Although I hate admitting it, I’m not an innately organized teacher. However, in my 4 years as a special educator, I have definitely learned some tricks of the trade. 1. Data Clipboards I have my clipboards hanging from command hooks on two of my cabinet doors. This grab-and-go method is convenient and organized, making it […]
Must-Haves in the Self-Contained Classroom
Is it weird that I want to ask for nothing but TPT gift cards for Christmas? Last year I bought a laminator with my Christmas money, so I guess it’s not that weird. There are just SO MANY good things on Teachers Pay Teachers! As a teacher in a self-contained SPED classroom, it can be […]
Effective Parent Communication
Establishing a good parent-teacher communication system is one of the most important things you can do at the beginning of the year. To get better insight from a parent’s perspective, I decided to ask one of my former student’s parents what she liked in terms of teacher communication. While this parent enjoyed the daily logs […]
Planning for the First 2 Weeks of School in Your Special Education Classroom
The first few weeks in the classroom can be tough. You’re given the room and the caseload, but not much else. There’s grade level curriculum to be adapted, but before you can even start that, you’ve got weeks of assessments and data collection ahead of you. Here are a few ideas to help you survive […]
5 Tips for Successful Schedules in the SPED Room
I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: Visual schedules changed my life. Here are five scheduling tips I wish I would have known before implementing schedules in my classroom. 1.) Color Code This year, I will be assigning each student a color. Their schedules, PECS, binders, work boxes, and cover sheets will all […]
