sped curriculum, sped scope and sequence, special education scope, special education curriculum map,
Paraprofessional Training in the Special Education Classroom can be tough! Learn how to make paraprofessional training simple with these tips.
I absolutely love teaching Special Education. I have found the place where I am meant to be and have built a community in my classroom. I am currently thriving in SPED, but it hasn’t always been that way. Early in my career I was struggling to keep my head above water and breathe.Entering the Special ... Read More about 25 Ways to Survive and Thrive in SPED
special education, back to school, paraprofessionals
When I was first assigned to teach 2nd Grade R.T.I., I was given free reign over my schedule. I literally sat and stared at a table fille...
Use WIDA Can Do Descriptors to help you understand and support your emerging bilingual students through differentiated lessons.
Teaching in special education classrooms can be tricky! We often teach students in a variety of grades and with a variety of needs. We have to figure out how to teach SO MANY standards and IEP goals & differentiate based on each student's needs. Something that has helped me with this SO much over the years is creating scope & sequences for content areas (math, reading, morning meeting, science, social studies, etc). Scope & sequences are also great because they remove the question "What am I going to teach next week?" and ensure that you cover all of the standards/ IEP goals required. What are scope & sequences and how are they helpful? Scope & sequences are also often called curriculum maps. A scope & sequence lays out the content that will be taught (the standards, IEP goals, etc.), the order that the content will be taught & often also includes materials and activities for lessons. They help you plan how you will teach different standards/ skills across lessons and units. If you have boxed curriculum in your classroom, it likely includes a scope and sequence. However, many special education teachers don't have boxed curricula that meets the needs of all of our students... So creating a scope & sequence based on your state standards and your students' needs is a great alternative! Steps for creating a Scope & Sequence: Start by creating chart or document with all of the standards for each grade you teach. I start with one content area at a time. I make charts in a Word Doc for Math, Reading, Science and Social Studies. This year I only have 4th-5th grade, but I also did this when I taught K-5. These charts will help you look at all of the grade level standards at one time. Now it's time to start grouping standards that have similar outcomes/ tasks. Here is an example of how I did this for 4th and 5th grade math standards > I color-coding standards that aligned with each other (i.g. there are multiple 4th and 5th grade standards that relate to money). After I grouped all of the standards with similar outcomes, I identified 13 broad math units. I picked 13 because that would allow me to do 3 week math units, but you can pick whatever number of units that works for your classroom and standards. I know this is harder when you're planning out more than a two grade levels, but it's doable with creativity! Now you're going to create another chart (sorry!) for each unit. I put each grade level side by side for each unit. For each unit, you can include: The standards you're targeting IEP goals you will target Materials you will use or activities to do How you'll differentiate Any other important information or reminders! (I left some of this information off of the scope & sequences I'm sharing due to confidentiality) Creating scope & sequences can definitely take a few hours for each content area (depending on how in depth you make them and how much info you add), but they will save you time in the long run! I pretty much use them as my "lesson plans" and guide for the entire school year, so it saves me a lot of planning time during the school year! If you're looking for math units to use with your scope & sequence, check out this bundle of math units! Each unit includes differentiated worksheets, hands-on centers & digital Google Slides!
I have been getting a lot of questions about tips for first year teachers so I figured I would write a blog post about it. Now that you have nailed down the job, gotten the keys to your classroom and shared the news with your family and friends it's time to get started. Here are a few tips to get you started in your first special education class (these are in no particular order). Make sure to get your hands on student files ASAP. These files will help you get a better picture of your students. They should drive how you setup your classroom, organize your aides and let you know the types (if any) of visual supports they need.The files should also give you a little glimpse of their family life. This isn't always written into the IEP but check out the parent input section. Take the time before school starts to meet the staff. Get around to as many people as you can. Take the extra time to introduce yourself to the secretaries, specials teachers and general education teachers who will have daily interactions with your students. It is also imperative to setup a meeting with the para professionals that will be working in your classroom. Have a plan before going into this meeting. Make sure to share with them a little about yourself. It may also be a good idea to write down a list with them of things that worked well in years past and things that could use improvement. Use that list to help you slowly implement the things you want. To make a smooth transition it is always good to remember to make changes slowly. I usually make a detailed IEP at a Glance for my aides. It will also be a good idea to share how you plan to run your classroom and the expectations you have (possibly no cell phones, side conversations etc.). I like to write these down and post them in my classroom so they are available for everyone to see (even subs that may come into the classroom). Here is a post that talks more about para professionals. As a first year teacher this is probably the thing you are most excited about. You may have picked out a theme, bought bulletin board supplies and picked out cute matching bins. While all of these are great and may make you feel a little more at home they are not necessary. If you are not able to make these purchases no sweat. I will let you in on a little secret, I have never had a theme, matching bins or set up a bulletin board in my classroom. However, if