Teacher Planner Template for the Special Education Classroom

Guys... I love all of the adorable teacher planners that I see out there.  However, they always feel like a ton of extra work.  If you read my last two blog posts about my scope and sequence, you know that I am fairly organized and I like to outline my themes and topics for the entire year but for whatever reason the planners that I have come across never seem to meet my needs.  So I decided to make my own!

Click HERE to pick up the template for free!

In case you missed my Scope and Sequence blog posts (with a few other freebies!), here are the links:

Thematic Literacy Planning for the Year in the Special Ed. Classroom
Planning Math Concepts for the Year in the Special Ed. Classroom

Planning Math Concepts for the Year in a Special Education Classroom

Welcome back!  If you saw my post last week, I shared my scope and sequence for thematic literacy planning in my special education classroom. If you missed it, click HERE to check it out! This week I will be going over how I plan for math in my classroom.

I find that math is bit more difficult to plan since it is so skill based.  It can be a challenge to have a unifying theme when everyone is working on completely different skills.  While it is important to focus on the individualized program of each of my students, I also feel a sense of obligation to provide a "typical classroom experience" (aka theme) for all of my kids, especially those who spend a majority of their day in my room.

For our basic skills activities, I have a general theme that matches up with the season or an upcoming holiday.  This gives my students a bit of variety while providing the consistency and repetition than they need in order to master these foundational concepts.  I love using my Seasonal Counting Packs (found HERE) for my students who are working on numbers 1-20.   However, my students need to move beyond just the basics.

More often than not, most of my students are working on our state's alternate achievement standards, which are aligned to the Common Core State Standards.  Because of this, I base my monthly math topics on the elementary Common Core Math Domains. Each month from September-May I focus on a different topic.  Some of the math domains are spread out over multiple months.  For example, money and time are incredibly important concepts for my students so I stretch out measurement and data over three months.

Here is a list of my monthly math focus:

September - Counting and Cardinality
October - Numbers and Operations in Base Ten
November - Number and Operations - Fractions
December - Operations and Algebraic Thinking - Addition and Subtraction
January - Operations and Algebraic Thinking - Multiplication and Division
February - Geometry
March - Measurement & Data
April - Measurement & Data - Money
May - Measurement & Data - Time
June - Focus on IEP goals

I find that by having a common theme for my math instruction makes planning much easier.  Before I started focusing on monthly math concepts, all of my students were working on completely different skills.  Don't get me wrong, they were all getting a well-rounded education and were challenged with work at their own level.  But there was nothing unifying their instruction with their classmates.  In addition, without a general scope and sequence, it can be too easy to focus solely on number sense and miss the rest of the standards.  Click HERE if you would like a copy of my scope and sequence template.

Having a unifying theme allows me to create shared experiences and common vocabulary with all of my students.  It also allows me to more easily communicate what is happening in the classroom with my families.

I like to send home a letter at the beginning of each month that gives an overview of the math domain that we will be focusing on the for the month.  You can find a copy of my letters HERE.  I also include activities that they can do at home to extend their child's learning.  There are a variety of differentiated activities included so that all of my families can find at least one activity that is appropriate for their child.

With all that being said, my students continue to work on very individualized skills during math.  I typically split our time between instruction related to their IEP goals and the monthly concept. Now, how I split my time... that's a topic for another day!

3/2/2018 UPDATE - Many people have expressed interest in getting a copy of the completed scope and sequence that I have been using in my classroom.  Click HERE to download a copy.  Enjoy! 

Thematic Literacy Planning for the Year in a Special Education Classroom

Teaching in a self-contained special education classroom carries its own unique set of challenges.  Planning instruction that meets the needs of all of the students is one of those challenges.  There are so many factors to consider that it is tough to know where to start. Are you aligning your instruction to the grade levels standards?  But what if you teach multiple grades... how are you going to swing that?  What about the general education curriculum?  Are you utilizing this as well?  Oh yeah... then there are the IEP goals... you should probably work on those skills too... but everyone is at a different level.  Does this sound familiar?

