Schedules You Need in your Special Education Classroom


Schedules are SO important for keeping special education classrooms running smoothly. A lot of people think you just need a staff schedule and maybe a visual schedule for the kiddos. I've found that by adding a few specific schedules, my room is running much smoother and there are way less miscommunications.

Class schedule (for the kids):
This is a visual schedule for the whole class to reference. It's just the basics of the day, it doesn't include anything kid-specific like medication or therapy times, but gives a gist of the schedule the entire class will be following.

Schedules You Need in your Special Education Classroom

Individual schedules:
Individual schedules can be important for any kiddo who needs to see small changes in the schedule that might not be on the large class schedule (like therapy times, medication administration, time in general ed, etc.). The chart on the left shows the kid's schedule for the entire week, then every morning, a staff member builds the visual schedule on the right. Kids can remove symbols and put them in an "all done" envelope as they finish things throughout the day.

Schedules You Need in your Special Education Classroom


Generic class schedule (for the staff):
I've found it to be really helpful to post and share a generic weekly schedule with all staff who are involved with your kiddos. It's somewhat detailed- has the weekly academic schedule, g-tube feeds, staff and student lunches, therapy dates and times, etc. This is a great schedule to share with any school or district administrators who might want to "pop in" to see you teach or chat for a minute. Note: I also use staff zoning plans but I post those separately.

Special Weekly Schedule (for staff):
I use this big schedule to let my paras know about anything new/different that is happening for the week. Working with 3 paras and numerous therapists, it can be hard to tell everyone in the room about upcoming events! To make sure there isn't a miscommunication, I post field trips, school events, meetings that I'll be out of the classroom for, etc. on this board so paras, OTs, PTs, SLPs, and administrators can reference it at any time.

Schedules You Need in your Special Education Classroom

Schedules You Need in your Special Education Classroom


What scheduling tips do you have to keep everyone "in the loop?"