Back to School: SPED Edition

BACK.TO.SCHOOL! Back to school season can be an roller coaster of emotions. The excitement of what lies ahead, mixed with the reality check that summer is coming to a halt. Whatever your feelings might be at this moment, we all know one thing… we have to start planning.

Planning for the first week of school can be a bit overwhelming. Especially when you don’t know what to expect or it might be your first year as a special education teacher.

I have complied some back to school must haves for you based on what I have found helpful during those first days in the classroom.

First things first, start building those parent teacher relationships from the start. Send home a letter introducing yourself and open up the lines of communication from the first day of school. Teacher hack.. write your information on one letter and make class copies to send home.

ALL THE FORMS. Get those student information forms and parent information forms done at meet the teacher or send home right away. This ensures you can start learning about each child in your classroom as soon as possible. Especially important for some of our kiddos that will need help with communication information. Find out what gets them motivated to work, what makes them happy/sad and some of their favorites. The first day of school social story can ease the mind of your new learners and walks them through a typical day at school.

First week of school crafts are always a great idea. There are multiple different crafts and activities included. This All About Me Craft was designed to make a classroom banner incorporating each student in your classroom. Hole punch the top corners and thread through string to make a classroom banner. Depending on my students each year and their skill level, I have modified this craft in different ways. One accommodation is to send home a blank copy on the first day of school. I would attach a note home requesting help on filling in the answers. We would then make a fresh copy the next day at school with the student. Allowing the student to answer verbally is another accommodation for this craft. I would verbally ask my students the questions and then write in their answers for them. Another idea is to write the answers with a highlighter and ask the student to trace their answers. There are many different ways use the crafts and activities included in this first days pack to meet the needs of the students in your classroom. These are just some ways I have found helpful and effective

I like to jump right into teaching classroom expectations. These classroom expectation visual sorts provide students with concrete examples of classroom expectations. I start teaching expectations one at a time. Using the visual cards and talking about what each expectation looks like, sounds like and feels like. After we have talked about each visual card (both correct and incorrect ways), we mix them up and practice sorting. After we have done this many different times over a couple of days, I give the independent activity to check for understanding.

The last sneak peek of this product that I want to share with you is teaching routines and procedures. I am a firm believer that routines and procedures have to be taught starting on DAY ONE! We thrive when they know what is expected of us and exactly how to do it. Review routines and procedures ALL.THE.TIME. There is no shame in the review and repeat game when it comes to routines and procedures. Provide visuals for your students and post them in the classroom. You might check out these Visual Behavior Supports to also use in your classroom when teaching routines, procedures and classroom expectations. There is so much more included in my First Days in the Special Education Classroom product, so make sure you go check it out.

Happy Back to School Season!

Grab this free social script to use with students on the first day of school. Help ease the feeling and emotions that come with starting a new school year!

Leave a comment about what activity you are most excited about to use in your classroom during the first week of school!