The Blog - Page 2 of 9 - Check in with Mrs G

Check In Check Out Intervention

The check in check out intervention has been the backbone of my teaching career. I think every classroom would benefit from a check in system! The goal is to build relationships with students that you can leverage to help students develop an interest in education. Building these relationships is my teaching super power and my favorite thing about teaching.

A surprising benefit of this check in check out intervention has been the structure and format it has provided to help my students form relationships with other adults in the building. Students who feel supported by the whole school community thrive.

The Original Check In Intervention

I began with a standard check in check out system. I saw my students two times a day. Originally, I only saw my students with behavior concerns for check in. Then, during one particularly high stress testing week I opened my check in to any student on my caseload who thought they would benefit from it and never looked back. In my experience the check in is a positive for everyone.

Involving Other Teachers

I transitioned some of my students who were doing well in social skills group to a Friday check in with another teacher. Not their own, but a teacher from a different grade level. The results were incredible!

My students reported an increased sense of community, belonging, acceptance. They reflected this in their good attitudes and enthusiasm. Students wanted to leave my room to check in with their special person. In some cases, the students were paired with teachers who they would likely have as their classroom teacher in the future. As a result, students developed a positive relationship with the teacher before entering their classroom.

Teachers taking more of a personal interest in a student that was not in their classroom created a noticeable sense of community throughout the building.

The students were not dependent on me. Instead, they had an entire community, a safety net, that would not let them go unnoticed. Students could not fly under the radar because I was absent or preoccupied with another student. Seems like including more teachers in the check in intervention shifted the message to the student from “I am on your side” to “we are a team”.

Start a Check In with your Students

Read all about how I implemented my check in check out intervention. I have linked FREE resources below to help you get started!

FREE Resources to support your Check In Check Out Intervention

Check In Check Out Student Journal FREE

Primary Daily Check In Card FREE

Upper Elementary Daily Check In Card FREE

by admin

Jobs in Special Education

Jobs in special education are simply the best! Before I was a Special Education Teacher, I worked for a non-profit. We ran social skills groups, lead community based outings, and taught vocational skills. I have spent most of my adult life working in the special education field. I can promise you will not meet a cooler, more fun, more endearing set of people in any other field.

The Special Education Teacher

If you are a Teacher in Special Education the students stay with you year after year. This gives you an opportunity to watch them develop overtime. With more time, you can change the trajectory of their lives. Also, because you are with them for more than one year, you get to know the parents. Teaming up with parents to support students is where the magic happens!

In the special education classroom, you have more freedom over the curriculum. You are teaching, progress monitoring, and working towards IEP goals. This allows you to scaffold a curriculum that works for the individual in front of you. You can take into account the student’s personal interests and abilities. You can even work in opportunities for them to be the experts and lead the group! If your students are like mine, then as a bonus, you will learn about Sonic, Legos, Tik Tok and so much more!

Special Education Classrooms

Since the IEP is written based on the needs of each individual student, your workday may look different from day to day. The topics you teach can be academic but, might also other skills. My students have goals in the areas of life skills, vocational skills, community based instruction, independent living skills, and friendship skills among others. I love that Special Education Teachers have so much flexibility! Here are some common teaching jobs in special education:

Self Contained Classroom: Students and teacher are in one classroom most of the day
Co-teaching: The Special Education Teacher is working in the same classroom with the General Education Teacher
Push In: A Special Education Teacher or Paraprofessional enters a general education classroom to provide modifications and support
Resource/Learning Support/Study Skills: Students come to your room for small group instruction in a specific area for a short period of time

The Special Education Paraprofessional

One of the best things about the Special Education classroom is the team of paraprofessionals who work in it. They are absolute angels. Paraprofessionals support the Special Education Teacher and love the students. Paraprofessionals are masters in teaching small groups. They keep the classroom running! Often times, Paras spend their time preparing materials for lessons, taking data on student progress. They remind the Special Education Teacher to breathe, and laugh!

In the special education classroom, Paraprofessionals are the glue that holds a program together. Paraprofessionals get to work with the students without managing the paperwork of the IEP. We Special Education Teachers are eternally appreciative of all they do.