Over the next 2 weeks, I am going to share some of my tips for planning out your year.

First up - Thematic Literacy Planning for the Year in a Special Education Classroom

I like to plan out my entire year, week by week, before school even begins.  I find that mapping everything out at the beginning of the year frees up time during the school year to work on the important things that come up... because let's be real... I don't have time to wing it!  If it isn't planned, I don't do it.  I am way too busy during the school year to be creative!

Here is how I make it work in my classroom:

I like to start out with a theme.  I was resistant to go with themes at first because all of my students were working at their own level and in their curricula.  I felt like I didn't have time to squeeze in an additional topic.  However, my reasons for avoiding thematic units were actually the reasons why they work best in my classroom.

I base my themes on the essential questions and books from our general education reading curriculum.  I find that this is a great jumping off point and provides common vocabulary for my students.

Since I generally have a span of 2-3 grade levels within my classroom, I like to choose a combination of essential questions from each grade level to make sure that I am providing grade level content for all of my students.

Once I have my essential questions, I choose a book and letter of the week.  I also add in possible writing prompts that tie in with the essential questions... one less thing to think about later! I read the book(s) during a whole group story time, giving my students the opportunity to participate in a shared experience before they break off into their small groups.

I also like to add in a sentence frame or core word of the week for my students who are using communication systems, an art or cooking project, and a sensory bin since I try to tie them into my essential questions.

It has taken me a few years to come up with a scope and sequence document that works for me.  You can find a free template HERE if you would like to try it out for yourself!  Because my students' skills can vary significantly from year to year, I don't use every activity every year.  For example, last year I didn't use the letter of the week, but I will this year.

As far as skill-based curriculum goes, I can't map that out as easily.  Each of my students works at their own pace and in their own curriculum.  I use a combination of Read Well, Reading Mastery, Edmark, Wired for Reading, and Wonders.  I don't include this information on my scope and sequence since it is so heavily dependent on the needs of my students.  However, I do include it in my planner, which you can pick up for free HERE.

What about you?  How do you map out your year? Please share!  And keep an eye out for next week's post where I will be talking about Planning Math Concepts for the Year in a Special Education Classroom.

10/19/17 UPDATE - Many people have expressed interest in getting a copy of the completed scope and sequence that I have been using in my classroom.  There are projects that have not been planned, but I am happy to share what I have so far.  Click HERE to download a copy.  Enjoy! 

But I Don’t Have Time to Collect Data! - Tips for Streamlining Data Collection in the Special Education Classroom

Do you feel overwhelmed by data collection? You are not alone! Here are some tips that help me to streamline data collection in my classroom.

1. Start early - Set up your data collection system right away. I like to have all of my students’ goals and data sheets printed before the school year starts. I was on maternity leave at the start of this school year and didn’t have my data system up and running as early as I would have liked. This made it so much more difficult to take data on a regular basis. I definitely learned the hard way and won’t make that mistake again! I now make it a priority to organize my data sheets before the school year starts and keep it updated as my students’ goals change throughout the year.

2. Build data collection into your schedule - I don’t know about you, but my day is busy… crazy busy!! If I don’t have something built into the schedule, it doesn’t happen. Figure out who will be collecting data and how often it will happen. Write it down and stick with the schedule.

3. Consolidate your data sheets - There are a million and one data sheets out there. Some are great and others… not so much. Find out which data sheets best meet your needs and use those sheets as often as possible. My team and I spent some time last year sorting through all of our data sheets and agreed upon a few that worked well for everyone. I revamped all of these sheets to make them simple and easy to use for teachers and paraeducators. You can find them HERE. This leads us to tip number 4.

4. Keep data sheets prepped and ready to use - I keep 10-20 copies of each of my most used data sheets in a separate binder. They are hole punched and ready to be used. No more running to the copy machine or pulling up files on my computer. You can find a free copy of my data binder cover HERE.

5. Train everyone - Data collection is a team effort. Everyone needs to be on the same page and understand when, how, and why, data is being collected.

