Tag: Preschool

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

AutismadeLeave a comment

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.

Click here to pick up these FREEBIE Posters

. 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.

7 End of Year Gift Ideas for Kids in Special Education

AutismadeLeave a comment

Giving gifts to your students can be a great way to show how much you care when saying “goodbye” at the end of a busy school year!  It only takes a token gift to say enjoy your summer break, see you next term or good luck in your new class for students to feel appreciated.

Sometimes though it can be overwhelming trying to find that one meaningful gift that is appropriate in a class with such varying abilities and needs.

Receiving gifts is exciting for both you and your students, but making each gift special depends on your budget, your time and the pupil its for, so I’ve listed some ideas for you to think about:

Gifts Ideas

1. FIDGET TOYS – Sensory toys such as fidget spinners, stress balls, or tactile balls can be helpful for students who need sensory stimulation to focus or calm down.  You can find these in various textures, shapes, and sizes to suit different needs.

2. CERTIFICATES AND MEDALS – Create personalized certificates that recognize each student’s unique strengths and accomplishments. Draped medals for an added touch and certificates can look great framed and presented to students at a ceremony or graduation.

3. MEMORY BOOKS – A memory book that captures the special moments and achievements of the school year. Include any pictures, drawings,  from the students and add photos to make the book more personal and meaningful.

4. GIFT BAGS – Create gift bag! tailored to each student’s interests and preferences. Fill the bag with items such as books, toys, fidgets, and snacks to make them more enjoyable.

5. ART SUPPLIES – Art supplies such as adaptive scissors, pencil grips, or weighted crayons can help students with fine motor difficulties to participate in art activities. These supplies can be helpful for developing their hand-eye coordination and creativity.

6. PUZZLES – Board games and puzzles are great gifts for promoting social skills and cognitive development. Choose games and puzzles that are age-appropriate and have clear rules and instructions to ensure turn taking and waiting.

7. BOOKS – Reading materials with favourite characters. Choose books with large text, pictures and simple language to make them accessible. Personalise them with class, who its from and dates on the inside cover. 

Choosing gifts for students in Special Ed requires careful consideration, and personalized gifts are all excellent options for Special Education students. Whatever gift you choose the most important thing is to show your students that you care and support them in their learning journey!

Token Board Ideas

AutismadeLeave a comment

Token Boards can come in all shapes and sizes but they all should do the same thing… Motivate, Regulate and Reinforce Positive Behavior.

With the Summer term fast approaching I wanted to incorporate some fun and uniqueness into my Boards!

ICE LOLLIE AND BUBBLE GUM TOKEN BOARDS

Funny looking I know! but fresh and engaging for the last term with my little brigade.

Children in my class learn and work at different levels and use token reward systems with motivators they’ve chosen, so I made sure there was a place for the motivator picture and a bunch of others to alternate between if needed. I always adapt the Boards to meet each child’s interests and needs, this in its self makes them unique enough to motivate them to learn in my busy classroom.

Token are used like an IOU and once collected can be exchanged for the actual reinforcer they’ve chosen. Students can start off collecting 3 token before gaining their reinforcer and build up to 10 tokens once the concept is mastered and they’re ready to learn a little longer.

Reinforcers are offered before the task starts and tokens are distributed throughout.

Tips for setting up Visual Schedules in Special ED

AutismadeLeave a comment

Having a selection of Communication Strategies ready to use is always a good idea in Special Ed! Having a visual schedule is one strategy I find very effective in class. Below I’ve listed my schedule tips and other strategies that have really helped my young leaners settle into a structured learning environment.

Visual Schedules – Set out visuals to reflect the order of the class day. They should be designed to support your student through a smooth transition eg. from activity to activity, room to room or within tasks.  

Here are some quick tips for setting up and getting started!

1. START SIMPLE – Make visuals for just meaningful times of the day eg, morning work, break, lunch etc,  this will help your young students learn to recognise and correspond each picture with each of the activities.

2. BUY A LAMINATOR – Your laminator will become important! If you want all your hard work to last, laminate all mounts and visuals because they are going to go through a tough time!

3. WALL MOUNT  – Mount on a wall, the schedule must be low enough for your student to access and take away finished symbols in the daily routine. 

4. USE A FINISHED BOX – Attach a finished box at the end or side of the schedule to drop the finished visuals in before starting a new activity. 

5. TRY A FILE FOLDER – A portable schedule can be used in a file folder in the same way as a wall mounted one. I find these easier with older children to check into the activities and more efficient in busy classrooms. Pop their name on it and keep all their individual support visuals in one place. 

6. MODLE AND PRACTICE – Always model, practice and remind your busy student at the beginning of each activity to, “check in”.  Make a plan to pull back on all prompting until they begin to use this system independently!

Timers – For giving a break and reminding students how long they need to work and how long left on free time!

Routines – Keep Break, Lunch and free choice the same time each day!

Consistency – All staff should use the same strategies and follow this classroom management structure!

Positive Reinforcers – Use token reward boards, First and Then, Behavior regulation tools and Reward systems tailored to individual interests and likes!

Communication – Critical skills for Functional Communication, a means in which your non verbal student is able to request a “break” “help”  or asked to “wait”

Colour Coordinate – For some of my young learners I’ve introduced portable schedules, that I’ve colour coordinated! 
I’m pleased it offers all the strategies I wanted to incorporated throughout the day.
I keep them in a handy place for my students to access first thing in the morning and follow the schedule by checking into the work areas they need to complete.
There’s a set place in the booklet for the schedule symbols, a token reward system, plus a place for reinforcer visuals and Critical Communication cards so students can ask for a Break or Help, all while reminding and keeping a consistent approach that staff can help students to follow!

Visit my TPT Store here

Social Skills-Being Kind to Friends

AutismadeLeave a comment

Download a FREE sorting activity

We often spend time teaching our children about friendships in school, often saying, share with your friends, kind hands, play nice. But some children lack the social skills, for what ever reason, to maintain healthy interactions with other kids and need regular reminding.

Its sometimes important to teach basic social skills to young learners on how to be a good friend. They might need us to help them understand some of the more complex parts of what being a good friend is and what that looks like.

Learning about how their own behaviours will affect others, about recognising other people’s feelings and how to respond in an understanding and caring way in order to maintain friendships is important to.

When difficulties arise some children can use visual guides or social narratives to guide them through the what’s and what-nots to do in friendship groups.

TIP – Use Social supports to reinforce positive behavior regularly either in a one to one situations or as part of a group. Using simple visuals with easy instructions during social skill sorting games and activities can help young learners stay on track.

Being kind Social Story –

Social Stories on TPT

Download free activity here