End of year for Preschool & Special Education

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Well the countdown begins! So I’m going to take it easy in the run up to the end of the year. I still like to be prepared for those last few days though, I also want to keep those little ones learning in a fun way and tiny fingers busy, right to the end!

A lot of preschool and children with Special Education can find organising, sequencing and prioritising difficult so I thought Id target some of those skills and keep them practicing.

Keeping my little ones engaged and motivated is important to me, but can be hard work preparing and organising, so having these no-prep sheets ready are a huge life saver and fun for students to work on! I’ve also laminated a copy and popped them in a binder for my students to use at their independent work centres.

For more end of Summer fine motor activities

For More of my End of year Activities press on the links below.

End of School -no prep Sequencing fun

End of year Flip Book – My summer plans

Things that go together – kindergarten, Autism, Special Ed

FUNCTIONS OF BEHAVIOR

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Tips For Special Ed Teachers

The four functions of behavior are, Sensory, Escape, Attention and Tangible. Effective intervention involves identifying the function of a behavior and incorporating strategies to replace it.

Attention – if the student is pinching you to gain attention, then teach her to request attention appropriately with e.g. visuals such as “will you play with me” icon.

ESCAPE – if she’s hitting her head to avoid a task, teach her to request “help” or a “break” with a timer.

Tangible – crying while in a cue to get lunch, teach her to “wait”

Sensory – biting her hand, then teach her to request a “chewy toy”.

When planning these new skills always remember that the replacement behavior must serve the same function as the one displayed.

More Ideas

SENSORY SIMULATION – Offer opportunities for bouncing on a large ball or trampoline, spinning, squeezing sensory balls, chewy toys, sand play, water play, banging a drum.

ATTENTION SEEKING – Give non verbal students a voice with visuals to request time with a favourite person, play games or work together. Model with hand over hand instructions to tap your arm and get your attention in structured sessions.

AVOIDANCE – Teach students to request a “break”, “help”, Give a choice of what to work for with a Token Reward system. Motivate with a choice of reinforcers and keep them fresh and handy.

Plan fun activities, maybe short to start with. Tailor learning with individual interest in mind.

TANGIBLE – Redirect to requesting items using visuals or voice, Use “First and Then” strategy and schedules. Token Economy with a reinforcer of their choice should incorporate their favourite items and snacks.

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Behavior Problems you can Fix

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Tips for SPED Teachers

Number 1

Tantrums, anger and aggression can be triggered for a number of reasons, usually sensory stimulus, demands for items or food, are often communicated in these negative ways. Teaching more appropriate ways to recognise and communicate these feelings is one way to start fixing such behaviors.

Number 2

To prevent problems and support appropriate behavior there are general principles to keep in mind. Use structure, take control and set boundaries.

Number 3

Once anger, fear or panic is displayed I redirect my student to a quiet area and give him opportunities to use these visuals to identify and understand how he is feeling and what he needs to help him feel better.

Number 4

Reassuring students and offering opportunities to teach calming strategies should be taken often, even before situations arise.

Number 5

Learning these new skills using a visual support system will help your students to see what is expected and accept what’s needed to develop important functionable social skills and independence.

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Improve the most Challenging Behavior

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Being proactive is the key to avoiding a meltdown in your classroom, but you’ll need to know your students motivators, behaviors and triggers first!

Improving the most challenging behavior can be a challenge on its own ! Finding a strategy that suits individual needs can have you pulling your hair out.

Before I begin to implement any strategy I give each student a motivator assessment, keeping a note of the highest reinforcers to help them replace particular behaviors for positive ones.

When a behavior does arise, I remind the student of what went wrong with visuals which allows them a choice of what would have been a better approach in that situation. Using a “How did you feel? What did you do? What should you do next time? strategy, students are able to point and reflect what should have happened.

Once established, Positive Behavior must be managed with a consistent approach to maintain these new learnt skills.

A Simple token board in my opinion is the life saver in my classroom. I always accompany this strategy with a reward choice board, where I give my student a choice from his rewards….. (the ones he’d chosen in the motivator assessment) at the beginning of an activity. The number of tokens I use with these boards are 3, 5, 10, to use with different abilities and are given during tasks, then exchanged for the motivator.

I use Token System during all teaching and learning throughout the day!

For more information on behavior tools you can visit my TPT Store where you will find many more strategies, tips and tools!

Easter Hunt, Math Ideas for busy Classrooms

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I’m always looking for ways to keep my Math lessons exciting and interesting, so when holiday events come around I don’t miss the opportunity to get creative! Easter hunts are always motivating! so this activity was an easy way to introduce basic math skills such as counting to tell the number of objects and recording the amounts.

I started with Easter craft materials that I’d bought from the cheap store and made activity mats to correspond with the items. A magnify glass was a handy tool that helped them hunt through the basket, find the items on the list and matching them to the picture!

I encouraged my students to count the objects they found and say the number in order for them to understand the relationship between numbers and quantities. They were able to count and record the amounts by using the plastic number to correspond.

This activity gave my young learners a lot of fun and the chance to explore, Count and record the number of Easter items. I loved the way it kept them motivated enough to practice these skills without realising!

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