you want to do those things please do....I just don't have time for that. When I setup my classroom I keep 2 things in mind, my students and function. I think about what needs my students have (do they need a sensory space, are they eating lunch in my classroom, do I need room for wheelchairs/walkers etc.). Everything I put in my room serves a function. For example, I do not put a teacher desk in my room because it doesn't really serve a function for me other than a place for papers to pile up. Instead I use my direct teaching table as my desk. Here is my 2015-16 classroom reveal post. This is always my favorite thing. Instead of decorating my classroom with cute posters and matching bulletin boards I put functional visuals around my classroom. I create student schedules, classroom schedules, token boards etc. Here are a few of the visuals I have in my classroom. Figure out the way that you are going to communicate with parents. Are you going to send emails, texts or give them a phone call? Are your students able to report to them what happened during the day or do you need to send home a daily note? Whatever you decide to do remember to give both positive and negative (if any) information. Also be honest and work with parents. Educating children with special needs takes a lot more than the time spent inside the classroom. My students send fill out this form daily. Grab it for free here. Once your students have arrived and you have taught basic routines and gotten the classroom under control it is important to take baseline data. Assessing students before instruction will help you figure out exactly what area(s) they need direct instruction in. It will also let you know if some of your students can be grouped together. Here are a few things I use for baseline data. The best advice I can give you is to take a breath. Even if you have everything planned out things won't always go as planned and guess what.....it's OKAY!!!! The important thing to remember is what are you going to do different the next time? Also make sure to find time for yourself. Don't spend all of your extra time focusing on your classroom and students. You need to find balance. Somethings I like to do in my off time are take walks, go to the movies, watch Netflix and spend time with my family and friends. Congrats on your new job and good luck with the school year!!!! Follow my blog with Bloglovin
This article includes basic information to give an introduction or overview of what is inclusion and some tips for implementing it.
Hyperdocs are such an excellent instructional tool for classroom teachers to utilize. As a coach, one of the most effective ways to get teachers to use tech
Use the special ed inclusion documentation forms to keep track of service times, lesson plans, and more. Streamline it all quickly and effectively!
This Dysgraphia Intervention Kit addresses the concerns, needs, interventions, and documentation for students with dysgraphia. The interventions may be done in any classroom and do not require any special equipment or materials. Dysgraphia is a learning disability that affects writing, which requires a complex set of motor and information processing skills. DYSGRAPHIA INTERVENTION KIT incorporates the following academic areas: Writing Spelling Handwriting Processing Visual-spacial difficulty This resource is perfect to use with RTI / Response to Intervention groups that are suffering from symptoms of dysgraphia. (RTI, SPED, Learning Disability) Included in the 166-page kit: Informational handout: What is dysgraphia? What are the symptoms and signs of dysgraphia? Dysgraphia Intervention & Strategy suggestion page Dysgraphia Intervention Checklist (use for individual students) PRINTABLE FORM EDITABLE TEMPLATE FORM Dysgraphia Checklist - Ages 12 to Adult (use for individual students) PRINTABLE FORM EDITABLE TEMPLATE FORM Dysgraphia Checklist - Ages 5 to 12 (use for individual students) PRINTABLE FORM EDITABLE TEMPLATE FORM Dysgraphia Checklist - Up to Age 5 (use for individual students) PRINTABLE FORM EDITABLE TEMPLATE FORM Dysgraphia Student Intervention Log (use for individual student documentation) PRINTABLE FORM EDITABLE TEMPLATE FORM Important Dysgraphia Intervention Terms Dysgraphia Accommodation Options & Additional Considerations Note Taking Interventions List of Common Abbreviations List of Common Symbols List of Common Contractions Strategy: Word Mapping Word Mapping Intervention Checklist Strategy: 2 Column-Style Note Taking 2 Column-Style Note Taking Intervention Checklist Creating Models of Written Work Air Writing Strategy and Intervention Checklist Warm-Up Strategy and Intervention Checklist Letter Formation Strategies and Intervention Checklists Dysgraphia Tracing Interventions: 1 shape and Intervention Checklist Dysgraphia Tracing Interventions: 2 shape and Intervention Checklist Dysgraphia Tracing Interventions: 3 or more shape and Intervention Checklist Dysgraphia Tracing Interventions: Cursive Letters and Intervention Checklist Dysgraphia Tracing Interventions: Printed Letters and Intervention Checklist Dysgraphia Binder with dividers to organize all interventions and student documentation Looking for more resources like this one? Setting Goals with Students Folder Intervention Log Kit with Binder Covers Instructional Coach Forms - Fully Editable! Digital Intervention Logs for RtI & Small Groups Digital Parent Communication Forms Guided Reading Planner PLC Meeting Notes & Forms Digital PLC Meeting Notes - hot pink style Customer Tips: How to get TPT credit to use on future purchases: Please go to your My Purchases page (you may need to log in). Beside each purchase, you'll see a Provide Feedback button. Simply click it, and you will be taken to a page where you can give a quick rating and leave a short comment on the product. I value your feedback greatly as it helps me determine which products are most valuable for your classroom to create more for you. ☺ Be the first to know about my new discounts, freebies, and product launches: Look for the red star near the top of any page within my store and click it to become a follower. You will now receive customized email updates about this store. ☺ Thank you for visiting Teacher Karma. For additional learning strategies, please visit my educational blog, Teacher Karma. All the best! Jen Bradshaw
College. There are the courses that prepare you for the "textbook stuff", but nothing in the world prepares you for teaching quite like actually teaching does. Learn the special ed secrets, that things you don't learn in college, only at Mrs. D's Corner.
