names up to nine letter names. Getting Pencil Names - Name Building Practice Printable
Differentiation is certainly a hot topic in education these days and as Special Educators we know a thing or two about differentiating for our student’s to succeed. Today I want to focus on how we can differentiate for our students during their inclusion times. This year, all of my students are included for PE and ... Read More about Top 3 Ways to Differentiate for Inclusion
