8 First Day of School Tips for Special Education

Last Friday was the first day of school here in Hawaii.  Even though I didn't start pull out services on Friday, I wanted to make sure my students and general education teachers had a smooth day.  Here's some tips on how you can support those students right from the start!

1.  Make sure you give the general education teachers copies of any behavior plans, accommodations, etc. BEFORE the first day of school.   Do students need to be seated near the teacher?  Are there any special plans for behavior that people need to know?

2.  Do any of your students need to be met at the bus that provides transportation for special education students?  If so, make sure someone is there to meet them and walk them to their class.  The bus is likely to be late the first few days of school.  Be prepared to wait.  Will these students need to eat breakfast?  Have a plan in place before the first day!

3.  Think about supporting the general education classrooms.  The first day is so hectic and teachers have so much to get done.  Can you or your aide go into the classrooms and help?  If you have several teachers you support, make a schedule and rotate around.

4.  Take time to at least briefly speak to each student and welcome them back to school.  Your relationship with the students can really make or break your year.  Let them know that you care right from the start.

5.  Let the general education teachers know that you are available during the day to help.  Some students might have some behavior concerns due to transition issues.  These students might need a place they can go to take a break from the hectic classroom.

6.  If students have transition concerns, try to give them support during the most stressful parts of the day such as first thing in the morning, lunch time and at the end of the day.

7.  If you are going into the classrooms to support students, be helpful!  The general education teachers have so much to do that day.  Help other students that need assistance if you can.  

8.  Remember to take care of you, too!  Don't forget to drink water, eat lunch, and go to the bathroom during the day.

I hope you all have a great year!

Meet and Greet for Special Education Teachers (freebie)

My school just had our Meet and Greet before school started.  This is an opportunity for students to come in, meet their new teachers, see their new classrooms, and bring in supplies.  Does your school do something like this before the first day?  

I love this opportunity, but special education teachers (especially if you do pull-out/resource) are often waiting in their classrooms with little to no students showing up.  I realized that most parents probably just don't think about coming by to see the special education teacher or they don't even know where to go!

Every year, I place a card on my students' desks in their gen ed rooms.  

Then I got my room already for parents and students to come by!

And sure enough, it works!  Out of 10 students on my caseload (more will be added I'm sure), I had 7 come see me and all were holding their cards. 

Meet and Greet is a great opportunity to talk to your parents in a low-stress setting.  Oftentimes, IEPs can be really stressful.  I like to be able to talk to parents in other settings.  I really do feel like this helps build those relationships with parents that are so important and lets them know you care.

If you're interested in using these cards, I have an updated set here as a freebie.  You'll just need to print, fill in your room number, and add your name.  I've added 3 different versions that have slightly different wording to suit different situations.  Just click on the picture below to download yours!

First Week of School Activities (freebies)

Last Friday was actually the first day of school here in Hawaii.  But I'm a special education teacher and don't start pulling kids until Monday.  Even though I'm only teaching core academics to my pull-out students, I have most of them the majority of the day.  The first few weeks of school are so important for setting the ton for the rest of the year, and I will be working hard on behavior and community building this year.

I just love these beginning of the year activities by A Year of Many Firsties and can't wait to use them with my students.

As part of our community building, we'll be using these Find Someone Who activity that I made.  I'll be doing a lot of modeling how to approach our classmates and ask them a question.  And I'll be modeling how to use the pictures to help us if we can't read the words.  You can download it {here}.

I bought this Take a Break unit from Teaching in Progress and can't wait to use it with my students.  I'll be doing a lot of practicing and teaching my kiddos how to take a break, hopefully before they need a break.

I have several students with behavior plans and we will be focusing a lot on how to handle our anger. We'll be talking about how we feel and what we can do to help us make smart choices by using some of the activities found in my Making Smart Choices unit.

We can't just focus on behavior though.  My school will be using Reading Wonders for the first time this year.  I made this Smart Start freebie to help us get started.

Best of all, there's a sale starting tomorrow!  You can get 28% off everything in my store by using code BTS14 when you check out.