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Let's talk about yearly planning. These days, most special education teachers have required standards that they must teach from. If you must teach from standards, then you absolutely have to be intentional in planning how and when to teach each standard. Creating a pacing guide/curriculum map will help you plan out your year and ensure that you are covering the standards. It gives you a sequence and a clear outline for what you will be teaching. It's not in stone, so of course, you can change and adapt as needed. Here are the steps I follow when creating my pacing guide. Before you begin, you'll need a copy of your standards, a pen or pencil, and a blank pacing guide template. 1. Identify which of your standards are essential. Circle them. Things to consider: Grade levels Student IEP goals Tested standards (if you participate in an end of the year assessment like DLM) Prerequisite or foundation skills 2. Underline the key words in the standard and highlight the verb. This will help you really break down the standard and write I can statements later. 3. Plug the essential standards into your monthly pacing guide. Base these on the progression of the standards and teach skills in the natural order. For example, identifying single letter sounds before letter blends. 4. Write learning target statements (or I Can statements) for each of your monthly standards. 5. Determine key vocabulary for each standard. 6. Write lesson plans and create assessments OR align your pacing guide to the curriculum that you already use in your classroom. If you have a program with a really good scope and sequence, use it to help write your pacing guide. Otherwise, you may have to align certain parts of programs to different standards, or use multiple programs throughout the year. Filling in the pacing guide is pretty quick once you've identified your target standards. Aligning to your curriculum is more time consuming. And obviously creating your own lesson plans and assessments is incredibly tedious, but sometimes, it's the only option. However, if you have your pacing guide completed, it's easier to do the lesson planning on a monthly basis. I'll have another post to share examples of my pacing guides soon! In the meantime, make sure you grab the pacing guide template here. Thanks for reading!

I love hearing what curricula other teachers use in their special education classrooms. There are a lot of options out there. Some are great for special education and some require tons of modifications. What I'd really love is to spend a professional development day visiting other classrooms and looking at the curricula they use, so here's a little peek at what's being used in my classroom. Disclaimer: These are my personal opinions and experiences with the curriculum and programs. Math Curriculum I use both Go Math and Equals in my classroom. They are both great for teaching students the why behind the math skill. I think that this is what ultimately makes a student successful in math- do they understand when and why we use a certain skill? This is what will make it functional as well. Go Math: What I love: There's a lot about Go Math that I like, but I especially like that it's a complete curriculum with a solid scope and sequence. It's easy to modify and teach. I like that it includes an interactive, digital component as well. Unfortunately, this is not a SPED specific program. It was not designed for students with severe disabilities. My students require much more practice than is provided in the program. You will probably find that you have to find additional independent practice for students to really master each skill. You can read more about how I modify Go Math to use with my students here. Equals I love that Equals teaches concepts in a concrete-representational-abstract sequence. Equals is also designed for students with severe disabilities, which means it requires a lot less modification. There's a lot of hands-on practice included. Equals comes differentiated in 3 different levels which is great for a self-contained classroom. Equals was recently purchased by N2Y and I believe it's now part of Unique Learning Systems. I have not used the latest update. TouchMath Touch Math provides a multi-sensory to teaching math. It's hands-on and concrete. It's great for teaching basic concepts to students or supplementing another program with. Connecting Math Concepts Connecting Math is a direct instruction program that works well for students with mild to moderate disabilities. Lessons are fully scripted and build on each other. We use this program for students that really struggle with Go Math. Reading Curriculum Reading Mastery Reading Mastery is a direct instruction, comprehensive reading curriculum. Some of our students do really well in this program, and others have not made a lot of progress. However, it's a great starting point in elementary school and I love that it covers all areas of reading. Early Reading Intervention ERI is a Tier 1 program that is used in our district's Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms, and we also use it in our elementary self-contained classrooms. It has been incredibly successful for our students who are learning to read. Unfortunately, it's now out of print, but you can sometimes find it on Ebay. Heggerty Phonemic Awareness Many of our students who have been in a special class placement since they started school have large gaps in their phonological and phonemic awareness skills. Heggerty is a great program that addresses phonemic awareness in a fun and engaging way. I love that it only takes a few minutes so it's easy to add into your reading instruction. Reading A to Z I really like how easy Reading A to Z is to use and the wide variety of books that they provide access to. This is a great option for students who need support with comprehension, but not the best option for younger students who are still at an emergent decoding level. The lesson plans are simple and easy to follow and I love that most books include supplemental skill worksheets and a comprehension quiz. Corrective Reading: Decoding I've found that Corrective Reading: Decoding is much more age-appropriate than the other DI reading programs out there, so I used it often in my middle school classroom. It's fully scripted and easy to use. Our students need explicit, direct instruction and this is a great, comprehensive option. Corrective Reading: Comprehension This program is fast-paced and gets students thinking outside of the box. I think it's a great way to supplement your reading instruction. Spelling Curriculum Signs for Sounds by Read Naturally This is my favorite spelling program. It teaches spelling systematically and builds in high-frequency words. It is phonics-based, easy to run, and very inexpensive. Our self-contained teachers use this from elementary through high school, and I highly recommended it for any age! Writing Curriculum Every Child a Writer This is a program that we have been using in our self-contained classrooms for the past few years, and so far, our special education teachers are loving it. It starts with writing a single word and goes all the way through different writing genres. It's very easy to modify and I've seen it used with a wide variety of students. Writing A to Z by Learning A to Z I've found Writing A to Z to be super useful in my classroom. There are easy-to-follow lesson plans and practice activities included. My students require lots of practice on each type of writing so we practice the process of writing all year but it's nice to have the lessons to provide explicit instruction. The Writing Process: 4 Steps to Writing This is a program I've created to help teach my students about writing a basic paragraph back when I didn't have anything else. I usually had students who could write some great sentences but really struggle to put them together in a paragraph. This program teaches students to brainstorm, write, revise, and publish. Functional Skills Curriculum Explore Your Community by Attainment This Attainment program was a great addition to my classroom and has really helped teach the skills that students need for success in the community. We do a monthly Community Based Instruction trip and this has been a great resource for pre-teaching skills in the classroom Reading in Real Life This is a great way to teach students to read and comprehend functional sight words. There are a lot of activities and practice included in each unit. My students have responded really well to this program and it's fun to teach! I use this as part of our Community Based Instruction lessons. Edmark Functional Series I love Edmark's Functional Sight Words Series for high school age students. It's repetitive and fast-paced and students enjoy it. I find that sometimes functional words are not always the most appropriate for middle school or younger students, so I recommend this for high school or post-high teachers. Social Skills Curriculum Explore Social Skills by Attainment This is another Attainment program that I really liked. I especially like that it provides visual step-by-step cards and videos with real people for each skill. Zones of Regulation I love that Zones of Regulation pairs emotions with an easy to understand color-coded system. My students have responded very well to this emotional regulation program. Weekly Social Skills Journal I have loved using this Social Skills Journal from Pathway 2 Success. It's been easy to fit in and my students have responded well to it! I hope it was helpful to take a peek inside my curriculum cupboards. What programs are must-haves in your classroom?

