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Teaching in a pandemic has been full of challenges. Teachers have had to get extra creative to navigate the protocols and guidelines that Covid has thrown at us. There are not a lot of changes that I made during Covid that I was thrilled about, but if I had to pick one thing to continue, it would be break bins! This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the qualifying links at no additional cost to you. Why Use Break Bins? The school day is long, and students need breaks. In my classroom, I could easily build in leisure time at the end of each class period. Every student was given the last ten minutes of class as leisure time. This provided a sensory break for those that needed it, time for movement and walks, and time to socialize with peers. It also gave me a few minutes to gather materials for my next group, my paras time to take a restroom or snack break, and time for students to use the restroom or get a drink if needed. Students have a variety of classroom activities and reinforcers that they can access during leisure or free time. I created a class menu for students to choose from. During Covid, I needed a way to provide access to these fun reinforcers without having to clean items between each student. So I created break bins. Break bins are a great way to decrease transitions and the sharing of classroom materials while also providing individualized and motivating reinforcers for my students. Setting Up Break Bins At the beginning of the year, I purchased one plastic shoe bin for each student, labeled it, filled it with fun toys, and left it on each student's desk. Students could use their break bin during leisure time or during class if they requested a break. Class breaks are much shorter than our 10-minute leisure time. What to Put In Break Bins I started with these items: slime kinesthetic sand mini koosh ball fidget tools (spinners, stretchy bands, poppers, spiky balls, etc.) slinky sensory bottle bubbles As I got to know students better and completed preference assessments, I was able to individualize the bins to be reinforcing for each student. Here are some other ideas: legos or blocks toy cars small action figures toy animal figures musical instruments small whiteboard and marker boogie board or LCD writing tablet markers, crayons or colored pencils and a notepad light up toys If you want to get started with break bins, here are a few of my favorite items. My other favorite place to shop for break bin items is the dollar store! If you can take your students on field trips, it would be so fun to go to the dollar store and let them choose items for their bins! Have fun building your break bins!

Spring is in the air! After a long, cold winter, it's fun to add some spring elements to your classroom decor. Here are a few of my favorites from Amazon! This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the qualifying links at no additional cost to you. Spring Bulletin Board Trim Change up your bulletin boards and add some spring elements! I love this grass bulletin border. Daisy Classroom Banner Add a touch of spring with this daisy banner. It would look amazing at the top of your whiteboard! Spring Teacher Lanyard A seasonal lanyard is a great addition to your teacher wardrobe! These baby chicks are the cutest! Spring Floral Pom Poms Add a pop of color to your calm down corner or reading nook with these floral pom poms. Spring Floral Bulletin Board Trim These floral borders would look amazing on a hallway bulletin board! Can't wait to see your spring classroom decor! Tag me on Instagram @missluluclassroomdecor!

I know lots of teachers who love to use fine motor groups or stations as a way to break up classroom instruction. It was always one of my students' favorite groups! Here are three low prep activities you can try out during fine motor rotations that your students will love! 1. I have never met a kid that didn't want to try out using a hole punch as soon as they saw me pull it out. There's just something about them! I love these seasonal punch cards because they give students intentional practice with a hole punch. If you have students that have difficulty using a hole punch, you could use small stickers or stamp markers instead. Both options are still great practice for fine motor skills. 2. Tracing can be so boring for students but add a dry erase marker and it's a whole new activity. This set of holiday tracing task cards is great for independent work or fine motor stations. I like to buy a set of colored dry erase markers for students to use with these task cards to make it even more exciting. 3. Another favorite set of task cards in my classroom was this set of dot to dot task cards. I like to create task cards that are a little different than what my students are used to. It helps them generalize work skills and makes learning more fun. These are really good for students who are working on pencil grip and hand-eye coordination. Let me know what you think of these activities!

You can't go wrong with a rainbow color scheme, but if you're not into the bright, primary colors, consider going with a pastel rainbow theme. Check out these pastel rainbow accents and decor items. These are all available on Amazon and go perfectly with the Pastel Geode Classroom Decor line in my TpT store. Check out my favorites! This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the qualifying links at no additional cost to you. Bulletin Board Trim This pastel rainbow bulletin trim matches the graphics in the Pastel Geode line perfectly. I love the hints of gold and glimmer. Flexible Seating These saucer chairs are perfect for flexible seating! I love having comfy options for students to work or read in. Classroom Bunting These cute bunting accents would look adorable at the top of your classroom whiteboard! Rope Lights I love hanging lights below my classroom whiteboard for a fun, ambient look. This rope light comes in such pretty pastel colors! File Folders You can never have enough file folders, and you might as well coordinate them with your classroom theme! Rainbow Pillow I love having pillows in my classroom in a calm down corner or a reading nook. This rainbow pillow is so cute! Rolling Storage Carts This rolling cart is perfect for small group instruction. I love the pink, but the yellow would also look amazing with the pastel color scheme! Classroom Supply Buckets These little metal buckets are perfect for storing writing utensils! Looking for more? Here's my Pastel Geode Theme list with all of my favorites! Don't have an Amazon Prime membership yet? Try it out with a free 30-day trial. If you are looking for a one-stop classroom decor bundle that will last you for years and years, check out this Pastel Geode Decor Bundle in my store. This bundle has everything you will need for your classroom and so many of the items included are editable so you can customize to fit your needs!

