Start Off Another Great Year

Posted by Beth DuBose on Aug 12, 2008

Posted by Machele Stefhon, a 16 year veteran of education as a special education teacher and administrator.

Tips for special education teachers to consider when starting a new school year.

Yesterday, we looked at tips for the first year teacher. Today I wanted to focus on Special Education teachers, and some tips that can help you as you start a new school year.

I found a great website that provides year-round tips for Special Educators, including some great things to remember when starting a new year. The tips are geared towards self-contained classrooms, but they are all good things to think about for inclusion and resource teachers. Here are the tips to start off the school year.

1. PHYSICAL CLASSROOM ARRANGEMENT

• Desks should be arranged in a manner where each student has his/her own personal desk...no sharing or grouping, as this leads to major distractions for a child with special needs.


• Centers should be arranged in various parts of the room where students can go when they are done with their individual work, so they do not disturb others. These centers can be filled with fun and educational things such as puzzles, easy reading with pictures, GeoSafari©, and other hands-on material.


• The teacher’s and aide’s desks should be placed at opposite ends of the classroom, front and back, for supervision purposes.

2. BULLETIN BOARDS

As in the general education classrooms, some bulletin boards should be reserved for the students’ work, while others should cover topics that are also being covered in the curricula at that time. For example: when I work on my Ocean Unit, I put up a bulletin board with a blue backing, different sea life taped onto it, and I drape an old fishing net over it, complete with small sea shells caught inside the net. Next to this board, I have a center with many shells, complete with two books all about shells and the ocean floor.

3. CLASSROOM INTRODUCTIONS

On the first day, plan on reviewing your CLASSROOM RESPONSIBILITIES, (not RULES--the kids become immediately resistant), SCHOOL STANDARDS, and your PERSONAL EXPECTATIONS.

This last part is extremely important. Most of these students have gotten used to low expectations from their previous teachers...and as a result, have tried little, academically and behaviorally. If your personal expectations are high (but realistic) they will raise themselves to your expectations!

Depending on the age of the students, you may want to include your expectations for the overall year. However, for special education students, you must be clear about choices they make, and positive and negative consequences of those choices.

4. THE FIRST COUPLE OF DAYS

Placement tests: Begin the first day giving at least one placement test and try to have all tests completed by the third day. The sooner you have the students in a routine, the better.

Fun activities: Plan some fun activities for the first day. Let them have a period of time to interact together. They may play games, work on a fun assignment together, or whatever you decide.

In an elementary school, start organized P.E. from the very beginning. Tremendous social skills, along with physical skills, classroom cohesion and organizational skills are developed on the playground--especially with the special ed student.

5. THE TOP FOUR SURVIVAL TIPS

1. ALWAYS PLAN MUCH MORE THAN YOU’LL GET THROUGH IN A DAY. Sometimes, some of your ideas won’t work out with these particular kids on that particular day, and you’ll have to switch. Also, with high expectations...your students may do better than you expected, and finish sooner than expected!


2. Be prepared to THINK ON YOUR FEET. These students are often extremely intelligent and expect you to take them to areas you may not have anticipated. On the reverse side, a discipline, or learning problem, that unexpectedly shows up and is not dealt with immediately and appropriately, can destroy a lesson for the entire class.


3. Be FLEXIBLE. Some days, even the first week, you end up having to forget about your plans and do something unplanned. That’s okay and part of being a special ed teacher!


4. Finally, and probably most important, ENJOY YOUR KIDS. These are usually sweet, fun kids, and a good special ed teacher can have a greater effect on their future than anyone else

The site goes on to provide tips for a special education teacher throughout the year, including modifying the curriculum to meet the needs of the special education students. Definitely worth checking out.

Click here to view website