Understanding functional math skills, like time and money, is essential for students with severe disabilities. I posted some tips and resources to teach money skills a few weeks ago and today I'm here to share some quick tips & resources for teaching time concepts. All of the resources linked in this post are ones that I actually use in my classroom with my students! Time Concept Teaching Tips Teaching time in a functional has to be way more than teaching students to read the time on a clock. Being able to tell time is meaningless if students don't understand the basic concepts of time. I like my students to know and understand these time concepts- I'm going to step up on my soapbox for just a minute and reiterate, teaching time is more than teaching time telling on a clock. Please teach students basic time concepts before, or in addition to, teaching time telling. It's not functional to be able to read a clock and not know what it means! After I feel like students have a firm understanding on some of the above time concepts, I introduce (or re-introduce) telling time on a clock. I like to teach telling time in small chunks. Here's an example IEP goal. Telling time from the :30-:55 is the most difficult because the hour hand gets further and further away from the hour so it gets more and more confusing. Ainslee Labs has a great time unit that teaches students to first identify the hour's "room" and then starts slowly adding the minute hand. It's a great way to teach time! I also like to teach one easier interval paired with a more difficult interval, for example, :10 and :40. Ideally, students need to memorize the minutes instead of counting by 5's around the clock every time so by introducing a few intervals at a time, students are able to memorize them and then move on. Here is the sequence that I generally use. Telling Time Resources Telling Time Puzzles from Miss Lulu Telling Time Flip Books from You Aut-a Know How to Introduce Telling Time from Ainslee Labs I Have Who Has Bundle from Learning Lab Telling Time Card Game from Miss Lulu Digital Clock Flashcards from Miss Lulu Time Concept Resources Time of Day Task Cards by Breezy Special Ed When? Click It Book by Miss Lulu Elapsed Time Rulers by Nyla's Crafty Teaching If you have a favorite time resource that's not already listed, feel free to link it in the comments! Thanks for reading!

Learning to count money and understand money concepts, like purchasing and budgeting, is an important life skill for our students with severe disabilities! I want to share some quick tips with you and a few of my favorite money resources. All of the resources linked in this post are ones that I actually use in my classroom with my students! Counting Coins Teaching Tips When teaching students to count coins, remember that in order for the skill to be really functional and applicable in their lives, they probably won't be counting a pile of money that you give them. When we use coins in real life, we need to know which coins to pull out of our wallets to pay a certain amount. Often, this is a more difficult skill for students than counting a given set of coins but it's a more real life skill. Make sure to teach coin equivalents too. Students should understand that 5 pennies is equal to a nickel, 2 nickels is equal to a dime, and so on. Be realistic about what the student will need to do in their life. For example, if a student is learning to count coins, they probably should know how to count amounts up to $1.00. It's highly unlikely that a student will need to count coins up to amounts higher than $1.00. We don't want to see our students taking their piggy banks to the stores in the future! Coin Identification & Value Resources My students love this coin identification Go Fish game! These Color by Coin worksheets are a fun way to provide extra practice in a different format. And this Coin ID work task is great for your independent work center and it's free! Counting Coins Resources I love these money centers from The Bender Bunch, especially the Money in my Pocket center. It really gets students thinking about money! These Money Comparison Task Cards from my store are great practice for counting coins and also require students to compare amounts. Next Dollar Teaching Tips Often, I see teachers move on to Next Dollar if a student isn't grasping the concept of counting coins. However, realistically, a student who can count coins should also understand the concept of Next Dollar, or rounding up to the next whole dollar amount to cover the change. How often do you go to the store with exact change? Probably not very often. Don't forget to teach students what to do in a situation where they may not have change. I like to make sure I spcify the types of bills a student is using as well when I teach the Next Dollar method. It doesn't make sense to me to work on only $1 bills all the way up to $50. It's easier to teach each bill as it can be used. Here's an example of how you may write the IEP goal. Favorite Resources: I love the app called Next Dollar Up. The settings can be changed for students to make purchases all the way up to $50 and it allows students to use different types of bills. Sped Adulting has the greatest interactive activities and I love her Next Dollar Up interactive resource! I also love this Next Dollar Up Instructional Mega Bundle from Autism Classroom News. Budgeting: If you think that budgeting is a skill that doesn't need to be introduced in elementary or middle school, I urge you to reconsider! Students, even elementary students, need to understand whether they have enough money to make a purchase. Budgeting can be as simple as that! I also like to start teaching which costs more and which costs less in middle school. If you have a classroom store, you can easily incorporate budgeting instruction! Have students keep track of their account balance and determine which items they have enough money to purchase. Here's a simple and free account balance sheet. You can even help them create savings plans to save up for more expensive classroom store items. Budgeting Resources: I love these adapted books from The Autism Vault! My students choose to work on them all the time! We also use this Grocery Budgeting resource in my classroom. It comes with 3 different levels so all of my students can use it at their own level! If you have a favorite money resource that's not already listed, feel free to link it in the comments! Thanks for reading!

The first few days (weeks) of school can be pure chaos! Teacher tired is so real! And it's so unpredictable. You may think you are prepared and then a new student moves in, or you end up managing a severe behavior issue, or get called in to assist with another student, etc., etc., etc. One little bump can throw everything off and next thing you know, you're sitting at your desk at the end of the day crying. I may know this from personal experience. Here are a few suggestions for surviving those first few weeks. Have a backup plan. Or two. I like to have a ton of extra activities prepped and ready to use in case something doesn't go as planned. Task cards and center activities are my go to when things get crazy in my classroom, which is bound to happen the first few weeks of school. I especially love using these differentiated counting task cards or differentiated functional task cards (grab this free set!) because I can use them with all of my students, at their level. They are easy to use and my paras can assist students if I am dealing with a behavior issue or having a conversation with another teacher or parent. I put a bin out on my file cabinet with activities and switch them out as we use them. Build relationships & rapport first. I love the quote, "Kids don't learn from people they don't like." During the first few weeks of school, spend the time to build positive relationships with each of your students. Use the honeymoon period to your advantage! That way, when behavior issues do arise, you've already established yourself as a reinforcer. Get to know your students and what they like and don't like. Also, help your paras do this as well. It's just as important that they have relationships with the students! Teach and practice routines and procedures. And then practice some more! If you spend the time from day 1 explicitly teaching your expectations, you will save yourself from the frustration of a poorly run classroom! Students need to know what to do, when to do it, and how. Teach each routine, practice it, and then practice it again. I like to have my students pretend to be the teacher- especially when we are practicing noise levels. They love to be in front of the class and it's a great way to check their understanding of the routine or procedure. I also teach a quiet signal in my classroom. It's been a life saver! You can grab a set of my Give Me 5 posters here. Or grab this set for free! I also love doing this classroom rule sort! Find a support person. The first few weeks are hard. Teaching is hard. Find a teacher friend to vent and problem solve with. For me, it's helpful to have someone else who understands what teaching is really like and who can help give you ideas if you're struggling! Self care is essential. You can't take care of others unless you're taking care of yourself first. Take a bubble bath, watch a favorite show on Netflix, spend time with your family, do what you need to do and don't feel guilty. Need some self care ideas? Check out this post from Sarah, The Designer Teacher. Hang in there and remember that it gets easier! And let me know- what do you do to survive the first few weeks of school?