These vestibular activities are strategies to add vestibular sensory input. Use these movement activities to calm and regulate input.
Woo-hoo! Are y'all enjoying summer vacation as much as I am??? Don't get me wrong, I love school, my students, and teaching but boy was I ...
Work Task Wednesday featuring a test tube center to practice patterns, sequencing, color ID, following directions, hand dominance, grip, and more.
I took this idea from a handout provided by WE are TEACHERS and ReadyGen of PearsonSchool.com I loved the detective and the them...
Use the special ed inclusion documentation forms to keep track of service times, lesson plans, and more. Streamline it all quickly and effectively!
Teaching fractions with hands-on manipulatives and activities helps students develop a conceptual understanding that will endure.
This year, I wanted to be intentional with my third graders as it relates to relationship. We started that on the first day of school. One of the things I’m most passionate about when it comes to academic achievement is building to mastery.Some students LOVE the first day of school, but not all students are...Read More »
Schedules are super functional for our students. Even though we often start out with a visual schedule in our primary classrooms (I have a whole wall of them!), the goal is to move to something portable and more functional. How many of us carry around a calendar or planner? Who keeps a calendar on their ... Read More about Transition Items 101
Even though I teach special education students in a resource classroom, I am still expected to teach the general education curriculum and give the assessments that accompany the district-mandated curriculum. My students do have accommodations listed on their IEPs for testing, but I want to give them as much support as possible to help them succeed. These are some of the tips I use in my classroom that have really helped my students show mastery on grade level assessments. My number one tip is to staple your tests like a book, not in one top corner. I know this is a little more time consuming on your part but so worth it. Flipping pages over, especially on double-sided copies, can be so confusing for struggling students. For our math workbook pages, I am very explicit in my instructions, such as "open, flip over, look for the picture of the blue bird" or whatever is on the page. This helps make sure we're all on the right page. Our reading tests, have an oral portion where students have to listen to my directions. Unfortunately, this part of the test is in the middle. Strange place to put it if you ask me. I always have my students turn to this page and do this portion first. After we have done the oral and grammar portion, we turn back to the story. Even though my students have accommodations, I cannot read the story to them. After all, it is a test of reading and not a test of listening comprehension. I always go through the test first and figure out which portion of the text refers to which questions. On this test, question numbers 1 and 2 come from the first page of the story. I tell my students to read the first page and raise their hand. That way my faster readers aren't waiting on my slower readers, and my slower readers aren't rushed. Once students read the first section of the text, I have them turn and answer just the questions that pertain to this section. This is huge in helping my students answer comprehension questions successfully. By breaking up the text, my students don't feel so overwhelmed. I tell my students to raise their hands after they have answered questions numbers 1 and 2. Then I turn the student's page back to the next section of the text that they need to read and repeat the process all over. The downfall to testing this way is that I do A LOT of walking around from student-to-student. If I wore a Fitbit, I know I'd have way more than 10,000 steps on testing days. But I will say the effort on my part is worth it to see my students succeed on grade level assessments. How do you accommodate students on testing days in your classroom?
Differentiating your instruction can be overwhelming. I get it. When you hear the word "differentiation" do you automatica...
Supporting kids with special needs works best when both regular education and special education staff work together. That's why it is helpful for all teachers to understand how they can modify and accommodate for students in their classrooms. For newer teachers, learning that you need to modify work
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Advice from three ESL teachers on the things regular classroom teachers can do to help English language learners thrive in mainstream classrooms.
Why you should be using stations in your middle school classroom. For middle school math, ELA, and all other core classes.
Structure is a crucial component to your SPED classroom setup. This is something I learned quickly in my first year of teaching and something that worked well once structure was increased. Below I’ve listed five easy ways to increase structure in your classroom. Individual Schedules Whether it’s visual schedules, checklists, object schedules, or agendas, they
special education, centers, sped centers, lesson plans, sped lesson plans, classroom management, sped classroom