Do you have any tips or tricks for streamlining data collection? Please share!

5 Tips for Sensory Bin Organization

You may, or may not know this about me, but I LOVE sensory bins!   Not only do they provide a unique sensory experience, but they are a fantastic way to build vocabulary and strengthen fine motor skills.  Best of all… the kids have no idea that they are learning!

Over the years I have built up quite the collection of sensory bin materials.  In order to make it quick and easy to change the bins out, I need to keep everything organized.  Here are some tips and tricks that I have learned to make managing the materials a bit easier.

1. Keep the base materials separate from the goodies. This saves space and allows you to create new combinations of sensory bins.
2. Use zip top bags to store your themed materials.  It’s not fancy… It’s not pretty… but it gets the job done.  I like to store all of my bags in larger tubs.  Some of the bags are seasonal, and some are aligned to our reading curriculum.
3. Keep an extra bin for shovels, tweezers, cups, and tubes.  These tools are a great addition to the sensory bins and since they are not specific to a theme, I like to keep them separate.
4. Have an extra sensory bin available so that you always have one in use and another that is in “restocking mode.”  
5. Put your kids to work.  On the last day that the bin will be used, have your students pull out all of the goodies and put them back into the storage bag.  

How do your organize your sensory bin materials? Please share!

Building Independence Through Play

I don’t know about you, but most of the kids that I have worked with over the years are extremely social.  I love to see them interacting with their peers, and their outgoing nature makes for some fun, collaborative learning opportunities!

Since my students love to interact with one another, as well as the staff in the classroom, they tend to have trouble with independent work time.  I have also noticed that they have trouble with independent leisure activities.  Whether it is reading a book on their own, drawing, or playing with a toy after they complete their work, they just want to interact with everyone around them.  Many of my families also have trouble with this at home.  They have found it difficult to step away to use the bathroom, cook dinner, or clean up the house without their children seeking their attention.

We quite often focus on building independence during work tasks and increasing our students’ self-help skills (feeding, dressing, etc.).  We should be focusing on independence during leisure time as well!

A few years ago, I started putting together some “break bins.”  These bins were filled with activities and toys that my students could play with on their own.  I taught my expectations and added break bin time to our afternoon rotations.  Let me tell you… my kids love it!

Most of the activities in the bins are from thrift stores or toys that my son no longer plays with.  I also like to include art and sensory materials such as play-doh, floam, kinetic sand, and rice. I am often surprised by which toys get the most love.  Who would have thought that stamps, stencils, and markers would have been such a big hit!?!

Depending on the student, I have different expectations for the amount of time that they need to play with the bin before they can switch.  Some of my students choose a bin and play with it for the full 15 minutes.  Other students want to swap out the bin every 30 seconds.  I typically provide a sand timer for these students.  They can flip the timer on their own and they know that they can clean up and pick out a new bin as soon as the time is up.  

The break bins have also come in handy for last-minute changes in the schedule.  Do you have an unexpected 5 minutes to fill before lunch?  Did you have to cancel a lesson because of a fire drill?  Are the adults needed elsewhere to address the behavior of another student?  Grab a break bin!

How do you incorporate independent play into your classroom? Please share!

And so it begins...

Well, here it is... my very first blog post!  I have been tossing around a few topics for my first post.  Behavior... communication... data collection... classroom set up... there are so many choices!  Then I realized that I just needed to rip the band-aid off and hit "publish."

So here it goes...

Eloquent? no.
Thought provoking? no.
Worth your time to read? probably not.

Writing does not come easy to me.  With that being said, I am passionate about supporting students with disabilities and wanted to share tips, tricks, ideas and supports with other educators. I have spent 10 years working in a special education program for students with moderate to severe disabilities.  I am incredibly thankful that I have found my place... my home... my purpose.  Everyday my students push me to become a better educator.  It is a result of their unique and ever changing needs that I am challenged to reflect on my practice and seek out new and better ways to support their learning.

Thanks for being a part of my journey!