I teach in a self-contained classroom, but I schedule several general education classes for my students each trimester. I work closely with my school counselor to create schedules that will interest and challenge my students. I want them in classes where they will learn something. Inclusion not only provides time for social interaction outside of my classroom, but it’s an opportunity to work on generalizing skills and allows students to learn some grade level content. Some of the classes that my students take include PE, music, choir, history, health, keyboarding, science, and college & career awareness. In a secondary setting, meaningful inclusion can be hard. The content is difficult, and teachers lack training and knowledge when it comes to working with students with disabilities. Here are a few tips for making inclusion successful in a secondary setting. 1. Communication with general education teachers is key. Before the trimester starts, schedule a time to meet with each teacher and discuss the student(s), related IEP goals, and accommodations or modifications that will help the student be successful. I provide a hand out with examples on how to modify certain types of assignments. Another important discussion that needs to occur is how the teacher will grade the student. You'll have to work with them regarding their individual grading policies and your school's policies, but it's important to discuss it prior to the end of the grading period to avoid issues. 2. Explain paraprofessional expectations clearly to both the teacher and the para. Make sure the teacher knows if the para is there to only assist one student or if they can ask them to help with other students as well. In addition, it's important that the para understands their position in the general education classroom. It's easy to provide too much help or to fade into the background and not provide enough help. Make your expectations clear. I use this data sheet to help my paras monitor inclusion time. Another important thought- inclusion is when the rest of your school sees how to treat students with disabilities. Make sure it's a positive view and that they are seeing how capable they are. Your paras that go to inclusion classes are modeling the appropriate way for others to interact with the student they are working with. It needs to be an age appropriate and positive model. 3. Work with the general education teacher to break down each unit. Find out what the big idea is that we want students to learn. You may have to narrow it down for your special education students because secondary content is difficult, and it keeps getting harder! For each unit, the general education teacher determines the big idea, comes up with a few domain specific vocabulary words, and creates a modified assessment. Then, my paras talk with the general education teachers to get this information and on days where there is extra time, they work with the student(s) to help them learn the specific content that we've decided on. 4. Modify assignments but ensure that the students are working on the same topic and similar skills. For example, you might modify the instructional level by providing material on the same topic but at a lower reading level. Or, you might modify or narrow down the content, as discussed in the last tip. For example, if students in a home economics type class are learning about creating a budget, our students on IEPs may be learning to determine if they have enough money to make a single purchase. They are still working on a similar skill related to budgeting, but it's a prerequisite skill and it's more appropriate for their current learning level. You can also modify the performance criteria. Maybe the rest of the class is writing a 5-paragraph essay but your students in special education are writing a one paragraph response or creating a PowerPoint presentation. It’s important that inclusion is more than being physically present! Find something meaningful that’s at their level and that relates to the content area and the current unit of study. 5. Try to find time to pop in and observe on occasion. It’s so helpful to actually see what’s happening in the classroom. You’ll be able to make quick adjustments. It’s hard to give advice to paras that are spending time in inclusion when you don’t know what is happening in the class. This has been an eye-opening experience for me! Plus, I love observing and learning new things from other teachers! Finally, remember that building a relationship with your general education colleagues can take time. Some are easier to work with than others. Try to be approachable, provide support and ask them questions. We are teachers and we all love that lightbulb moment when we see a student learn something new. We must get that same buy in with our general education teachers, and sometimes even our administrators. Help them see how successful students with IEPs can be in their classes by assisting with accommodations. Successful inclusion starts with us. Guys, we have to work together and as a team. We have to do more than consider inclusion a break for us and let it be the general education teacher’s problem. I know you have a million things to do but I also promise that it gets easier with time. Keep pushing for your students to be included and keep educating your administrators and colleagues. We can create an inclusive environment for each student.