Just under half of the states in the US use the DLM Essential Elements for their students with cognitive disabilities. These standards are aligned to the general education standards but they pull the most essential skills and concepts and break them down into smaller chunks for students with severe disabilities. Even if you don't use the Essential Elements in your state, they are a great resource if you are trying to figure out how to break down a skill. Wouldn't it be nice if there was a curriculum out there that helped you teach the science standards at various levels for your special education students? Teaching to a set of standards is a whole new playing field compared to teaching IEP goals or a pre-determined curriculum. So let's talk about how we can teach the science standards effectively in our classroom. First, the science standards are different than math or language arts standards in that do not include all 5 linkage levels. There are only 3 linkage levels for science: Initial, Precursor & Target. How do we start teaching science? First, I like to create a pacing guide because this helps me break down the standards and the skills and ensure that I address all of them. Remember, the IEP is not our curriculum, and we need to teach math, ELA and science outside of just IEP goals if the student is not accessing these subjects in the general education setting. If you are able to fit science into your schedule daily, you may be able to spend less time on each standard. However, if you're schedule is jam-packed and you can't find time to address science daily, don't panic, you're in the same boat that most of us are. I like to focus on one standard each month, and I like to tie it into seasons and holidays whenever possible because it's fun. For example, in February, we learned about the human body and the heart to align with Valentine's day. In December, we talked about heat conduction because is there a better time to drink hot chocolate? An even better way to do it, especially if you are an elementary teacher, is to align the standards you teach each month to the standards that are being taught in the general education classroom. This is a great time to collaborate with your colleagues! What does mastery in science standards look like? Teaching the Essential Elements, or any other set of standards is going to look different than teaching IEP goals. IEP goals are written to master the skill in one year. With standards, we don't have a year to teach each standard. We have to cover them all. So mastery is going to look different than Let's practice teaching science standards! I like to use the linkage levels in the standards to help me create a scope and sequence for my instruction. Let's look at this standard for elementary physical science. First, for each standard, identify the overall big idea. For this standard, the big idea is the law of conservation of mass. Mass is neither created nor destroyed in chemical reactions. Identifying the big idea ensures that you are intentional in your teaching and you have a clear target. There really is a reason that administrators want you to write the learning target on your whiteboard. Then, you'll look at each level and teach it. Science is a hands-on subject, so use manipulatives, experiments, and models as much as possible. This is why it's such a fun subject to teach! When teaching this standard, start with the initial level. Teach students that a material can change from a liquid to a solid or vice versa. Use the wisdom on the internet to help you identify materials and experiments to teach this concept. Don't forget to cover pre-requisite skills, such as what a liquid and solid are. Once students understand that a material can change from a liquid to a solid, then move onto the precursor level. For this, you will measure the liquid and solid forms of the material to show that matter is conserved. The weight doesn't change, even though the material is in a different state or takes up a different amount of space. Finally, move to the target level, where students will measure the weight and compare. Remember that even though you are moving on and teaching all three linkage levels, some students' mastery may still be at the initial level, while others can be expected to reach mastery at the target level. This is important! Let's look at another standard. 1. Identify the big idea: Our body (organs and organ systems) interact to support survival. 2. Determine the mastery level for each individual student. Remember to individualize. With some students, you may focus on matching major organs. Some students may match the organ to the organ system. Others may be able to determine the function of the system and make a claim about how that function supports survival. It depends on the levels of your students and what they can reasonably achieve through the instruction in the unit. 3. Teach the initial level: Humans and animals have organs. Students learn to identify the major organs of the body, such as the heart, brain, intestines, stomach, etc. 4. Teach the precursor level: Organs are connected in organ systems. Students learn the major body systems and the organs that are involved in that system. 5. Teach the target level: Organs and organ systems work together to keep us alive. Students learn the function of the system and how it supports survival. For example, our circulatory system includes the heart, which uses veins and arteries to get blood through our whole body. Students need to understand that the blood delivers oxygen to all the parts of our body, and without that oxygen, those parts would die. I hope that helps you wrap your brain around teaching science in special education! It's such a fun subject to teach, and the students love it! Let me know how it goes!

Alright, teachers, let's chat about data! We all know that we have to collect data, but the most important thing is that we are using data to guide our instruction. So what does using the data mean? It's more than just looking at it. I know this seems obvious, but when I go into classrooms with teachers, I see students working on the same skill in the same format with minimal progress. Sometimes, because we know how important repetition is, we think that if we keep repeating the same thing, eventually, it will stick! But that's not the reality for students, and honestly, it makes them less motivated to learn because they get bored. Repetition is important, but our instructional toolbox needs to include more than that. But that's a post for another day. When providing instruction, we need to use the data we collect to make instructional changes. Here are some decisions you may make when analyzing data. 1. Move on to the next objective. Data will show us when mastery is met, which means it is time to move on to the next lesson, objective, or benchmark. Make sure to explicitly teach your paraprofessionals to watch for this so they don't continue teaching the same objective long after it's been mastered. 2. Go back to a previous lesson. If the data shows you that a student has regressed in previously mastered skills, you may need to go back to a previous lesson, objective, or benchmark and re-teach. One thing you can do to prevent this is to think about adding the mastered skills into your daily routine to ensure maintenance. If a student is really struggling and progress is minimal, they may be missing a prerequisite skill. You may need to re-teach the pre-requisite skill until the concept is solidified and they are ready to move on. 3. Add scaffolding and support. If data shows minimal progress, you may have jumped too far into the next skill or faded supports too quickly. You may need to add visuals, an additional prompt, or an alternate response (such as a receptive response vs. an expressive response, some natural cues, or more prompts) to help the student succeed. Then, make sure you fade those supports out. For example, I observed a student working on sequencing numbers 1-10. They had mastered matching the numbers on a number line, so the teacher faded the matching numbers out, and the student was now expected to just sequence on the number line. But they were making minimal progress and still continually missing the same numbers. So, we added a few of the matching numbers back in and then faded just one at a time as they were improving. Make sure not to jump too far when fading prompts! 4. Remove scaffolding and support. In the example I shared above, it would have been super helpful for the student if we had started by just fading a few of the numbers and continued to remove them as the data showed progress. Ideally, we want to remove supports instead of adding them in, so be extra cautious about the steps you take in your scaffolding. 5. Add behavior interventions. Yes, we know that behavior interferes with learning. If your data shows that a student is struggling, it may be helpful to add in some behavior support. For example, I recently talked to a teacher who said that they could not get through an academic session. Next to the data, she continually was writing, "noncompliance." This is a red flag that we need to support the student's behavior needs before we can expect academic progress. Try some basic behavior interventions, such as a visual schedule, token board, breaks, etc., to help the student be engaged during learning time. 6. Change your instructional strategy. Data should guide your instruction. If the student is not making progress, it's time to change our instructional strategy. Try a new approach, like direct instruction, different engagement strategies, increase modeling and guided practice, graphic organizers, etc. Don't do the same thing for weeks or months and expect the student to "get it". I hope these tips help guide your decision-making when you are analyzing student data. Grab a free checklist in the resource library to put in your data binders to help you when analyzing data!

