Autism Classroom Resources Podcast
Christine Reeve, Autism Classroom Resources
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If you are a special educator of any kind, this podcast is for you. Behavior, organization, curriculum, evidence-based practice, and educator self-care are major themes.
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3 days ago
166. How to Setup Your Classroom to Improve Communication Skills
One of the most important factors in teaching language and communication is to ensure that we create many opportunities to practice throughout the day. As special educators, we know that to help our students improve communication skills, we must provide the tools needed for them to communicate beyond just when we are working on communication. In this episode, I am diving into the importance of encouraging communication throughout the day, why students’ communication systems are available to them at all times, and ways to engineer the classroom that supports our students in improving their communication skills.
If you are looking for tools to help engineer your classroom, be sure to check out my communication boards. I'd love to hear how else you are engineering your classroom! Come share your ideas or pictures inside the Facebook group. I can’t wait to see how you are setting your classroom up to help encourage communication!
02:33 - Why we need to ensure students are getting many opportunities to practice communicating throughout the day and how to track these opportunities
06:34 - The importance of making sure that students’ communication systems are available throughout the day, not just when we are intentionally practicing communication
11:12 - Why having different types of communication supports set up in the classroom is crucial to improving communication skills
12:28 - How to set up communication devices to include special vocabulary when needed
14:03 - How to increase the number of opportunities students have to practice communicating during activities
18:02 - Why including simple switches in your classroom is incredibly beneficial for your students
Grab the transcript and resource links at_ __http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode_166
Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialeducatorsconnection
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May 23, 2023
165. 8 Ways to Support Communication with Students Using Augmentative Communication
As special educators, it is so important to help our students expand their functions of communication and enhance their communication skills. It is especially important for our students who use any kind of augmentative communication that we help them to build their communication skills.
In this episode, I am sharing 8 things you can do to help support communication within your classroom, particularly if you’re working with students who use augmentative communication, including the importance of core vocabulary, why we want to combine communication activities, and providing the “Goldilocks” of communication.
If you are looking for more ways to ramp up your communication instruction for the coming year, join me inside the Special Educator Academy! There is a whole set of resources for communication and so many more topics that I know will help take your teaching to the next level! I can’t wait to see you inside!
03:13 - Why we need to focus on the function of communication rather than the form of communication
04:40 - What core vocabulary is and why it’s important when building students’ communication skills
08:31 - Why we should start with requesting but then move on
09:14 - The importance of creating communication opportunities throughout the day
10:36 - Why students need the opportunities to practice combining communication activities
11:36 - How to model for students using their tools of communication
12:46 - The benefits of having repeated practice of communication activities for students
14:42 - What the “Goldilocks of communication” is and why it’s crucial in helping students build their communication skills
Grab the transcript and resource links at_ __http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode_165
Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialeducatorsconnection
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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May 16, 2023
164. What Are the Functions of Communication (and Why Are They Important)
There are so many ways and reasons we use communication. Helping our students communicate effectively and expand the ways in which they are communicating is key. It’s important that we work on why a student is communicating and what they are trying to say rather than focusing on how they communicate it. In this episode, I'm talking about why the functions of communication are important, what different functions of communication are, and how we can help our students with these different communicative functions.
I’ve gotten so many requests to cover communication and language and I am so happy to share this episode with you! If you have topics you’d like to hear covered on the podcast, please send me an email at chris@autismclassroomresources.com. I would love to hear from you!
01:46 - What communication functions are and why we care about them
04:01 - The difference between intentional communication and unintentional communication
07:26 - A look at communication functions for regulation
11:58 - Social interaction functions and how to help teach our students these functions
Grab the transcript and resource links at _http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode_164
Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialeducatorsconnection
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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May 9, 2023
163. Thriving at the End of the School Year in Special Ed
The end of the school year is quickly approaching which means that both students and teachers are getting a little squirrelly. So how can we keep our students on track, reduce the chaos, and keep student behavior under control? In today’s episode, I am sharing 5 strategies to help reduce end of year behavior challenges so you and your students can continue to thrive.
What’s your best way of coping with the end of the school year? Let me know inside the Facebook group! Share a picture of this podcast and let’s talk more about it.
02:36 - The importance of adding in more visuals at the end of the school year
08:30 - How to redirect using a combination of words and visuals
10:26 - What the High Octane Mix is and why now is the time to start using it
13:55 - Why we need to keep the schedule as consistent as possible at the end of the year
14:56 - How using social stories is especially beneficial this time of year
Grab the transcript and resource links at_ __http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode_163
Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialeducatorsconnection
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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May 2, 2023
162. Coping Strategies for Teachers with Kelsey Sorenson
The past few years have been especially stressful and exhausting for teachers. Students still have not fully adjusted to being back in the classroom and we have been seeing more behaviors than we have in the past. That means that now more than ever, coping strategies and true self care are so crucial for teachers.
In this episode, Kelsey Sorenson of Wife Teacher Mommy is joining me to talk all things self care. She is sharing actionable tips to help you balance all your different roles, how to conceptualize events in a way that will impact how you feel about them, and the upcoming Educate and Rejuvenate event.
I’d love to hear what you are taking away from this episode! Join the Facebook group and share your favorite tips and takeaways!
06:59 - Tips for handling stress about things that are out of our control
13:22 - Kelsey’s take on how teachers can advocate for what they need
22:16 - Why self care isn’t selfish
23:16 - What self care is and what it looks like
29:15 - Suggestions for how teachers can spend their time this summer preparing for next school year while also taking a much needed break
Grab the transcript and resource links at_ __http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode_162
Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialeducatorsconnection
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Apr 25, 2023
161. How to Communicate with Parents Effectively in Special Education: 5 Things to Do and Not Do for Success
A crucial part of building strong relationships with families is ensuring that there is a clear communication method between home and school. One of the hardest parts of establishing a communication system is deciding what needs to be shared and how to share this information in a way that works for both you and the families. We all know how busy special education teachers are and families are often quite busy as well so having efficient and effective communication is key.
Finding how to communicate with parents effectively does not need to be complicated. In this episode, I am sharing 5 things you should not do and 5 things you should do when communicating with families.
Are you loving what you are hearing on the show? DM me on Instagram or leave a review and let me know. I love to hear when I have had an impact on others!
01:12 - Why having a home-school communication system is so important
03:37 - The 5 Don'ts of a strong communication system between school and families
13:20 - The 5 Dos of parent communication
19:58 - My secret tip for successful home-school communication
Grab the transcript and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode_161
Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialeducatorsconnection
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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Apr 18, 2023
160. 5 Things You Need to Know in Building Positive Teacher-Parent Relationships in Special Ed
One of the most important elements in an IEP run smoothly is a strong and established teacher parent relationship. These relationships are the heart of the educational experience for all students, not just Special Ed. Teachers and parents both want to ensure their students are being provided the best education possible and establishing trusting and positive teacher parent relationships is crucial to doing so.
All children do better when school and home are working together to support them and there are so many reasons to focus on building relationships with parents. In this episode, we are looking at why it is so important to have strong teacher parent relationships.
If you’ve gotten any great takeaways from this episode, I’d love it if you leave a review or DM me on Instagram and let me know. It’s so inspiring to hear when I have had an impact on others!
02:45 - The importance of having positive teacher parent relationships
05:08 - How having a positive relationship with parents can be beneficial when issues arise
07:33 - Why building a strong relationship is especially important when our students have limited communication skills
11:23 - How having good home-school communication is beneficial when working on generalization of skills
13:23 - The importance of a strong parent teacher relationship to foster a feeling of safety for both students and parents
14:21 - Why teachers and parents need to work as a team with the common goal of supporting the student as best as possible
Grab the transcript and resource links at_ __http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode1_60
Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialeducatorsconnection
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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Apr 11, 2023
159. Talking Strategies for Teaching Literacy with Reading Expert Sara Marye from the Stellar Teacher
Focusing on literacy can be difficult for special education teachers. The relationship between language and reading and the difficulties some of our students have can make teaching literacy challenging. Literacy expert Sara Marye is joining us to share some amazing strategies for teaching literacy to help us better reach our students.
Sara is a former teacher, literacy coach, and assistant principal and is the creator behind The Stellar Teacher Company. She is an expert at helping teachers better support their students in reading and writing. In this episode, she is sharing practical and effective ways we can use routines to help our students develop their reading skills and become confident writers.
Join us in the Special Educators’ Connection Facebook group and let us know how Sara's routines are working in your classroom!
01:53 - Sara’s background as a classroom teacher and literacy expert and how she now supports teachers in finding ways to effectively and efficiently implement strategies for teaching literacy
03:40 - What a literacy routine is
04:59 - Examples of a literacy routines that would help students build the foundational literacy skills many students need
11:00 - How to include literacy routines into the day and how it benefits students with disabilities
15:05 - Benefits of using a literacy routine with students
19:57 - How teachers can get started with literacy routines in their classrooms
Grab the transcript and resource links at_ __http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode1_59
Listen to Sara's podcast, The Stellar Teacher Podcast: https://www.stellarteacher.com/podcast
Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialeducatorsconnection
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Apr 4, 2023
158. Strategies for Surviving and Thriving During Your Special Ed Teacher Observations
Having someone come into your classroom for a teacher observation can be a stressful experience that most of us are not too fond of. But being observed by an instructional coach, principal, or even another teacher can be a very positive thing. Having others observe you and your classroom gives you opportunities to make your classroom better.
When we can move past the stress of being observed, we can see that having another person allows us to improve in areas we weren’t aware needed improving. It gives us another perspective and fresh ideas that can help us better serve our students. Although having a teacher observation can be uncomfortable, it is a great opportunity for collaboration and today, I am sharing tips to make the feedback discussion as productive as possible.
Join us in the Special Educator Academy where you’ll be surrounded by others looking to collaborate as well as trainings and strategies to best help your students!
03:19 - Why getting a fresh perspective from an observer can be incredibly helpful in improving your classroom
04:16 - How having an observer with a different skill set can allow for new ideas and strategies
06:03 - The importance of avoiding becoming defensive when receiving feedback from your teacher observation
07:58 - How to talk about what you think is going well in your classroom with the observer
11:36 - Why you should work with the observer to create an action plan
Grab the transcript and resource links at_ __http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode1_58
Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialeducatorsconnection
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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Mar 28, 2023
157. 5 Strategies for Conflict Resolution When Handling Difficult Relationships in the Classroom
Working with the adults in your classroom is oftentimes more of a challenge than working with your students. Working as a team can be complicated because you likely did not hire them and you are not their boss, but you are evaluated on how well you work together to serve your students. Even with varying opinions and experiences, it’s so important to handle difficult relationships and conflict with respect.
We want our team to work effectively and a major piece to working effectively is the ability to respectfully resolve conflicts. To help with this, I am sharing five strategies for conflict resolution to help you create more positive interactions with your staff.
If you are struggling with conflict resolution, come check out the Special Educator Academy where we have some amazing resources to help you train classroom staff and build effective teams.
06:31 - How bringing helpful tools to teachers can be used as a preventative strategy for conflict resolution
09:01 - Why you should be finding out the story behind the staff on your team
11:59 - The importance of setting teachers and staff up for easy successes
13:28 - Why you should be acknowledging the positives, no matter how small
15:44 - What to do if you cannot resolve the problem
Grab the transcript and resource links at_ __http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode1_57
Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/specialeducatorsconnection
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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Mar 21, 2023
156. Ways to Build the CORE Team for Collaboration in Special Education
There are a lot of differing opinions on how to do things best in the classroom. This can cause some challenges when collaborating and making sure all staff members are on the same page. Even with differing opinions, expectations, and experiences, collaboration in special education is so important so we can best serve our students.
It is so important that we keep the focus on our students and student progress and not get derailed by our differences. I have five strategies that will promote collaboration in special education and help set you and your staff up for success and help to minimize the challenges and pushback by focusing on respect and collaboration within the team.
I would love to see your classroom visions and hear about any frustrations or challenges you're facing! Send me a message on Instagram @autismclassroomresources and share your thoughts!
05:28 - Why having a classroom vision is so important and tips for creating one
10:27 - The importance of active listening and…
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Mar 14, 2023
155. FAQs About Staff Zoning Plans and Duties of Special Education Paraprofessionals
The CORE framework is all about helping you create systems to make your classroom run efficiently and smoothly. A key component to an efficient classroom is making sure that your team works well together and understands what they should be doing and how they should be doing it. Making sure that your special education paraprofessionals know all the details of how the classroom runs will help create a classroom that operates without a lot of questions or confusion.
Using a zoning plan to build teamwork within your classroom staff is so beneficial to helping your classroom run smoothly. In this episode, I am answering some common questions I get about zoning plans and how they help special education paraprofessionals clearly understand their duties.
Let me know your thoughts on using zoning plans in your classroom! Send me a message on Instagram @autismclassroomresources and let me know if you use zoning plans, if you love them, or if you haven’t started with them yet.
02:59 - What…
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Mar 7, 2023
154. Tweaking Your Autism Classroom Setup: Using the CORE Framework to Prepare Your Classroom for Absences
Getting to school and finding out you have a staff member absent can be a major source of stress if you are not prepared. The good news is your autism classroom setup can greatly reduce the amount of overwhelm and stress in these situations. If you have your plans in place, a staff absence will not throw off the whole day for you or your students.
Having your classroom systems set up and practiced will help your classroom run smoothly no matter what situation is thrown your way. Being prepared with a plan for when you or a staff member is out is so important for preventing issues when you are a person down.
I would love to hear your experiences with being a staff member down! Join the free Facebook group and share how you’ve managed being a person down.
02:35 - The difference between being prepared and not being prepared for a staff member being absent
05:45 - What steps go into making a one person down plan
08:04 - The two things you adjust when making a one person down plan
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Feb 28, 2023
153. 4 Tools for Implementing Training for Paraprofessionals in Special Education Easily
Finding the right tools for effectively training paraprofessionals can be time consuming and challenging. I know how valuable your time is and how crucial it is to have your staff properly trained so I am sharing some of my favorite resources to help you provide training for paraprofessionals in special education.
As a special educator, you know how important it is for your paras to know the “why” behind doing what they do. Providing them with resources to learn why things are done frees up more of your direct training time to train them on how things are done. In this episode, I am sharing four different resources that you can use as training for paraprofessionals in your special education classroom.
Have you found other resources that I didn’t mention for training your staff? If so, I’d love to hear what you use! Send me a DM on Instagram @autismclassroomresources! If you’re looking for more support in training your paraprofessionals, grab your 7 day trial of the Special…
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Feb 21, 2023
152. Training Paraprofessionals in the Classroom: 5 Ways to Make it Work
How can you possibly find time to effectively train your paraprofessionals when there is little to no student-free or duty-free time to do so? It may seem overwhelming and impossible but, with your CORE systems in place, you can be successful in training paraprofessionals in your classroom.
There are several to make training paraprofessionals more achievable even with an incredibly busy schedule. In this episode, I am sharing five tips to help you train your paraprofessionals, ideas for implementing these tips, and some resources to help along the way!
I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas for training paraprofessionals so send me a DM on Instagram @autismclassroomresources! If you’re looking for more support in training your paraprofessionals or with the CORE model, grab your 7 day trial of the Special Educator Academy!
03:09 - How to use a “One Man Down” plan to find time to training your paraprofessionals
05:42 - Why having someone else lead an activity makes for…
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Feb 14, 2023
151. Using the CORE Framework to Communicate Special Education Paraprofessional Duties
A huge factor in how efficiently and automatically your classroom runs is if your staff is on board with the classroom systems. We want our classrooms to run smoothly and with less support from you as the special education teacher. In order to do this, we must effectively communicate our expectations of special education paraprofessional duties to our staff.
There are many tools and strategies that can be implemented to help communicate the duties of the paraprofessionals in your classroom. Making sure the staff knows the students’ needs, using a zoning plan, having a system for lesson planning, and using checklists and visuals can all help to ensure your special education paraprofessional duties are understood by the staff.