As special educators, we often get the curriculum short end of the stick. It's not unusual to find a special education classroom stocked with little curriculum or leftovers that another teacher left and no budget to purchase anything new. I have a lot of direct instruction programs that were designed for at risk students but that I don't really find work for my students with severe disabilities. I also work in a district where that has a lot of subscriptions to curricula and programs and I often incorporate them into my classroom. I love using Reading A to Z and Writing A to Z with my students in reading groups and I usually use Go Math for at least one of my math groups. I'm also seeing schools move more towards full inclusion and push in models, so it's important that special education teachers understand how to modify curriculum to make it work for our students. Over the years, and with lots of trial and error, I've figured out a way to use lessons that weren't exactly designed for the population I teach and seen tons of student success! Here's are some tips when modifying general education curriculum. 1. Determine the big idea. What is the point of the lesson? What do you want the students to take away from this lesson? A lot of times this is spelled out very clearly. It's also possible that we may want to narrow down the objective for our special education students, or break one objective into several lessons worth of objectives. Here's a few examples from Go Math. I usually group these 2 objectives together and combine the lessons during our beginning of the year review. Most of my students have a really hard time grasping decomposition of numbers, so I usually break this objective into even smaller increments so they really get a lot of practice with decomposing. 2. Plug the lesson format into the effective teaching cycle. You know- I do, We do, You do. Even if the program you are using does not lay it out that way, it's easy to fit it into the format that we know works. When I teach Go Math, I review vocabulary as our introduction, then introduce the new skill by modeling, move into Guided Practice and students do the textbook worksheets with me, and then when they have demonstrated that they know what to do, I have them work on the Standards Practice workbook on their own. I use this simple outline to jot down how I am going to teach each lesson. 3. Provide additional practice. Most general education programs won't provide enough guided or independent practice for our students to really master the skill. Supplement the program and use other materials to provide additional practice opportunities. Just make sure they are actually practicing the same skill that you just taught and modeled. You can use the intervention or enrich parts of the program that you are teaching from to provide extra practice. I love using TpT resources to supplement! This is where I pull out file folders, task cards, games and iPad apps to provide a variety of practice. I also have the students work on the skill during math centers. 4. Assess. Look at the end of the unit/chapter assessment and determine how you can use it or find an alternative to assess the skills. It's ok to do a hands-on or verbal assessment if a written assessment is not a good option for your students. But it is important that you are assessing the objective that you determined in step 1. I will sometimes pick and choose questions and present them one at a time instead of giving the student the whole worksheet. Sometimes, I just take data on the independent practice that we do and don't actually use a real "assessment." As long as your data shows that the student understands and can perform the skill, you've assessed. 5. Move at a slower pace. I basically throw timelines out the window when using a general education curriculum. It's ok to spend more than 1 day on the lesson. Maybe you need more time to model and more guided practice before moving into independent practice. Here's a few more Go Math examples. The pacing chart from this chapter shows a total of 13 days to complete. But most of my groups can get through this chapter in 5-7 days. The pacing chart for this chapter on subtraction shows a 1 day introduction and 7 days of instruction. I know that my most of my students will need more time on this skill so we usually spend closer to 2 weeks on this unit and constantly review it throughout the year in our independent work stations. 6. Teach at the student's instructional level, not grade level. This kind of goes without saying but I wanted to clarify. I teach middle school and I use Kindergarten-3rd grade Go Math programs because that's the instructional level that my students are at. So I may skip some of the activities that are totally not age appropriate (like the Curious George videos) and replace them with something that is more age appropriate, usually something I found on TpT. Overall, the lessons are fine for my middle school students. Reading A to Z levels are grade equivalent from Pre-K up to about 6th grade, but my middle school students are usually reading anywhere from a Level AA to a Level Q. I choose books that have real pictures whenever possible, topics that my students can relate to, and I always make sure my students also have access to other books in the classroom or through the library. That being said, don't forget this. When we are teaching at instructional level, it's important to make sure that the student is still receiving instruction based on their current grade level standards. When I make my curriculum map at the beginning of the year, I align my Go Math K lessons to my 7th-8th grade essential elements. For example, I''ll teach the Kindergarten chapter on 2D and 3D shapes, and throw in extra practice on rotation, reflection and translation, which are my middle school geometry standards. That way I am making sure that the student has the basic fundamental understanding at their level and I'm extending their knowledge to higher level concepts through adapted standards. I also provide additional instruction on grade level standards through standards based centers because it's not always possible to align K level concepts to middle school standards. Whew, that was a lengthy post but I hope it was helpful! I'll have more posts coming this summer about how I incorporate student IEP goals into these programs and how I collect data. Feel free to leave any questions below!

Supervising student teachers or interns can be a challenge! You want to provide them with an amazing learning opportunity but you also are responsible for making sure your classroom is running smoothly and that programs are being implemented with fidelity. It may seem overwhelming to give up the control that you work so hard for, but I've had 6 student teachers so far and I promise you it gets easier with practice! Having a supportive and collaborative supervising teacher can make all of the difference for your student teacher's success. I was blessed to work with an amazing SPED teacher when I was student teaching and much of how I handle student teachers came from her. If this is your first student teacher, here are my recommendations for making it a positive learning experience. First, I believe that you need to provide the most realistic and complete experience possible. I want student teachers to leave my classroom feeling fully prepared to step into a classroom of their own and I don’t think they can do that without me giving them the whole experience. By that, I mean full control. Even if only for a short amount of time. I know, I know! You’re thinking "What?! I can’t do that. It’s MY classroom and I like how I do things." I suggest that before you commit to a student teacher, you make sure you can give them that real experience. There have been plenty of years I’ve declined student teachers because I knew I didn’t have the ability to give them as much as I would have wanted to. I know it plays a huge part in their success as a new teacher when they have their own classroom. Second, I believe that the relationship between a student teacher and supervising teacher has to be a true collaborative effort. I love having student teachers. It’s my opportunity to teach them what I’ve learned along the way and give them my best tips and advice. However, I also learn a ton from them and I value their input and advice. I told you earlier about my experience with my wonderful cooperating teacher but I also had a not so wonderful experience. I’m a dual major so I student taught in two settings. My second cooperating teacher did not treat it as a collaborative relationship. She didn’t value my input or give me much responsibility. I was extremely frustrated throughout the whole situation and I wanted to quit. I don’t ever want my student teachers to have that kind of experience. I am open to my student teacher's suggestions and ideas and we collaborate on everything. They come to meetings, they help write a schedule, they help train peer tutors and paraprofessionals, etc. I treat them as a co-teacher so they feel welcome and appreciated. Here are the 5 things I think every supervising teacher should let their student teachers do. Let them run an IEP meeting. If there was one thing I did when I student taught that helped me the most when I had my own classroom, it would be this. My cooperating teacher let me run several IEPs. I was fully in charge, I went through the entire agenda. She was of course there and still an active participant but this helped my confidence so much!!! It took something that was overwhelming and terrifying and made it do-able. When I ran my first IEP meeting as the teacher, I felt prepared and ready to go! I know this isn’t always possible, so some alternatives would be running parent teacher conferences, quick IEP reviews, or even transition meetings. Let them write an IEP. From the testing to the written goals, this is essential practice before you have a classroom of your own. Obviously student teachers won’t be able to do any standardized testing but you can let them administer curriculum based assessments, determine goal areas and actually write the goals. I have my student teachers complete the whole process. They show me the goals and I give them feedback and we change things together. I help them align go the goal to our standards, which I've found to be a huge learning curve for beginner teachers. It’s been super helpful for my student teachers to have hands on, real life practice before they are in their own classroom and writing their own IEPs. Let them supervise paraprofessionals. We all know how difficult it can be as new teachers to supervise other adults. It can easily be called the hardest part of the job. When I give my student teachers control of the classroom, I explain to my paras and peer tutors that they will need to go to the student teacher first with questions or concerns regarding students. Then if the student teacher can’t answer, he/she can come to me and we can brainstorm. This allows the student teacher practice to think on their feet and solve real life classroom problems as the arise. Occasionally, the student teacher may give a different answer than I do, and if it’s not a big deal, I explain to them afterwards what I would have done and why. If it’s a bigger deal, I may step in and have the final say. Let them put a behavior management strategy in place. There’s always some type of behavior that can be improved in the classroom- it doesn't have to be a severe problem behavior (and it probably shouldn't be). I generally give my student teacher a specific student and say, "Create an intervention or strategy for this behavior." This is a great opportunity for them to develop something on their own (besides lesson plans) and I pretty much give them free reign. Because where you probably already have a specific whole class management system in place that the student teacher doesn’t change or create, this is an opportunity for them to do their own thing. They can try out something they may be thinking about doing in their future classroom. Let them figure it out! Step back, step out, let them experiment and work through the little things that come up. Giving them the real life, hands on experience is the best thing to prepare them for actually teaching!

