Tag: Positive Behavior management

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.

Chaos to Calm: Mastering Behavior Management in Special Education Classrooms,

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Are you a Special Education teacher who feels like your classroom is constantly in chaos? Do you struggle to manage behavior and create a calm learning environment for your students? If so, you’re not alone! Behavior management is a never ending challenge for special education teachers, but there are strategies and practical tips that can help you transform chaos into calm.

Throughout this post, I’ll help you with practical strategies and steps for you to start implementing them in your class today. From creating a structured and supportive environment to implementing effective interventions, I will guide you through the process of helping you master behavior management.

Creating a Structured and Supportive Environment

. Set time to build a structured environment by establishing clear expectations and routines. . . Provide your students with a sense of structure and predictability by clearly communicating the rules and procedures to your students you provide them with a sense of structure and predictability. This helps to minimize confusion and allows students to focus on their learning. . Consider creating visual supports, such as posters or charts, to display these expectations and refer to them regularly.

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. To further promote structure and support, consider implementing classroom organization strategies. Ensure that your classroom is arranged in a way that allows for easy movement and minimizes distractions. . Provide designated spaces for different activities, such as quiet reading areas or group workstations with centre signs. This helps students understand where and how they should engage in different tasks, promoting a more focused and productive learning environment.

. Additionally, incorporating visual supports can be highly beneficial in creating a structured and supportive classroom. Visual aids, such as schedules, rules, and task boards, can assist students in understanding expectations and managing their time effectively. Furthermore, visual prompts can be particularly helpful for students with communication difficulties or those who struggle with transitions.

. Another valuable intervention is the implementation of social skills training. Many students in special education classrooms struggle with social interactions, making it difficult for them to navigate social situations and establish positive relationships with their peers. . By incorporating social skills training into the curriculum, students can learn important skills such as active listening, turn-taking, and conflict resolution. . Role-playing exercises and real-life scenarios can also help students practice applying these skills in a safe and supportive environment.

By implementing these effective interventions, Teachers can enhance behavior management in special education classrooms. These interventions address the specific needs of students, providing them with the support, strategies, and tools necessary to help them succeed academically and socially. When students are equipped with the skills and resources they need, they are more empowered to make positive choices and engage in behaviors that promote a calm and productive learning environment.

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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My Daily Planner Binder – Back to School for Kids with Autism

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On the first day back to school I always introduce my Interactive Planner Binder to keep my young learners focused and motivated! Its full of visual strategies to help them plan their day, choose they’re reinforcer and stay in the area where they need to work.

I laminated the ones i made but you could easily place them in a pocket folder and use a dry wipe marker.

I’ve incorporated pages for my new students to jot down their name, grade and class, followed by their teachers name, their friends name, things they like and things they don’t.

There are pages with the days of the week for them to practice and tick off what day it is and same for seasons.

Having a schedule is so important so I’ve added spaces where i can write the order of the day and they can tick off as they go though it, handy to keep them on track!

Working for cards and reward choice keep them motivated!

Reminders of what to do when they feel angry, “first and then” when they get frustrated and what “I need” visuals for them to choose from.

Self-Regulation strategies for Managing Behavior

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Being able to regulate behavior is an essential critical skill to learn, so I’ve designed booklets for my students with Autism, Special Ed and the Preschool students in my school. This visual tool is intended to help them identify how they feel and what they would need to be ready for work! They turned out to be a great asset in my classroom calm down area.

Each of my kiddos are constantly using the visuals to remind themselves on how to get in the “ready” for work area. They can choose the supports they need and attach them on the page if they find themselves wandering out!
There are some books with three area tabs and some with four areas identified and each have visual supports for students to check how they feel, what area they are in and what they would need to do to get back area ready to work.

I’ve also added a “Tool Book” to this collection, which my kiddos equally love using!