Be sure to grab your FREE Staff Target Visual Supports and Lesson Plan Templates to help get these systems in place! If you’re looking for the how-to of implementing the CORE model in your classroom, grab your 7 day trial of the Special Educator Academy!
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Feb 7, 2023
150. Creating Systems of Instruction Using Evidence-Based Practices
Using the CORE model of systems in your classroom can free up time to do more direct instruction, planning, and time for yourself. In order for these systems to help reduce stress and exhaustion, they must be set up ahead of time. One key thing to set up ahead of time are the systems of instruction we will use in our classroom.
As special educators, we need to make sure that our systems of instruction are set up in a way that allows us to instruct in a predictable way that follows best practices. So today, we are talking about characteristics of strong instructional programs and why we should always use consistent methods of instruction.
I’d love to hear what systems work for you! Come join us in the Special Educators Connection Facebook Group and share your favorite teaching methods! If you’re looking for more support with your systems of instruction, check out the Special Educator Academy!
02:02 - The 3 things to focus on for a strong instructional program
05:25 - The impor…
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Jan 31, 2023
149. Tips for Saving Time in Your Classroom
As special educators, we have so many things going on in our classrooms everyday. We all want to find a way to be more efficient and save time in the classroom. That’s where the CORE model comes in. Setting up the different elements of the CORE model may take some time upfront but will save you so much time in the long run.
When trying to save time in the classroom, there are a few tips that can really help. We want to ensure we have buy-in from our paraprofessionals, set aside specific time to complete tasks, set time limits for ourselves, and make information easily accessible for ourselves and other staff members. If you have some great efficiency tips, I’d love to hear them! Come share them inside the Special Educators Connection Facebook Group! If you’d like more in depth information about how to create these systems, check out the Special Educator Academy!
03:04 - Why you should be getting input from other team members when creating your classroom systems
05:31 - How…
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Jan 24, 2023
148. 5 Ways to Reduce Special Education Teacher Stress with the CORE Model
Are you ready to reduce stress and decision fatigue and regain some energy and happiness by improving the systems you have in your classroom? We all know there is no stress like teacher stress and if we can set our classrooms up in a way that can reduce this stress, it is well worth the time and effort to get the systems put in place.
We are covering the benefits of the CORE model, the impact of decision fatigue, and five ways the CORE model helps reduce special educator stress. Have you found systems that work in your classroom? Come share time inside the Special Educators Connection Facebook Group! If you’d like more in depth information about how to create these systems, check out the Special Educator Academy!
02:34 - How the CORE model helps to reduce the need to make decisions in the moment
05:16 - Why the CORE model can reduce decision fatigue
08:50- How this model reduces special educator stress by increasing engagement and reducing behaviors
10:52 - Why making deci…
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Jan 17, 2023
147. What Classroom Systems Do You Need to Run Your Classroom?
Looking at how your classroom currently runs, do you have systems in place so you don’t really have to think about what you’re doing because it runs automatically? Having efficient classroom systems has so many benefits including higher engagement for students and less decision-making fatigue for you.
Today we are talking about what systems you should have in place in your classroom, why your systems should start with your students’ TIPs, and how to prepare for different scenarios to prevent decision fatigue. We’d love to hear about your classroom systems inside the Special Educators Connection Facebook Group!
01:44 - What systems are, and examples of different system types
04:35 - Why your classroom systems have to start with your students and how looking at the TIPs helps guide your systems
10:07 - How to ensure all of the systems are implemented correctly by having a Zoning Plan in place
13:18 - Other systems you want to have in place including a lesson plan sy…
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Jan 10, 2023
146. How Can the Autism Classroom Organization Results in Effectiveness (CORE) Model Help Your Classroom?
Is your classroom set up in a way that allows it to run smoothly and almost automatically (or auto-magically, as I like to say)? Special education classroom organization is a huge piece of The CORE Model. It promotes collaboration, reduces stress, and allows you to get back to teaching instead of just managing your classroom.
In this episode, I share what the CORE Model is, how it came about, what should be included, and why this model is so important.
02:42 - What the CORE model stands for and why strengthening the CORE should be a priority
07:52 - What elements go into the CORE and how the Teaching Implementation Plan ties into this model
09:34 - The importance of having a zoning plan and why your special education classroom organization is so important
10:21 - Why having a system for data collection and lesson planning is so important
12:08 - Two very important components for our students in Special Education and how they impact the outcomes we are trying to focus on
Gr…
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Dec 11, 2022
145. When a Consequence Doesn’t Change Behavior
We live in a society where consequences seem to be the expectation for certain “bad” behavior. A lot of teachers seem to struggle with knowing what they’ll do when a student demonstrates disruptive behavior. So in this episode, I talk about consequences and how ones you choose may not always be the most productive for your students.
2:51 - Why all consequences aren’t equal for all students
6:58 - How an action meant to be a punishment can backfire (using a student named “Thomas” as an example)
10:02 - Solutions for “Thomas” when opposite consequences won’t address the student’s behavior
13:08 - Considerations when choosing a consequence to a student’s challenging behavior
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode145_
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join…
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Dec 4, 2022
144. How to Use Interactive Whiteboards Responsibly
I have a love-hate relationship with interactive whiteboards. They have so much potential which I love, but too often they just get used as giant TVs. The interactivity part of the equation gets thrown out the window! So in this episode, I talk about the dos and don’ts of using these boards and how to help students use them constructively in the classroom.
1:35 - Why this is such a hot topic for me
5:42 - The “don’ts” of using interactive whiteboards
9:35 - The “dos” of using interactive whiteboards
12:43 - Why video modeling may work better than live modeling
15:37 - Some ways you can help your students use whiteboards effectively
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode144_
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnectio…
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Nov 27, 2022
143. Behavior FAQ: Provide Training for Families
How can parents, other caregivers, or service providers be trained in implementing behavioral support for autistic kids? And should you, as a teacher, facilitate it? I get asked these questions often when speaking about behavioral support in the classroom. In this episode, I answer these questions and give you specific ways to help students’ families handle their behavior.
3:52 - How you train others in managing behavior depends on this
5:34 - The variety of ways in which you can do this type of training for families
7:23 - My general rule for training families who are new to behavioral support training
8:42 - What to do to get parents on board once you know what works for the student
10:07 - What I recommend if you chose to make a visit to the student’s home
12:05 - What to do if parents can’t come to the school and you can’t visit their home
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode143_
Autism Classroom Resource…
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Nov 20, 2022
142. Behavior FAQ: When a Student Is Distracted by Something They Can’t Have
Teachers deal with distracted students all the time. There’s the student who wants to be on the computer instead of reading his assignment or the one who’s waiting for lunch instead of working on her math problems. I get asked questions all the time about these kinds of behavioral support issues. So in this episode, I talk about some of the strategies you can use to deal with students who want to do one thing when it’s time to do something else.
1:58 - The 1st step to addressing this unwanted behavior
3:55 - What to do if the student’s behavior escalates to the point of being potentially harmful
5:42 - A couple of examples using specific students with potential solutions
11:56 - If the student just doesn’t want to wait to do the desired activity
17:24 - How you can implement the behavioral support strategies talked about in this episode
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode142_
Autism Classroom Resources' Fre…
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Nov 13, 2022
141. Autism & Thanksgiving: How to Help Your Students with ASD to Participate in Giving Thanks
Being thankful comes with a lot of health and mood benefits. And now that we’re in November, it’s the perfect time of the year to stop, take stock of what has happened to you, and give thanks. Your autistic students should have that opportunity as well, but they get robbed of the benefits if they don’t have the support to give that type of thanks in a way that other people will understand.
In this episode, I talk about several ways you can help your students with ASD participate in giving thanks on Thanksgiving.
1:57 - Why people will sometimes assume others aren’t thankful
4:27 - A way of giving thanks visually
5:16 - One unique way of giving thanks through speech
9:06 - Another method that helps for those who struggle with speaking in groups or finding the right words
9:49 - A technique for expressing thanks that most of us tend to think of
11:31 - One strategy for the person who can’t be there in-person
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Nov 6, 2022
140. Everyone Says Use First-Then Boards; What Does That Mean?
Someone recently asked me about using a first-then schedule. They wanted to know when to use one instead of a regular schedule. A first-then schedule is one of the simplest kinds of visual support you can use for autistic and other special needs kids. So in this episode, I talk about first-then schedules and how and when to use them in the classroom.
1:46 - What a first-then schedule does and the different forms it can take
2:15 - How this type of schedule can be used for behavioral support in the classroom
5:02 - Using a first-then schedule as a daily schedule
7:28 - A word of warning about using first-then schedules
8:39 - Why creating a first-then schedule doesn’t have to be fancy
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode140_
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Oct 30, 2022
139. Why Do You Need a Visual Group Classroom Schedule? Here's 5 Reasons to Do It Today.
For the last few episodes, you’ve heard me talk about visual schedules. But there’s a type of schedule that often gets forgotten about or overlooked by teachers. In this episode, I discuss group or class schedules and why they’re every bit as important as other kinds of schedules to use for your special education classroom.
2:19 - Something I find happens a lot in self-contained special ed classrooms
4:16 - The different forms that group schedules can take
4:43 - The key to constructing a good group schedule for your students
5:27 - What to do if students are doing different activities at the same time
6:03 - Five reasons why groups schedules are important to use in the classroom
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode139_
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Oct 23, 2022
138. What Kind of Visual Schedule Does My Class Need?
How do you decide what kind of schedule to use for your students? While we focus on visual schedules for autistic classrooms, they’re very useful for a variety of reasons. In this episode, I discuss the different types of schedules, how I decide which type to use, and how I decide when I need to change it to a different kind of schedule.
2:13 - The different kinds of visual schedules you can use for your students
5:26 - Where I start if I don’t know where a student is in their learning of a schedule
8:07 - The pros and cons of using photo schedules and when I primarily use them
12:14 - What I do with a student with visual impairments
13:09 - Advantages and disadvantages of using a written schedule
16:22 - A quick recap of the episode
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Oct 16, 2022
137. Why You Should Be Using Visual Schedules in Your Classroom
Everyone says you must have visuals in an autism classroom. But everyone assumes you know what that means or that these visuals will somehow magically solve students’ behavioral problems. While they can’t do that, they are a really important component of your classroom (and not just for those with autism, either). In this episode, I discuss seven reasons why you need to use visual schedules in your classroom.
3:32 - The 1st reason helps with your primary goal for students
5:10 - Reason #2 helps cut down on arguments between you and the student
5:54 - Why the actual visual aspect of visual schedules is important
7:07 - How the 4th reason relieves student stress and anxiety
8:40 - Reason number 5 sounds obvious but helps those with difficulty processing information around them
9:38 - The 6th reason reveals a common trait for special ed students (and honestly, a large part of society in general)
10:38 - The final reason why you want to use visual schedules
11:35 - One more…
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Oct 9, 2022
136. How to Collect ABC Data Part 2
Just the facts, ma’am. That’s the attitude you need to have when you’re collecting antecedent behavior consequence data in a functional behavior assessment. Like I talked about last week, you want to keep your emotions out of it. In this episode, I want to get a little more specific and follow up with a couple more things to think about when taking ABC data, including a strategy to help you amend some of them if your classroom staff have difficulty keeping emotions out of it.
1:36 - What you can do if you think you know the function of the student’s behavior
3:01 - Why making assumptions about the behavior data you gather can backfire
5:40 - Examples of how underlying causes of behavior can be different in the same scenario
7:16 - The mistake to avoid with your factual observations after taking the data
8:57 - One thing that can help if classroom staff struggle with sticking to the facts
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Oct 2, 2022
135. How to Collect ABC Data Part 1
Students learn their ABCs, but special ed teachers need to know their ABC. When dealing with challenging behavior from students, you need to collect antecedent behavior consequence data (a.k.a. ABC) so you can figure out the why behind the behavior. In fact, it can give you all kinds of information, but only if you take it correctly. In this episode, I reveal some specific things you need to know in order to correctly collect ABC data.
2:16 - The first thing you need to know about collecting ABC data
4:07 - What do consequences mean when talking about antecedent behavior consequence data
5:12 - One of the biggest issues I see when using ABC data sheets
6:24 - How to be objective while recording antecedent behavior consequence data
8:56 - Why objectivity in ABC data collection is so important
11:17 - One last thing you must include in your data collection
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode135_
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Sep 25, 2022
How to Take Data in Circle Time and Morning Meeting
For a lot of special educators, data is the giant elephant in the room. It gets treated like that kind of a four-letter word when it’s not. Now I’m a huge data geek, so much so that I wrote a book about it. But I know data only helps you if it’s real, reliable, and teachable. So in this episode, I talk about how you can use data in a real classroom, with real students for group instruction.
3:14 - The key to making data collection feel less painful
4:18 - What we know about taking instructional data and how my naturalistic data sheet is set up
6:29 - How to take data on multiple points for multiple students during group activity
7:45 - Do you necessarily have to be the one to run the group activity?
9:59 - Another way to more easily record instructional data
10:23 - Tips for making instructional data collection work in your classroom
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode107_
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Sep 18, 2022
How to Set Up Your Systems for Special Ed Classroom Data Analysis
You’ve collected some classroom data, so now what? Leaving it sitting in a binder doesn’t help anybody; therefore, it’s critical that you set up systems for regular analysis. We take this data for legal reasons, to show progress, but most importantly, to troubleshoot any learning issues confronting our students.
In this episode, I discuss how to make analysis happen and the three elements to consider for developing systems that ensure the data gets analyzed and is practical for your classroom.
4:40 - The biggest takeaway from what little research exists on classroom data collection
6:14 - A tool that makes graphing your classroom data easier than ever
9:22 - How my ex-preschool’s strategy can help you fit this into everything else you have to do
10:52 - Two keys to adapting the preschool’s strategy to work for you
12:56 - Why paraprofessionals must get on-board with the analysis process
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Sep 11, 2022
How to Set Up Data Collection Systems for Your Autism Classroom
When it comes to data collection, there’s no one-size-fits-all, and it involves way more than just finding the right datasheet. You have to ensure you build a system with the right data, not more data. So today is all about focusing on data systems.
In this episode, I walk you through how to get started and what you need to consider when creating your systems for instructional data collection.
3:14 - The question I get asked a LOT about data collection and why there’s no real answer
4:48 - Why quality over quantity matters when collecting data
6:06 - Two things you must be aware of when you’re collecting data
7:52 - How to get started on building a strategy for data collection
11:04 - Why you need to integrate your data plan with your zoning plan and what to look for afterward
12:41 - The final key about data collection systems I must reveal
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode87
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Sep 4, 2022
How to Make IEP Data Collection Work
Wouldn’t it be nice to have data collection work for you instead of against you? I hear from teachers all the time that data collection is one of the most difficult things to figure out. You get told to take it but not how. In this episode, I cover the three most important aspects of the data you collect and five things you can do to improve your data collection over the next few months.
1:45 - Three things your collected data must be
3:03 - How to write data-friendly goals
7:37 - How to make a data plan (and why it’s critical)
10:09 - Creating a data collection system for your classroom
12:27 - How to correctly analyze the data you’ve collected
14:25 - Using your data to write your next set of goals
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode22_
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Aug 28, 2022
134. Troubleshooting When Classroom Staff Aren’t Performing As You Would Like
As a leader of the classroom, you’ve done everything you needed to do to set up your staff for success. You’ve created the zoning plan, trained them, and provided feedback to them (and received feedback in kind). But what do you do when things still aren’t going well with the staff? That’s the really hard question I tackle in today’s episode, so buckle in!