I am passionate about creating meaningful reading experiences in my student's lives. I teach middle school and it can be hard to find reading material that is age appropriate for my low level readers so I've worked many hours to create Reading in Real Life. Reading in Real Life is a sight based reading program that uses evidence based instructional practices to teach students functional words that they see in everyday life. This program is excellent for students with significant disabilities, such as Autism or Down syndrome, or students who are learning English as a second language. I used high quality graphics to make sure that RIRL is age appropriate for any grade. Each RIRL unit includes 20-40 themed sight words, broken up into sections in which 5 new words are introduced at a time. As students master the new words, they are added to their maintenance list. Once students master the included words, they can practice reading the words in a variety of different activities. Ideally, students should also have exposure to the words in the natural setting whenever possible. RIRL is unique because the focus isn't just on the student's ability to recognize the word, but there is a large focus on comprehension as well. What good is it to be able to read a word if we don't know what it means? I love that my students are able to read and understand words that they see all the time! I've included several types of data sheets in each RIRL unit. There are several RIRL products available for purchase at this time. You can click on each one to see a detailed description, word list, and preview. ►Reading in Real Life: Signs Edition Reading in Real Life: Signs edition teaches 101 of the most common environmental signs. This bundle is broken up into 4 units- 1) Warning & Safety Signs, 2) Community Signs, 3) Indoor & Lobby Signs, and 4) Directional Signs. Each word/phrase that is taught includes a mini book that explains the sign, it's meaning and where you might see it. These mini books are my favorite part of the Signs Edition bundle! Each unit introduces 5 signs at a time. I like to introduce one a day for the week by reading the mini book that goes along with it and completing the Find It! worksheet. When you've introduced the 5 signs, there are several review worksheets. ►Reading in Real Life: Colors Edition ►Reading in Real Life: Grocery Edition ►Reading in Real Life: Cooking Edition ►Reading in Real Life: Restaurant Edition

I am lucky to work in a district where I am responsible for hiring the paraprofessionals that work in my classroom. I love that I have control over who I hire but interviewing is one of my least favorite things to do! I remember as a new teacher, I was way more nervous than the people I was interviewing! Thankfully, it's gotten easier over time and you learn the red flags to watch for. I am currently in the process of hiring for a replacement position, so I thought it might be helpful to share my interview questions with you. A few tips when interviewing: Before we get to the questions, here are a few interviewing tips. Be upfront and realistic. Sometimes it's a crazy job and you want to find someone who will stick it out through the tough parts. Make sure you applicants know what their job duties will consist of and how you manage the classroom. Personality clashes or disagreements can cause major problems in the classroom. I also like to make sure my applicants know that they will likely be thrown into the job on day 1. My district doesn't provide training, it's all up to the classroom teacher. There is no set aside training time- it all occurs in the classroom and sometimes it may take awhile because I can be pulled away at any moment. If your district does provide training, make sure you share that information as well. I find it almost as helpful as the actual interview questions to see how applicants react to the information that I give them about the job. Invite another teacher to the interview. It's always helpful to have another person listen in and discuss the applicants with you after interviewing. I always include my student teachers in interviews so they get the experience. If you don't have a student teacher, invite another SPED teacher to sit in, or even your administrator. My administrator wants nothing to do with my interviews but a lot of administrators want to be more involved. Keep detailed notes as well as an overall "rating" for each applicant that you interview. This will help you afterwards when making a decision. I use the app "Interview Assistant" during interviews. It stores all of my questions and I can take notes right there or record audio if I want. It also allows me to rate each interviewee at the end. Interview Questions: I always start an interview asking the applicant to tell me about themselves and why they are interested in the position. I ask the basic questions about their prior experience, availability, and if they are able to physically assist with students and are comfortable with toileting, feeding, etc. Here are some of my other go to questions. What do you believe is the purpose of special education? You can learn a lot about how the person will fit in you classroom based on their answer to this one, speaking from prior experience! Describe your understanding of your role if you were hired as a paraprofessional. What strengths would you bring to our classroom? Tell me about the difficulties you might face if you were hired for this position, or the difficulties you've faced when starting a new job in the past. In other words, what are your challenges when in a new position? Tell me about how you would handle a student who was having an emotional outburst (i.e. screaming and crying). Tell me what you would do if a student told you no when you gave him/her a direction. Then follow up with- What would you do if he/she continued to be non-compliant? How do you handle disagreements with other adults in the work environment? What would you do if another person (faculty member, neighbor, etc.) asked you about the students that you work with? What would you do with your time if the student you were assigned to work with was absent? If you were scheduled to attend a general education class with one of our students (like science or PE), what would you see as your role and how would you assist? I'd love to hear your favorite interview questions! Leave me a comment below. Thanks for reading!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! In case no one has told you yet, you are an amazing teacher and you are making a difference every day! As teachers, we get the opportunity to work and collaborate with other wonderful professionals everyday and teacher appreciation week is a perfect time to show them how their input, feedback and teamwork matters to us. I went to Pinterest to find some cute gift ideas with tags and became super frustrated because they were hard to find! So I created some and I want to share a few of my favorite quick and easy ideas for teacher appreciation gifts that you can give to your special education department, general education teachers, and even your paraprofessionals. And you can grab the tags for free because I appreciate you! I've included 4 tags. Here's the gifts you will need to go to each one- 1. Nail polish 2. Soap or hand sanitizer 3. Soda 4. Lifesavers My hands down favorite teacher appreciation gift to give is a Teachers Pay Teachers gift card. And teacher appreciation is a perfect week for a gift card because TpT usually has a sitewide sale! This year, it's May 8-9 and you can get an extra discount with the code thankyou18. Grab your free tags (and bonus print) here! Here's to you! Happy teacher appreciation week!