Alright, teachers, it's only a matter of time before you have a parent or a teacher or a paraprofessional that disagrees with you to some extent on an IEP decision. Maybe they want a service that the student doesn't qualify for, maybe they want a change to the IEP that the team disagrees with, or maybe they want the student in another placement. Whatever it is, having hard conversations is part of our job as members of the IEP team. If your anxiety is in overdrive due to an upcoming difficult conversation, here are some tips to get through it. Give yourself wait time or cool-down time. When emotions are heated, the last thing you want to do is go into a meeting and say something you might regret later. Whenever possible, take a minute (or a day) to cool down and return to the conversation when all team members are calmed down. I've been known to type a reply to a heated email and say all the things I want to say in the moment when I am angry or frustrated, and then save it to my drafts and come back and delete it the next day. It helps me "get it all out" without saying something I will regret. Look at what is best for the student. The ultimate guiding question for hard discussions and decisions is, "Is this what is best for the student?" Everyone will have varying opinions on what is best for the student, but it's important to remember that we are all here to do what we believe is best. If we can keep our meetings and our decisions student-focused, then we are doing what is best for the student. Use data to guide your decisions, not feelings. Keep going back to the data. This is your research that is going to guide your decisions. Set aside the emotions and use data to show the team where the student is at, what's successful, what's not working, etc. Look at each person's role and make an attempt to understand where they are coming from. I believe that seeing the other person's perspective is crucial to understanding and coming up with a solution. Understand what feelings are guiding their argument. Is it fear? Is it grief? Is it convenience? By understanding the emotion behind the argument, you can come up with a solution that eases that emotion. In addition, take into account their role on the team. Your teachers may be coming from a point of frustration and overwhelm because you're asking them to take on one more thing on top of the never-ending list. Your related service providers may not understand what the classroom situation is like and may be asking for something that they feel is reasonable. Your student's parents may be doing what they believe is best for their child without the educational background to back it up. The role each member plays will help you understand where they are coming from. Establish your talking points. Take that email you wrote after tip one and write out all your talking points. Keep them positive and student-focused. You don't want to script out your discussion because you never know what another team member may say, but you should have talking points to guide your discussion and ensure you don't leave anything out. I also find it helpful to role play with a co-worker, partner, or friend. Establish meeting norms. For those really tough, highly emotional meetings, it is helpful to start the meeting with norms. These are behaviors that the whole team agrees on. For example, use respectful language, use "I statements", and wait your turn to speak. Remember that you do not have to put up with a team member (parent or co-worker) being mean or disrespectful. If things get out of hand, stop the meeting and reconvene later when everyone has cooled down. Be compassionate and listen. I have this one last, but I believe it is the most important of all. Listen to team members' concerns. There is a lot of validity to them. If you can truly listen and not take things personally, you can identify and improve your own behaviors. Meetings, especially IEP meetings, can be highly emotional and full of grief. Be compassionate and caring. Keep it student-focused and positive whenever you can. Best of luck to you in your next difficult meeting. You've got this!