1:57 - What to do if you have concerns about student safety due to a staff member’s behavior
4:13 - The mindset you must have in order to lead classroom staff effectively
6:15 - Where to start when someone on your staff isn’t performing as planned
7:25 - How to address a problem you see with anyone on the classroom staff
10:03 - What to do if the staff member’s issue keeps repeating itself
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode134_
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Aug 21, 2022
133. 3 Ways to Give Feedback to Staff Effectively Without 1-1 Collaboration Time
You went into education wanting to teach kids, not manage adults. But to run a special ed classroom takes a village--one you need to lead--and that takes the form of your classroom staff. I’ve dedicated this month to discuss how to train that staff and so far in this series, I’ve talked about setting up the classroom structure for them and addressed three of the most common roadblocks in training them.
In this episode, I continue with how you can give meaningful feedback in the classroom when you have no time for one-on-one collaboration.
2:35 - Why giving feedback is such a critical training tool
4:23 - Why you don’t want to wait to give feedback to your staff
6:15 - My first tip for having meaningful feedback
8:35 - An easy way you can provide feedback
9:28 - A way I love to share positive feedback, in particular
11:13 - The golden ratio of positive-to-negative feedback and how to integrate it
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Aug 7, 2022
131. The Nuts & Bolts of Leading Your Classroom Team
Teachers struggle a LOT with building and leading their classroom team. I want to structure this month’s podcasts around helping you do both because even if you’re just out of school and surrounded by paraprofessionals with three times as much experience, you need to take the lead. So today, I start with a discussion of the nuts and bolts of building the structure with a classroom staff so they can work as a team.
1:48 - Why leadership isn’t some big, scary thing
3:55 - An overview of the first part of the structure you’ll need: the classroom zoning plan
6:20 - What a zoning plan doesn’t include and the key to making it work
8:00 - The purpose of the lesson plan and setting up the vision for your classroom
10:50 - What to keep in mind as you build the classroom structure with your staff
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode131_
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Jul 24, 2022
129. 3 Tips for Successful Inclusion of Students with ASD in General Ed
How can autistic students be successful and make the most progress in a general education setting? Whether they’re spending time in a specialist class like music or art or a full day in general education, there are some core things you can do to make sure the core program still works for them. In the first episode of this two-part series, I reveal some of the structure and support you can provide for students with ASD in larger environments.
3:45 - The first step in planning successful inclusion for a special needs student
4:53 - An example of how the first step can play out with a student
7:33 - Effectively communicate your goals to the staff
8:58 - A really good strategy for identifying primary goals and sharing them with others
10:14 - Don’t forget about these (I’ve seen so many general ed classrooms that don’t have them)
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode129_
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Jul 17, 2022
The Magic of Student Engagement and Why It’s So Important
If you’ve been listening for a while, you’ve heard me talk about student engagement. I’ve talked about the need to keep them engaged and things to do to keep them engaged. But this time, I want to talk about it very explicitly in terms of why it’s the key to everything for students with ASD and other disabilities.
2:29 - What engagement means and what it looks like
4:36 - Why engagement is so important for your students
8:20 - The trick about engaging students you need to be aware of
9:04 - How to keep engagement on track during transitions
11:51 - How to schedule engaging activities when you have less staff on hand to help
14:52 - How to plan for unexpected breaks that can wreak havoc in your engagement scheduling
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode128_
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Jun 26, 2022
How to Address Perseveration [From the Academy]
Students (and not just autistic ones) can get stuck on specific topics or items that they just can’t seem to let go. But these obsessions serve a purpose for the student. It’s your job to figure out what that is and how to handle it. In this episode, I take a look at perseverations, functions they can serve, and some strategies you can use to address them in your classroom.
2:06 - How to know when you have a student who perseverates
3:54 - Figuring out what function perseveration serves for the student
10:37 - Ways to handle obsession-based perseveration
14:13 - My favorite concrete way to set limits on perseveration
17:09 - How to handle object-based perseveration
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode21
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Jun 19, 2022
Visual Schedules and Autism Busting 5 Myths and Setting it Straight
The things I hear about visual schedules and autism always amaze me. I might hear some myths once or twice while others stick around for years. Some teachers don’t think they need to use them for their autistic students, but even some who do can have implicit biases that cause their visual schedules to not be as effective as they should.
So in this episode, I want to set the record straight. If you’re a teacher or someone trying to help others who work with individuals on the spectrum, then these myth busters will help you see how visual schedules can aid your students with autism.
2:52 - Busting myth #1 about high-functioning students with autism
4:27 - The myth that scapegoats visual schedules for the way autistic students behave
5:49 - My counter to myth #3 about dependency on visual schedules
7:14 - The myth I see people embrace most often that drives me nuts
8:43 - Why visual schedules are more than just daily picture schedules
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May 29, 2022
What Do I Do When the Behavior Plan Isn’t Working?
I want to veer off track a little today. I’ve dedicated this month to discuss the relationship between communication and behavior. But in this episode, I talk about what happens when you put your amazing behavior plan in place... and it still doesn’t work, despite your best efforts. What do you do then? Tune in to find out my step-by-step process!
1:36 - How to know if, how, when, and where behavior has actually changed
6:14 - Discovering if your behavior strategies are being implemented correctly
8:10 - Another common thing you might discover by talking with your staff
8:59 - Have you given the plan implementation enough time to work? If so, consider these questions
10:34 - What to do if problem behavior hasn’t decreased despite demonstrations of replacement behavior from the student
12:06 - When all else fails (a.k.a. going back to the drawing board)
13:56 - An important reminder about the FBA process (especially if you need some consolation)
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May 22, 2022
Where Does Anxiety Fit in the Behavior-Communication Connection?
Communication doesn’t explain all challenging behavior in students with autism. What if behavior related to anxiety or sensory input gets reinforced inside the body? Those students who function in the average to above-average range still face hurdles, and one of them is an increased rate of anxiety and depression. In this episode, I discuss how you can address those with communication responses in your functional behavior assessment.
5:12 - The conversation with an Academy member that got me thinking
8:28 - The tricky nature of proper behavior analysis for students with anxiety disorders
11:14 - Keep this in mind when attempting to fit anxiety into the functional behavior analysis process
13:46 - An example of a behavior hypothesis for the FBA that takes anxiety into account
17:14 - Further illustrating why behavior and communication aren’t always necessarily the same
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode124_
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May 15, 2022
Why Functional Communication Training Is More Than Just “Use Your Words”
Instructing small kids to “use their words” to replace problematic behavior with communication skills might be enough. But for your students who’ve built up habits around their challenging behavior, it’s not so easy. It takes some thought and planning to make it work. In this episode, I talk about functional communication training and how this process of teaching communication skills as a replacement to challenging behavior can be hugely effective and work really well in the classroom... when done right.
3:47 - The first step in functional communication training
4:41 - The single biggest decision you’ll make in your FC training
7:28 - Some guidelines to help you be efficient with step two of the process
10:57 - How I would approach implementing FCT in the classroom
13:08 - The keys to making functional communication training stick for the student
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode123_
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May 8, 2022
What Is Positive Behavioral Interventions & Support, Really?
It always amazes me when I talk to people about positive behavioral support and find out what they think about it. I’ve been mystified by some of the definitions I’ve heard out there. Today, I really want to get into the nitty gritty of positive behavioral interventions and support (PBIS). So in this episode, I talk about what PBIS is, where it came from, and where it’s gone since its arrival.
2:16 - The origins of positive behavioral interventions and support
6:37 - The myth that PBIS isn’t based on science
8:03 - How school-based positive behavioral support data helps teachers with administrations
9:07 - Why PBIS is different from ABA (applied behavior analysis)
11:44 - The element of PBIS I find the most challenging (and the most interesting)
13:05 - How some states, school districts, and organizations may approach using PBIS
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode122_
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May 1, 2022
What’s the Behavior-Communication Connection?
You’ve more than likely heard the old story about what it means when a boy pulls a girl’s pigtails, right? I bet many of you were skeptical when someone first told you that that behavior was a form of communication and made it sound like an okay thing. And while it isn’t okay, there is a very strong connection between communication and behavior.
Since May is Better Speech and Hearing Month, I’m switching gears and making this month’s podcast theme about the connection between communication and behavior. In this episode, I share some of the research I’ve found about how communication impacts behavior, how behavior grows out of communication deficits, and what all that means for intervention purposes.
4:42 - What research shows about the development of communicative intentions of children in the past 50 years
6:40 - Why language-impaired kids show more behavior problems than other kids their age
9:22 - Why some with developmental disabilities experience a decrease in p…
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Apr 24, 2022
The Importance of Teaching Programs
All month long I’ve been talking about the controversial topic of applied behavior analysis on this podcast. In today’s episode, I wrap up the series about ABA by discussing what teaching programs are and why they’re important. You’ll also learn how to really boost your instruction and your student’s learning across the classroom.
2:16 - What teaching programs are and what they look like
4:41 - Why having a specific teaching program for your autistic students is important
5:46 - What happens when I do training on task analyses
7:06 - Four reasons why you must have a written teaching program in place
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode120_
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Apr 17, 2022
7 Ways You May Be Sabotaging Your Instruction
Are you sabotaging instruction in your classroom without realizing it? Luckily, you can easily catch and fix it as long as you know there might be an issue. In this episode, I slightly shift gears away from talking about ABA to discuss ways you could be sabotaging your own instruction. You’ll hear about seven saboteurs and how to find out if you’re committing one of them.
3:50 - Instruction saboteurs #1 and #2: How your facial expressions give you away
5:31 - Saboteur #3: Why you should watch your hands
6:49 - Saboteur #4: Beware of these verbal cues
8:25 - A pretty obvious saboteur to avoid
8:53 - How saboteur #6 can cause hiccups with functional instruction
10:08 - The most subtle saboteur of them all
11:07 - Why it’s critical to ensure you’re teaching what you mean to teach and how to avoid these issues
Grab the transcript, freebie, and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode119
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Apr 10, 2022
5 Ways to Make Naturalistic Instruction Easier
What is naturalistic instruction? In today’s episode, I talk about what it is and how implementing it in a classroom setting can be a little tricky. I also give you a few strategies, along with other tips, to help make it easier for you to use this type of instruction and still make an impact for your students.
2:06 - Reiterating an important point I made about applied behavior analysis in the previous episode
3:28 - Defining what naturalistic instruction is
5:37 - The principles of naturalistic intervention
7:06 - An example of incidental teaching to give you an idea of a naturalistic strategy
9:16 - Another thing that’s tough about naturalistic instruction in the classroom
11: 23 - Some tips and resources to boost naturalistic instruction success
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at_ http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode118_
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Apr 3, 2022
What is Applied Behavior Analysis or ABA?
Applied behavior analysis has been a sticky issue in the autism community. A number of people advocate very strongly against it. Being a board-certified behavior analyst myself, I’m not against it. But I still recognize that it has its problems. In this episode, however, I want to focus on what applied behavior analysis really is and talk about some of its misconceptions and strengths.
3:37 - Why applied behavior analysis isn’t just about teaching
4:57 - How behavior analysts train to apply ABA to real-life problems
6:58 - One of the biggest myths I hear about applied behavior analysis
7:46 - Another thing applied behavior analysis is NOT
8:48 - A tendency some people have with ABA that drives me nuts
11:13 - What originally attracted me to applied behavior analysis
12:14 - The most common myth about ABA and why the misconception exists
14:15 - Remember this if you come up against lots of resistance when you’re teaching
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Mar 27, 2022
Frequently Asked Questions About Independent Work Stations
Today marks the completion of my podcast episode series on independent work systems! Over the last few weeks, I’ve talked about why we use these systems in the classroom as well as critical elements and frequently made mistakes in implementing them. In this episode, I wrap it up by discussing some of the most common questions I get about these independent work systems and some of the things educators struggle with when setting them up.
1:58 - What do you do if a student never finishes the work?
5:53 - How do you get your staff to stop talking when prompting students?
8:15 - Does a student need to have their own independent work system?
11:26 - What if a student doesn’t yet have any skills independently to practice in the system?
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode116
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Mar 20, 2022
The Biggest Mistakes I See in Independent Work Stations
When implemented correctly, independent work systems are amazing! It drives me crazy when people reduce them to busy work, because every single element within an independent work system exists for a reason. In this episode, I talk about the most common mistakes I see with these systems in classrooms and how you can avoid them so that your students can develop independence as quickly as possible.
3:21 - Why “program slippage” happens to both new and highly experienced classroom staff
5:29 - The students who still needed a place to finish
9:05 - The importance of a clear start and end to independent work tasks
9:56 - A certain kind of task I often see included that shouldn’t be
11:53 - Don’t make this mistake, especially with young kids
14:19 - A smart student who still needed this motivator to complete his work
17:26 - A useful tip to help you catch program slippage quickly
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode1…
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Mar 13, 2022
Why Should I Use an Independent Work System?
Every special education classroom should have some kind of independent work system. Even students in general ed, with or without autism, need one too. Some people don’t believe that, but I’ve successfully used systems for students without autism (and there are research studies out there that back me up). In this episode, I talk about why independent work systems are so important and the benefits they provide for the classroom and the students.
0:39 - The simple reason behind my passion for building independence in students
7:09 - Classroom benefits of having an independent work system in place
8:34 - The many ways an independent work system benefits your students
11:39 - What you can do once students get independent with their system
12:45 - What independent work systems are and are NOT designed to do
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Mar 6, 2022
What Is An Independent Work System Really?
If you follow me on social media, you can probably tell that I love independent work systems! Social media has made sharing tasks among each other much easier compared to the days before the arrival of Pinterest and Instagram. But it also means you have access to tons of misinformation, and there’s a lot of it out there when it comes to independent work systems.
What is an independent work system, though? Today, I’m kicking off a new series of episodes about independent work systems by clearing up those misconceptions, defining what the system is, and discussing what it's truly designed to be.
5:32 - Defining what an independent work system is and the four questions it must answer
8:55 - Why these systems are effective tools for students
9:31 - The critical element I often see get left out of independent work systems
10:58 - What the work structure in the system is designed to do for the student
11:42 - A must-have element for a student to complete the work system and the onl…
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Feb 27, 2022
Working On Functional Literacy With Cooking in the Classroom
Do you remember when you asked a teacher at some point, “But when am I ever going to use this?” You understood that you had to learn things merely to get to the next stage of learning. But you probably had a teacher who made something like geometry finally make sense by showing how it could help you figure out the amount of paint you needed for a room, not just solve the x in the equation on the board or in the math book.
That’s why I love teaching life and functional skills and squeezing academics into student activities they think are fun! Cooking is an excellent example because it offers tons of opportunities to practice so many different kinds of skills. In this episode, I talk about some of those skills you can teach and generalize with cooking in the classroom.
2:07 - Thoughts for those thinking, “But I can’t do cooking in the classroom!”
3:29 - Learning readiness skills and what they do and don’t mean
5:11 - The many many levels of math skills you can teach…
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Feb 20, 2022
Tools to Increase Engagement In Life Skills Instruction
I’ve mentioned my sister (who’s on the autism spectrum) in a previous episode. Looking back, she’s one of the reasons why I’ve been so focused on life skills instruction in my work. She moved through the general education system, and even got an accounting associate’s degree, without extra help.
However, she struggled to generalize her knowledge to everyday situations. In this episode, I want to talk about not only ways to get your students engaged in life skills instruction but also how to vary your teaching so they can generalize their skills for functioning in daily living.
0:43 - How my sister got through school and demonstrated a struggle with generalizing knowledge
4:47 - Keeping students actively engaged while working on reading comprehension life skill activities
7:22 - An engaging tool for students that doesn’t seem like a reading activity on its surface
8:45 - One of my favorite ways to work on functional reading and math
10:14 - A strategy I used in a life…
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Feb 13, 2022
Are Your Life Skills Activities Not Engaging Your Students?
I want to see color when I walk into a room. I don’t want to live in a world that’s robbed of color. Yet, walking into a transition classroom devoid of it inspired an idea. So in today’s episode, I want to talk about life skills classroom materials and what to look for when you buy them, make them, or find them.