Other Jobs in Special Education

The special education field is full of opportunities! If working in the classroom is not a job for you, not to worry. Here are some other professions that work in special education:

Special Education Advocates: Help people with disabilities and their families navigate systems to secure supports within them
Counselors: Work with students at schools and clinics to learn skills to support mental and physical health
School psychologist: Participate in the IEP team, test students to determine whether or not disabilities are present, make recommendations for services
Speech Language Pathologist: Work with students who need support in the area of communication
Occupational Therapist: Works towards wellness and increased independence with fine motor tasks
Physical Therapist: Works to improve range of movement and develop gross motor skills
Skills Trainer: Teaches social skills, life skills, community skills, independent living skills, and vocational skills

Resources for Professionals in Special Education

Special Education Basics: A 30 Minute Training

Workbook: Getting Students Involved in the IEP Process

Paraprofessional Training: Behavior Management

Progress Monitoring: A 30 Minute Training

by admin

What is scaffolding in teaching?

Scaffolding in teaching means supporting students by breaking a concept or task into small pieces. Teach each step. Allow students to practice the skill and then build on that knowledge. Picture the scaffolding on a building that allows a painter to safely access heights not otherwise possible. The concept is the same!

Teachers are masters in this area! Providing support at multiple levels to meet the differentiated needs of the learners in front of us is our super power.

How is scaffolding useful in teaching a skill?

Scaffolding helps level the playing field for students who need and deserve lessons that are written in a way that is accessible to them. While students are developing their executive functioning and problem solving skills, they will need support with breaking apart tasks. Scaffolding allows students to access to grade level content.

Think about your student who listens to all instructions. He nods along and verbally responds that he is ready to start a task. Then, when it is time to work he raises his hand and says, “I don’t know what to do”. This student who we all know and love will thrive once he has some scaffolding around this assignment.

Scaffolding Examples

Below are two assignments that have the scaffolding built into the lesson! You can download them for free for a good example of two different ways you can use scaffolding in your classroom.

This Memorial Day activity comes with three levels. Each student is practicing the same skill and learning about the same topic. You can download it for FREE! A wonderful example of scaffolding to accommodate the abilities of the individual students you serve.

This Writing Intervention Journal has the scaffolding built into each page. Rather than requiring students to jump directly into writing a full sentence from a prompt, students are lead through the process one step at a time. You can download it for FREE!

by admin

Community Based Instruction Ideas

Community based instruction ideas for the classroom! Prepare your students to succeed at work, at the library, while taking the bus, or at the gym before you ever leave your classroom.

My first attempts at community based trips were epic failures because I did not prepare my students well enough. Now, community based trips are some of my favorite times spent with my students. The best community based instruction ideas start in the classroom. The stakes are low and making mistakes can be encouraged. Let’s get into it!

1. Community Based Instruction Workstations

Setting up work stations within your classroom is HUGE. You can use task boxes with visual instructions and keep them in a designated space. Students can rotate through each task box which will allow them to master and revisit each skill. Or, create a visual instruction card for designated spaces or tasks within your classroom. For example, have the student sort the bookshelf according to color. Create a step by step visual guide (remove books from shelf, sort books into color piles, put red books first, etc.) to support them in learning to following instructions independently.

2. Problem Solving Scenarios with a Community Theme

Verbally give students a quick and common problem that they will likely encounter in the community. For example, “You need to take the bus to work but realize you have forgotten your bus pass. If you go back you will be late for work. What would you do?”. This type of problem solving forces students to consider how they would navigate a tricky situation that has many possible outcomes. It can be a quick ten minute conversation that builds an incredibly valuable skill set. Here is a link to FREE vocational problem solving scenarios.

3. Use a Community Outing Rubric

Of all the community based instruction ideas, this one has had the most impact on my students. Community based social skills are especially hard to learn because there are so many unspoken cultural and situational rules. Students who are just learning to explore independence in the community need a concrete target. You need to take data with a community based outing rubric. Clearly state your expectations for the community based outing. Let students review the rubric from the early stages of planning your trip and have them create their own goal. You can download my community based outing rubric here.

4. Create Similar Tasks throughout the School

Ask the teachers in your building what weekly tasks need to be completed in their rooms. Can your students sharpen pencils, refill printer paper, or deliver mail? For each task create a set of instructions including written, photos, illustrations, verbal or any medium that works for your students. For larger tasks, consider having students create a training video. Once students are proficient in completing the task, allow students time to “go to work” each week.

