A list of job options you have as a special education teacher (outside of the traditional classroom setting), given the skills you possess as an educator.
Moving into a coaching role as a teacher can be daunting for anyone. You spent years in the classroom perfecting your craft and all of a sudden you are in a new role and feel like a first year teacher all over again. But, you don’t have to. This post serves as a guide for…
The best jobs for former teachers all take advantage of their skills and experience. Read this guide to find out what they are!
Have you ever wondered how to effectively do a read-aloud with 4th and 5th graders? Teachers who are new to teaching upper elementary, especially those transitioning from early elementary grades, often ask this question! This post will provide a comprehensive guide on how to prepare for reading out loud to older kids. Upper elementary read
Looking for creative ways to keep your students engaged while transitioning or lining up? Check out these 21 unique class transition ideas!
Transform your preschool day with effective transitions. Explore how music, chants, and stories can engage and guide children through different activities.
Are you working with Students with Autism? Tough transitions triggering tantrums? You must read this list of transition strategies to stop meltdowns!
Throwing out my grammar-based textbook transformed my Spanish classroom. I've gained confidence as a teacher, and my students have grown by leaps and bounds. We have bad days and good days, but the difference is our direct, daily contact with Spanish. There's no book curating the content for us: instead, songs, games, and stories are the meat-- not dessert. As a department of one, switching to a proficiency-based, comprehensible input-driven classroom was really hard. Though it was exciting, I felt unsure of myself and overwhelmed. I've created a series sharing my process, and hope it will help you
Transitions in Pre-K & Kindergarten can be hard. The "Secret Signal" transition tip is so easy and effective, you will use it all day long!
10 simple but effective transition strategies for kids with autism to make day-to-day tasks and classroom transitions less overwhelming.
Exciting ideas for your new class during transition days. From icebreakers to teamwork challenges, make it a memorable experience.
We have an excellent range of articles, infographics, videos, and other resources specifically designed in an easy-to-understand format which will assist you
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...
Discover the benefits of using a scope and sequence guide in developing a successful transition curriculum.
Second careers for teachers are a great way to fluff up their resume experience, as well as branch out into different career paths.
A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure of connecting with Cheryl Parrish, the Children’s Ministry Director for Liberty Hill General Baptist Church in Dexter, Missouri. Cheryl and I were talking …
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
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!
Build your own transition songs playlist for your classroom. It's easy with this school friendly, kid approved list. If you are ready, let's talk about how and when to use them in your classroom.
Welcome to The Schroeder Page!: Singing is Learning!: Friends~I am so much more brave as I grow older! I am a huge believer in singing and chanting in the classroom. The first time you hear your students humming a tune to remember a concept on a test you will wear a smile ALL day! Grab a copy of my Be on the FLOOR chant to help with transitions! Click the image below to head to The Schroeder Page and CHECK it out!
Songs for the classroom, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, teachers pay teachers, posters, transitions, hand washing, walking in the hall, lining up
The most important thing to keep in mind when planning to meet the needs of students is that they are all unique individuals with unique needs. The diversity in human beings is beautiful. It is worth celebrating. Unfortunately, I don’t think teachers get enough training in teacher prep programs or
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
10 fun and easy hallway songs to prepare students to go into the hall quietly!
Transition Binders are a great tool for communicating information between adults about students with special needs, as they make a transition. This could be a transition from a grade, teacher, school, or placement. This binder will help you create an organizational structure to support the collection of individualized programming information that is essential for student success. It can be added to as the year progresses, or completed/updated at the end of each school year and passed on to receiving educators. This will allow them the opportunity to continue to implement successful teaching strategies and effective supports! What is included: -digital versions (PPT and Google Slides) -printable version with binder cover page (PDF) -cover pages for all sections of the binder -templates for suggested content -blank pages to add student work, pictures etc. -black cover pages to add your own sections -American and Canadian versions to support spelling differences
10 simple but effective transition strategies for kids with autism to make day-to-day tasks and classroom transitions less overwhelming.
Free Line up songs for kindergarten classroom management. Make transitions easier with fun chants.
I have missed blogging! I think when I moved to 3rd Grade, I felt lost in the blogging world because all of my blogging buddies were 1st or 2nd grade teachers. Not only do I not teach first or second grade, I don't even teach reading or math...I teach 3rd grade science and social studies. I just didn't feel like I fit in anymore. But blogging I think helps me to be a better teacher, it helps me to reflect on my lessons and projects so that I can improve them for next year. So I'm going to try to jump back into the ring! This year's class studied maps in much more depth than than my class did last year. I do a pretest and post test on all of my major skills. I don't really mind doing that except I have to remind the students over and over that the pretest IS NOT going in the grade book. Now that we are 3/4 through the school year, I think most of them understand that now. Anyway, I really like doing small projects to follow up the lessons so the students can show what they know. I was thinking about doing a group (4 people) map, but I didn't really have any suitable paper for them to use. I was going to have them make a city map and then as a group they would add things that were important to each of them. I started searching the Internet to see if I could find some ideas. The first thing I found was called Barefoot Island. I liked it, but I kept looking around. Next I came across these Autobiography Islands. I really liked them! I had to make a few adjustments since the ones I found were for middle school and I teach 3rd grade. I'll be making a rubric for next year. This year I told the students I would be grading them in four areas: Neatness, Creativity, Spelling and Required Elements. We first discussed the definition of an autobiography. We looked at samples from the middle school students. We brainstormed what types of things could go on our maps and then the students got to work on the rough drafts of their maps. I helped to proof each one for spelling errors. After that, they got to work on their final project. The required elements for each of the maps were: 1) Map Title 2) Compass Rose 3) Map Legend 4) at least 3 Man-made objects 5) at least 3 Natural Landforms. I thought most of them turned out great. I liked the way this project kind of evened the playing field. Since I was checking the spelling on all of the projects, I got to see some of my lower students shine with creativity in their maps. Here are some examples. Probably too many, but I just loved them! Be glad I didn't post all 68! LOL I'll be honest, when it came to grading their creativity...everyone got a 5 the max points. I don't know call me a softie, but I really thought everyone was creative on their own level. I did give a bonus point on those I thought we "extra creative".
Let's make a smooth transition to kindergarten by preparing parents for kindergarten, too! Check out these tips!
What happened when I quit teaching? It could be different than what you think and I know some other teachers may be feeling this too...
Are you a former teacher looking for a new career? Life after teaching can be exciting, challenging, and rewarding with these jobs for former teachers.
1 -10 caterpillar playing exercise Please download and printout the caterpillar worksheet as the above file. Prepare the baby paints and guide the kids to use their fingers to complete the caterpilla
Are you looking for ways to use comprehensible input methods in your world language classroom? Check out this post on how to transition to CI methods!
Looking for creative ways to keep your students engaged while transitioning or lining up? Check out these 21 unique class transition ideas!
Many alternatives to a classroom gig.
Here’s a few classroom procedures that have worked well for me – and a couple awesome ideas I’ve run across since I’ve stepped out of the classroom...
Take a look at how you can use slides Google templates in your kindergarten or lower elementary classroom to make teaching easier and ...