0:54 - The depressing classroom set-up that sparked one of my life skills products
3:49 - How we tend to approach teaching adults with autism
5:38 - Why I created my real-life photo matching file folder tasks
6:41 - How to incorporate the written word into the file folder tasks and ways to customize the materials
8:13 - How to use the file folder tasks for teaching students math skills
11:40 - Avoid doing this when looking for materials for older students in life skills classes
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode110
Autis…
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Feb 6, 2022
5 Myths About Life Skills
Today, I’m shifting from morning meeting to life skills in the special education classroom. Even if you think you know what the term “life skills” means, it doesn’t mean the same thing for everyone, including every parent and school system. Making that assumption can sometimes get you in trouble.
But there are also some myths about life skills that need eliminating. So in this episode, I kick off a new series about teaching functional life skills and bust some of the myths that people have about them.
3:01 - Defining what functional means to me and what life skills are
5:02 - Tackling the first myth about life skills for autism that has developed over the years
6:52 - Another misconception that stems from the idea that programs must be “all or none”
9:01 - Busting the life skill myth I hear most often, especially in the autism community
10:48 - Why you shouldn’t wait until you notice a problem before you start teaching functional skills
12:01 - The biggest funct…
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Jan 16, 2022
Instructional Strategies for Morning Meeting and Circle Time
In the last couple of episodes, I’ve talked about why morning meeting or circle time is important and the skills you can teach in whole group instruction. There are strategies you can really capitalize on during morning meeting/circle time while others might come as a surprise to you as a possibility in a group. So in this episode, I discuss those strategies for teaching skills to students in group instruction.
2:09 - How explicit teacher-focused instruction can enhance your generalization instruction with students
3:38 - A misconception about using discrete trials in morning meeting and circle time
5:09 - The surprising similarity of instructional strategies across different disciplines
6:20 - A quick overview of the steps of discrete trials and ways you can implement them in group instruction
8:04 - How pivotal response training is like incidental teaching on steroids
9:26 - Other strategies to teach skills during circle time or morning meeting
11:14 - An alternative to chor…
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Jan 9, 2022
Skills to Target During Morning Meeting for Younger & Older Students
Circle time or morning meeting? While what we call it depends on the age of the students, the need to effectively teach skills during this time is still the same. So in this episode, I discuss the importance of targeting both curriculum skills and individual goals for various age groups, as well as the kind of skills to teach.
2:26 - Why circle time/morning meeting is a good time to address curriculum goals
3:08 - Five common areas to consider regarding general goals of morning meeting for the group
4:07 - The three different types of instruction I use for daily scheduled activities
6:02 - Discussing specific skill targets to meet in group instruction
8:35 - Ways to implement social skills for younger and older students
12:10 - Ways to implement communication language and learning readiness skills for all age groups
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresour…
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Jan 2, 2022
How Do We Get Morning Meeting Right in Special Ed?
Confession time. Early on in my career, I hated morning meeting. I thought it was a complete waste of time and dreaded when anybody asked me to run it because I didn’t feel confident in my ability to do it well or make it fun.
Moving to South Florida changed that. I got to work with educators there who modeled circle and class meetings done right and ones where things didn’t go so well. In this episode, I want to talk about why group activities are so important and intimidate some educators.
3:06 - Skills that autistic students need to learn that morning meeting can provide
4:24 - Why these kinds of group activities are important for students of all ages
6:47 - The necessity to teach in a respectful and relevant way, especially for older students
9:22 - How group instruction helps autistic students in the three areas where they have difficulties
11:10 - Some challenges that teachers face with group activities
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Dec 26, 2021
How Can Special Educators Advocate For Their Needs? 3 Tips to be Effective
Rolling staff shortages. Revolving substitute teachers. Understaffed classrooms. These are the problems I hear about from many of you on social media and through the academy.
I recorded today’s episode last year in the midst of the pandemic. But as we’ve gone through 2021, the importance of special educators advocating for their needs has become even more apparent.
It’s clear that we need to make our voices heard and do so in a productive way. So in this episode, I discuss three strategies you can use to advocate for yourself in an assertive but not argumentative way.
3:19 - Four reasons why teachers might avoid asking for help
9:09 - A simple-sounding strategy that can have complexities beyond the surface
10:52 - The most successful method for advocating for any type of classroom assistance
14:52 - A tip I frequently recommend when you don’t know how to address a problem
17:03 - The #1 element that underlies all three strategies
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Dec 19, 2021
Getting Started with Challenging Behavior in the Classroom
Teachers often ask me about how to handle challenging behavior from their students. It’s one the biggest hurdles in their classroom and a main cause of burnout. I’ve spent a good chunk of my career assessing, addressing, and researching challenging behavior in students. So in this episode, I discuss the research and principles underlying my approach and include some ideas and examples of what does and doesn’t work.
2:02 - Why appropriate student behavior must be taught, not expected
3:53 - The importance of separating the behavioral problem from the student in your mind
6:07 - Conditions that can affect challenging behavior in your student
8:32 - The main reason why problematic student behavior occurs in the first place
9:57 - How the function of challenging behavior is directly related to deficits in skills
12:21 - How to base your treatment on the behavior’s function
15:55 - Why you should be less concerned about the form the behavior takes than its purpose
16:51 - Su…
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Dec 12, 2021
Teacher Tired? How to Use Break to Prevent Burnout
People on the outside may think our classrooms have gone back to pre-pandemic normal. But we know that’s not true. Last year may have presented different problems for teachers, but some of those problems still exist.
I recorded today’s show last December, hoping that we wouldn’t have to face the same issues a year later. Yet, many of you are still understaffed, tired, feeling compassion fatigue, and have families in crisis.
In this re-released episode, I talk about lessons I’ve learned from highly stressful, personal situations in hopes of giving you ideas to take care of yourself better.
5:52 - The biggest thing that prevented me from burning out
7:26 - How I put it into practice when my mother’s health started declining
8:05 - Ideas for how to implement this burnout-proof strategy in your classroom
9:15 - How a supportive community helps you avoid burnout
11:05 - What you absolutely must do for yourself to overcome teacher tiredness
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Dec 5, 2021
Visual Schedules and Autism: Busting 5 Myths and Setting it Straight
The things I hear about visual schedules and autism always amaze me. I might hear some myths once or twice while others stick around for years. Some teachers don’t think they need to use them for their autistic students, but even some who do can have implicit biases that cause their visual schedules to not be as effective as they should.
So in this episode, I want to set the record straight. If you’re a teacher or someone trying to help others who work with individuals on the spectrum, then these myth busters will help you see how visual schedules can aid your students with autism.
2:52 - Busting myth #1 about high-functioning students with autism
4:27 - The myth that scapegoats visual schedules for the way autistic students behave
5:49 - My counter to myth #3 about dependency on visual schedules
7:14 - The myth I see people embrace most often that drives me nuts
8:43 - Why visual schedules are more than just daily picture schedules
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Nov 28, 2021
How to Teach a Student He Can’t Always Have What He Wants
Many times, a student’s reaction to not getting what they want is a temper tantrum or a meltdown. So you try to avoid that outcome by giving them what they want. But oftentimes, I’ll hear someone say that they can’t reinforce students by giving them what they ask for even if they’re asking nicely.
So what if you’re in a situation where you can’t do that? What are you supposed to do then? In this episode, I talk about Dante and what you can do with a student like him to teach him that he can’t always have what he wants.
2:33 - Why this problem happens in the first place
3:53 - What you shouldn’t do to solve the problem
5:53 - The key to teaching a student like Dante to wait when he asks for something
6:55 - Where to start first when you’re teaching your student to wait
9:03 - How to handle your student’s AAC device in the classroom
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and…
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Nov 21, 2021
Visuals to Save Your Sanity During the Holidays
With Thanksgiving fast approaching, so many teachers are still not settled into any type of normalcy. You’re teaching in what I like to call a triage classroom: a bare-bones or revolving door staff. In this episode, I want to discuss how to survive and thrive in the holiday season. I go over some basics that might have fallen by the wayside but need to come back into play as you gear up for the end of the year.
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5:58 - A visual that helps keep things calm when routines and schedules get turned upside down
7:40 - A visual to help when new situations and expectations crop up
9:18 - A visual to help remind students how to behave in situations
10:05 - A visual to let students know the length of a special activity
11:11 - A visual to have around for struggling students when you’re not a…
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Nov 14, 2021
What to Do When You Can't Honor Attention-Seeking Replacement Behaviors
What do you do when you can't honor a student’s attention-seeking replacement behavior? And how do you avoid a resurgence of the negative behaviors or the sabotaging of your behavior support plan in a new environment? In this episode, I talk about Stephan and reveal six techniques to think about when replacements for attention-seeking behaviors aren't being effectively reinforced.
00:42 - A little story about attention-seeking Stephan
4:08 - Critical pieces to have in place before you start dealing with an attention-seeking student
5:33 - How to teach your student to wait for attention reinforcement
7:29 - What to do if you can’t give the reaction when it’s requested
8:34 - A method for letting a student know when to expect a reaction to attention-seeking behavior
9:29 - Helping a student see how situational behavior results in specific outcomes
10:52 - How to implement limits for students on attention-seeking behaviors
12:16 - Using social narratives or stories
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Nov 7, 2021
What To Do When You Can't Honor an Escape-Related Replacement Behavior
What do you do when you can’t honor the function of the replacement behavior you’ve chosen? What if you run into a situation where it’s just impossible? In this episode, I focus on escape-related behavior with a quick story about a boy named Mica and reveal five things to try if trouble arises due to task demands you’ve given your student. Welcome to episode 100!
00:50 - A quick behavioral story to kick off this milestone episode
5:38 - One simplistic way to address behavioral issues regarding task demands
6:31 - Turning on what I call the “high-octane task mix”
7:21 - Another method similar to the high-octane mix
8:42 - How to effectively give your student choices when presenting them with tasks
9:36 - The best way to amp up the engagement of the tasks themselves
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode100
Autism Classroom Reso…
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Oct 31, 2021
3 Most Important Things to Remember in Responding to Challenging Behavior
You’ve seen some suggestions for addressing behavioral problems that don’t work when put in a real life context. I know I’ve been in a lot of situations where the theoretical, data-supported response just doesn’t have an effect in my classroom. The context of what inspires challenging behavior is just as important as the science behind the behavior. So in today’s episode, I want to highlight how we think about our responsive strategies in behavioral support.
1:33 - A story to demonstrate how simplistic behavior approaches don’t always work in the real world
3:23 - The most critical element to include in your behavioral support plan (and the different forms it can take)
5:10 - The second contextual element your responsive strategies must have
7:03 - How I’d think through the problem illustrated in my story to address challenging behavior
10:48 - The third and final element your strategy needs to contain
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Oct 24, 2021
The 3 Most Important Considerations in Choosing Replacement Behaviors
It’s that time of year when challenging student behavior starts cropping up and behavior plans get put to the test. When coming up with replacement behaviors, you can’t just rush your way through it and hope for the best, though. You need to carefully consider certain characteristics in the ones you choose. These three traits will make the difference in whether your plans work or not. So in this episode, I discuss more about replacement behaviors and making sure they’re effective in actually changing the way students conduct themselves in your class.
2:30 - A quick explanation for understanding the truth of replacement behaviors
3:31 - The secret sauce that makes replacement behaviors work effectively
4:29 - The 3 must-have characteristics of efficient replacement behavior
5:43 - An scenario where replacement behavior proves inefficient and fails
8:09 - Illustrating an effective and successful replacement behavior
9:36 - The real beauty of this kind of functional communicat…
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Oct 17, 2021
5 Ways to Prep Students to Avoid Challenging Behaviors
I’m guessing you don’t like to be hit or spit at by your students, right? Due to the time of year and the kind of year (or year and a half) we’ve had so far, we’re in the midst of some challenging classroom behavior. So today, I want to talk about ways we can actually help students avoid committing these problem behaviors in the first place. These won’t solve all the problems you’ll face, but by using these techniques you can narrow your focus and cut back on things that require a bigger approach.
2:00 - The benefit of practicing useful strategies before entering a difficult situation
3:06 - Transition warnings, one of the most common strategies used
4:35 - A strategy for students challenged by bigger environments
6:45 - How strategy #3 is similar to taking a field trip
8:31 - A strategy for students with focus issues or behavior related to automatic reinforcement
10:01 - The most common strategy for students with autism
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Oct 10, 2021
The 3 Biggest Behavioral Support Mistakes Committed In the Classroom
Now that the new school year is underway, you’re probably dealing with some challenging behaviors. Students are readjusting to being back in the classroom. Some are even dealing with interruptions from quarantines which can increase challenging behaviors to a level you haven’t seen before. So in today’s episode, I want to focus on the three biggest mistakes I see in behavioral support and management plans and processes.
2:08 - The #1 mistake I see in behavior plans
4:28 - Why people make the second biggest mistake
4:58 - An example of what mistake #2 can look like and how to correctly address it
8:44 - Why you shouldn’t wait to implement your new behavioral support plan
12:16 - Wrapping up with a quick recap
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode96
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomr…
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Oct 3, 2021
3 Problems In the Classroom That You Can Fix With Your Zoning Plan
Some problems can arise that indicate an issue with your zoning plan. Luckily, like classroom schedules, zoning plans are one of the easiest things to troubleshoot. In this episode, I won’t speak about obvious issues. Instead, I talk about three subtle problems you and your staff might face that you can address by simply fixing your zoning plan.
1:22 - First issue that demonstrates a need to change your zoning plan
2:12 - How to fix issue #1 on the zoning plan
2:43 - Second problem that exposes a clear zoning plan issue
3:41 - Final problem and why zoning plans need to be a collaborative document
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode95
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
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Sep 26, 2021
5 Problems In the Classroom That Mean You Should Fix the Schedule
Are you running into problems with your students that a tweak or two of your classroom schedule can solve? While the schedule is the hardest thing to create in the classroom setup process, it’s also possibly the easiest to fix because it’s pretty clear what the issue is when it occurs. So listen in as I cover five specific problems you could run into in the classroom that indicate a need to fix your schedule.
1:15 - Two ways to address incomplete student activity
2:09 - A similar behavioral issue and how to approach it
2:45 - Visual cue solutions to try if changing the schedule isn’t feasible
3:20 - What to do if you’re always running out of time before activities can finish
3:55 - How to handle a particular problem that can occur when transitioning students to new activities
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode94
Autism Class…
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Sep 19, 2021
3 More Common Behavioral Issues to Address With Visual Cues
Last week, I started talking about behaviors you can address in your classroom with visual support tweaks. I continue that this week with even more common behavioral issues that can be eliminated with visual cues. I know that at this point in the year, you really don’t have time at all. So I also provide a free download to help you implement some of the solutions I discuss in today’s episode.
1:06 - Addressing the lack of clean up by students or staff at the end of an activity
1:53 - A visual cue solutions for off-limit areas or activities
2:31 - A free visual resource you can use
2:43 - How to deal with distractions in the classroom for your students
3:24 - Why you’ll want feedback from outside your classroom to double-check this
_Join us inside the Special Educators Academy for your 7 day free trial_.
Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode93
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://…
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Sep 13, 2021
Visual Cue Solutions to 4 Common Behavioral Concerns
You see visual cues everywhere you look--restroom signs with gender indications, traffic lights and stop signs at intersections and on corners, etc. They’re pretty easy to implement and even though they don’t automatically solve problems, they work more often than not. So they should work in the classroom too, right? In today’s episode, I discuss student behavioral issues that you can address by adding or changing the visual cues in your classroom design.
1:07 - Possible signs and causes of student behavioral issue #1
1:34 - Visual cues to check before you start assigning supervision
2:24 - Next thing to keep in mind for after you implement visual cues
2:49 - Student behavioral issue #2 and what to do to solve it
3:54 - A solution to a couple of similar problems I often see
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode92
Autism Classroom…
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Sep 5, 2021
3 More Behaviors You Can Fix With the Classroom Design
Last week I discussed a couple of behavior problems you might face with your students in the classroom and how to solve them. Not a chance that those were the only ones, right? Ha!