I believe that, as special educators, we are responsible for providing students with exposure to skills and content, more than just what is in their IEP. Of course, the IEP should be the main focus, and those goals need to be taught to mastery, but we still must provide every student access to a high-quality, content-rich curriculum. Too often, we get hung up on teaching skills in isolation until mastery, but until those skills are applied, they are meaningless and abstract. We are providing students with the experiences they have when learning to read, and we can make it a positive, meaningful experience where students are successful. We can have a positive attitude and teach them that reading can be more than three-letter words and choppy sentences. We can assume competence and know that our students can learn new skills, outside of the traditional "functional" skills, that are still applicable in their lives. We have every opportunity in the world to give our students with significant disabilities more. After all, what is more functional than being literate? Here are a few of my favorite ways to make literacy instruction more meaningful. 1. Incorporate independent, leisure reading. Provide access to books that the student is interested in that they would be able to read at the library or at home. Teach students that reading can be fun! Independent reading is a leisure skill, and it would be a huge benefit to our students if we could help them love it just a little bit more. In my classroom, we spent 10-20 minutes a day on "independent" reading. For some students, that means looking at pictures. Some students enjoy being read to. Some students can read independently, and some listen to audiobooks or books on Epic. The most important thing was that no assignment or quiz was tied to this. It was just reading for fun. 2. Incorporate language and communication through repeated lines. When reading aloud, use a repeated line throughout your book. Signal to students when the repeated line should be read. Provide visual supports and communication boards, or program them into a switch or communication device for your limited-expression students. This is a great way to get everyone to participate in the reading. 3. Pull in other subject areas and skills when they are brought up in the book. When I teach "Winn Dixie" my students learn how to write a party invitation. We learn appropriate social skills and manners for a party. We make egg salad sandwiches and Dump punch. If you have used my Story Based Literacy units, I include multiple cross-content activities to keep students engaged. Create real-life, functional applications whenever possible to increase comprehension and make it meaningful. 4. Don't teach phonics skills in isolation. I have had many teachers discuss their struggle with getting students to master letter names and sounds. They have been practicing with flashcards for years, and the student still cannot remember what sound each letter makes. When we are teaching these basic skills in isolation, students are just looking at an abstract shape on a flashcard, and we are expecting them to put meaning to it and remember it forever. We limit exposure to meaningful literacy experiences when we get held up on mastery. According to Karen Erickson & David Koppenhaver in their book, Comprehensive Literacy for All (affiliate link), "Students with significant disabilities can develop alphabet knowledge and apply it meaningfully to reading and spelling when it is taught and immediately applied in the context of comprehensive instruction that extends over a period of months and years (e.g., Allor et al., 2010; Fallon, Light, McNaughton, Drager, & Hammer, 2004; Johnston, Buchanan, & Davenport, 2009; Koppenhaver & Erickson, 2003). Of course, our students need to master these essential alphabet skills, but we need to also provide opportunities to apply what they are learning in actual literacy instruction. 5. Focus on comprehension skills. Reading can be hard for our students, and when we drill and kill wh- questions, we're making it even harder. What if we switched and taught comprehension through other formats? Maybe a student's favorite TV show or a good, sucks-you-in audiobook? Students could learn HOW to answer questions in a motivating way, and then we can work on generalizing that skill to reading. 6. Pick words that are meaningful in the student's life for reading and spelling. If you're teaching sight words, pick words that the student sees daily in their immediate environment. Guess what? Grocery words are not functional for most 5th graders or even middle schoolers. Road signs are not functional for students who cannot drive. Just because a program has a "functional" label slapped on it doesn't mean it's functional for every student. Want to continue the conversation? Shoot me a message on Instagram, and let's keep chatting!

Looking for a classroom theme that's perfect for a new school year? Apple classroom decor is so fun! Here are a few of my favorites! This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the qualifying links at no additional cost to you. Red & White Plaid Bulletin Border How cute will this border look on your back-to-school bulletin boards?! I think it's a perfect combination with apples! Apple Rug I love this rug! You could put it down in front of your classroom door as a welcome mat. Apple Sticky Note Holder What a perfect accessory for your desk in your apple themed classroom! These are so convenient. A sticky note is always right there. Customized Apple Sign This sign is absolutely adorable and will look so cute hanging above your teacher desk! It's also handmade by a small business. Felt Apple Banner Hang this cute banner across your whiteboard or classroom door to tie it into your apple theme! Apple Classroom Posters I made these six FREE apple classroom posters for you to hang on a bulletin board or across your classroom cupboards. Download them in the resource library in the Classroom Decor Resources section.

Valentine's Day is a fun holiday, but we all know how chaotic holidays can be! Students are so excited for all the candy! I'm always looking for low prep holiday activities that my students can complete for some fun, themed learning! Here are three low prep Valentine's Day counting activities for the classroom. 1. Valentine's Day Counting Boom Cards Boom Cards are a great, no prep activity! If you have iPads, students can complete the deck independently on an iPad. Or, you can do these as a whole class counting activity by projecting them on your board and having students take turns to count one task card at a time. These Valentine's Day Counting Task Cards come with a printable version and a Boom Cards Deck! 2. Valentine's Day Counting Click It Book What's more low prep than a digital activity? Click It Books are interactive PDFs that work great for projecting or iPads. In this interactive activity, students practice counting to 10. 3. Valentine's Day Spin & Count Mat This freebie is perfect for Valentine's Day math centers! Grab a paperclip for a spinner and some cute Valentine's mini erasers and start counting. You can download this free in the resource library. Don't forget to get the password for the resource library so you can grab your free Valentine's counting activities! Happy Valentine's Day!

Thank you notes are always an essential purchase on my Back to School list. I love to keep a few different packs in my desk so they're always there when I need one. Keeping thank you notes in my teacher desk is something I started my first year of teaching. Whenever I needed to write one, I could just pick from my stash. I will admit, I am a procrastinator, so when it comes time to write a thank you note, I'd be running to the store on my prep to buy one the day I needed it. I use thank you notes ALL the time. Here are a few reasons why I love to have teacher thank you cards in my desk. to give to student teachers or practicum students to thank my paraprofessionals for a job well done to show my appreciation to my general education colleagues to thank for classroom volunteers when a student or parent brings you a gift Grab 5 different free thank you postcards in my resource library. Go to Classroom Decor Resources - Thank You Post Cards. Then just print on cardstock, print, and stash in your desk! Have a great year!

