Keeping an organised class has been much easier since I created My daily planner for my young learners.
On Page 1,2 – About me
Pages 3-4 include days of the week and seasons
pg. 5-6 schedules
pg. 7-8 working for
pg. 9 -10 When I’m feeling angry
Once laminated I gave out dry wipe markers for my students to jot down their name, grade and class, followed by teachers name, their friends name, things they like and things they don’t.
There are pages with the days of the week for my student to practice and tick off what day it is and same for seasons.
I’ve added pages for them to write out their daily schedule and tick off as they go though it.
Working for cards and reward choice were a exciting addition!
What to remember when you feel angry, “first and then” when frustrations grow and what I need visuals has made “My Daily Planner” a valuable resource for any pre school, Autism or Special Ed Classroom.
Are you overwhelmed by the amount of Behavior supports there are available out there! Are you looking for that particular one you need to help you manage behaviors and maintain structure in your classroom! These powerful strategies below might just help you create the classroom you want. Have a look at the different types of classroom management tools I use to achieve the Special Ed class I have.
# 1 Critical Communication Cards
Critical Communication Cards – To teach new skills such as requesting “break please”, “help” and “wait” self -management strategies.
QUICK TIP – I hang these cards close to my Calm Down Corner so my students have easy access.
Social Supports – To help my students understand how to behave or respond in a particular situation using a visual guide describing various social interactions, situations, behaviours, skills or concept.
QUICK TIP –I place them on the edge of tables to remind students on their choices.
#3 Visual Folder Supports
Visual folder supports – A place for my students to keep all their daily and most used visuals all in one place, ideal for quick support.
QUICK TIP – My students use these throughout the day and follow the schedule to stay on task. They choose a reward to use with the Token Economy system and have the visuals they might need ready to use.
#4 Self Regulation Tools
.Self regulation tools – I’ve made tools individually accessible for my students to use in a handy little booklet.
QUICK TIP –I bind then as a book and keep them on hand for self management, each one tailored to individual needs that help them to self-regulate.
#5 First and Then Strategies
First and Then –By using this strategy my students know what they must complete before having what they want, it also provides structure in their behaviour support plans.
QUICK TIP –If my students are finding it difficult to stay on track, I use the first and then strategy to remind them of what they are working for.
#6 Token Economy Rewards
Token Economy – A powerful method of strengthening new skills and behaviours, The tokens are a way of “paying” my students for completing tasks and then they can be used to trade for desired activities or items they choose.
QUICK TIP –I use this board when I start teaching the Token economy strategy, its a classroom resource that I can adapt with motivator choices for individual needs.
#7 Communication Binder
Communication Binder – My students can use their Daily Binders to aid Communication throughout the day and support them with any frustration or anxiety they may feel.
QUICK TIP –My student each have their own communication book which once laminated I place in a binder to keep the visuals safe
#8 Daily Visuals
Daily Visuals – A selection of visuals for Speech Therapy, Special Education and Autism to support communication in the classroom and at home. QUICK TIP –These have bigger visuals which are more suitable for students that are learning picture to item recognition. Students can point to what they want, need or feel.
#9 Token or Ticks Cards
Token or ticks – Point cards for some of my students to earn ticks for preferred behaviour.
QUICK TIP – I print a stack of these out to use when i need them, usually when I’m teaching a focused task. I ask before starting the task what they want to working for and tick off the boxes throughout to keep them motivated and earn the reward they’ve chosen..
#10 Daily Planner
Daily Planner – This Support folder is a place for my student to keep track of the days of the week, check their schedule, ask for task items they may need and support behavior before it arises.
QUICK TIP –A class daily organiser for my higher ability students. It helps them manage their day, hold motivator visuals, and reminds them of the rules in class.
I started jotting down what visuals my students needed to help with frustration and classwork until I realised what a big task! So I decided to cut down my list to a manageable workload and think about what things they wanted and needed the most. Here are the categories I thought would be good to start off with –
Things in the class, 2.Tasks in class, 3. I’m feeling, 4. fidget toys, what I need
1. Classroom Things
I wanted some visuals to include basic everyday class things so they could point out what they needed or having trouble finding.
2. Tasks
I wanted visuals of the tasks available so my students could indicate a choice and find things they liked doing.
3. Feelings
These are important visuals to understand, practice and use to communicate how they are feeling.
4. Fidgets
A selection of fidget toys could also be used as motivators to regulate themselves, calm down emotions, which I’ve found very handy.
5. Me
Things for themselves, such as their bag, the toilet, a tissue, time to relax and reduce some of their frustration using these visuals to support stress and anxiety.
Learning new skills is so important for my students! Requesting “Help” “Break” “stop” or “wait” are huge skills to learn. This week I want to share a couple of quick tips on how I teach these skills and how we made it a little easier and more fun to teach by adding a couple of visual supports.
How I Teach my students to use these Functional Communication Strategies to Regulate their behavior
#1. First I help my student to realise when they need to use the “break” or “help” card, which is usually just before they get frustrated or loose concentration. At the start of any activity, I will show them the break or help card, which ever one I’m working on, and place it where my student can easily reach it.
#2. I 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 my student starts to get frustrated or loose interest, I will say “If you are getting upset, use your break card to tell me you need a break/help.”
#3. I use physical and gestural Prompts for some of my students to take the break/help card and allow them to move away to the “break area.” or Help them. I found that self regulating visuals on the bottom of the card is a fantastic way of calming and redirecting my student while on a break.
#4. Being able to use functional communication is an important part of behavior management and teaching the student to trust and use the visual supports will help them self regulate.
#5. I will begin to withdraw prompts once students are consistently asking for breaks or help, its important that being able to initiating these requests independently to become an consistent communicator. Then you can begin to regulate the time between the request and the actual break.
