5 Tips for the First Week of School in a Special Education Classroom

Tips for the First Week of School in a Special Education Classroom

The first week of school is scary for any teacher! There are so many unknowns and questions we ask ourselves... What should my schedule look like? How can I build relationships with my students and their families? What should I teach the first week of school? I'm sharing 5 tips for having a successful first week of school!

  • Focus on relationships with students and families & building the classroom community!

    Tips for the First Week of School in a Special Education Classroom

    Spending a majority of your time building relationships and community the first week of school will pay off! Students thrive when they have positive relationships with their teachers and peers.
      
    Ideas for building relationships with students & creating a positive classroom community:
    -Have a morning meeting and closing circle
    -Greet each student every morning
    -Work collaboratively with students to identify classroom expectations/ rules
    -Create times for students to share about themselves/ to do ice breakers
    -Have students help decorate the classroom by making labels or posters
    -Spend time talking and playing with students 
    -Learn about students' interests 

    Ideas for building relationships with families
    -Call or contact every family the first week of school
    -Set the expectations for communication with families (how and when you will communicate with families). I always communicate my email/ text and phone call office hours with families the first week of school. 
    -Check out these tips for building positive relationships with families

  • Keep a consistent schedule and shorten activities!

    Tips for the First Week of School in a Special Education Classroom

    -Most of us have an idea of what our "ideal schedule" is once we are settled in a few weeks/ months into the school year. I try to keep that "ideal schedule" in mind the first week of school. I keep the schedule the first week of school similar to my "ideal schedule" but shorten the length of many of the activities. For example: We are expected to do 90 minutes of literacy instruction a day, but that just isn't going to happening the first week of school! Instead, we do literacy groups at the same time as our "ideal schedule" but we typically start our literacy groups at 10-20 minutes and then build up to the "ideal" length. 
    Of course, our schedules always end up changing a few dozen times the first few months of school, but we do our best to keep consistency!

  • Include plenty of movement and calming breaks.

    Tips for the First Week of School in a Special Education Classroom

    -This is something I suggest doing all year long, but it's especially important the first week of school! There is evidence to support that students benefit from regularly scheduled movement breaks. I suggest scheduling a movement or calming break after each activity/ chunk of time in the schedule. We typically have have movement or calming break every 30-60 minutes. 
    Need ideas and resources for breaks?
  • Keep work/ lessons at independent levels.

    Tips for the First Week of School in a Special Education Classroom

    -Students shouldn't be frustrated with hard work/ assignments the first week of school. I keep all work, lessons & activities the first week (and honestly the first couple of weeks) of school at students' independent levels to increase engagement and motivation. You can grab the coloring worksheets for free here and tracing/ writing worksheets for free here.

    Tips for the First Week of School in a Special Education Classroom
     
    Using independent leveled work allows us to:
    • focus on the routines and structures of the schedule and classroom (i.g. focusing on how to use the math manipulatives and how to transition between centers instead of spending time on teaching counting skills).
    • help students feel successful and positive about being back in school.
    • help staff and students have the time to build relationships.

  • Model and practice daily routines.

    Tips for the First Week of School in a Special Education Classroom

    -Plan to spend a lot of time modeling and practicing every single daily routine! We have students practice routines multiple times and provide lots of reinforcement for practicing & following the routines. 
    -There are SO many structures and routines to practice the first few weeks of the school year. Here are just a few:
Reach out to me on social media or send me an email ( littlemisskimsclass@gmail.com ) if you have any first week of school questions! 

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