Going to the grocery store is one of my favorite community based instruction experiences. When I taught middle school, we were lucky to be right down the street from a grocery store, so we could walk there easily. There are lots of things we can work on in the grocery store. Many of my students have limited community experiences at home because of behavior or sensory concerns. I like to start working on getting students out into the community in middle school so they are used to it when they are in high school or a post-high setting. Because I taught middle school, I didn't work a ton on vocational skills at this age. We didn't worry about bagging or stocking groceries because it wasn't age-appropriate. I like to think about what other middle schoolers do when they go to the grocery store. It's a popular hangout spot being right down the street, so I can observe them in action! 😂 They are buying candy and soda and hanging out with their friends. They are not fully grocery shopping on their own but may go with their parents. So these are the skills I want to work on while beginning to prepare my students to fully grocery shop on their own. Here are some skills we work on prior to our trips. Writing a grocery list This is a great age-appropriate skill. I like to pull out real recipes to use to make a list of the needed ingredients. My students who are not yet writing use a cut and paste option or letter stamps. I have a free grocery list writing activity in my store. You can grab it here. Identifying food groups/ sections of the store In order to effectively grocery shop, you have to know where foods are generally located. Apples can be found in the product section, milk in the dairy section, and so on. We work on sorting foods into the correct food group/ section of the store. I had some random toy grocery foods from a math curriculum, and these worked great for a hands-on sorting activity. You could also use pictures or store ads. Reading signage Since we walk to the grocery store, we practice identifying common signs in the community, as well as signs inside the grocery store. I use Reading in Real Life: Grocery Edition to teach common grocery words, including signs like "Cart Return" and "Employees Only." Making a purchase This, of course, is an essential skill for the grocery store. Before heading to the store, we role-play and practice counting out our money to make a purchase. Some students work on using exact change, some students use the Next Dollar/ Dollar Up method, and some students work on swiping their debit cards. It all depends on the level of the student and their IEP goals. Asking for help Now if you're like me, you grocery shop online so you don't have to ask for help 😂, BUT it's still a skill we have to have when we visit an actual store. First, I model what this looks like in the store. Then, if possible, I like to have each student practice asking an employee for help. Calculating best cost This is something we do all the time when we grocery shop that we need to explicitly teach our students. If I want to buy a loaf of bread, there are tons of options. I first need to narrow it down to the type of bread I want, and then from there, I can determine which is the best price. We can even work on calculating the price of an item on sale or understanding the concept of "on sale." Budgeting I have my grocery list but now I need to figure out if I can afford everything on it. Budgeting is an essential skill when shopping for anything. I love to use my Grocery Store Budgeting Unit to practice this prior to going to the grocery store. You can try a free sample here. Favorite Grocery Store Resources Here are some of my favorite resources for preparing for a grocery store community experience. Let's Write a List: Grocery Freebie Grocery Store Budgeting Unit Reading in Real Life: Grocery Store Unit Reading in Real Life: Grocery Store Task Cards The Autism Helper Grocery Store Unit Adulting in Sped Grocery Store Resources Can't wait to hear about your grocery store CBI experience! Leave a comment and let me know how it went!

Sensory tools were essential in my special education classroom! Having sensory tools available helps students stay on task, helped with sensory regulation, and helped decrease stress and anxiety. Here are ten of my favorite sensory tools for the special education classroom. This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the qualifying links at no additional cost to you. Water bead beanbags These beanbags are so fun to play with! They're also great for learning shapes and colors in a hands-on way! Slimy sand I bought some of this slimy sand for my son for Christmas and when he tried it out, I knew I had to get some for my classroom! It's like kinesthetic sand and slime combined! Use with caution, some students may eat this or make a huge mess! Also, your students will need to wash their hands afterward. Wobble board A wobble board is a great option for your wigglers! Students who need constant movement will love to stand and balance on a wobble board. This was a hit in my classroom! Chewy necklaces My students who liked to chew loved these necklaces! And they don't go nearly as far when chucked across the room as the chewy tubes! 😂 A pack of 8 lasted us over a year. Sensory bottles I love making sensory bottles with my students. You can use any type of clear bottle for these. I recommend plastic because things do get thrown occasionally. I found some clear reusable water bottles at Walmart for a quarter each and bought a ton of them! Just add warm water, glitter glue, and whatever other fun items you want! I bought this slime kit and we used the different items in our sensory bottles. Stress balls These started as something I purchased for myself, but my students loved them so much that I had to share! Stress balls are great for taking out to general education classes too. Wobble stool Another great option for your students who struggle to sit still. I find these wobble stools to be way less distracting than yoga balls and my students (and paras) loved them. Desk elliptical or exercise bike I found an under the desk elliptical on Facebook Marketplace for $40. Score! It was always being used! This is a great option for your students who need constant movement Water beads Water beads are not one of my personal favorites because they always end up squished into the carpet, but my students love them! I like to fill a Ziploc baggie and tape the top so it's a contained mess. Or if you're feeling brave, make a sensory bin with them. Your students will love it! Fidget poppers Last but not least, fidget poppers are all the rage right now, and I think they're worth the hype. There are so many ways you can use these academically, but they also make great sensory tools for regulation. I have a small keychain one in my car that I pop on my leg while driving to help keep my mind focused and my anxiety down when I'm driving to different schools! What are your favorite sensory tools? Did I miss any of your favorite ones?

Halloween is a fun but always chaotic holiday in the classroom. Students are so excited for candy and the whole costume-wearing experience always throws things for a loop! I never know what to expect on Halloween, so I'm always looking for low prep activities that my students can complete for some fun but themed learning! Here are three low prep Halloween counting activities for the classroom. 1. Halloween Counting Boom Cards Boom Cards are a great, no prep activity! If you have iPads, students can complete the deck independently on an iPad. Or, you can do these as a whole class counting activity by projecting them on your board and having students take turns to count one task card at a time. These Halloween Counting Task Cards come with a printable version and a Boom Cards Deck! 2. Halloween Color by Number Worksheets These Count & Color worksheets are perfect for students working on counting up to 10. And nothing is better than being able to print and go! Grab them free in the resource library. 3. Halloween Spin & Count Mat This freebie is perfect for Halloween math centers! Grab a paperclip for a spinner and some cute Halloween mini erasers and start counting. You can download this free in the resource library. Don't forget to get the password for the resource library so you can grab your free Halloween counting activities! Happy Halloween!