So I’m back this week to talk about even more behavioral issues that indicate a need to fix your classroom’s physical design. Once again, I quickly reveal the problem then give some solutions that should help you reduce or eliminate the issue.
1:14 - Why your students might be climbing the furniture
1:52 - A few quick tips to prevent any further furniture climbing
2:28 - A crucial step you need to put in place that goes beyond preventative measures
3:16 - How NOT to resolve this student behavioral problem
3:34 - Three solutions to help you protect materials for classroom use
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode91
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resour…
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Aug 29, 2021
2 Behavior Problems You Can Fix With Classroom Design
We’re almost at the end of our journey on classroom setup! We’re in the troubleshooting phase right now, but starting today I’ll be delivering snack-sized episodes that discuss making decisions about what isn’t working and discovering how to know what to change. In this episode, I talk about a couple of warning signs that show a need to fix your physical classroom environment and share solutions that should help.
2:00 - Why students might be running around your classroom
2:50 - Ways to prevent your students from running in the classroom
3:57 - How some teachers solved a problem in this area of their classrooms
4:45 - The solution to your students leaving an activity area or table
5:08 - What to do if the solution causes your back to face the room
_Join us inside the Special Educators Academy for your 7 day free trial_.
Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode90
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Lib…
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Aug 22, 2021
How to Prioritize the Most Critical Part of Your Classroom Design
For the last few episodes, I've discussed setting up all the elements of the basic CORE you need to run your classroom. Next comes the most critical piece as you start working with your students: troubleshooting. As the school year starts, all of your systems will need some tweaking. So I’m kicking off a series of episodes to walk you through the process. Today, I outline a plan for helping you prioritize the troubleshooting process so it won’t overwhelm you.
1:59 - What you should do with your team each day for the first school week
3:11 - A suggestion if you can’t get your team together
4:36 - What you need to know before you begin prioritizing
5:29 - The first rule for prioritizing what to fix in the troubleshooting process
6:52 - Which things you should tackle before anything else
7:41 - What’s coming up in the next few episodes
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at htt…
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Aug 15, 2021
How to Set Up Your Systems for Special Ed Classroom Data Analysis
You’ve collected some classroom data, so now what? Leaving it sitting in a binder doesn’t help anybody; therefore, it’s critical that you set up systems for regular analysis. We take this data for legal reasons, to show progress, but most importantly, to troubleshoot any learning issues confronting our students. So in this episode, I discuss how to make analysis happen and the three elements to consider for developing systems that ensure the data gets analyzed and is practical for your classroom.
4:40 - The biggest takeaway from what little research exists on classroom data collection
6:14 - A tool that makes graphing your classroom data easier than ever
9:22 - How my ex-preschool’s strategy can help you fit this into everything else you have to do
10:52 - Two keys to adapting the preschool’s strategy to work for you
12:56 - Why paraprofessionals must get on-board with the analysis process
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Resour…
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Aug 8, 2021
How to Set Up Data Collection Systems for Your Autism Classroom
When it comes to a data collection, there’s no one-size-fits-all, and it involves way more than just finding the right data sheet. You have to ensure you build a system with the right data, not more data. So today is all about focusing on data systems. In this episode, I walk you through how to get started and what you need to consider when creating your systems for instructional data collection.
3:14 - The question I get asked a LOT about data collection and why there’s no real answer
4:48 - Why quality over quantity matters when collecting data
6:06 - Two things you must be aware of when you’re collecting data
7:52 - How to get started on building a strategy for data collection
11:04 - Why you need to integrate your data plan with your zoning plan and what to look for afterward
12:41 - The final key about data collection systems I must reveal
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Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource…
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Aug 1, 2021
Why You Should Set Up Systems for Lesson Planning in Special Education
You know what gets a bad rap with special ed teachers? Lesson planning! Whenever I ask around, I always discover there’s a mixture of opinions, and some teachers incorporate lesson plans while others don’t.
In the last episode, when I discussed some common routines for setting up classroom systems, I touched on lesson planning for a bit. You might think it’s unnecessary. But if you truly want your classroom to run on autopilot so you can focus on teaching students instead of managing the room, you’ll need lesson plans as a tool to help you do it.
It doesn’t have to take up a ton of time, either. So today I want to talk about why lesson planning is important and how to make it work for you.
3:43 - Making the case for why lesson plans are critical
4:37 - Two examples of the form that lesson plans can take
5:21 - How lesson plans help your administration, families, the state, and beyond
6:22 - The relationship between IEPs and teaching plans
7:02 - The biggest piece yo…
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Jul 25, 2021
Creating Classroom Systems of Organization That’ll Save Your Sanity
Do you pressure yourself to do everything alone? Then listen up! Running a special education classroom isn’t something you can do by yourself, and having a system of routines just makes things easier. So in this episode, I want to talk about organizing strategies and routines to assist you in the daily running of your classroom. You’ll start the new school year off well and keep your classroom structure running more smoothly and automatically!
5:03 - Looking at the routines you need to consider for your classroom
5:47 - How establishing a lesson plan routine benefits both you and your staff
7:02 - Another group you’ll want to give responsibilities to in your routines
8:06 - How to make sure your routines get done and get done right
9:47 - What I’ve learned about delegating tasks and how it affects you
_Join us inside the Special Educators Academy for your 7 day free trial_.
Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/…
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Jul 18, 2021
How to Prep Your Classroom and Reduce Overwhelm with Visual Cues
Graphics are good! Despite those who say otherwise, you can never have too many visuals. When you start putting a classroom together, it can feel a little overwhelming. How do you make decisions about where to start prepping without stressing yourself out? In this episode, I talk all about visuals and specifically focus on prioritizing the ones you need to include for a smoother teaching experience.
4:31 - The first step to narrowing down decision-making
5:18 - What you need to consider when prioritizing individual schedules
7:28 - The critical items you must include to make student schedules work
8:12 - Systems I believe every special ed classroom should have
8:56 - Signs you need to have on-hand early on
10:29 - Schedules to think about beyond day 1
12:40 - Use this if you know you’ll have an issue with rules
13:33 - How to keep your student's feet to the floor
14:03 - Visual cue ideas to keep your staff on track
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Jul 11, 2021
How Using Zoning Plans Reduce Your Stress in the Special Ed Classroom
We’re building the center of the classroom to support instruction so that the day-to-day running of the classroom works on its own. But in order to do that, we need systems. Systems get set up so that the people in the classroom know what needs to be done and can do it on their own without the teacher’s attention being pulled away to direct something. A system like a zoning plan takes some time upfront, and yours will need to be tweaked since you won’t get it perfect at the beginning. But a zoning plan can help save you time and energy and make your life a whole lot easier.
4:55 - Needing to direct staff as a special ed teacher
6:31 - 3 reasons why a zoning plan saves your sanity
_Join us inside the Special Educators Academy for your 7 day free trial_.
Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode83
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more informatio…
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Jul 4, 2021
Tips for Designing Your Special Ed Classroom
Last week, I talked about creating a schedule for implementing the IEP in your classroom. With your schedule in hand, now you’re ready to start putting together the actual physical design of your classroom. In other words, it’s now time to move the furniture. So in this episode, I’m all about the goals of what we need to consider in moving that furniture and setting up your classroom.
3:02 - How certain spaces make you feel
7:18 - Overall goals for classroom setup
9:02 - Ways to design the physical classroom space
_Join us inside the Special Educators Academy for your 7 day free trial_.
Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode82
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://an…
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Jun 27, 2021
5 Key Characteristics of a Strong Classroom Schedule for the IEP
Today, I’m focusing on setting up the classroom schedule for the IEP. To me, the schedule is the most important and pivotal element of classroom design. It drives the other pieces of the classroom, tells me what the physical space will look like, and it’s based on the teaching implementation plan. Once the TIP is completed, it’s easier to see what activities are going into the schedule, and once the schedule is complete the other pieces start falling into place. So in this episode, I talk about the characteristics of a strong schedule.
2:49 - High levels of engagement with instruction and interaction
6:07 - Tying each activity to specific goals and objections for each student
7:11 - Quickly-moving daily pace and engaging students
10:34 - Integrating each student’s goals and objections and your curriculum
_Join us inside the Special Educators Academy for your 7 day free trial_.
Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources…
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Jun 20, 2021
Teaching Implementation Plan: An Easy Road Map for Your Classroom IEP
So far, I’ve spent the last few episodes talking about creating a collaborative IEP. So now that that’s done, you have to then actually implement the IEP. Start thinking about how to organize your learning environment and incorporate the IEPs for all of your students to meet their individual needs. It takes a well-structured, well-organized classroom design. Today, I discuss your teaching implementation plan (TIP) for the IEP.
4:10 - What the TIP is and its objective
7:37 - How the TIP serves as a road map for your instruction
9:14 - How using the TIP makes your life easier
_Join us inside the Special Educators Academy for your 7 day free trial_.
Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode80
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducato…
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Jun 13, 2021
Must-Have Tips to Be an Awesome Advocator for Your Students
I’m excited to share with you an episode from a Special Educator Academy podcast I’ve pulled specifically for this IEP series. One of the things I think is extremely important but sometimes difficult to do is advocating for your students as an educator. Many times we’re their voice and know them in the classroom environment at a level that neither the administration nor their families do.
But advocating for students can sometimes feel a little dicey when you’re faced with parents or administrators who don’t agree with what should be done. I recorded this episode a while back for the Academy members to give them tips on how to do this in a way that keeps you in good standing with your district while still serving your ethical responsibility to advocate effectively for your students. I hope you enjoy it and it gives you some ideas!
4:09 - What advocating doesn’t always mean
4:45 - Tip #1 for advocating on behalf of your students
5:55 - Using your data
6:50 - Considera…
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Jun 6, 2021
Building a Strong Collaborative Atmosphere for Everyone at Your IEP Meeting
I’m continuing my series on IEPs (and how much we love or don’t love them). Today, I focus on collaborating and want to talk a bit about perspectives. To start off the episode, I read a social narrative written for the IEP team, then cover what to avoid from the family’s point of view and how to make them feel comfortable during the meeting. 1:03 - The perspective everyone is meant to bring into the IEP meeting 3:34 - Obstacles in the IEP collaboration process for parents and students 7:44 - Ways to make families feel more comfortable during the meeting It’s very important in the collaboration process that we’re putting ourselves in each other’s shoes and trying to take each other’s perspective. We all have a different viewpoint and can come up with better solutions, but we have to work together to make it happen. Join us inside the Special Educators Academy for your 7 day free trial. Resources Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresou…
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May 30, 2021
6 Considerations for Preparing the General Education Teacher for the IEP
Have you ever wondered about the role of a general educator in IEP meetings, especially when the students involved have significant disabilities? General staff is required to be part of the IEP team, including the general education teacher. Sometimes that teacher fits into the team seamlessly. Other times they struggle with their role, and others may feel they’re not really needed and will just have them come in to sign the paperwork.
But the general ed teacher can bring a lot of meaningful, functional things to the team and the meeting. As special educators, we can help prepare them for how to actively participate in these meetings, and that’s what I want to talk about in this episode as I continue this series on IEPs.
3:36 - Ensuring that the general educator knows the student
5:38 - Helping the general ed teacher see their value to the IEP team
7:28 - Presenting social opportunities for or observations of the student
9:09 - Sharing information about typical grade-level s…
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May 23, 2021
5 Tips for Making Sure Your IEP Runs Smoothly
IEPs can be intimidating, some more than others. I like to often use the Mary Poppins phrase, “Well begun is half done.” It’s true of almost everything, but it’s definitely true of IEPs where the meetings can go off the rails before they’ve even begun.
The better prepared you are, the smoother these meetings go. And the smoother the IEP, the smoother the school year, generally speaking. Over the years, I’ve created a to-do list of what I think are the most important actions to take to start your relationship with the family off on the right foot and ensure a well-run IEP meeting, and that’s what I share in today’s episode.
2:59 - Getting the parents input before (or during) the meeting
4:34 - Tips for preparing to talk about your experience as a special educator
6:53 - Meeting time set-up considerations to accommodate the family
8:39 - Advantages of using an agenda (and how IEP forms lead you astray here)
10:15 - How to ensure you have the needed forms ahead of…
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May 16, 2021
4 Reasons Why You Want to Devote Time Developing IEPs With Your Team
If you’re a special educator, then IEPs are probably not your favorite topic, but I’ll let you in on a secret. I kind of like them. I don’t like the marathons or the arguments, or even writing them. But I can’t imagine trying to work with our students without them and that’s one reason it’s so important we devote time to developing IEPs with your team.
When I talk about them in this context, I’m referring to both the documents and the meetings because we need them both.
Many times, it feels like IEPs drive our lives, and in a sense they do. They’re at the heart of special educational services and need to be living, breathing processes that have meaning and purpose. So you have to spend time and attention on both the document and the process by which you get there.
To help, today kicks off a new, short series of episodes about IEPs and how to make sure yours live up to what you need them to be.
Resources
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://auti…
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Apr 4, 2021
Visual Schedules and Autism: Busting 5 Myths and Setting the Record Straight
If you are a special education teacher working with students with autism, then you know about visuals. But you might be surprised about some of the myths about them. You even might believe some of them. I'm busting 5 of the most common I hear and have tons of resources and free leisure schedule visuals. Whether you are an experienced special educator, you don't think visuals are for your students, or you work with someone who resists giving students visuals, this episode has something for you.
Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode74
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: htt…
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Mar 28, 2021
Autism Appreciation This April: 4 Ways to Help Us Get There
Many of you may not know this, but I have a sister with autism. But that makes April pretty personal to me. In this episode I'm going to talk about her experiences and why I think we need to move beyond awareness and on to appreciation as a society to #celebratedifferences.
In this episode I am talking about my sister but I'm mostly focusing on how you can build appreciation for autism in your school and community.
* Some details about my sister's experiences I think we can all learn from
* Why I think autism appreciation and acceptance is so important
* 4 ways to develop autism appreciation with your school and community this April
LINKS
Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode73
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Se…
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Mar 14, 2021
How to Improve Problem Solving in Autism with After-Action Analysis Reports
In today's episode I want to share a strategy that has become a huge tool for students to learn how to problem solve social situations. I've talked about it in the past and describe it in more detail in this post. Traditionally, in the literature we have about it, it's called a social autopsy. However, I have found that many students (and sometimes teachers) hate this name. Because those students are really perceptive. Who wants to have their behavior autopsied after all!
So one of them suggested the name After-Action Reports. So I'm going to start referring to them as After-Action Analysis Reports. And it's the analysis that is really key to helping students learn to problem solve. Highlights of Episode 72
* Find out what a social autopsy is and how it can be used in a social skills program
* Learn how social autopsies, or after-action analysis (AAA) reports, can help your students problem solve social situations
* Discover 3 key elements of AAA reports that you mu…
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Mar 7, 2021
How to Address Pragmatics for Students with Autism: Tips from Dr. Susan Kabot
In this episode, Dr. Susan Kabot is sharing her biggest takeaway messages on how to teach pragmatics to students with autism and why it's so important. This is the continuation of the interview from our last episode.
In episode 70, she explained what pragmatics is and how it impacts these students so significantly. We also talked a good bit in that previous episode, and again in this one, about how it's easy to underestimate the need to teach these skills explicitly for these students. She emphasizes something we both say frequently. "Smart is not enough." And she explains why. Highlights from Part 2: How to Teach Pragmatics
Sue and I packed a lot into these 12 minutes, including the following.
* Can we tease pragmatics apart from social skills, the hidden curriculum, etc.?
* The impact of problems with pragmatics on common situations for students with ASD in the community.
* What educators can do to teach pragmatics to their students.
