Take a peek inside 9 unique special education classroom setups! Learn how each teacher sets up her classroom!
Task boxes can be highly beneficial for special education students for several reasons: They provide structured learning by way of presenting learning materials in an organized way, they provide visual supports, repetition & practice, and skill generalization. Task boxes can also be customized to meet each individual student’s needs and IEP goals, promote independence, and […]
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.
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
Want to give your students some tech time? Try these six must-have apps for special ed to help teach as they have fun!
Being a new special education teacher can be overwhelming and stressful. Check out The FIRST thing to do as a new special ed teacher.
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
Before we dive in to my tried and true sped teacher must haves, I have to say that you truly don’t NEED anything. What do you truly need to give your students if you ask me? Most importantly, your students need love, relationships, and validation. But when it comes down to actual sped teacher supplies
Make your math instruction time work for you with the help of Math Adapted Work Binders! Here's how they can make your teaching life easier!
Starting a task box center and system in your special education classroom is a way to increase student independence and free up staff.
Using technology in the classroom offers many benefits. These free apps for special education offer engagement and reinforce skills taught!
Sight words are a great place to start for literacy goals on your students' IEPs. I'll show you how to make IEP goals for sight words for your students.
IEP goal bins will help you keep your students' goals and materials organized so you can focus on what's important: the students.
Interview prep questions for new special education teachers and teachers who are interviewing this year! Download the list!
You aren't making these teacher mistakes in your special education class, are you? Here's 6 mistakes teachers and paras in SpEd make PLUS 5 easy fixes too!
Make lesson planning easier by repeating activities. Keep reading to find out how each life skills activity is different each day.
sign me up now! Find helpful ideas and engaging resources to support your special education students! And get back to doing more of what you love, teaching! DISCOVER IDEAS FIND INSPIRATION SAVE TIME ENGAGE STUDENTS
In the field of education, there are things known as executive functions. Executive functions are defined as cognitive processes that control, regulate and
Making sure our students have enough math practice is vital. Thankfully, there are math websites that are great for special ed!
Making sure our students have enough math practice is vital. Thankfully, there are math websites that are great for special ed!
Do you practice life skills in your SPED classroom? If you don't, you should! Let me show you how to set up life skills centers.
Color coding your special ed classroom can be a game changer for your organization. I can teach you how to color code your classroom.
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!
Special education teachers have a lot on their plates. Take a look at my 10 websites for special education for tips, tricks, and resources.
You aren't making these teacher mistakes in your special education class, are you? Here's 6 mistakes teachers and paras in SpEd make PLUS 5 easy fixes too!
Want to know my favorite special education teacher hacks? I've got you covered! If you are a special education teacher, you know how hard it is to meet every student's needs AND keep a well organized classroom. Below, I've compiled 5 special education teacher hacks you need to know! 1. Jewelry Organizers For Visual Storage
As a special education teacher and IEP caseload manager, it is really difficult to find an IEP Planner and a Lesson Planner all in one that works for your classroom. One with enough spots for small group planning, a curriculum calendar map, and the general calendars for the year… but also all the IEP stuff: […]
Making sure our students have enough math practice is vital. Thankfully, there are math websites that are great for special ed!
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.
Learn about science curriculum created for self-contained special education classrooms by a real special education teacher!
Improve Outcomes for Students with Disabilities- The Teacher Nook podcast interview with Maya Bechi on teaching students in special education.
You landed the job and you're a brand new teacher! Check out these tips for first year special education teachers in this blog post!
Special educators need a pretty large toolbox of strategies and resources to support our learners. So often, our students can have significantly diverse needs and levels. On any given day, special education teachers might need to take student reading data, modify a math assessment, teach science wit
Classroom hacks that actually work in a special education classroom setting. Tried and true methods from actual teachers. Read to learn more.
Special education teachers have a lot on their plates. Take a look at my 10 websites for special education for tips, tricks, and resources.
I was in a heated IEP meeting one time, and a teacher angrily blurted out, 'What do you want from me? Do you want me
Learn which strategies to use with students who are engaging in escape or task avoidance behaviors in special education classes.