Classroom organization is a constant battle! Searching through other teachers' classroom organization ideas on Instagram is a top hobby of mine! As a special education teacher, I had curriculum and resources for multiple grade levels. I needed to be able to easily find and use all the things that I had, so I was constantly re-organizing. Here are some of my favorite organization supplies that I used in my classroom! This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a small commission when you click on the qualifying links at no additional cost to you. 1. Rolling cart These rolling carts are awesome for storing materials for small groups or your morning meeting/ circle time. I kept mine in the front of my classroom by the whiteboard with all of my markers, lesson targets that I switched out each month, and letters for our letter board that we used to write the date each day. I also have one that I use for a prep cart in my office. 2. Teacher Toolbox As a SPED teacher, I used my teacher toolbox to store extra visuals and schedule icons. But they are also great for school supplies. If you need some cute labels, I have tons of designs here. 3. Task boxes Ok, I might have a slight obsession with these task boxes, but they are amazing! I love using task boxes to store all of my independent work tasks. They are also great for individual sets of manipulatives. 4. Pencil pouches Pencil pouches are my go-to every year when the school supply sales hit! I Velcro them to the back of my student's chairs so they can keep their supplies organized. They are also great for storing manipulatives or work tasks. 5. Mesh Zipper Pouches These mesh zipper pouches are surprisingly durable. I love all the different sizes! They are great for organizing units or flashcards. I use these for everything! Did I miss anything? What are your favorites for classroom organization?

Budgeting is an extremely functional skill for a lot of our students with disabilities. I love working on budgeting starting in middle school. It's a great skill to tie into our Community Based Instruction, and working with money is very motivating for our students! I have several budgeting units in my store that focus on amounts from $10 to $50. These are great for small groups or one on one instruction, and the themes are so fun for seasonal activities! There are several skills within the units that can be targeted for IEP goals. Below are some ideas to get you started when writing budgeting IEP goals for your students. Store Navigation: When provided with a shopping list with 5 items, student will locate the items and their prices in a simulation or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive data sessions. Objective 1: When provided with a shopping list, with 2 items, student will locate the items and their prices in a simulation or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive data sessions. Objective 2: When provided with a shopping list, with 3 items, student will locate the items and their prices in a simulation or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive data sessions. Objective 3: When provided with a shopping list, with 4 items, student will locate the items and their prices in a simulation or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive data sessions. Addition: Given 2 prices written in decimal form, student will correctly add the prices together to determine the total for 4 out of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive data sessions. Objective 1: Given 2 whole dollar prices written in decimal form ($4.00, $3.00, etc), student will correctly add the prices together to determine the total for 4 out of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive data sessions. Objective 2: Given 2 prices with dollars and cents written in decimal form ($4.32, $3.58, etc), student will correctly add the prices together to determine the total for 4 out of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive data sessions. Comparison: Given 2 prices written in decimal form and a number line, student will correctly determine which item costs more in a simulation or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive data sessions. Objective 1: Given 2 whole dollar prices written in decimal form ($4.00, $3.00, etc), student will correctly determine which item costs more in a simulation or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive data sessions. Objective 2: Given 2 prices with dollars and cents written in decimal form ($4.32, $3.58, etc), student will correctly determine which item costs more in a simulation or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 opportunities across 3 consecutive data sessions. Budgeting: Given an assortment of bills and the written price of an item up to $50, the student will identify whether they have enough money to make the purchase and correctly make the purchase in a simulated or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 trials across 3 consecutive data sessions. Objective 1: Given an assortment of $1 bills and the written price of an item up to $50, the student will identify whether they have enough money to make the purchase and correctly make the purchase in a simulated or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 trials across 3 consecutive data sessions. Objective 2: Given an assortment of $1, $5 and $10 bills and the written price of an item up to $50, the student will identify whether they have enough money to make the purchase and correctly make the purchase in a simulated or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 trials across 3 consecutive data sessions. Objective 3: Given an assortment of $1, $5, $10 and $20 bills and the written price of an item up to $50, the student will identify whether they have enough money to make the purchase and correctly make the purchase in a simulated or real life scenario for 4 out of 5 trials across 3 consecutive data sessions. Provided with a pre-determined budget, student will develop a shopping list, add prices together, determine if he has enough money to make a purchase, and make a purchase in a simulated or real life situation for 4 out of 5 opportunities. Objective 1: Provided with a pre-determined budget up to $30, student will develop a shopping list, add prices together, determine if he has enough money to make a purchase, and make a purchase in a simulated or real life situation for 4 out of 5 opportunities. Objective 2: Provided with a pre-determined budget up to $40, student will develop a shopping list, add prices together, determine if he has enough money to make a purchase, and make a purchase in a simulated or real life situation for 4 out of 5 opportunities. Objective 3: Provided with a pre-determined budget up to $50, student will develop a shopping list, add prices together, determine if he has enough money to make a purchase, and make a purchase in a simulated or real life situation for 4 out of 5 opportunities. If you are ready to get started with budgeting in your special education classroom, make sure to check out these functional budgeting units in my store. Start with the freebie to see if it's a good fit for your students. Smoothie Shop Budgeting Unit (up to $10) Grocery Store Budgeting Unit (up to $10) Toy Store Budgeting Unit (up to $20) Cake Shop Budgeting Unit (up to $20) Halloween Costume Budgeting Unit (up to $50) Department Store Budgeting Unit (up to $50) Christmas Boutique Budgeting Unit (up to $75) COMING SOON Hardware Store Budgeting Unit (up to $100) COMING SOON