The end of the year is upon us. The kids are feeling it and I'm sure you are too! This is a busy time of year with testing and school activities and paperwork! Well, the paperwork is an all year round thing. In the middle of all the chaos, it's important to start thinking about your students who will be transitioning to a new school next year and the students that will be coming to you! Today, I'm sharing two quick tips for a smooth transition for both you and the student. TIP 1: Go observe the student in their current setting. I teach middle school, so I get 6th grade students coming from elementary and I send my students on to high school. And I know the end of the year is such a busy time of year but it's also a great time to set up observations for your incoming students. Observations are a great way to see students in action and get to know them before next year. At this point in the school year (April or May), classroom procedures and routines are memorized and you can get great insight on the student's level of independence and potential. We've all had those students who try to play it up and act like they can't do things at the beginning of the year. But if you have been out and observed them in action, you already know what they are capable of and can avoid playing into the learned helplessness. Here are some things I watch for during observations- How long is the student on task and working continuously?You will want to make sure that you build breaks in at appropriate times, especially at the beginning of the year. Knowing how long the student is capable of remaining on task will help you determine appropriate break times and avoid student frustration. What behavioral strategies are being used? Is there an individual behavior plan in place in addition to the classroom system? What behaviors are being targeted? It's always helpful to know ahead of time what to expect! But keep in mind that students can change a lot over the summer and when going up a grade level & school. Make sure that you don't let current behaviors define the student. What are the students reinforcers? What people and things do they navigate towards in the classroom? How often is the student accessing reinforcement? What visuals does the student need? Is the student using a visual schedule or a token board? Are there visuals for transitions or following directions? These are all things that you will want in place from day 1 and will want to either ask the teacher to send to you or make your own. What curriculum is the student using and what lessons are they on? What do transitions between activities look like? This is often an antecedent to problem behavior, so watch carefully to see how well the student transitions, especially from preferred to non-preferred activities. TIP 2: Set up a transition meeting. My district also holds formal transition meetings where the current IEP team meets with the incoming IEP team to discuss goals, progress and any other important information that needs to be shared. Even if you don't meet with the parents, I highly recommend meeting with the student's current teacher. It's a great chance to ask questions and learn a few tips and tricks from his/her experience. We often spend a lot of years with a student and for a cohesive and consistent program that builds on itself from year to year, it's important to learn what's been done, what's being done and where the teacher recommends going next. We hold transition meetings at the school that the student will be transitioning to. During a transition meeting, we go over current IEP goals and progress. It also gives me an opportunity to talk to the parent about the student's strengths and weaknesses and the family's short and long term goals. I use this form to take notes for incoming students and I provide a filled out copy to new teachers for students exiting my classroom. Finally, I end the meeting with a school tour. I show the family my classroom and we do a quick walk around the school. These two things help me end the year feeling more confident that I can handle what's coming at me next year! And it also helps your incoming students feel more confident in their upcoming transition. Transitions are scary, but you can make it way less scary just by taking a couple of hours at the end of the year!

In Utah, we are required to teach grade level content based on the Essential Elements. The Essential Elements are alternative standards based on the Common Core standards designed specifically for students with significant disabilities. Special education teachers are expected to teach each of the grade level standards to each student. That’s a pretty high expectation and requires a lot of organization and planning! How are you supposed to teach 20+ academic standards along with IEP goals, not to mention all the other things you are responsible for each day?! In my classroom, I have set up standards based centers. Instead of centers that are based on a theme or unit, I base them on the specific standards in the Essential Elements. Besides the planning up front, it’s a pretty quick and low prep way to provide instruction to multiple ability levels. And, the centers provide exposure and hands on practice to skills that I may not hit within individual IEP goals. Centers are also a great way to take an academic skill and practice it in a real world, applicable way. I get to break down each standard and really figure out how each student will be using the skill in the real world. Planning for Standards Based Centers: Create a pacing guide for the year. Go through your grade level standards and select the ones that are the most important. I select standards that are tested and that are necessary prerequisite skills. Create an outline of approximately how long you want to spend on each standard. You can do this by number of lessons of by the length of time. Obviously it’s going to vary based on your students but remember that this is just a general outline. Then choose an order that you will teach the standards in and start to plug them into your school calendar. If you have multiple grade levels, group the standards the best you can by similarity. Create learning objectives for each student. This is where you can individualize within each standard. The Essential Elements tested standards have linkage levels, so I can set a goal for each standard. Find (or create) activities that fit within your standards and learning objectives. They should be easy to adapt or enrich, depending on where your students are at. You can do any type of activity! Take the time to break down the skill and think about how the students will use that particular skill in real life. Try to find activities that reflect the real world application so that you are making it functional. Find a time to fit centers into your schedule. I plan about 10-15 minutes at each center. Decide if you want students to rotate through all centers daily or weekly. There are tons of ways to make this work but you need to plan time where you have enough staff support. Run your centers! You will want to make sure that you are providing some explicit instruction on the skill, whether you do this before the centers begin through a quick whole class mini lesson or you station yourself at a center is up to you. Station your paras at your other centers and provide them with a copy of student learning objectives and an outline of how to run the activity. If you don’t have enough para support to put one person at each center, you could throw in an independent work center with similar but already mastered skills for students to rotate through. A few reminders & warnings: Standards based centers require teacher and staff support. These skills are relatively new and students are not yet ready for independent practice. Rather, standards based centers are meant to provide hands on learning experiences with academic content that you may have already introduced in a lesson but have not taught to proficiency. Therefore, it is essential that staff understand the learning objectives and how the skill has been introduced so they can support student understanding and progress. Also, standards based centers do not replace math or language arts instruction. Rather, they provide practice opportunities for skills that we don’t work on all the time or standards that we may not cover in depth during content instruction. Let’s face it, our students take a longer time to learn and as teachers, we know that not every standard is going to be meaningful and necessary for every student. However, we need to be sure that our students are able to access grade level curriculum and I can easily provide this access through standards based centers and still have the ability to prioritize my IEP instruction for each student. Finally, I am not expecting that students move through each linkage level and master the whole standard within the year. By selecting that linkage level or creating a learning objective, I am expecting that student make progress towards that small chunk of the standard. Each student is going to start at a different level so differentiation within center activities is important. I’m not going to spend as much time on each standard as I do on an IEP goal but I am hoping to have each student progress towards the grade level target so they can continue to build those skills as they move on to the next grade. I hope this gives you some ideas for incorporating state standards into your school day! You can grab a free copy of the planning template shown above by clicking here (make sure you download it to edit).

I’ve been loving podcasts lately! Listening to them as I get ready in the morning gets my brain out of sleep mode and slowly helps me transition to thinking about work, without overwhelming myself with my daily to do list. Today I’m sharing 5 of my favorite podcasts. I challenge you to check out one of them this week and let me know what you think! Teaching Exceptionally Podcast by the Council for Exceptional Children This is a great way to make sure you are up to date with current research and best practices. Instead of trying to find time to read research and articles, you can just listen to them. I just finished an episode called Teachers Training Paraprofessionals and it was super helpful! ABA Inside Track This is another one that will help you stay up to date on current research in the ABA field. We all know how tedious and boring it can be to read research, not to mention, who has time for that?! The hosts discuss different research practices and how to apply them to your teaching. Super informative & highly recommended! The Chalk Full of Life Podcast This podcast by Kelli Wise is full of tips to balance your teacher life and get rid of the teacher tired! I really like her tips for managing stress and I'm looking forward to future episodes. If you're feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, try listening to this one. Kelli really puts things into perspective! TED Talks Education This podcast discusses critical issues in education. I think that it's so important for special educators to be aware and knowledgeable about the trends and issues faced in education. It's also a great place to find inspirational stories Angela Watson's Truth for Teachers Angela Watson is the creator of the 40 hour workweek club and author of several books for educators. In her podcast, she talks about everything from decreasing teacher stress and anxiety to tips to build relationships with students. I really love how this podcast gets me thinking critically about the things I am doing in my classroom and how I can improve to connect to every student, every day. I’d love to hear your favorites if I missed them! Leave me a comment below. Have a great week, friends!

