Do You Teach Halloween?? So for years I was in an elementary public school setting that seriously frowned upon teaching anything relating directly to Halloween. Kids were not allowed to dress up, and we did not have the parades around the track or parking lot I remembered as a kid. I always ... VIEW POST
Not Your Average Novel Unit
Do you do read-alouds in your classroom? I taught in a class for students with autism for 10 years. I had students in grades kindergarten through 5th grade. Some students were early readers, some students could not even identify their name. Some of my students could hold an hour long ... VIEW POST
Being a Good Sport
As I watched the Superbowl on Sunday, I couldn't help but notice the behavior of these "idols" to many and hoping they would live up to their image. For the most part, it was a great game filled with excitement and some disappointment. But, there were some times that emotions ran high and our ... VIEW POST
If Keywords Don’t Work, Then What?
Full disclosure: I used keywords when teaching my students how to solve word problems. I had a K-5 classroom for students with autism. There were so many different learning styles and needs just within my small class. In addition, these students, for the most part, were severely affected. Many ... VIEW POST
Teaching the Letter of the Week
Do you use a letter of the week strategy in your classroom? I found it a helpful way to teach letters and sounds in a self-contained setting. After years of tweaking, I came up with a lesson plan that not only was engaging and helped students make real world connections but greatly decreased my ... VIEW POST
Using Color Coding for Differentiation
Our special education classes tend to have such a HUGE variety of learning levels and needs. It can drive a teacher to insanity trying to come up with separate lessons for each child that is differentiated to their specific learning style. Here is a quick way I found to take one task and make it ... VIEW POST