I don't know about you, but the end of the year is always tough for my middle school students! They are ready for summer! We usually finish up our story based literacy with 4-6 weeks of the year left, which gives us a great opportunity to switch things up to stay motivated through the end of school. This last year, I was brainstorming ideas for more hands-on activities, and we tried something new! Each of my paraprofessionals was responsible for running a station. I loved this because it gave them a chance to work with every student, every week. I also assigned a peer tutor to each rotation so they could assist students. Students rotated through each station during the week so they got a chance to complete each activity. I had a daily schedule displayed on the projector so students knew where to go. I gave each para a folder with their groups, activities, and materials for the full 4 weeks that we did this. That way, I only had to prep once and we were ready for the rest of the year. I listed any additional materials they would need from the classroom so they could gather them before we started. They did the same activity for the whole week, so it was easy for them to grab everything and set it aside. I also specified the location where I wanted them to run their rotations. I found that making sure I was very clear about the activity, materials, and location helped the transition process a ton! Rotation 1: Art We used the Process Art resource by Supports for Special Students from on TpT. This was great for all of my students to participate, even those with more severe motor challenges. Rotation 2: Motor We alternated between fine motor activities and gross motor activities each week. For the fine motor activities, I used this choice board, and students were allowed to select the activities they wanted to do. You can grab this for free in my resource library. For gross motor, we spent time outside enjoying the warmer weather and did an obstacle course at a nearby park, and went bowling with my jumbo inflatable bowling set. Rotation 3: Cooking/ Technology This rotation alternated between cooking one week and technology the next. This was easier for me as far as purchasing ingredients and reducing the cost of our weekly activities. We used the Visual Cooking Recipes from Mrs. D's Corner. For technology, students used an iPad and worked in apps or Boom cards. Rotation 4: Testing/ Writing The last rotation was run by me. I always taught writing during this class period, and I needed to continue to make sure I was addressing students' writing IEP goals. I also used this time to finish our DLM testing. I loved these rotations! It was such a fun (and functional) way to wrap up the year and switch things up. I think it's so important for students to learn to deal with changes in the schedule and routine, as long as you are supporting them with visuals and schedules to assist when needed. It also helped my paras, peer tutors, and myself cope with our end-of-the-year burnout by trying new things and working with new students. Win-win for everyone!

One of the downsides of working in special education is the high turnover rate. It's a challenging field and we lose good people because of that. I started last school year with a team of 5 new paraprofessionals in my classroom, and it was tough. When you are constantly working with new people, it takes time to get good systems in place. They have to learn how you run things, you have to learn their strengths and you all have to figure out how to work well as a team. Enter the communication binder. I needed a way to make sure we were all on the same page. And it was a huge help! Let’s face it, we are busy and there’s never enough time in the day. I had paras starting at different times throughout the day and I was constantly forgetting to share info they needed. They also felt bad interrupting me when I was teaching to ask a quick question or talk about a day off. The team communication binder is just a hub for all classroom staff members. I wanted to make sure that whatever system I used would actually help increase communication between us and not just become "another thing to do." In the front of the binder is our daily communication log. I would jot down notes in the morning when I got to work. This could be anything from a schedule change to a text that I got from a parent that I needed to make sure everyone was aware of, etc. Then I asked my paras to read any notes when they arrived at work and to make sure to check it again or write their own notes before they left for the day. The next section is for copy requests. I do use a master data sheet binder in my classroom, so my paras know where to go to get data sheets, but sometimes a peer tutor needs copies, or we need copies of certain program data sheets that are not in the master data sheet binder. So we use this section to check for copies needed when there is downtime. Or if someone is already going to make copies and they have an extra minute, they can make copies for whoever needs them. The next section is for Program or Visual Requests. This could be for specific requests for visual supports or buttons to be added to a communication device. It's also where we would jot down requests for program materials. I also added a pocket folder to this section so that once the visuals were made, they had a place to go until they were put away. The next section was basically anything that anyone needed from me, which could be a conversation to a training request. The final section is for Prep Requests. I don't prep at home, only at school, and my team helps a ton with prepping. I added a list for projects that need to be prepped as well as a folder for materials. We had a prep station in my classroom so this helped keep everyone organized and busy. After implementing this for the last half of the school year, I loved it! It was a great way to keep us all on the same page and have a hub for everything. And of course, I want to share it with you! You can grab your free Team Communication Binder here & let me know how you're planning to use it! If you’re wanting more info about working with paras and creating a classroom team, check out this post about our weekly staff focus.