I love doing a Valentine's Day gift exchange with my middle school class! It's such a fun way to work on functional skills, like making a purchase, thinking about others' interests, manners, and appropriate behavior in the community. I am lucky to work just down the street from a dollar store so every Valentine's Day, we walk down to the store and my students buy a gift for a classmate. Then, we wrap them up and do a gift exchange. So fun, and so much more age appropriate than decorating Valentine mailboxes! Teaching about Appropriate Gift Giving We start with a mini lesson about good gifts vs. bad gifts. I pulled images off the Dollar Tree website and we do a sort. I go around the class and everyone votes on whether they think the item would be a good gift or bad gift, and we place it accordingly. To really get the students thinking about others interests, you could even do quick student interviews and post the results. Teaching Appropriate Community Behavior Then, we draw names and everyone has a secret Valentine. Before we go to the store, we talk about appropriate community behavior. Real Life Money Skills Practice I ask each student to bring in money and I put their money in an envelope. I like to provide my students with the amount that reflects the money skill they have been learning. My students who have been working on exact change get a random assortment of coins so they have to count out the correct amount, where students who are learning Next Dollar get dollar bills only. I don't like to give the exact amount they will need because I want this to be a real life experience. Gift Exchange After we do our shopping, we put our gifts in gift bags and do a gift exchange at the end of the day. The students always love giving their gift as much as they life receiving one. This is hands down my favorite CBI experience of the year! What do you do for Valentine's Day in your classroom?

Special education laws require us to begin transition planning when before students turn 16 years old. In many states, it's when they are 14. So middle school and high school teachers, that's you! This is a huge responsibility. We know that the earlier we begin to work on transition planning with our students and their families, the better off they will be when they leave the school system- the more likely they are to gain employment, participate in post-secondary education, live independently, or be able to access the community. These amazing free transition resources are perfect for special educators preparing students for the transition to adult life. When our students turn 22 and age out of special education, they need services in place to help them gain employment, access the community, enroll in post-secondary education, etc. Basically, if we haven't helped them and given them the resources to access state or local services, it is their own (or their family's) responsibility to find the services and usually, pay for the services out of pocket. There are some amazing websites and free resources out there on the world wide web that can help us with transition planning and collaborating with our students and their families regarding transition into adulthood. Here are some of my favorites (click on the picture to go to each website). The Zarrow Center: If you haven’t looked at this website, you need to! It is full of amazing resources and several transition and self-determination curricula that can be downloaded for FREE. It’s a huge wealth of knowledge for both elementary and secondary teachers with topics from self-awareness to student-directed transition planning. National Center on Secondary Education & Transition: This website has topics from teaching academic standards to family participation. NCSET has a youth-centered interactive website that is designed to get kids involved in their education and IEP planning. Skills to Pay the Bills: This is a free curriculum by the US Department of Labor that teaches students the soft skills needed for successful employment. It teaches 6 different soft skills- communication, enthusiasm & attitude, teamwork, networking, problem-solving & critical thinking, and professionalism. Teaching soft skills helps students prepare for and gain employment in any industry. National Technical Assistance Center on Transition: This website has a ton of free lessons for Evidence-Based Practices, Research-Based Practices & Promising Practices for Transition Planning, Graduation & Post-School Success. It includes the subcategories- education, employment and independent living for each section. There is also a great toolkit section that includes resources for a variety of topics, like planning and hosting a transition fair or finding age-appropriate transition assessments. You'll have to create a log-in to download files, but it's free and so worth it! National Parent Center on Transition and Employment: Not only is it an excellent resource to recommend to your parents, but it has a wealth of knowledge for teachers and students as well. They have a huge video library with tons of information and a learning center with lots of handouts, info, and research on everything from middle school transition planning to assistive technology to state and federal benefit programs. National Alliance for Secondary Education & Transition: This website has a lot of great information, but I especially like their free Transition Toolkit. It's all about how to help schools identify what students need to participate successfully in the community, post-secondary ed, meaningful employment and adult life, and includes a tools section with a few assessments and action plan templates. I hope you find some great new information and resources! Thanks for reading!

Let's talk about writing. Students learn about writing by writing. That means we have to let them write. If they can't hold a pencil to write, then we provide them an alternative tool, or an alternative pencil. You may have seen the alternative pencil flip charts. You can get one for free here. But an alternative pencil can be anything that allows a student to write. I want to share how I use alternative pencils in my classroom for whole class writing prompts. Each day, I introduce a writing topic. As a class, we brainstorm words that are related to the topic that we could use to write. Then, my paras and I assist my students in writing about the topic, using alternative pencils. I have one student who uses a flip chart, one student who uses a keyboard, and one student who uses letter flash cards and yes/no icons. The rest of my students use typical pencils. Here are some tips to help your students who are learning to write with alternative pencils! 1. Choose topics of interest. Write about experiences the students have had, or events that are coming up. Make it meaningful and concrete. 2. Use videos or pictures to introduce the topic. I love using pictures or videos of my students to introduce a topic. If we are writing about a field trip that we went on, I use pictures of the student on the field trip. Or if we are writing about a holiday, I use a short video clip to get students engaged. For my students who love music, I like to use songs about the topic. Whatever it takes to get them engaged! For our Thanksgiving writing prompt, we watched a clip from "A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving." For this writing prompt, we will watch a video about how to make a paper snowflake. Then, we will make our own snowflakes before we write. This will give the students a more concrete experience to write about. 3. Model. Use the student's alternative pencil to model what writing can look like. Show them how to create new words using spaces. Show them how to find letters. Make sure you think aloud during the process. 4. Give meaning to the students writing. One of my favorite parts of using alternative pencils is the "borrowing letters" strategy. After students have completed their writing, you can "borrow" the letters they wrote to create words. 5. Allow students opportunities to share. I love the idea of an author's chair in the classroom. Students can come sit in the author's chair and share their writing. For my non-verbal students, I love to help them program their AAC device to match their writing or use a step by step switch to record what they wrote. Learning to write starts with the opportunity to write. Let's make sure all students are given that opportunity!

