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Writing Great IEP Goals!
As a special education teacher, it can be exhausting writing and rewriting IEP goals for all of the students on your caseload. But, this is an important part of our job. Read on for tips on how to write great IEP goals. Use Current Performance When you are writing an IEP goal it is really easy to just take one that you have written in the past and reuse it for the new student. While all special education teachers refer to what they’ve done in the past to help them, make sure that what you’re doing also makes sense for this student. Often I get students with IEP goals that…
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Benefits of the Inclusion Model
A lot of school districts, for a variety of reasons, are beginning to adopt an inclusion model for special education. For more about inclusion, check out A Beginners Guide to Inclusion. Inclusion can present a variety of difficulties for the staff members involved. Having to constantly adjust curriculum to the wide varieties of needs and abilities in your classroom is a challenge. But, when done right, inclusion is definitely worth the work. Rigorous Curriculum When you include students with disabilities in the general education classroom, they are still being exposed to all of the grade level curriculum that their peers are. The students are exposed to positive peer role models who…
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Organizing Your Classroom: What to Save and What to Throw Away
So as a special education teacher, I feel like I am constantly surrounded by paperwork and junk. I have piles and piles of paperwork waiting to be filed, manipulatives that I’ve never used, and enough pens and pencils to supply a small army. This year I am trying to be better about de-cluttering my house and my office. Maybe I’ll share an article about de-cluttering my house another time. Here are some tips for what to save and what to part ways with. Save: Testing Information For this category, it is important to know your state laws and your district’s procedures. But personally, I save my testing protocols for 7…
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Ways to Differentiate Homework
Homework is a hot topic in my district right now. Parents complain because we give too much, or not enough, or its too hard. Homework can be difficult for students who struggle. They think that they understand what is going on when they are in class, but when they get home, they have no idea what they’re doing. Don’t Give Homework Just to Give Homework Make sure that all of the homework that you give is meaningful. Think to yourself, what is the educational purpose of this homework. And if you’re not happy with your answer, maybe that isn’t something you should be giving for homework. I am not arguing…
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Get Control Back in Your Classroom!
We all have those days where no matter what we do or say, the students just don’t cooperate. Sometimes those days get so bad that we sit back and wonder if we’re really cut out for this job! I know that I have had those days, more towards the beginning of my teaching career but they still happen. When you have that classroom that is just defeating you, here are some tips to regain control of your classroom. Stay Calm Letting the students get you worked up and get the best of you is not going to help anyone. This is the hardest of all of my tips, but it…
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What’s in My Teacher Bag
I am a special education teacher and I teach eighth-grade inclusion. Which means I co-teach five classes with three different teachers. Because of this, I am very rarely in my classroom and have to travel with a lot of belongings. I thought I would share with you a glimpse into what I keep in my teacher bag and why I travel with it! My Planner I am obsessed with my Erin Condren teacher planner. I use it to keep my life organized. Since I am not the content area teacher, I don’t keep a curriculum plan in my planner because each teacher I co-teach with has it in theirs. What…
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Positive Reinforcements for Middle School Students
Often, I have a difficult student that results in me and my team creating a behavior plan for that student. More often than not we work towards using positive incentives for students to earn with the behavior chart rather than consequences or taking things away. But, with middle school students, sometimes it is hard to find age-appropriate rewards. Get the Parents Involved I try to get the parents involved with the behavior plans. Sometimes the most appropriate rewards for the students involve things that are more appropriate to happen at home. I have had students whose parents determined that the best reward was some screen time after dinner or a…
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Tips for a New Inclusion Teacher
Teaching inclusion can be overwhelming for someone who is new to the job, or maybe you are just in a new co-teaching relationship. There are so many things to worry about, from the needs of your students, to your co-teaching relationship, to working with parents. Here are some tips for someone who is new to inclusion. Treat all of the students the same It is easy to go into the classroom and focus on only the students on your caseload. It is your job to help these students and ensure that they are receiving all of their necessary accommodations and modifications. But, you need to remember that for optimal co-teaching,…
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Tips for a Successful IEP Meeting
Start with something positive An IEP meeting can be stressful for parents. You are determining whether or not their child has a disability, or you have already decided on this and you are meeting to make sure that they are still making progress. This can be upsetting and uncomfortable for parents as a lot of the information that is going to be shared may not be positive. Always start your IEP meeting by telling the parents the good things that you think about their child and how much you enjoy working with them. This sets a positive tone at the beginning and lets the parent know that you are on the…
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How to Guide A Successful Paraprofessional
Paraprofessionals As special education teachers, it tends to be our responsibility to guide a paraprofessional. Even if it is not officially our job responsibility, our paras are working with our students, and we want to make sure that they know what they are supposed to be doing so we tend to take this on. Who are they? If you are unfamiliar, a paraprofessional is someone who works in your school, but usually is not a licensed teacher. In my experience, a lot of paras are working towards their license, or are newly licensed and are trying to get their foot in the door. I have also worked with some paras…
