A mail delivery program is a perfect way to practice and generalize social skills, pre-vocational skills, and even sorting! My students LOVE delivering mail, and it allows our faculty to get to know them better. Mail delivery is a great classroom job. Ready to get started in your special education classroom? Read these tips!
What is a Mail Delivery Program?
Our mail delivery program works like this:
We pick up teacher mail from our mailboxes in the faculty room and deliver mail to each teacher during that teacher's prep period. If the teacher doesn't have mail, we bring them a No Mail treat. Students practice greeting the teacher when they enter the classroom, and some a conversation with the teacher if that's a goal area.
What You'll Need for a Mail Delivery Program
a cart of some sort to put the mail on
a crate
hanging files for each class period or part of the day that you deliver
a file folder for each teacher that you deliver to
a container for your No Mail treats
visuals
data clipboard if you are recording data
How to Get Started with Mail Delivery
To start, you'll want to first get permission from your principal. Second, send out a Google form to each teacher in your school (or give each teacher a printed form) to find out if they want to participate and when their prep time is. Then, set up your mail delivery cart, create your schedule, prep your visuals, and you're ready to go!
I assign one student per class period to deliver mail. This way, they learn their "route" and can build relationships with the teachers they deliver to. I plan on about 10 minutes for mail delivery, but it may be more or less depending on the size of your school and the ability of your students.
It's important to provide specific feedback when the student is learning their route, just like you would with any new skill. When needed, we also role-play and practice our greetings before we leave the classroom.
Also, fair warning, some teachers may need some training up front on how to interact with the students and what the goal of the program is!
How to Accommodate Your Mail Delivery Program
To help students identify the teacher's mailbox, you can color code mailboxes and your files with a simple sticker or different colored tape.
For low vision students, you can place textured paper/materials on the file for the student to feel. Match the texture to the teacher's mailbox and classroom door.
For non-verbal students, program their AAC devices with the mail script, or use a Big Mac switch to record a greeting.
Mail Delivery Starter Kit
Ready to get started? I've created a Mail Delivery Starter Kit just for you! Inside, you'll find:
File folder labels
Daily schedule
Teacher sign up letter
No mail treat tags
Visual schedules
Mail delivery scripts
AAC switch labels
You can download your FREE Mail Delivery Starter kit in the resource library.
I'd love to hear how it goes!