* Whether we should be teac…
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Feb 28, 2021
How Pragmatics Impacts Behavior in ASD: Interview with Dr. Susan Kabot
Before I started working with Dr. Susan Kabot, I had never heard of pragmatics. And I certainly didn’t realize what a big impact they could have on the behavior of an individual with autism. So, when I started to think about episodes on how social skills impacts behavior, Sue was my first call. Because trust me, she can explain the intricacies of pragmatics in language than I can.
We had such a great discussion, that I decided to cut the interview into two. In this episode we talk about what pragmatics are and how they impact student with high functioning autism. And I have a free download in this post related to one of the characteristics she notes. In the next episode, we will talk about how to teach pragmatics and things educators should think about when addressing behavior. Highlights of How Pragmatics Impacts Behavior
* Sue answers the biggest question of What Are Pragmatics? Because I had never heard of them before I met her.
* We talk about how pragmatics and social lang…
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Feb 21, 2021
How Social Problem Solving and Social Skills Deficits in Autism Impact Behavior
In this episode, I'm talking about how deficits in social problem solving puts our students at risk for negative behavior.
I will also talk about why we need to look at social skills and social problem solving as part of our functional behavior assessment.
And why we need to incorporate social problem solving instruction into our students' curriculum to prevent challenging behavioral issues.
Finally, I've got a free tool that to download in the post for this episode that can help to remind them of some social problem solving strategies.
Links:
Grab the transcript, free download and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode69
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Free Preventing Behavior Webinar https://library.autismclassroomresources.com/preventing-challenging-behavior-webinar-landing/
Join the Free Facebook Grou…
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Feb 14, 2021
The Hidden Curriculum and Its Impact on Behavior
In this episode I focus on specifically how the hidden curriculum impacts students' behavior. This relationship is particularly an issue for those who have the invisible disability that we've been talking about in this series that places them in situations with limited adult supervision. That's primarily because their lack of understanding of the unspoken social context is often the reason they engage in behavior,.
So I'm going to outline some common areas in which the hidden curriculum impacts students' behavior and some considerations we need to have in how we address the behavior. And I'll point you to some posts and resources for that as well.
Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode68
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Free Preventing Behavior Webinar https://library.autismcla…
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Jan 31, 2021
3 Tools to Help You Teach Emotional Regulation
While I can't detail all the ins and outs of teaching emotional regulation within an episode of a podcast, I can give you pointers toward 3 strategies that you can integrate together that can get you started. So, in today's episode I have 3 tools I want to share to help you teach your students how to self-regulate along those same 3 steps.
And I have a free download for you in the Resource Library that can help you get started with one of the strategies. And lots of helpful links in the resource links below for relaxation strategies to use with your students too.
Don't forget if you are looking for strategies to prevent challenging behavior in your classroom, I have a free Preventing Challenging Behavior webinar that you can watch anytime. Plus if you are looking for more resources to help with challenging behavior in the classroom, we have a whole course on it plus tons of resources and workshops in the Special Educator Academy. Come give us a try with a 7-day trial at speci…
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Jan 24, 2021
How to Help Students Who Meltdown With Change and Minor Events
In last week's episode (episode 65) I talked about students with ASD who overreact to the smallest of events, often involving change or small problems. I typically call it catastrophic reactions to trivial events. Often these students melt down, but sometimes they also shutdown or give up. The significance is that they overreact to events that are not in line with their reaction.
In other words, the events are not seen as a significant event to us, but they are seen as devastating by the student. For instance, students who misspell a word, tear up their paper and refuse to continue the assignment. Another example would be a change in the daily schedule. Or a change in who runs an activity. Highlights of Episode 66: Strategies for Handling Change
* Hear 4 case descriptions of students who struggle with overreactions to minor events or changes that ruin their (and their teachers' days with solutions for addressing them. For instance, meet Brett who struggle with other student…
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Jan 17, 2021
3 Behavioral Complexities of Students with High Functioning ASD
In today’s episode, I’m going to talk about 3 behavioral complexities that these students with high functioning ASD present. I’m going to focus on the why of these behavioral challenges. Because when you understand the challenges that face students with autism, sometimes it becomes a little clearer. After all, behaviors that look like one thing (e.g., defiance or noncompliance) may really happen because of something else (e.g., difficulty understanding the direction or overwhelming anxiety).
Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode65
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://au…
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Jan 10, 2021
5 Things Every Educator Should Know to Work with High Functioning Students with Autism
Today, I’m starting out with a 9-episode theme of individuals with high functioning autism spectrum disorder. These are students with ASD who are working on grade level standards in general education. And that is where we are going to start today.
Over the years I’ve worked with many of these students. And I can tell you one thing for sure as an educator. Being “high functioning” does not mean that these students have an easier time of it in school or that they have fewer needs. It also doesn’t mean that they are less complex or easier to work with. In fact some of the most challenging situations I’ve dealt with over the years have been students in general education. What is Episode 64 About?
These aren’t all the characteristics that individuals with ASD present. But, these 5 characteristics and concerns are part of the reason why these students can really struggle in school. I see them as the 5 issues that we run up against with their interactions around the sc…
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Dec 20, 2020
Teacher Tired? How to Use Break to Prevent Burnout
The pandemic has been a really tough time to teach. And you all have been amazing. But it's been rough.
This episode is from the heart about lessons I learned about compassion fatigue and having to adjust expectations to manage to get through. These are specific lessons that I've adapted to our current situation. I hope they can help you find ways to help yourself prevent compassion fatigue and burnout in the present situation. I'm also going to share some resources that might be helpful if you are looking for more strategies to help you move forward.
And then, the podcast (and I) are going to take a two-week hiatus over the break. I need to practice what I preach and rest my brain. And I need to do some planning for the coming year to bring you more content. We'll be back January 10, 2021 with a new episode! Happy Holidays and remember to take time for yourself!
Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode63
Autism Classroo…
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Dec 13, 2020
How to Use I Spy to Build Vocabulary in Any Type of Learning
I Spy games have always been one of my go-to strategies to fill in time and engage students to build vocabulary and facilitate language skills. I pull it out while we are waiting for the previous specials class to finish up. Or when we have some extra time at the end of a center before rotating that I was expecting. Over the years I've used them with all different types of students and for building all types of skills. But I particularly like them for building expressive and receptive vocabulary skills.
Grab a free I Spy activity in the blog post at autismclassroomresources.com/episode62
In this episode I cover 5 different adaptations of I Spy that will help you:
* target receptive vocabulary
* target expressive vocabulary
* work on question asking and answering
* address vocabulary with feature, function and categories
* simplify I Spy for early learners
* work on turn taking
* and even target basic letter skills.
Grab a free I Spy activity, read the post and…
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Dec 6, 2020
3 Ways to Increase Work Efficiency in Special Education
If we have ever needed to improve work efficiency in the classroom, this year is it. You need to be able to get work done quickly and save some time for yourself and your family. But, I know most of you are always feeling like there is more to be done. Highlights of Episode 61
In this episode I'm going to talk about 3 ways that I've recently reminded myself of to help improve your work efficiency in your classroom. This is part of self-care. You can't take care of yourself if you are overwhelmed by the demands.
And yet I know that many of you are like me. You want to do everything. And you can't do everything. So we have to prioritize to what needs to be done. But we still need to get them done efficiently or doing 1 thing will take up all your time.
Grab the free download, a transcript and more in the blog post at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode61
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more…
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Nov 29, 2020
Bonus Episode: What Your Students Would Thank You For
Thanksgiving weekend episode bonus. Over the years, I've shared on social media things that I think your students would thank you for. So as a bonus episode (i.e., no blog post, but there is a transcript below), I thought I would share 3 things that I think your students would thank you for in this crazy year.
Grab the transcript: https://acrlinks.com/thanks
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
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Nov 22, 2020
Teaching Initiation of Communication to Students with Autism
Episode 60 focuses on how to teach students to initiate communication. Students with ASD struggle with initiation and often don't tell people what they need for want. Learning how to initiate is a specific skill that needs explicit instruction. This episode will get you started to teach it.
Highlights of Episode 60
* Learn why initiation is such a critical life skill to teach explicitly
* Review the steps of teaching initiation of requesting
* Get tips on how to build independence in initiating through your instruction
* Download a free poster (see Resources below) to remind staff to wait expectantly
Grab a transcript or read the post at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode60
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor…
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Nov 15, 2020
4 Keys You Need to Improve Expressive Language and Communication
Today I'm going to talk about the 4 keys you need to address in your instruction for expressive language. Expanding expressive language goes beyond just getting longer sentences or adding vocabulary, particularly for students with ASD. In order to improve communication, we have to focus on how the expressive language is used. That includes increasing the reasons or functions of the use of language. You need to expand the situations in which the student uses expressive language. We should focus on initiating and independence of language. And finally we must expand the types of vocabulary.
BONUS!
Plus, I have free quick tip videos in the dropdown post that demonstrate different strategies I talk about in this episode. You can grab them all in the dropdown of the post at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode59
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? Specia…
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Nov 8, 2020
Tips for Supporting Nonverbal Students
In today's episode I want to share my 5 tips for communicating with a nonverbal student. It is probably the question I get asked most frequently in some form or other. Many of us work with students who do not have a way to communicate effectively and don't speak. And we also sometimes work with students who communicate in alternative ways (e.g., a device, pictures, sign language). Highlights of Episode 58
* Highlights of research showing that expectations are different for nonverbal students
* Discussion and examples of the impact of being nonverbal
* 5 tips to help you avoid these expectations traps in the classroom
* 2 free downloads to help you implement the tips in your classroom
Grab the transcript, your free download and pictures at https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode58
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join…
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Nov 1, 2020
3 Ways to Get Staff Language On Track in the Classroom
I talked about the importance of using adult language in the classroom in a purposeful manner to model communication for students with autism in the last episode of the podcast. Today I am following up with a freebie to help teachers share the information with classroom staff. And I'm also sharing 3 ways that you can help all the classroom staff stay on track with adult language in the classroom. Highlights of Episode 57
* How adult language gets off track in the classroom and why
* Why it’s so important to address adult language in the classroom
* 3 ways to to help staff keep their language on track with students’ needs
* Ways to get your staff to buy into why it’s important
Grab the transcript, your free download and pictures at https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode57
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join th…
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Oct 25, 2020
5 Reasons to Talk Less and Smile More to Facilitate Language Skills in Special Ed
Have you been trying to figure out how to promote language in your special education classroom? There are some simple steps that can help with this to get started. My next few podcasts are going to focus on some of them, starting with this episode.
One of the easiest ways to promote language in your classroom is to be quiet. I know that sounds counterintuitive but it’s true. And in today’s episode, I have 5 reasons WHY it’s so important to listen to (and modify) your language in the classroom. Highlights of Episode 56
* 5 reasons why talking may not always the right language facilitation model
* Differences between modeling and directing
* Ways to use language modeling effectively to effectively facilitate language
* The importance of expectant waiting and how it can be impacted in distance learning
* The role of language and talking in facilitating independence for our students
HELPFUL LINKS
Grab the transcript, your free download and pictures at https://autismclas…
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Oct 18, 2020
3 Reasons You Need to be Using Mini Schedules in your Special Ed Classroom
We all know how important visuals are for students in special education. When we think visuals we sometimes think daily schedule as the default. But for some students, mini-schedules (or task analysis schedules) are even more important for independence. In this week’s episode I talk about 3 reasons why mini-schedules can improve your classroom and your students’ learning.
And there's a free mini-schedule to get started.
Highlights of Episode 55
* Find out why visual schedules are useful for more than just students with autism
* Discover why we should use them in every classroom
* Find out how they encourage nonverbal prompting
* Mini schedules (and schedules) aren't just for the students, they help staff
* And find out how and why they help to build your students' independence
HELPFUL LINKS
Grab the transcript, your free download and pictures at https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode55
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.au…
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Oct 11, 2020
How to Give Choices to Improve Even the Most Challenging Behavior
As a preschool teacher recently said to me…"So I realized, for this kid, it's all about choices." This particular kid (and many others) liked to be in control of EVERYTHING! And he did it by refusing the teacher's directions.
This episode focuses on WHY choices can help behavior problems in the classroom and HOW to use them effectively. You want to give the right kind of choices so you aren't getting into huge power struggles and negotiations.
And there is a free download in the blog post linked below. In This Episode Learn
* Why you win when you use choices
* What the research says about using choices as a preventive strategy for challenging behavior
* What type of choices you might give
* 6 tips of how to make choices work for you
HELPFUL LINKS
Grab the transcript, your free download and pictures at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode54
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more inform…
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Oct 4, 2020
Teacher Parent Communication: 3 Ways to Make it Work
In this episode, I’ve got 3 ways that can help you easily, efficiently and effectively communicate with families. And hopefully to get information back from parents as well. Because we know that it needs to go both ways. Highlights of Effective Teacher Parent Communication
So these three ways to communicate with families will meet share these characteristics.
* Easy to use
* Provide concrete information about activities, issues and performance
* Provide options for families to respond and share information
* Don’t require lots of time to complete on either side
To help with all of this, I also have a free download in the Free Resource Library that I talk about in the episode. You can grab it by signing up or logging in below. This is a free Google form I created for the Special Educator Academy for the members to be able to edit and use with their families.
Grab the transcript, your free download and pictures at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode53
Autism Clas…
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Sep 27, 2020
How Can Special Educators Advocate For Their Needs? 3 Tips to be Effective
Teaching is hard. You know it’s true…I believe (especially right now) it’s one of the hardest jobs there is. And to do it well, it is essential that special educators advocate for themselves. Educators never cease to amaze me with their ingenuity and grit. But truly, no one can do this job alone. Our special education system is actually built to keep it from being a one-man show. And yet many times our classrooms feel like an island with no where to turn for help.
Asking for help is a critical skill and this episode covers why that is so. I also talk about the barriers that keep educators from advocating for themselves. And finally I have 3 tips that can help advocate most effectively for what you need to make your classroom what you know it can be.
Grab the transcript and pictures at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode52
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educato…
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Sep 20, 2020
3 Ways to Prevent Downtime in the Classroom
This episode focuses on 3 ways you can create routines and strategies in the classroom to support engagement in learning and reduce downtime. I'll start by talking about what downtime is. Because, no I don't think that teachers make a decision to have downtime in the classroom. They don't say, "Well it would be nice to take a little rest right now and let them do whatever they want." And then I'll share 3 ways that you can prevent downtime in your classroom that can lead to challenging behavior.
Grab the transcript and pictures at autismclassroomresources.com/episode51
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
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Sep 13, 2020
3 Ways to Easily Collect Data in Distance Learning
Finding ways to monitor progress in distance learning for special education students is one of the questions I hear most frequently these days. We usually take data hands-on in the classroom, observing the student directly. And educators usually have control over (to some degree) the environment and conditions under which they observe the skills and behavior being monitored. But that's not the case in distance learning, where the student is at home and frequently being facilitated by family or caregivers. So, how do we get the data we know we need?
Highlights of Episode 50
* learn 3 easy ways to collect data
* download a free digital tool to allow you to get the information you need
* learn ways to modify data collection to meet the unique needs of distance learning
Grab the transcript and pictures at autismclassroomresources.com/episode50
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special…
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Sep 6, 2020
Cooking in the Classroom and in Distance Learning
I love cooking in the classroom. It's one of my favorite activities to use with younger students and with life skills students. One of the things I like is that students are motivated by it. Because who doesn't like to eat, right? Another is the number of skills you can build and teach with cooking.
But what about cooking now, as I'm writing and recording this--in the middle of the pandemic? How do you cook in the classroom with virus precautions? Or how do you use cooking as a teaching strategy in distance learning?
In this episode I've got tips that address just those questions. I've got tips about how to cook in the classroom during the pandemic as well as tips for how to incorporate cooking into distance learning.
Grab the transcript and pictures at autismclassroomresources.com/episode49-Includes links to cooking activities in my store
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Aug 30, 2020
3 Tips for Boosting Online Engagement in Special Education
Face-to-face online learning is useful in distance ed, but engagement can be an issue. Use these 3 tips to boost your students' engagement.