Story Based Literacy is one of my favorite things to teach! What is it? It’s exactly what it sounds like- using grade level texts to teach literacy. Students without disabilities need to be able to access age appropriate literature. This increases reading interest, reading skills, and the understanding of literacy components that are required by the state standards. Students with disabilities do not have the same opportunities to access literature because their reading level is well below their peers. SBL provides access to age appropriate literature, in turn building on the all of the above skills. Here are just a few of the skills you can teach through Story Based Literacy- Demonstrate print concepts (title, author, turning page, following along, etc.) Answer WH questions Identify characters, setting and events (plot) Identify main idea of the chapter or text Summarize the chapter or text Compare print to video/ understand similarities and differences There are many components to literacy instruction. This is what it looks like in my classroom. Day 1 Introduce vocabulary and story elements, add story elements and vocab to interactive notebook or story board Day 2 Review vocabulary, read chapter, test vocabulary Day 3 Read chapter, ask comprehension & story element questions Day 4 Complete interactive notebook summary, test vocabulary Day 5 Assessment and activity I focus on the following components. Vocabulary- I choose 2-3 words per chapter. The words that I focus on are words that my students will hear and come across on a regular basis. I like to choose words that repeat themselves throughout the chapter or book. I explicitly teach the vocabulary, and then my students complete a vocab activity on their level. Every 3-5 chapters, we do a vocabulary review, like BINGO. Comprehension- Because we read the chapter several times throughout the week, I can really focus on student comprehension. I set a monthly comprehension focus for each student based on their instructional level. Some students work on yes/no questions while others may be working on main idea questions. I create a chapter communication board with characters, settings, vocabulary and answers to possible comprehension questions. For my students who need limited choices or use eye gaze, I create flash cards with the same pictures that are on the communication board. I record comprehension data once weekly for each student. Repeated Line- A repeated line essentially tells the main idea of the chapter. It’s a way to get all of my students involved in the reading. I use recordable buzzers (affiliate link) for my non-verbal students and a visual for my verbal students. As we read, I signal to the students and they say the repeated line. Writing- Another important component of literacy instruction is writing. It’s easy to implement a weekly writing prompt related to the chapter. I’ve also done interactive notebooks in the past, and each week students write a sentence, or paragraph, that summarizes the chapter. For my students who are unable to write, I use cut and paste sentences, or alternative pencils. Activity-My favorite part of SBL is being able to integrate other subject areas through weekly activities. Each week, I find a cooking, science, or social studies activity that ties into the chapter. And finally, freebies! Click here to grab my weekly outline template and communication board template. Questions about Story Based Literacy? Leave them below or shoot me an email! I’d love to chat more about how you can incorporate this into your classroom!

I will admit when I first started teaching, taking my students into the community made me so nervous! But over time, I got more comfortable and saw the benefits, and now community based instruction is one of my favorite things about my job. Here are some tips I've learned to make community based instruction a successful experience for everyone involved. Set clear expectations and goals, for students and staff. This may seem obvious, but it took me a while to figure it out. Before we go out, we talk about the location, the goal of the trip, and the rules. We create practice opportunities within our school day. Then, when it's time to go out into the community, students and staff know what to focus on. Assess and collect data. Community Based Instruction is not just a field trip. It should be part of your curriculum and should include data collection and assessment. Set clear targets so that you know what to measure, and involve your staff and students in data collection when possible. Focus on increasing independence for each student. Moving teaching into the community requires a plan. Think about the skills that can be generalized to many settings. Students are more likely to increase independence in skills that can be practiced at every community location. Create a plan for independence, including your instructional strategy and how you will fade prompts. This will of course be individualized. One student may be working on making a purchase at a store, and another student may be working on greetings. Regardless of ability level, our goal is always to increase independence. Choose age-appropriate locations. CBI is appropriate for all ages, but the teacher should choose locations where individuals who are close in age to the students are going. You want students to connect with their same-age peers, which will increase recreational opportunities and be more meaningful. Communicate and collaborate with the student's family. Send home activities or a list of skills that students can do with their parents to help reinforce what you are doing at school and in the community. Here are some examples. Reading the menu or ordering their own meal at a restaurant the next time the family goes out to eat Making a grocery list of needed items Calling to find out movie times or make appointments Make sure you grab my free planning form in this post and get planning! Remember, CBI is more than a field trip, but can still be just as fun!

Let's talk apps! I love using the iPads and tablets in my classroom for education purposes, not just for reinforcement. Here are some of my favorites in my special education classroom. 5 Academic Apps Sight Words Ninja: Just like Fruit Ninja, but with Sight Words. Totally worth the few dollars it costs! Touch & Learn: There are a bunch of apps from this creator and I love them all. They are very customizable, so you can target just the skills that your student needs to work on. The Math Learning Center Apps: These apps are a great way to incorporate technology into your math lessons, and they are free! Next Dollar Up: This app isn't free, but it's a great extension if you have students who are learning the Next Dollar method. Letter Quiz: Include letter tracing, letter ID and letter matching. And it's fun! 4 Alternative & Augmentative Communication or Assistive Tech Apps CoughDrop: This AAC app is free for professionals and super easy to use! Sounding Board: This free AAC app from Attainment comes with several pre-made boards and you can create your own. Snaptype: This is a super easy way to make accommodations. Snap a picture of a worksheet, and students can type their answers! Audio Exam: This is perfect for your students who have read aloud testing accommodations. Students can plug in their ear buds and listen to the test without having to leave the room. They don't have to worry about feeling singled out or different from their peers, they can take the test right in the room with their accommodations. Plus, this makes it easier for teachers because they don't have to find additional time/space/staffing to test students with read aloud accommodations. 3 Teacher Apps Tally 2: Tally 2 is a great app to record frequency. It uses gestures, so you don't even have to be staring at your device to record an instance. #anythingtomakeiteasier Interview Assistant: Do you hire your own paras? I use Interview Assistant to keep track of my interview questions and interviewee responses. You can even record audio of the actual interview and rate the interview at the end, for your own reference later on. ClassTag: ClassTag is an amazing and free communication app that I started using to minimize paper exchange with the Covid pandemic. You can post events, volunteer and donation requests, stories and announcements, and even sign ups for Parent Teacher Conferences. 2 Social Skills Apps Puppet Pals: Puppet Pals is a fun way to create social stories. It’s quick & easy and my students love it! Pictello: This one is a little more expensive, but it's great for social stories or about my day books. You can make visual stories about a student's day using real photos or videos and the student can share them with peers or parents! 1 Organization App Evernote: Evernote helps keep my brain organized at home and at work. Its so easy to use and I love having it right on my phone so I can use it anywhere. I create a “note” for each of my students where I keep a continuous to do list. And it’s free! Have you used any of these? What are your favorite apps?