This blog post serves as the base post for my new “A Glimpse in my Classroom” blog series. This blog post will give an overview of my schedule and indicate which blogs in the series will provide more information about that part of the day. My buses start arriving at 7:30 and school start at 7:50. The first 20 minutes is… View Post
Taking leave from your self-contained classroom can be stressful. There are so many moving pieces and so much to plan, and it can be easy to become overwhelmed with the task. I used to do a very poor job at preparing my classroom for subs, especially when I was out for several days. Over the years, I have learned what works… View Post
One of the most common questions I get is what I use to teach my students. I get it — filling the day of your self-contained classroom may seem daunting. If you are not given a curriculum to follow, it can feel impossible! I wrote a whole blog post on how to create your own curriculum map and I have shared… View Post
Put in tasks are a great option to add to your significant needs classroom. Put in tasks allow students to follow one-step directions, give them a clear beginning and end to the task and works on fine motor skills. Put in tasks are simple, just a container and an item to put in the container. Put in tasks are cheap and… View Post
Last year, a parent recommended I try using Class Dojo as a way to keep families involved. I had never heard of the app and assumed it wouldn’t work for my class, but I tried anyway and ended up loving it. I don’t use Class Dojo the way my general ed teachers do, but it works well for my classroom…. View Post
3 grades. 3 inclusion teachers. One self-contained classroom. Everyone has lunch and recess at different times and you can’t find a time where every student is in the room. Sound familiar? Scheduling can be a pain. It can be hard to find time in the day to get every student everything they need while ensuring you and your staff get… View Post
I remember the first day in my classroom, back in August 2013. I had no idea what to do with my students. I Googled and came up with a mismatch of materials that had no theme or rhythm. I had a bad schedule, I didn’t have enough materials prepped and the ones I did prep were not appropriate. The one… View Post