Self-care Tips for Teachers

"Self-care" is a bit of a buzz word right now. It's important to remember that self-care isn't just treating yourself to bubble baths, massages, pedicures, chocolate and wine. Self-care is taking care of your entire self (mental, physical, and emotional). Self-care should be activities YOU enjoy and should be practiced on a regular basis!

It's also important to remember that there are different types of self-care and that it will look different for everyone! You should take the time to identify what makes you feel refreshed, energized and relaxed. And if you're looking to practice more self-care, you're in the right place!

10 Ways to Practice Sight Words in the Classroom

Sight words can be tricky for our students to learn. It's so important to give students various opportunities to practice reading and spelling sight words!

I love using hands on materials and ways to practice with sight words. Many of these ideas can also be used when work on word work too!

Ideas for HEAVY WORK in the classroom

Heavy work has been used to help calm and stimulate students with sensory needs for years! You are probably already using some heavy work activities and you might not even realize it!

So what is heavy work?
Heavy work is an activity that either pushes or pulls against the body and provides the muscles and joints with input. Heavy work activities can be beneficial to EVERY student but can be particularly helpful for students with sensory processing needs. Heavy work can help students feel regulated and focused.

Independent Reading in a Special Education Classroom

If you don't already have independent reading time in your schedule, then it's definitely something you should consider! And don't say, "No way!" just because your students "aren't readers" yet or are emergent readers!

According to Fountas & Pinnel, "During independent reading, students read books of their choosing for a sustained period of time. Minilessons, brief conferences, and opportunities to share thinking support students' engagement with books and increase their competencies." 

If you want to read more about independent reading (including the benefits and set up tips) from the literacy gurus, Fountas & Pinnell, check out this link!

Structured Play in the Classroom

I'm all about teaching students to play independently and to play with other children without adult support (or with minimal adult support) in the classroom.
Play is such a great functional skill! Not only is play an important social skill... but think about it this way too:
At home: If children can play independently or with siblings without adult support- it can give families the opportunity to cook, do chores, or practice a little self-care without needing to constantly tend to the children.

In the classroom: If children can play independently or with peers without adult support- it can give teachers the opportunity to work in small groups or 1:1 with other students!

10 Hands On Fine Motor Activity Ideas

I LOVE fine motor activities that keep students engaged and excited to strengthen their hands.

I decided to do a little round of up 10 of our favorite fine motor activities in our classroom.

Some of these activities can be made with materials you probably already have, some will require you to make simple things, and others will require you to buy some things. But they're all sure to make your students excited!

Structuring Math Groups in a Special Education Classroom

It seems like every school year I'm tweaking our systems/ routines for  how we run groups. I do this for a few reasons:

• Students' needs change from year to year, so systems need to change too!
• I get bored and like a little change sometimes, and I know my entire class benefits from change too!
• When I reflect on past school years, I can often see gaps and what I can do better.

We mixed up how we are running math groups quite a bit this school year. We are heading into week 6 of the year and the new routine has honestly been great, so I want to share it with you!

Creating a Peace Corner or Calm Down Space in the Classroom

Teachers everywhere are starting to use peace corners or calm down corners to meet the social/ emotional needs of students.

First, everyone calls these spaces something different... For years I called ours a "calm down corner" but I'm trying to train myself to start calling it the "peace corner." I really don't see anything wrong with calling it a "calm down corner," I just think that a "peace corner" sounds a little more positive, so I'm trying to make the change.

So, for the rest of this post, I'm going to refer it as a peace corner. I will explain how we use our peace corner and share some tips for setting one up so students can learn to use it independently. 

3 Tips for End of Day/ Dismissal Routines in the Classroom

Dismissal time in the classroom can be really hectic and stressful for students AND staff... You're trying to dismiss numerous students within a few minutes , they're all going to different places, and safety is likely a concern at this time.

Good news though... there are things you can do to ease the stress during this time and make the transition go smoother! Here are 3 little tricks I've learned over the years that have helped our students and staff during dismissal time!

Implementing a Structured Snack Time in a Special Needs Classroom

I don't have a snack time in our classroom every year, but when the school day is long and lunch times are either really early or really late, it's definitely necessary!

Snack time in any classroom can be a hectic time time! In self-contained/ center-based classrooms, snack time can be even more overwhelming if structures and routines aren't in place to support students!

Check out how I structure and set up snack time so we can have a meaningful and calm snack time!