5. Use a Monetary Based Classroom Rewards System

Create a system of earning, spending and saving within your classroom. This practice allows students to experience money principles in a safe environment. Have students track the number of times they complete a designated job or task in the classroom. Then, have a classroom pay day.

Community Based Instruction Ideas that Lead to More

Once your community based instruction routines are established in your classroom, your students can take on their communities with confidence. Allow students to fail and learn in a safe and controlled environment. What community trips are your students loving? Share them with me!

FREE Resources for Teaching Community Based Instruction at School

Community Based Instruction FREE Rubric

Restaurant: FREE Community Based Instruction Workbook

Vocational Problem Solving Scenarios FREE

Life Skills Vocational Workbook FREE

by admin

What is community based instruction?

Let’s start with the big question. What is community based instruction? Good news, it is exactly as it sounds. Allowing your students to learn and practice the skills they will need to navigate their lives and communities independently. Basically, it is real life skills taught in a tangible way: crossing the street, navigating a bus system, working at a coffee shop, going to the library or stocking a shelf.

Three Community Based Instruction Fails

I looooove a community based outing with my students. It is one of my favorite parts of teaching Special Education. But that has not always been the case. In fact, the first community based instruction trip I lead was an epic fail. My very first community outing was happened before I was an official teacher. I was a skills trainer working at a non-profit that supported children and teens with disabilities. My mission was to take six teenagers and one other adult to the library. Once we arrived the students would work at the library’s coffee shop. Now, let’s talk about what went wrong.

1. No Pre-teaching

Before we left, I explained what we would be doing. I talked through the process of a bus ride and the walk to the library. I mentioned things like “libraries are places that are more quiet than others” and “the people who work at the coffee shop will show us where the cleaning supplies are kept.” When I look back at myself in this phase it is laughable. “Explained”, “talked through”, “mentioned”… what was I thinking?? Those are not active words for learners.

As soon as we left the campus, my students were mystified. A bus ride? Which bus? Who had the pass? Where did we sit? When did we get off and where? Things didn’t get any more clear when we arrived at the library.

As promised the staff was accommodating and helpful. They gave us a tour and showed us our first task… cleaning. We were directed to the cleaning supplies. But, how did we use it? Why did we need gloves? How were we supposed to separate one clean garbage bag from the huge roll when they were all stuck together?

Needless to say, I failed my students in the area of pre-teaching skills.

2. I started Teaching Too Late

Every single individual skill above should have been explicitly taught. I should have created a lesson with a mentor text that prepared my students for the types of tasks they would encounter, added it into my social skills group curriculum. I should have brought in a roll of garage bags and had students practice separating them. But, how could I have done all of those things when I started teaching too late?

Preparing for a community based outing should be an every single day project. Just a quick vocational problem solving prompt, or a task box that helps students learn to follow instructions would have gone a long way. There are few things as important as learning to navigate your life in an independent and fulfilling way. I started preparing my students just two short weeks before our outing.

3. I did not Prepare the Adults

What I know now is that as a Special Education Teacher, training your Paraprofessionals and the other adults who come into contact with your students is the secret to success. But, this ill fated community trip was not headed up by the super experienced “Special Education Teacher Mrs G”, this trip was headed up by “Krystal, girl who hoped for the best and planned for not much of anything”. When we arrived, the adults at the coffee shop were not at all prepared for the varied ability levels of my students. The other adult leading the trip was an intern with good intentions and (like myself at the time) an undeveloped skill set.

Spending the time arming adults with broad information and training about Special Education, IEPs, and disabilities is important. Just as important is providing basic information about the goal of the community based trip for an individual student.

So what is a community based instruction trip?

Community based instruction trip is an opportunity for you to guide your students towards a life of independence. Pre-teach each and every skill your students will need on their outing no matter how insignificant it may seem. Use a community based instruction rubric and take data on your trips. Teach community based skills all year long and every single chance you get. Empower every adult with the training they need to help your students be successful. The more they know, they more they can be a support for your students as they transition to a life of more independence. Don’t be like early days me. Set your students up for success in the community before you ever leave your classroom!

Resources for teaching Community Based Instruction in the Classroom

Community Based Outing FREE Rubric

Community Based Instruction FREE Workbook

Vocational Problem Solving FREE Lesson Plan