What do you do as a special ed. teacher when a student with autism refuses to work? It depends on the function of the behavior! Learn the 12 Best Strategies!
The classroom decor choices you make significantly impact classroom management. Click to read the dos & don'ts of decor in special education.
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.
Take a peek inside 7 special education sample schedules to get some schedule ideas for your own special education classroom!
Visual boundaries are a vital part of classroom setup. Let me show you how I utilize these visual boundaries in classroom!
Have you been curious about how to set up your elementary autistic support classroom? Join me as I give you a
You probably already know that I LOVE literacy in the classroom! I love everything about it- from helping students grow a love for books, to seeing the connection between literacy & communication, to doing read alouds with kids, and watching students sound out their first word! Something I've always believed (and have seen to be true over my years in the classroom) is that even if students aren't "conventional readers," they can still do a lot during literacy instruction! We often have students who can't read (yet) in self-contained classrooms, but that doesn't mean we can't teach the five core components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics & word study, reading comprehension, vocabulary and reading fluency. We can (and should) teach our students more than just letter identification, letter sounds, sight words identification, and basic functional reading skills. There are SO many ways to work on students' IEP goals while exposing students to the common core and/or adapted curriculum content! It just takes some creativity and of course, differentiation. I'm going to share some ideas for focusing on writing, comprehension and vocabulary when working with students with intensive needs. First let me say, I don't think there is one "right way" to run reading groups in special ed classrooms. It's important to hit all 5 core components of reading across the day, but boxed guided reading curricula often just don't work in our classrooms. If you want to read more about how we structure/ set up reading groups, check out this post. So let's jump in... this is how we do it: Each group reads the same book for the entire week, similar to a repeated reading during traditional guided reading and shared reading lessons! Some students verbally read the books, while other students listen to a teacher read the book. Students are provided with a way to engage with the book during the reading. I use these communication/ answer boards during reading. Students can use the boards to match pictures, answer yes/ no questions, sequence the story, etc. Every day we finish reading the book, we answer differentiated comprehension questions. One level has pictures/ visuals to support students with answering questions and the other level has only words. Again, some students will read the question and answer options and other students will have a teacher read the question/ answer options to them. We do a different activity related to the repeated story each day. One day, we review vocabulary words from the book. We will read/ repeat the words, find the words in the book, define them, find them on our communication boards, etc. The main focus is for students to learn the vocabulary words, have exposure to the content and also work on their fine motor/ writing IEP goals. We practice writing the vocabulary words. Depending on needs, students are: tracing words copying words with boxes copying from a word bank with boxes or copying from a word bank. We also spend a day answering comprehension questions about the book. This is also highly differentiated so that all students can participate. A few of the concepts the comprehension worksheets include are: filling in the blank/ completing sentences identifying the main idea & key details answering direct recall questions identifying unfamiliar vocabulary making inferences As we read the questions to students, we will prompt students to go back and reference the book or communication boards to find the answers, if needed. Depending on needs, students are: tracing the answers picking the answer from a field of 2 writing or copying the answer We also spend a day to work on using the vocabulary words in sentences. This is a great way to work on communication skills, grammar, fine motor/ writing, and comprehension/ vocabulary. Depending on needs, students are: tracing 2 sentences using the vocabulary words dictating 2 sentences to a teacher and then copying the sentences writing 2 sentences with a word bank These activities only fill 3 days of instruction. The other 2 days of reading groups, I typically use other comprehension activities I can find on TpT. They might be sequencing/ cut and paste activities or other writing prompts I can find. I like to give our students the structure and predictability of using similar worksheets 3 days a week and then mixing it up 2 days a week. I hope this helps to give you ideas for working on comprehension & writing in your classroom! You can email me ([email protected]) or DM me on social media with any questions or ideas you have! If you want a freebie/ sample of my book & writing/ comprehension extension pack, you can grab my Life Cycle of a Frog and extension pack for FREE here. If you want to grab the entire bundle of 37 books and writing/ comprehension activities, click here! Note: if you already own my Circle Time/ Morning Meeting curriculum, then you already own the books! You can get the extension packs separately here.
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
This article will give you helpful tips and tricks on teaching music for special education classes in your elementary school.