Grab the transcript and pictures at autismclassroomresources.com/episode48
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
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Aug 23, 2020
Three Tips to Tame the New Covid-19 Classroom Routines
At the beginning of the school year, it's always all about the classroom routines. But if you are back in the classroom in 2020, you probably have a few new Covid-19 classroom routines that are new to everybody. Adding any new routines in the classroom can throw off the rhythm of the best functioning team. And let's face it, there is enough going on in your head right now that anything you can begin to tame and rock the classroom organization is so worthwhile!
In This Episode
* Rethink delegation as a way to boost collaboration
* Find out strategies to delegate effectively
* Grab a free tool to help you delegate and still get things done the way you want them
Grab the transcript and pictures at autismclassroomresources.com/episode47
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
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Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.c…
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Aug 16, 2020
Three Tips for Special Educators Working with Families in Distance Ed
Struggling with distance learning in special ed? The way to make it work lies with strong collaboration and coordination with families. Grab 3 big, meaty tips in this episode for effectively working with families in distance learning to make the year a success.
Highlights of Episode 46
* Three big, meaty tips for collaborating effectively with families and caregivers in distance learning for special education
* Ideas for how to establish roles when collaborating with families in distance education
* Ways to assure documentation for distance education of learning plans
Grab the transcript and pictures at autismclassroomresources.com/episode46
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
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Aug 9, 2020
5 Reasons Why You Need Classroom Zoning Plans This Year
We know that the coming year is going to be different, in the fall of 2020. But whether you are teaching at a distance or teaching in the classroom, you will probably still be working with paraprofessionals as part of your classroom team. In today's episode, I've got tips for managing staff by setting expectations with a classroom zoning plan for all different situations you may find yourself in.
And there are examples of zoning plans and more information at the blog post for this episode: autismclassroomresources.com/episode45
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
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Mentioned in this episode:
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Aug 2, 2020
Special Education Classroom Setup: Classroom & Distance Learning
As the next step of our Setting up Classroom Series, this episode focuses on designing your classroom setup in special education. Given that it was recorded in fall 2020, I'm also including tips for designing your distance learning space and tips for helping families develop learning spaces at home.
Highlights of Episode 44
* 7 Goals of setting up the classroom
* Tips for designing your virtual instruction area
* Ideas for helping families set up their child's learning space in distance education
Find transcript, notes and links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode44
Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
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Jul 26, 2020
How to Create a Special Ed Classroom Schedule
As part of our Setting Up Classroom Series, this episode focuses on creating the classroom schedule for the special education classroom. As we approach the beginning of 2020, and grapple with how to best educate students during the pandemic, setting up the special ed classroom schedule may seem like the least of our problems. In reality, though, it’s still the most important. Whether you are doing distance learning or social distant classroom learning, the schedule continues to drive the predictability and routine our special ed classrooms need. It’s also one of the most complex parts of setting up a special ed classroom.
Highlights
* Free download of 5 classroom schedules for all different school ages
* Grab tips about how to select the activities for the special ed classroom schedule
* Find ideas about how to schedule for distance learning
* Thoughts for ways to schedule centers in a socially distanced classroom
* Learn my decision process in deciding on allocatin…
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Jul 19, 2020
The Power of the Teaching Implementation Plan in Designing Classrooms
Imagine knowing, as you start the classroom setup process, what every student's needs are and how you plan to implement them in the classroom or in distance learning.
What if you had a document you could hand to paraprofessionals that would not only make sure they know the IEP goals, but that they would know where and how to teach them and take data?
And what if you had a document that helped you plan out distance learning as well as classroom learning and communicate it to the family?
Well the Teaching Implementation Plan can help you with all of those and help get your classroom foundation off to a strong and solid start.
Find transcript, notes and links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode42
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
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Jul 12, 2020
Welcome to Designing and Choreographing Your Classroom for Engagement
We are kicking off a a series all about setting up your special education classroom to maximize the engagement of your students. I'm super pumped about this series because it's one of my favorite topics. hint: I used to feel like I set up classrooms for a living.
So come along and find out why i'm excited about it, what it's about, and get started.
*And I know that this fall (2020) is going to be different so I'll be giving tips and strategies that will help whether your classroom is virtual or bricks and mortar.
Find the Building Classroom Teams at https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode1
Find transcript, notes and links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode41
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Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com
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Jun 7, 2020
Bonus Episode: Systemic Racism and Special Education
This is just a quick episode that talks about some of the thoughts around the very difficult time our country is going through. But I am the first to say this is NOT my area of expertise. But we have clear data that show that students do not experience education equally. I'll talk about that and how we, in the classroom, can make a difference.
Also, I'm taking a hiatus from the podcast until after July 4...I'll be back on July 12 with a new episode. In the meantime, I have some blog posts I want to share that can help with distance learning and getting ready for the new year. So check it out at https://autismclassroomresources.com
Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
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Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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May 31, 2020
Reflecting on Remote Learning Practices in Special Education
We are coming to a "rest" in our remote learning journey. And that gives us an opportunity to stop and reflect on what we learned. I am a big proponent of reflecting on classroom practice regularly. Without taking the time to reflect on it, we don’t have the opportunity to refine it and improve it over time.
When I set up a classroom, one of the things we do every day after students leave is to sit down and talk about what worked and what didn’t work. I suggest doing this for at least a week or two at the beginning of the year. This is a procedure that I use in part because I’m consulting and introducing new things. And it’s always interesting to hear that things worked—especially if staff didn’t expect it to. And knowing what didn’t work allows us to brainstorm how we should solve it. Today's Episode
So, for today’s episode I’ve pulled 5 questions from our workshop on reflecting on distance learning that I think can be helpful in guiding the next steps in the…
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May 24, 2020
5 Secrets to Help Special Educators Run Positive IEP Meetings
As special educators, we all want our relationships with families to result in positive IEP meetings. This episode focuses on 5 things special educators can do during IEPs to build positive relationships with families and result in positive IEP meetings. I've talked about the mechanics of virtual IEPs in Episode 34. But with the advent of more virtual IEPs, I think the 5 tips from today's episode are increasingly important to assure that we can build strong collaborative relationships with families, which ultimately will lead to more positive IEPs. From the SEA
Todays episode comes from the Morning Meeting Reflections Podcast from the Special Educator Academy. This bi-weekly podcast (1 of 2) focuses on stress relief, self care, and managing interpersonal issues like working effectively with families and building collaborative teams with educators. If you are looking for a community and ideas to make your job easier as an educator, come check out the 7-day free trial.
Find transcrip…
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May 17, 2020
10 Things Special Educators Should Share About Their Experience
Have you ever had a family who questioned your experience? If you are a teacher or related service provider, especially if you have been doing this for a bit, you probably have.
Think about it. You go to the dr. An expert in their field. You see diplomas and certificates on their wall, right? Where do you see that in a classroom? How is a parent to know what your qualifications are? Or how to assess your skills?
We are talking about parents who are entrusting their child’s care and educational future to you. That sounds grand and dramatic, but it is true. Because of that building a relationship with the family is incredibly important. But that can only happen when there is trust...and you can start to build that trust by being ready and willing to answer questions about your background and experience.
So today I want to give you a framework to prepare to talk about these things. You can use this in the context of thinking about IEPs and getting to know new families for…
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May 10, 2020
IEP Mastery Criteria: 9 Tips You Need to Know
IEP mastery criteria is the unsung hero (or dastardly villain) in IEP writing. We don't think about it nearly as much as we probably should. And there are so many ways it can help us or hurt us down the road as we actually are trying to teach the skills from the IEP.
We tend to slap on 80% or 4/5 on the end of the goal call it done. But, the mastery level can be one of the biggest area of disagreement when determination of mastery of the goals comes about because they are often written in a way that meant different things to different participants. Why is IEP Mastery Criteria Important?
While IEP mastery criteria seems pretty straightforward, it can trip up an IEP team in many different ways. If it isn't clear, there may be disagreement among the team about when the skill is or isn't mastered. If the mastery criteria is written vaguely, there is unlikely to be agreement. And some mastery criteria can seem different depending on the reader.
And, IEP mastery criteria is critical whe…
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May 3, 2020
How to Increase the Quality of IEPs with Enabling Goals
Do you write enabling goals? Goals that enable students to access the curriculum more effectively? Episode 36 focuses on writing enabling IEP goals that focus on how a student accesses the curriculum more than the curriculum that is taught. Essentially, curriculum should be taught whether it's on the IEP or not. But the IEP should provide individualized goals that allow students to access and learn more effectively now and as they develop.
In this episode find out...
* What exactly are enabling IEP goals
* Why are enabling goals useful
* How can enabling goals help you help your students
* Examples of enabling IEP goals for all different types of students in special education
* Download a copy of questions you can ask to determine if you have enabling goals in your IEP
Find transcript, a free question cheat-sheet, notes and links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode36
Want more information about the membership and our workshops on writing IEP goals? Specia…
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Apr 26, 2020
Supporting Instruction at Home in Special Distance Education
As school closures continue, we all need to find manageable ways to support instruction at home for our students in special education. I can feel and hear the stress weighing on families and educators the longer this goes on, particularly for students in special education.
Fitting instruction into their day at home can be tough. Especially since many parents are working from home and others are still working outside the home. This is a long time to be trying to balance everything. So to me, one of the most natural ways for families to teach and assure that students don’t lose their skills is to fold the skills into natural activities we would do at home.
I’ve heard from many of you, as well, that some of our students are not really enthused about having school work at home. Some engage in challenging behavior when presented with new material. Integrating naturalistic instruction into the day may help to get around that issue as well. Highlights of Ideas for Instruction…
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Apr 19, 2020
Top 10 Tips for Running Virtual IEPs
As we continue on this journey of distance learning in special education as part of the Covid 19 school closures, we come upon the need to hold virtual IEP meetings. Many schools hold the majority of their IEP meetings near the end of the school year to prepare for the next year. So one of the questions I have heard recently is how to run a virtual IEP meeting.
This episode shares tips for:
* preparing for the meeting
* using the tech chosen
* best practice for effective communication of the team
* solutions for keeping teams on track
* a sample agenda you can download and edit to your needs
Find transcript, a free sample agenda, notes and links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode34
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Grab a free editable agenda in the Free Resource Library http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
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Apr 12, 2020
7 Ways to Get Paraprofessionals Involved in Distance Learning
In Episode 33, during the school closures from COVID-19, one of the questions I get asked frequently is how to involve paraprofessionals in the distance learning efforts of their classrooms. Everyone is on a completely different page and different platform, so we need a variety of strategies. I've shared 7 ideas in this episode.
Find transcript, notes and links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode33
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Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com
Want to join the Free Resource Library? http://library.autismclassroomresources.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
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Apr 5, 2020
COVID 19 BONUS Episode
So, I had a few things I wanted to say. I hope they don't sound too sappy. But I think it's important to recognize the hard work that educators are doing. This isn't a substantive episode, which is why I made it a bonus. It's wed to the time in which it was recorded. But I wanted to share that there is a new blog post with resources for online teaching available. And I wanted to add a few words of encouragement and thanks to the airwaves. Thanks for indulging me.
LINKS:
NEW BLOG POST: Distance Learning Resources to Make it Easier. I wanted to round up the videos and the tools I've created to have them all in one place to share with you. https://autismclassroomresources.com/distance-learning-resources
TeachersPayTeachers Link to enter for a free gift card. https://blog.teacherspayteachers.com/getting-more-resources-in-the-hands-of-educators/
TPT sale April 6 &7, 2020: TPT: http://shopautismclassroomresources.com or My Store: https://shop.autismclassroomresources…
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Mar 29, 2020
Coping with Home Schooling in Special Ed.: Tips for Families and Educators
Whether you are educators or family member, if you live in the U.S. in the time this is written, you've likely been asked to "home school" your child with support from your child's teacher. Coping with this type of home schooling when it wasn't expected is not an easy thing for educators or families.
Episode 32 has tips for both families and educators in managing this completely new experience. We are building the plane as we fly. We have some great blueprints of programs that came before us. But they were designed for completely different circumstances. We can do this but we need to grant ourselves grace, because it doesn't happen overnight. Listen in for some tips that can help.
Find transcript, notes and links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode32
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Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com
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Mar 22, 2020
Making Distance Education Work in Special Education
The need to use distance learning with our students to span this school closure from Covid19 is very clear at this point. It’s amazing that just last week in episode 30, I was talking about how to prepare your students for leaving school…and many of you never got to see your students before you knew you were shutting down. Now I am talking about distance learning and how to do it overnight in special education. In This Episode on Distance Learning
* Unique issues we are facing and confronting that make all this difficult
* Identifying barriers so we can solve them
* What makes distance ed in special ed unique
* Review of different ways to do distance learning in special education
* Strategies and ideas to implement distance learning
Find transcript, notes and links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/distance-learning
* Want more information about the membership? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
* Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com
*…
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Mar 15, 2020
Preparing students in Special Education for School Closures
Whether you are in the midst of this particular pandemic closure (Covid-19) or are just experiencing closures due to a regular flu epidemic or extended weather closings, I think this episode will still hold up with tips for preparing your students to leave and return from school. It also may give you some ideas of things to send home with students and ways to communicate with families during the hiatus.
LINKS:
* Blog Post, Links and Transcript https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode30
* Want more information about the membership? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
* Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com
* Want to join the Free Resource Library? http://library.autismclassroomresources.com
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Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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Mar 8, 2020
3 Strategies to Boost Your Classroom Management
In episode 29 I'm talking about 3 specific behavior management strategies for groups or classrooms that are effective and practical to implement. They will work in general and special education settings. And most importantly they are based on the research about the good foundations of classroom management in the classroom that I discussed in episode 28.
Highlights:
* Discussion of the marble jar strategy
* Review of the Good Behavior Game
* Using token economies effectively
For a transcript and links referred to in the episode can be found at autismclassroomresources.com/episode29
Want more information about the membership? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com
Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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Feb 23, 2020
How to Create a Great Classroom Management System
In Episode 28, I want to help you create a classroom management plan that serves you and your students well. As with most things in teaching, effective classroom management is likely to change dependent on the makeup of the classroom. And for that reason, I think sometimes it's a little harder for special ed teachers than general ed teachers, because the diversity of our students are so significant.
Highlights of Episode 28
* What makes a strong classroom management plan
* 5 key elements every plan should include
* Pros and cons of common systems
* The importance of positive reinforcement in classroom management
Plus grab a free set of visual classroom rules, behavior reinforcement punch cards, and token boards in the post
Show Notes
Show notes, transcript and Freebies: https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode28
Want more information about our membership, Special Educator Academy? https://specialeducatoracademy.com
Join the free Facebook Group at https://speciale…
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Feb 16, 2020
How to Make Positive Reinforcement Work in the Classroom
In Episode 27, I am talking about making positive reinforcement systems to use positive reinforcement in the classroom. If you have listened or read the blog at any point, you know I love a good system. Systems make the classroom run with much less thought and decision making throughout the day. And that allows us to focus on the actual instruction we need to do. So today I’ve got some guidelines for using reinforcement in the classroom and 3 ways to do it that are actually do-able for you. Plus I've got some tips on how to get everyone on the team on board. LINKS: Show notes, transcript and more: https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode27 Want more information about our membership, Special Educator Academy? https://specialeducatoracademy.com Join the free Facebook Group at https://specialeducatorsconnection.com Join the Free Resource Library at https://autismclassroomresources.com/community --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentione…
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Feb 9, 2020
The Truth About Reinforcement in the Classroom
In this episode I'm busting 5 common myths about reinforcers and reinforcement. It's amazing how much misinformation is out there about the use of reinforcement in the classroom. Whether it's that reinforcement makes students dependent on it or this student doesn't have a reinforcer, I'm sharing the facts and the reasons why reinforcement is the fundamental underpinning of so much of our instruction.
