Tag: Adapted resources for Special needs

Engaging Students: A Guide to Creating Interactive Adapted Books for kids

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“Are you struggling to keep your special education students engaged in pre-reading material? Look no further! In this post, we will guide you through creating interactive adapted books that will effortlessly engage your students and make reading fun and exciting.”

Not only will these adapted books provide a fun and interactive pre-reading experience for your students, but they will also meet the specific needs and abilities of each individual student. By incorporating visual aids, manipulatives, and other interactive elements, these books will enhance comprehension and build a love for learning. Follow along as we break down the steps to creating your own adapted books.

Incorporating Interactive Elements for Enhanced Learning

An adapted book can be simplified for young learners and kids in Special Education to access. The main objectives of these type of adapted books is to comment on what they see on the page, identify the visual to answer the “I can see” question, learn story vocabulary and answer “who”questions about the animal characters in the story.

  • So attaching detachable visuals will enable the learner to answer questions.
  • Having a selection of visuals to choose from will establish a correspondence check for accuracy.
  • Using a comprehensive accompanied book with visuals will check understanding.
  • Vocabulary check cards can help with naming the corresponding characters, items or animals.
  • The Benefits of these Interactive Adapted Books
  1. Using interactive resources can help your young learners and non verbal students access popular stories and their characters, practice story sequencing skills, increasing motivation and interest, promote independence, and enhancing comprehension.
  2. Learners are able to practice receptive and expressive language skills, Vocabulary, sequencing and Math and Literacy.

Tips on How to Promote Positive Behavior in Preschool and Special Ed Classrooms

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The main aim in my classroom is to create a positive friendly environment to begin teaching, sometimes I find myself going around in circles… but I love it! Running a successful Special Ed class, in my opinion, requires a combination of effective communication and visual supports and I know by incorporating both I can significantly enhance positive behavior in my class. In this blog, I’ll guide you through how I combine critical communication skills with visual supports to promote behavior management in my wonderful class!

Tip 1: Define Clear Expectations

I always start by establishing clear behavioral expectations through visual supports and by engaging students with visuals of my classroom rules.

Then I teaching critical communication skills to ensure that every student’s perspective, abilities and needs are considered.

Tip 2: Collaboratively Create Visual Aids

I always Involve my students in creating visual aids and support systems of their preferences to promote a sense of ownership, decorated with pictures of their interests and motivators. Through discussions and choosing sessions, I guide them in designing posters, charts, or cards that visually represent each behavioral expectation. I find this collaborative approach offers a deeper understanding of the rules and a sense of responsibility for them to follow.

Tip 3: Display Visual Supports Strategically

By strategically placing visual aids in areas where they can be easily seen and accessed. A choice of support cards, critical communication aids such as “Break” and “Help” are always easy for students to find and I discuss with staff how the visual aids will help everyone remember and adhere to the agreed-upon behavioral expectations.

Tip 4: Teach and Model Behavior

Utilize critical communication skills to teach and model positive behavior. I engage my students when behaviors are demonstrated to the supporting visuals, and encourage them to share their thoughts and solutions, promoting critical thinking with self regulation supports.

Tip 5: Implement a Collaborative Reward System

I work with my students to design a reward system that aligns with their preferences. Use critical communication skills I gather their input on incentives and rewards for positive behavior to establish a system where students feel empowered to make decisions about their own motivation. An individualised Visual Schedule, Token Economy Support are particularly valuable for my Classroom Behavior Management. It lets students know what activity they need to do, what motivator they can work for and supports them throughout the school day.

Its been hard work with many an hour planning and preparing but its been worth every second!

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New Teacher Tips for Special Education.

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Being a special education teacher can be both rewarding and challenging. Teaching in Special education will require a unique set of approaches to effectively support young learners with diverse learning needs. Whether you’re newly graduated or moving from a general education setting, here you’ll find some valuable tips to help you thrive in your new classroom role.

Build Relationships:

A meaningful connection with your students is essential. Take the time to learn and understand their individual needs, preferences, and communication styles. Build a positive learning environment and spend time finding ways to motivate and encourages students using their own preferences and interests.

Collaborate with Support Staff:

As a Special education Teacher you will often collaboration with speech therapists, occupational therapists, behavior specialists, and other professionals. Work closely with these experts to create comprehensive education plans and implement effective strategies for your students.

Individualized Education Plans (IEPs):

Get to know IEPs of your students. IEPs will outline goals, accommodations, and modifications necessary for each student’s success. Regularly review and update IEPs based on student progress and needs.

Differentiated Instruction:

Adapt your teaching methods for each of your students, learning styles and abilities. Use a variety of instructional techniques, materials, and technologies to ensure that each student can access the curriculum at their own level and style.

Patience and Flexibility:

Working in special education requires patience and adaptability. Be prepared to modify your lessons quickly, as student needs may change from day to day.

Positive Behavior Support:

Implement a proactive approach to behavior management. Focus on reinforcing positive behaviors through praise, reward boards, reward choices, and self regulation strategies, along with running a structured classroom environment. Develop clear and consistent routines to help students feel secure.

Self-Care:

Caring for yourself is crucial for maintaining your well-being and effectiveness as a teacher. Balancing the demands of the job by setting time for yourself, will help to ensure you can continue making a positive impact on your students.

A career as a special education teacher requires dedication, compassion, and a willingness to carry on learning. By building strong relationships, collaborating with support staff, and implementing effective strategies, you can create an inclusive and supportive classroom environment where all students can thrive and reach their full potential. Remember that every day is an opportunity to make a meaningful difference in the lives of your students.

Critical Communication for Behavior Management

Critical Communication for Behavior Management

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Functional Communication is an important skill to master in any successful Behavior Management Plan. Here’s a brief description on how I teach theses skills with my young learners.

How I Teach students to use a “Break or Help” card

1. Firstly you need to help your student realise when they need to use the break/help card, preferably before they get too frustrated or loose concentration. At the start of any activity, show the student the break card and place the card where they can easily reach it.

2. Point to the break/help card and tell them, “This is your break/help card. You can use it to ask for a break.” When your student starts to get frustrated or loose interest, You say “If you are getting upset, use your break card to tell me you need a break/help.”

3. Once he requests the card allow the student to take a break/help from his tasks, or direct the student to move away to the “break area.” I found that self regulating visuals on the bottom of the card is a fantastic way of calming your student while on a break.

4. Requesting is an important part of teaching the student to trust and use the visual support, once they are consistently asking for breaks, you may begin to extend the time between the request and the actual break.

5. Visuals to the bottom of the support cards help redirect the student to what he can do instead, or while using the card. I hang them up on a keyring for easy access in my calm down corner!

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Reduce Frustration with Calm Down Strategies

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Visual supports can help reduce frustration by giving non verbal students a way to Communicate. Having a variety of activities that are available in class and being able to ask for what is wanted can help reduce behavior throughout the day.

This is why I always keep a selection of visual choices handy in my calm down area, ready for when problems arise! Struggling students are able to find the visual displayed on a board that will help them reduce these emotions to carry on learning.

I display only the visuals that are available to the students on given days and a wider choice throughout the week.

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