Visual boundaries are a vital part of classroom setup. Let me show you how I utilize these visual boundaries in classroom!
This is my most requested blog post! Putting my schedule in one post is difficult because there are so many moving pieces, but I will try to give an overview below! I did my best to give an overvie…
I teach a 1st through 4th self-contained, mod/severe, special day class. I am going to highlight some of the key elements in my classroom.
Learn every step of classroom setup, must have resources, and materials needed to setup your self-contained classroom. Peek inside my classroom!
Here are 20 center ideas that you can use for your self-contained classroom. I have it all listed out for you including pictures
This is my most requested blog post! Putting my schedule in one post is difficult because there are so many moving pieces, but I will try to give an overview below! I did my best to give an overvie…
There are so many working parts in a self contained or Autism Unit. Read MORE on what you can do to survive and thrive in a self contained classroom!
Setting up a schedule in a self-contained classroom is one of the hardest parts of our job. I remember my first year of teaching thinking, “why did no one teach me how to do this in college?” After years and years of tweaking my daily schedule, I finally settled on the same master schedule every […]
Michelle has discovered how easy it is to teach her autistic learners with TAH Daily Curriculum. See how she organizes it in this post.
Hi everyone, Welcome to my blog! I am so glad you are here to read my very first blog post!! In this blog I am going to give you a description of a typical day in my classroom. I start by giving you some general information about my class so that you have an understanding […]
Learn every step of classroom setup, must have resources, and materials needed to setup your self-contained classroom. Peek inside my classroom!
Get all of your students engaged during your morning routine, and plan the first hour of your day only once. Differentiated ideas for any teacher.
If you are a Special Education teacher visuals should be your BFF! We wouldn't be able to get through a normal run of the mill day in my classroom with out
Learn every step of classroom setup, must have resources, and materials needed to setup your self-contained classroom. Peek inside my classroom!
Being a new special education teacher can be overwhelming and stressful. Check out The FIRST thing to do as a new special ed teacher.
Take a tour of our high school Special Education classroom. We have an academic area and a life skills area. Check it out!
Come and take a look inside a day in my K-2 Self-Contained autism classroom! In this post, I show you my entire k-2 daily classroom schedule!
Simple Self-Contained Setup 101® is the complete roadmap to a stress-free classroom setup for self-contained special education teachers.
Working with English Language Learners in a self contained class? Read on for tips to help ELLs with disabilities meet their learning goals!
Learn every step of classroom setup, must have resources, and materials needed to setup your self-contained classroom. Peek inside my classroom!
Looking for a refreshed or new morning routine in your autism classroom? I'm sharing my routines for starting the day in an autism classroom!
Looking for a refreshed or new morning routine in your autism classroom? I'm sharing my routines for starting the day in an autism classroom!
Are you looking for new ways to increase your students' independence? Read this post to learn more about types of structured work systems!
Are you a new teacher? I thought that my teacher prep program had prepared me for anything that would come my way….and I wrong!
Teaching self contained is a challenging but very important job! Are you up to it? Most of the time, and especially in my program, special education courses are all lumped together. They rarely focus on self contained, or more severe students. This usually leaves teachers scouring the internet or coming up with everything from scratch! […]
Learn every step of classroom setup, must have resources, and materials needed to setup your self-contained classroom. Peek inside my classroom!
Learn which strategies to use with students who are engaging in escape or task avoidance behaviors in special education classes.
How to plan for, modify, and implement successful Guided Reading in SPED. TIps and tricks with full lesson plan ideas at Mrs. D's Corner.
Morning Meeting! In an Autism classroom Morning meeting is my FAVORITE part of the day. It is one of the few times that we get to sit together.....WHOLE
Welcoming someone new into your classroom can be a nerve-wracking experience. Let's calm some of those nerves!
In you special needs class, do you have any behavior issues? Any kids that are over-responsive or just the opposite, under-responsive? YOU.NEED.HEAVY.WORK. ...
My first year in my self-contained classroom was one of the most challenging things I have ever endured. I felt unorganized and the lack of structure was truly debilitating. And then, I discovered: visual schedules. Research shows the benefits of using visual schedules with individuals with autism spectrum disorders. A visual schedule communicates the order of upcoming events or activities using photographs, objects, icons, or words. Click to read more.
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!
Visuals in an autism classroom are a must-have. See what visuals Michelle recommends for increased understanding and independence.
Get all of your students engaged during your morning routine, and plan the first hour of your day only once. Differentiated ideas for any teacher.