Show notes, transcript and more: https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode26
Want more information about our membership, Special Educator Academy? https://specialeducatoracademy.com
Join the free Facebook Group at https://specialeducatorconnection
Join the Free Resource Library at https://autismclassroomresources.com/community --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
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Feb 2, 2020
Reinforcement: What It Is and How to Use It Effectively
Reinforcement is such a critical element for special education classrooms. Yet we don't spend much time talking about it. Reinforcement underlies most of our effective instructional strategies, but sometimes we leave teachers by just saying "reinforce him" without making sure everyone is on the same page about what that means.
Highlights of Episode 25:
* Defining reinforcement of all kinds
* Tips for using it effectively in the classroom
* Signs that it's not working and why
* Tools and guidelines for finding and choosing reinforcers for students
* Methods for making sure your reinforcers and reinforcement are effective
Show notes, transcript and more: https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode25
Want more information about our professional development membership, Special Educator Academy? https://specialeducatoracademy.com
Join our free Facebook Group at https://specialeducatorconnection
Join the Free Resource Library at https://autismclassroomresources.com/communi…
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Jan 26, 2020
5 Ways to Increase Productivity in the Classroom
In this episode I share 5 tips for systems you can use in your classroom. These tips can help you delegate more effectively. In other words, if you are like me and have a hard time giving up responsibility, I’ve got some suggestions for you (and me). The tips will also help you set up systems in the classroom that will increase productivity of all the adults in the area where they are needed. And this means less work for you at the end of the day.
Show notes, transcript and more: https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode24
Want more information about our professional development membership, Special Educator Academy? https://specialeducatoracademy.com
Join our free Facebook Group at https://specialeducatorconnection
Join the Free Resource Library at https://autismclassroomresources.com/community --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.c…
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Jan 19, 2020
Tips for Training Paraprofessionals in the Classroom
This episode of the podcast (episode 23) will focus on training staff effectively and tips for getting it done in the classroom. As we all know the days of paraprofessional making copies and filling in for office work are done…and we cannot do the jobs we do in our special education classrooms, or support students in general education classrooms without the help of paraprofessionals.
But I know that training staff is a huge issue for many of us with data collection, behavior plans, and pretty much everything. And I've got some tips and free resources that can help! Highlights of Episode 23 on Training Paraprofessionals
* Why just presenting information to staff is not enough for training.
* How learning to play the piano is like training staff.
* What research tells us is best practice in training paraprofessionals.
* Specific steps to take to train staff so that it makes a difference in your classroom.
* Practical strategies to use to fit training into your everyda…
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Jan 12, 2020
5 Ways to Make IEP Data Collection Work
IEP data collection is one of the most difficult things that I hear teachers trying to figure out. Let’s face it, everyone tells you to take data, but few people actually walk through how to do it.
So in this episode, I want to walk you through what the 3 things that we need our data collection to be and why those things are important. But more significantly I’m going to walk you through 5 ways that you can use to improve your data collection over the course of the next few months. These are 5 ways that you can implement in your classroom without a ton of specialized knowledge. And I’ll point you to some free resources that can help you in that journey as well.
Find the Free Tools, Links, and Transcript at autismclassroomresources.com/episode22
Want to learn more about the membership site with the course in data collection? Check out SpecialEducatorAcademy.com --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
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Jan 5, 2020
How to Address Perseveration [From the Academy]
This episode was pulled from our Special Educator Academy (SEA) Show, one of 2 of the members-only podcasts that are part of the membership. I hope you enjoy a taste from SEA.
Perseveration is when someone gets stuck on a topic, a phrase, or an object and can’t move on to other things. This episode will talk about how to address different types of perseveration based on the potential function. I’ll talk about why perseveration happens and what it might look like as well as how to reduce it. Sometimes we can set limits, sometimes we need to address an underlying anxiety, but we always need to make sure we are addressing the function of the perseveration.
* Want to know more about the Special Educator Academy (our membership site)? Find out more at https://specialeducatoracademy.com
* Join the Free Facebook Group at http://specialeducatorsconnection.com
* Grab your FREE download and a transcript at https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode21
--- Send in a voice messag…
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Dec 29, 2019
From the SEA: How Taking a Break Can Make You a Stronger Teacher
This episode is drawn directly from the Monday Morning Inspirations members-only podcast for the Special Educator Academy. I'm focusing on why and how taking a break during the school holidays or over the summer can make you a better teacher. Get a taste of our inspirational and leadership podcast (1 of 2 podcasts members can access) from the Special Educator Academy and a reminder of why sometimes doing less gets more done.
Interested in learning more about the Special Educator Academy (SEA)? Check it out here: http://specialeducatoracademy.com
Want to join the Free Facebook Group? Join (and answer the 3 questions) here at http://specialeducatorsconnection.com
Need to grab a transcript or just would rather read this episode? Head over to http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode20 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate202…
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Dec 22, 2019
How to Verify Your FBA Hypotheses with Behavior Tracking
So today I want to talk about our last step, which is implementing and monitoring our plan. It's important to remember that this process really uses the scientific method in the method that we're using, in a naturalistic assessment which is what we've been talking about, is going to involve implementing it, monitoring it, and verifying your hypotheses based on your interventions. And I think that verifying it with your implementation is probably one of the strongest ways to show whether or not your assessment was accurate or go back and problem solve and that process is going to be very important. So that's what I'm going to talk about today are the 3 steps that go into that process.
LINKS, EXAMPLES and SHOW NOTES autismclassroomresources.com/episode19
Behavior Data Sheets on TPT https://acrlinks.com/2Z89XzI
Behavior Data Sheets in Autism Classroom Resources Store https://acrlinks.com/2Q6xzAr
Want to know more about the Special Educator Academy and the Behavioral Problem Solving Co…
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Dec 15, 2019
Responding to Challenging Behavior in Your Behavior Plan
Even if we have the most kickin' plan on the planet for this student with tons of preventive strategies and replacement skills being taught, the behavior is still going to occur at some point. And so it’s critically important this we write out this part of the plan for everyone to follow consistently. This episode will outline what to include and why it's important.
_Highlights_
* What strategies to include for responding to challenging behavior.
* Why it's important to have a written section in the behavior plan for responding to challenging behavior.
* Considerations in choosing strategies for responding to problem behavior.
* How to use FBA data to make decisions on how to respond to behaviors.
* How to handle crises effectively with written plans.
Sign up for the 30 Short Videos of Behavior Tips! autismclassroomresources.com/free-resource-library
Want to find the show notes, transcript and pictures of the flow chart? Go to autismclassroomresources.com/episode1…
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Dec 8, 2019
5 Behavioral Skills to Teach in Your Support Plan
As I noted in the last episode it is important that we teach skills that serve the function of the behavior from our functional behavior assessment (FBA). However, only teaching those skills is wasting a lot of the information that our FBA gained for us. Based on our ABC data and our hypothesis statements, we also have behavioral skills that can be taught to address responding to the antecedents of behavior. And we can teach students more independence at managing situations that lend themselves to problem behavior.
* Grab the Transcript, Show Notes or Read the Post at https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode17
* Want to know more about the Special Educator Academy Membership? Go to https://specialeducatoracademy.com
* Join our free Facebook group at http://specialeducatorsconnection.com
* Looking for free resources? Check out the Autism Classroom Resources Free Resources Library--with 30 free 3-5 minute videos on behavioral strategies at https://www.autismclassroomre…
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Dec 1, 2019
Are You Selecting the Right Replacement Behaviors?
In Episode 16 I am focusing on replacement behaviors. I'll share
* What replacement behaviors are,
* How they can make or break your behavior management;
* What characteristics are important in choosing them;
* And how to implement them so they work.
LINKS:
Autism Classroom Resources Episode 16
Special Educator Academy
Free Facebook Group --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
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Nov 24, 2019
Prevention Strategies to Rock Your Behavior Plans
In this episode, Episode 15, I address the preventive components part of the plan. I'll give you some examples. And I'll talk about why they are important to both offset setting events and to help our students cope better with potential triggers in their environment.
In this episode
* What are prevention strategies in behavior support plans?
* The two paths of prevention: addressing setting events and antecedent strategies.
* How to prevent behavior by accommodating for setting events when you can't eliminate them.
* Areas of antecedent strategies that we can implement to reduce behaviors before they happen.
* The relationship of prevention strategies to replacement strategies.
* How to choose prevention strategies based on your hypotheses statements and function of behavior.
Links:
Shownotes & Transcript
Special Educator Academy
Free Facebook Group --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your t…
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Nov 17, 2019
How to Write Effective Behavior Support Plans
In episode 14 we're talking about taking all the information from our functional behavior assessment and using our hypotheses statements (from episode 13) to craft a behavior plan that not only reduces challenging behavior but one that can also be implemented in the classroom.
In this episode:
* Why I use "behavior support plan" instead of behavior intervention plan or behavior management plan
* What a behavior support plan is designed to do
* The research that tells us the majority of school behavior plans are NOT based on the FBA--and how you can change that
* The research behind why creating behavior support as a team is so important
* How to assure that your behavior support plan has all the needed elements to reduce behavior and improve quality of life.
Show notes, visuals and transcript
Special Educator Academy
Free Facebook Group --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educ…
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Nov 10, 2019
How to Write Meaningful & Useful Hypothesis Statements
So we've analyzed our data in episode 12. In Episode 13 we need to take all the information we have gathered--the interviews, observations, data, etc. and integrate it into hypothesis statements. Writing a hypothesis statement goes well beyond just identifying the function of the challenging behavior. It needs to outline everything we know about the behavior so we can use it to lead directly into our behavior support plan.
I'll walk you through examples of hypothesis statements and how to include the needed information that will lead us to what our interventions will be. As a bonus, there is a free graphic organizer in the post for this episode that can help.
Grab the transcript and free organizer in this post. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
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Nov 3, 2019
Analyzing FBA Data
In Episode 12 we are exploring ways to graph ABC data to come up with meaningful information for your behavioral hypotheses statements and for developing your behavioral support plan. in this episode I'm walking you through things to graph to make sense of the ABCs and things to think about when looking at your data to help it make sense and be helpful.
Bog Post With Transcript & Links --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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Oct 27, 2019
What You Need to Know About Setting Events
In Episode 11 of the podcast, I talk about setting events as a factor we need to assess for in our functional assessment. They are sneaky but powerful impacts on students' behavior. Setting events may affect when the student reacts to certain antecedents at one time and not another. Consequently, while sometimes hard to track, they are important to consider in your functional behavior assessment to assure your results are accurate.
Download a transcript, links and more here https://AutismClassroomResources.com/episode11 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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Oct 20, 2019
How to Take ABC Data Effectively in the Classroom (Free ABC form)
This is episode 10 of the Autism Classroom Resources Podcast and we have been talking about challenging behavior and functional behavior assessment We are on Step 2 which is gathering information and we're talking about data collection. So this week we are talking about antecedent behavior consequence data. I have a couple of free tools that you'll be able to download at the end and I will be also sharing some tips for how to make sure that your ABC data is meaningful and helpful to what you're trying to do.
Grab your free data sheet and links here. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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Oct 13, 2019
How to Start a Functional Behavior Assessment
In today's episode, we'll be talking about step number 2 in the 5 step behavioral problem solving process--gathering all the information we need to begin to figure out why the behaviors are happening. I've talked a lot about the importance of basing our treatment on the function of the behavior not the form (but yes, I still felt the need to say it again). So, how do we figure that out? That's what we are starting on today.
Grab links and tools from this episode --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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Oct 6, 2019
What Are the Functions of Behavior Problems?
I talked in Episode 7 about the need to look at the function of the challenging behaviors rather than the form. Why we focus on whether it gets something or avoids something rather than whether it's biting or spitting. In this episode, I give you a deeper dive into what those functions can be and the beginning steps for what to look at to figure them out. You'll also get an overview of the 5-Step Process to Behavioral Problem Solving that will guide us through the next few episodes.
_Show Notes & Resources:_
Autism Classroom Resources Podcast Episode 8
Free Facebook Group: Special Educators Connection --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
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Sep 29, 2019
Strategies You Need to Prevent Challenging Behavior
In Episode 7, I talk about how we can prevent behaviors problems from happening in the first place. I focus on 6 strategies you can put in place to create a behaviorally supportive classroom and you can grab a tool for implementing one of them in the corresponding blog post link below. These strategies are effective for all students in all types of classrooms. I share examples across the ages and classroom settings of how to put research-based strategies in place to support appropriate behavior as well as why those strategies are important. Using a function-based approach (described in Episode 6) allows us to prevent behaviors from occurring or keep them from escalating and requiring more significant intervention. While it won't eliminate all challenging behaviors, by preventing many of them, you will have time to focus your more intensive efforts on individual students.
Links:
Show Notes, Transcript and Links --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomre…
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Sep 22, 2019
Getting Started with Challenging Behavior in the Classroom
In Episode 6, I'm talking about the basic principles of behavior. These principles may be a review for some, but I think even behavior pros will find at least a kernel that they can use to help their team understand how behavior works (and how it doesn't). Sometimes it's unfathomable to those of us who do this all the time why others in the classroom or school just don't seem to get these ideas. To us they may be basic principles that feel like water and air. But to others, they are the opposite of what they learned about behavior from their parenting, previous classroom teams, previous administrators or just previous experience with students. So I think they bear repeating a bit to make sure we are all on the same track.
Shownotes and Links https://autismclassroomresources.com/episode6 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educa…
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Sep 15, 2019
Giving Feedback to Teaching Team Members
Giving feedback to teaching team mates can be one of the most frustrating and intimidating things about being a teacher. It's tough to put yourself out there and have the tough conversations. But without giving feedback, no one improves and issues just continue. This podcast has tips that can help you give clear, meaningful feedback in a way that brings the team together instead of splintering it further.
Blog Post with Links
Brene' Brown's Daring Classrooms
Building Classroom Teams and Zoning Plans Toolkit (on TpT)
Building Classroom Teams and Zoning Plans Toolkit (on Shopify) --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
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Sep 8, 2019
Classroom Zoning Plans and Building Teaching Teams
In this episode, I talk about setting the expectations in the classroom for the staff using staff zoning plans. Even though things seem obvious to you in the classroom, they aren't obvious to everyone and they may not be obvious to your paraprofessionals.
Part of your job as a teacher is to give direction. But we aren't always used to giving directions to other adults. So, in this episode I talk about why we need class zoning plans, how they can help you, and some tips to help make them more successful.
LINKS:
Grab all the links and examples at Autism Classroom Resources Podcast: Episode 4.
Grab a free zoning plan template in the Autism Classroom Resources Library
Want more information about how to actually create and use a zoning plan, along with more info about building teaching teams? Grab my Classroom Teams and Zoning Toolkit.
Building Classroom Teams and Zoning Plans (on TpT)
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in…
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Aug 25, 2019
Building Relationships with Staff
Today I'm launching a 5-part series on working effectively with staff. Over the years, one of the biggest issues that I see and hear most teachers struggling with is working with other adults. Regardless of your role as a special educator, sometimes it seems the students are easier to work with than the staff. So in this series, we'll chat about how to build a team from the start, get everyone working toward the same goals, and automate the operations of the classroom to reduce stress.
In episode 1, I'm focusing on building relationships with staff. We take for granted this will happen, but we shouldn't. So I'll talk about ways to make it happen well as well as how to make it work in a world in which there is rarely time for staff to talk without the students present.
Links from this episode:
Special Educators Connection Facebook Group: http://specialeducatorsconnection.com
--- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in t…
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Aug 23, 2019
What Is This About?
Introducing the Autism Classroom Resources Podcast. Find out what it's all about!
Autism Classroom Resources
Special Educator Academy
Facebook Group: Special Educators Connection --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/autismclassroomresources/message
Mentioned in this episode:
Grab your ticket to Educate & Rejuvenate: https://autismclassroomresources.com/educate2023
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