Establishing a Fun, Engaging and Effective Circle Time in a Special Needs Classroom

If you've followed me for a while or you've spent any time on my blog, then you probably know I've always LOVED circle time/ morning meeting.

It's so nice to start the day in a fun and engaging way that builds classroom community! You can also work on SO many different academic, functional and social skills!

I think it's really important that we mix up our instruction (and materials) so our students don't get bored! Although our students likely need a lot of repetition with tasks, they also need to generalize those skills with a variety of materials!

FREE Editable Labels for Rolling Carts and Drawers

I'm all about labeling ALL THE THINGS... It keeps you from having to tell students and staff where things are and where to put things a million times a day.

So many people use the medium size Sterilite 3 drawers and the rolling carts, so I want to share the free editable labels I have. I also want to share a hack for putting labels on the rolling cart drawers without having any visible cuts in the paper!

I've seen a lot of people just make a vertical cut in the label and slide it on the drawer/ over the knob. This is what I used to do and for some reason the cut in the paper bothered me (sometimes I'm more particular than I'd like to admit :-0 ). So I came up with a new solution!

Making Structured Work Systems Portable & Practical for any Classroom

I've preached and preached about why it's SO important to teach students to work independently and use structured work systems.

I want to show you three ways to use structured work systems in a variety of settings. These systems are great because they can be implemented in any classroom and at home! You can also use similar structured systems during direct instruction and groups to provide students with consistent structure.

Packing the BEST Teacher Field Trip Bag

Field trips are SO fun but can also be super stressful and chaotic. Having a field trip "go bag" can make field trips run a little smoother! I like to have our field trip bag packed and prepped at all times!

I found our backpack at Micheal's for $13 (I used at 40% off coupon) and used my Cricut machine to make the iron on with A Perfect Blend fonts.

Creating a Morning Routine in a Special Education Classroom

Creating a classroom morning routine that works well can be tough... It's the first chunk of the day and it's often a hard transition for students.

Before I explain our morning routine, I want to give you a little background about my classroom. Classroom models like mine typically have anywhere from 8-15 students and we have a teacher and 2-4 paraprofessionals. It's technically a "self-contained" classroom, but all of my students have a general education teacher in their grade level and go to their general ed teacher for at least part of their day depending on their needs.

3 Tips for Transitioning Your Class Inside From Recess

Transitioning students from recess back to the classroom and to a learning environment can be one of the hardest transitions of the day. I think this is for one main reason: recess is super fun and reinforcing to students, and going back inside and working probably isn't as reinforcing as recess. So what do we need to do? We need to be strategic and make ending recess WAY more reinforcing for students!

Using Google Forms™ to Communicate with Families

Communicating with families regularly is one of the easiest ways to build positive relationships with families. In the past, I used paper back and forth books. I thought I was being SO time efficient because I made books that had checklists, I individualized the books based on what each parent wanted to know about the students day and I could write in 10 books in about 15 minutes.

But I was still struggling to write in all the books on a daily basis. I was struggling to find the time at the end of the day (when students were still there) to complete the books. Pages were getting ripped out of books on the bus. Books were getting lost. Families weren't getting important information they needed, so it just wasn't working anymore...

Paraprofessional Series: Working with Experienced Special Education Paraprofessionals as New Teacher

Working with paraprofessionals can be one of the best and hardest things about being a special education teacher. It can be particularly hard when you're a newer teacher and working in a classroom with experienced paraprofessionals. It can feel weird to give a para instructions, directions and guidance if the para has more classroom experience than you or if the para is significantly older than you.

Tips for Teaching Students to Play Independently

I've shared a lot about how I love to teach my students to play independently and with peers without adult support. First, this is an amazing functional and social skill. Second, this allows classroom staff to run groups with other students while some students are playing appropriately and safely. 

⁣I want to start by saying that this process takes TIME, patience and a lot of reinforcement! Many of our students have spent much of their academic lives with a teacher or para glued to their side prompting them, so we have to work on fading these prompts during play time (and really the entire school day!). 

Implementing Mindfulness & Breathing Techniques in the Special Education Classroom

Teaching my students to meditate and breathing techniques is one of my greatest joys! Meditation and breathing can provide students with amazing regulation skills and the ability to calm their bodies and minds in a variety of tough situations. A friend and old colleague (who is PE teacher and mindfulness teacher) opened my eyes to teaching meditation and mindfulness practice to students. Many of these ideas are from her and I adapted them for students with disabilities/ special needs.