I get this message all the time: "It's going to be my first year in a self contained classroom. What do I need to start off the year?!" Let me just start by saying, this is a BIG question with really no right answer. However, after teaching in self contained for the last 8 years, I will try to answer it to the best of my ability! Some of this will be geared more towards elementary, but some of it can be used across the board! This will be part one of two blog posts, the second being more about how to start off your year with kids, paraprofessionals, and your classroom as a whole! THE ESSENTIAL RESOURCES There are SO MANY awesome resources all over Teachers Pay Teachers for special education, I could go on for days. Some of the essentials that you should grab to start off the year (again, in my opinion!) are: VISUAL SCHEDULES Visual schedules are KEY. Here are a few great options to get your classroom started: This visual schedule pack in my shop is perfect for an elementary classroom just getting started with schedules! This Visual Schedule Bundle by Autism Adventures is a great option for middle/high school students! This Visual Editable Flip Schedule from Teach Love Autism is another great option for older students and different than the traditional visual schedule! This First/Then Flipbook from Especially Education is a perfect schedule option (and includes behavior stuff as well!) for your students who go out to inclusion! BEHAVIOR RESOURCES This kind of goes hand in hand with the visuals. You will most likely need to make more behavior visuals once you get to know your students, but here are a few great resources to get you started from day one! This Behavior Starter Pack from my shop is a great starting point for first/then visuals and working for boards! This Positive Behavior Intervention Flipbooks product from Supports for Special Students is an awesome resource to start off your year! It's a great item to have handy for your paraprofessionals and any other teachers your students might see as well! This Calm Down Kit from Autism Adventures is something that I have used in my classroom for years and honestly is a must buy for any self contained classroom! This Behavior Tool Box from The Bender Bunch is another great resource to get you started with dealing with behaviors from day one. She even includes walking you through writing a Behavior Intervention Plan! DATA COLLECTION This IEP Goal Bank & Data Sheets from my shop is a great resource to build your stock of data sheets and IEP goals. Please read the description of this before purchasing as it applies mostly to elementary classrooms. These Task Analysis Data Sheets from You Aut-a Know are perfect if you will have any students working on sequencing activities such as hand washing! These Behavior Data Sheets from Autism Classroom Resources are a perfect addition to your data sheets if you will be dealing with behaviors in your classroom! This Easy Data Collection pack from Supports for Special Students is another great data sheet resource! RESOURCES TO START This is probably the hardest section to narrow down. Below I'm going to list some of the best resources to start off your year (again, some might not work for your age group, but I will try to add a variety!). Many of these items will be bundles and a little pricey, but honestly will be the BEST bang for your buck in the long run! There are SO MANY awesome resources to add to your classroom over time, but these are a good base to start off your time in a self contained setting. Anything you see below is something that I would personally use with my own students. I LOVE file folders. We use file folders every single day in my classroom whether it be for morning work, independent work, or one on one instruction. This bundle will last you the ENTIRE school year and guarantees your students will never get bored of them! You can also find a similar Intermediate File Folder Bundle for the Year for your students who are working on a little higher of skills! Getting your students started each morning in a structured, organized way is key to a successful day at school. I love these Morning Work Worksheets from You Aut-a Know to get your students started each morning. (She also has advanced morning work for your higher level learners!) If you are needing resources to work on reading comprehension with your students, this Bundle from Mrs. P's Specialties is a great way to be set for the year! I used these Math Workbooks from Teaching Special Thinkers almost every day last school year. The variety of math skills is AWESOME and so worth your money! Plus - no prep! I know one of the hardest things to find is work that our lowest level learners can participate in. These Errorless Adapted Books from Adaptation Station are a great way to get those students started on adapted books! These Task Boxes from Especially Education are another great item to prep to start off your year. These are great for 1:1 work and independent work! This growing bundle of Science & Social Studies activities is the perfect way to include those topics in your curriculum throughout the year. (Life Cycles will be added soon after this post is published!). If you're working with older students and need to incorporate some life skills, these Visual Cooking Recipes are a perfect starting point! This was only a small piece of the amazing resources for Special Education on TpT. Hopefully you saw a few things that will be a great start to your year (or career!) as a self contained teacher. Be on the lookout for part 2 of this blog post soon all about scheduling, the first weeks of school, managing paraprofessionals, communication, and more!
Autism teacher strategies for asd classrooms. Autism strategies for teachers looking for autism classroom set up ideas.
Strategies for teaching spelling in a classroom that often contains multiple grade levels and multiple learning levels can be a challenge.
Welcome back to my blog! In this post I am going to share how I modify the Creative Curriculum to fit the needs of my students. I want to preface this post by saying that my administration is extremely flexible with their expectations of the preschool teachers using the curriculum to its fullest. The curriculum […]
Welcome to my Life Skills classroom! I am so excited to share with you my classroom tour! When you step foot in my classroom, our bins are on the left. Students know to put their lunchbox, water, and any notes in these bins each morning as part of their morning routine checklist. The first area […]
special education, structured autism classroom tour, elementary, moderate/severe, setup, canine companions, visuals
Incorporating adapted music materials across the day yields growth in cognitive, communicative, emotional, physical and social domains.
Are you looking to refresh your autism schedule? Do you know where to start? Here's a dive into my daily schedule in an autism classroom!
Have you been curious about how to set up your elementary autistic support classroom? Join me as I give you a
Have you been curious about how to set up your elementary autistic support classroom? Join me as I give you a
Looking for a refreshed or new morning routine in your autism classroom? I'm sharing my routines for starting the day in an autism classroom!
Circle time is my baby. When I started my current job in 2002 and had one class of highly-impacted and self-contained students, I knew I wanted to lead the class in some way. Circle became my "thing". I now serve three self-contained classes and do circle in each of them. Each classroom's circle looks somewhat
