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!
Hello, teacher friends! I hope you all are enjoying your summer vacation. I have been enjoying spending time with my kids, trying new recipes, pinning freezer meals to make my life easier when school starts in fall, reading some fabulous books, and a little bit of cleaning/organzing (wishing it was more). If you are in ... Read More about Positive Behavior Management for the Classroom
I have been CRAZY excited to share my classroom with ya'll this year. This is my third year in this classroom, and I'm in love with how it turne ...
Working in an Autism Unit or Self Contained classroom? You need this simple list of instructional strategies for students with Autism.
Take a look into the first 6-8 weeks of school in special education classroom with no academics. I will share tips and tricks with you!
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.
As a special education teacher, there are a lot of things we need. But this is a list of 25 things that we MUST have to help us manage the classroom and survive. List of special ed must haves blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.
Being a new special education teacher can be overwhelming and stressful. Check out The FIRST thing to do as a new special ed teacher.
Have you ever had to use a district curriculum that doesn’t really fit the levels or needs of your special needs student? It can be hard to make a purchased program work for our students, but it IS possible! To do so, though, we need to be flexible and creative….We totally rock flexible and creative, ... Read More about Modifying Curriculum For The Special Needs Student
As a first year teacher or a teacher starting in a new class, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. These first year teacher tips will help!
Informal assessments for special education in the areas of Reading, Writing, and Math. Two versions: one printable and one digital.
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!
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.
Looking for the best apps for autism? From language development apps for non-verbal kids to Social Story development tools, we've got 9 fabulous picks!
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
When you first start teaching in a school that does block scheduling, 90 minutes seems like an awful lot of time to fill with instruction.
Take a peek inside 9 unique special education classroom setups! Learn how each teacher sets up her classroom!
Your first year of teaching can be extremely overwhelming. Let's talk about what NOT to focus on in your first year.
Wonder about behaviors typical to kids with Autism and want to know why they do that? Read on and learn more! || Why do kids with Autism Do That?
Special education classrooms need decor and organization tweaks to fit the program needs. Read the tips on how to make the best decor choices for your sped classroom.
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...
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
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.
Pages: 60 pages File Size: 12 MB
Autism and wandering in the classroom can be a huge problem, Learn the 5 steps to changing wandering behavior in your classroom. Listen now...
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
Classroom calm down corner ideas are easy to come by, but these actually work. Here are 5 easy ways to get started with your calm down area. Start with this...
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!
While there are many different elements that go into setting up a special education program, there are 5 main areas that should be a priority. Here are the 5 areas that take I work on first…. Physical Layout The first thing to focus on is the physical set up of the classroom. Consider these 3 ... Read More about 5 Tips For Setting Up Your Special Education Classroom
Accommodations to support students in your classroom who have Dyscalculia or other math disabilities be successful in school.
Wondering how to fit everything into your schedule in a self contained special needs classroom? I'm sharing my self contained class schedule and specifics on what each part of our school day looks like. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.
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
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
Want to learn some about some of the BEST CHROME EXTENSIONS for teachers? Teachers are using their computers, now more than ever. Educators are always...
IEP goal bins will help you keep your students' goals and materials organized so you can focus on what's important: the students.
This file is designed to allow for paraprofessionals to accurately document student progress and data while doing inclusion. This file contains... - A paraprofessional job description in SPED -A time log for paraprofessionals to keep them accountable and to allow for a way to track accurate inclu...
Setting up a classroom can be overwhelming! However, taking time and being meaningful about certain aspects of the classroom setup can really help you to start your school year off well. Spend time upfront organizing. This might not be the most exciting part of setting up a classroom and it might seem obvious, but getting organized will definitely set you up for success in the fall. I suggest getting all of your materials out of cabinets, off of shelves and out of bins and separating materials into piles based on categories and functions (i.g. put all the math materials, literacy materials, cooking supplies, sensory toys, etc. together). Then look at what organization materials and space you already have (like bins, buckets, shelving units, etc.) and determine what materials will fit where. Grouping all of the materials that belong together ahead of time will avoid finding another 2 boxes of math manipulatives three days later and not having shelf space for them with the rest of the math materials. Create a classroom layout/ template. I don't like to move heavy furniture multiple times, so I'll make a classroom template/ layout before I move a single piece of furniture. I obviously normally end up moving a few pieces of furniture again at some point either in August or September, but making a template avoids moving heavy bookshelves 20 times just in July. You don't have to have your entire schedule planned out to create the template/ layout, but before you plan your layout and start setting up your room, you'll want to have an idea of what activities you're going to do on a daily basis. Here are a few things to think about when planning your classroom layout: -Think through each daily lesson/ activity that you plan to do. Where will you store materials? Where will students and staff sit for each activity? Will students be distracted (visually or physically) by anything when they're in that space? -Make spaces that have dual functions (i.g. use a table for small group and snack, or a small area for independent play and an independent reading center.) -How many small groups are you going to be running at a time? -Are you going to be running any whole group activities? How many students and staff will be included in this? -Put any toys or super reinforcing/ distracting materials away (I suggest putting all toys in cabinets that students can't get into. You can read more that here.) -Use furniture and rugs to section off the classroom and create little sections/ spaces, but leave room to maneuver students with wheelchairs, if needed. -Do you have paraprofessionals or nurses in your classroom? If so, think about where they will store their personal belongings and if they need a work space. Don't over do it with the decor. Don't get me wrong, I love a beautiful classroom, but we don't want to overstimulate our kiddos with too much decoration or empty our pockets spending a ton of money on pompoms and borders. I love to turn my visuals and work materials into my decor by adding pretty backgrounds and printing on colored paper. It's a simple (and cheap) way to add color into your classroom without adding visual clutter or breaking the bank. A pretty watercolor addition to schedule cards. You can grab picture schedule cards in my TpT shop here. Objectives on colored paper and a pretty colored core board poster. My next suggestion is to create a few bulletin boards that are pretty but that are meaningful. A few examples could include a pretty colored goal board, schedule board, word wall, etc. I just suggest making bulletin boards that can stay for more than a month long and add value to your classroom. Happy classroom set up!
Hitting and Pinching in Autism Units and Self Contained- Tips and tricks to teach students to stop hitting and pinching. The Nook podcast from Noodlenook.net
Setting up classroom jobs for our students is a great way to build a sense of community and ownership in the class as well as teaching about responsibility. Here are some ideas for getting you started: We assign our daily jobs during morning meeting group. Every morning we combine WH question practice, identifying peers and ... Read More about Setting Up Student Jobs Inside The Special Ed. Classroom
This article will give you helpful tips and tricks on teaching music for special education classes in your elementary school.