Looking for a way to start teaching functional skills in your special education classroom? I use Sign of the Week as a whole class instructional activity. We do it during our Power Up time, which is a school-wide intervention period. My students are all in my classroom during this time, so it works out well. This is also when we work on functional skills for our Community Based Instruction units for the month. Day 1: Introduce the Sign We begin the week by introducing the new sign. I use the included presentations for this but I just go through the first few slides up until Write It. I like to add the Sign of the Week slides to my daily slides. I also love to use the Sign of the Week adapted books when I do this. One tip I have if you don't want to prep all the books is to use your screen snip tool and copy them into your daily slides. You can also prep the books for your more involved students who need the manipulative to help stay engaged. After I introduce the sign, we complete the Write It/ Trace It section of the workbook. Monday is the longest day of Sign of the Week instruction, the rest of the week is very quick. Day 2: Define the Sign On the second day, we focus on what the sign means. We use the presentation and read the definition. I provide lots of examples and non-examples. Whenever possible, I like to include movement, so if we are learning about the "stop" sign, we practice walking around and stopping when we see the sign. I repeat the definition a ton so every time I show a "stop" sign, I say "Stop. Do not move." Finally, we write the definition in our workbooks. Day 3: Describe the Sign On Wednesday, we discuss what the sign looks like. I love the variety of pictures included in the presentations for this. We complete the Color It/ Draw It section of the workbook. Day 4: Find the Sign Next, we learn about where we may see the sign. If we can locate the sign within the school, we will go on sign exploring. We complete the last section of the workbook, the Find It section. Day 5: Review We don't do Sign of the Week instruction on Fridays because we don't have Power Up, but if you had time in your schedule for a 5th day, this is a great review day. I have tons of supplemental materials in my store. Here are some options. Sign of the Week Match It! Work Tasks Sign of the Week Yes/ No Task Cards Sign of the Week Adapted Books Reading in Real Life Signs Puzzles Reading in Real Life Signs Task Cards Sign of the Week is so easy to use! Here are a few tips I've learned over my experience teaching it. Assign a student or para to switch out the interactive board every week. Review often to ensure maintenance. I like to include a review day each week because it ensures that I don't go too long without reviewing. Identify the signs in real life whenever possible. We do this whenever we go out into the community. I also have signs posted in my classroom, like an exit sign over the door and an on & off sign on my light switch. Prep your Sign of the Week materials at the beginning of the year so you don't have to worry about them each week. How nice will it be to be ready to go from day 1?! Have students start to teach the sign each week after everyone is familiar with the routine. This is fun for them too and you can use the included presentation to guide them. If you want to get started with Sign of the Week, you can grab either Volume 1 or Volume 2 (or both) from my store now. I also have a Sign of the Week Bonus available with 6 signs that you can use for ESY or to supplement, or even just to try it out before committing to the whole bundle. Sign of the Week Volume 1 Bundle Sign of the Week Volume 2 Bundle Sign of the Week 1 & 2 Mega Bundle Sign of the Week Bonus

One thing that I love doing is helping teachers find a good balance between functional skills and academics. I think that my elementary education training makes the academic side easier for me to understand, and then my master's degree in transition to adulthood really helped me understand the importance of starting functional and vocational skills at an early age, so I’ve really become passionate about merging the two and finding a good balance. I’m a big believer that you can do both together, it’s not a switch from academics to functional skills, but it’s taken me some time to figure out how to do both meaningfully. I’m going to share a few tips with you today about how I’ve gotten to this point. Functional skills, sometimes called life skills, are all of the skills we need to function in our daily lives. This can be everything from social skills to hygiene and personal care. Functional skills can be trickier to plan a pacing guide. With academics, we are handed a set of standards to teach. But more often than not, we don't have that available for functional skills, so we are left on our own to determine what's important. Unfortunately, I see a lot of teachers defaulting to time & money, or reading grocery words, just because they don't really know what else to focus on. Luckily, there are lots of free scope and sequences out there already. Here are a few free examples. Life Skills Inventory Life Skills Checklist Standards Based Life Skills Curriculum Bridges for Kids IEP Goal Bank And if you're looking for more, here are some paid options: Functional Independence Skills Handbook Brigance Transition Skills Inventory The Assessment of Functional Living Skills Informal Assessments for Transition: Independent Living and Community Participation When we are determining which skills are important to teach and creating a pacing guide, here are three tips. Tip 1: Is it really functional? First, think about whether it is really a functional skill. Just because it's considered a functional skill doesn't mean it's functional for every student. If a student is never going to drive, it's not functional for them to learn about traffic signs. We still need to differentiate and individualize during functional skills instruction, just like we do during academics. Tip 2: Get parents involved Next, get parents involved when working on functional skills. This is a great place to start if you're trying to figure out what to teach. Ask parents what skills would be helpful for their student to work on in order to help them at home. If we can get parents to help us work on these skills at home too, then the student will gain progress more quickly. When we get parent input, we may also learn that something we think is functional for a student isn't something the parent thinks is functional. For example, I like to work on dressing and undressing when students are signed up for PE because it’s a natural time that they have to get dressed. But I’ve had parents that don’t want their kids to learn to get undressed because they will take their clothes off at inappropriate times. So that’s something we put on the back burner because it’s not functional for the student right now, and parents aren’t going to work on it at home. Tip 3: Incorporate functional skills into your daily schedule Finally, start small by incorporating functional skills into your academics and daily routines whenever you can. We have to teach academics, and we have that scheduled already, right? If we can look at each part of our day and determine which functional skills fit within this already occurring instruction, then it's so much easier to plan! Now what? Ok so now we know that we need to think about how functional skills need to be individualized for the student, that parent involvement is helpful, and that it's much easier to embed it into the instruction we are already doing, how can we decide what to teach? I like to use a planning sheet to determine what I want to teach. I personally like to do this with each student and then identify skills that overlap so I can group students accordingly. The first part is for your academic standards. You will list the grade-level standard and then list the ways that it can be applied functionally. Here's an example of middle school math. The second part of the form is the routines and instruction aspect we talked about earlier. So you’ll write down your schedule and then you’ll determine which functional skills can be taught or incorporated during that time in your schedule. Here's an example. The third part is a parent input form that you can use to take notes when discussing functional skills with parents. Now that you've identified some important skills that you can incorporate into your day, you have a great start for individual students or small groups. You can use this information to help you identify skills for IEP goals. Or you can use Part 4 to write out your pacing guide for the year using the skills identified in steps 1-3. I hope that helps you get started with functional skills in your classroom. Take it step by step and start small. Make sure to grab your free planning form here! Happy teaching!