Showing posts with label Blog Hop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog Hop. Show all posts

Back to School Blog Hop plus Freebie

My top 10 must dos for each back-to-school tips I do to emphasize communication, organization, and a focus on student success.

1. Organize all that paperwork
Special educators handle lots of paperwork and documentation throughout the year. Try to set up two separate folders or binders for each child on your case load: one for keeping track of student work and assessment data and the other for keeping track of all other special education documentation.

2. Start a communication log
Keeping track of all phone calls, e-mails, notes home, meetings, and conferences is important. Create a "communication log" for yourself in a notebook that is easily accessible. Be sure to note the dates, times, and nature of the communications you have.

3. Review your students' IEPs
The IEP is the cornerstone of every child's educational program, so it's important that you have a clear understanding of each IEP you're responsible for. Make sure all IEPs are in compliance (e.g., all signatures are there and dates are aligned). Note any upcoming IEP meetings, reevaluations, or other key dates, and mark your calendar now. Most importantly, get a feel for where your students are and what they need by carefully reviewing the present levels of performance, services, and modifications in the IEP.

4. Establish a daily schedule for you and your students
Whether you're a resource teacher or self-contained teacher, it's important to establish your daily schedule. Be sure to consider the service hours required for each of your students, any related services, and co-teaching. Check your schedule against the IEPs to make sure that all services are met. And keep in mind that this schedule will most likely change during the year!

5. Call your students' families
Take the time to introduce yourself with a brief phone call before school starts. You'll be working with these students and their families for at least the next school year, and a simple "hello" from their future teacher can ease some of the back-to-school jitters!

6. Touch base with related service providers
It's important to contact the related service providers — occupational therapists, physical therapists, speech/language therapists, or counselors — in your school as soon as possible to establish a schedule of times for your students who need these services. The earlier you touch base, the more likely you'll be able to find times that work for everyone.

7. Meet with your general education co-teachers
Communicating with your general education co-teachers will be important throughout the year, so get a head start on establishing this important relationship now! Share all of the information you can about schedules, students, and IEP services so that you're ready to start the year.

8. Keep everyone informed
All additional school staff such as assistants and specialists who will be working with your students need to be aware of their needs and their IEPs before school starts. Organize a way to keep track of who has read through the IEPs, and be sure to update your colleagues if the IEPs change during the school year.

9. Plan your B.O.Y. assessments
As soon as school starts, teachers start conducting their beginning of the year (B.O.Y.) assessments. Assessment data is used to update IEPs — and to shape your instruction — so it's important to keep track of which students need which assessments. Get started by making a checklist of student names, required assessments, and a space for scores. This will help you stay organized and keep track of data once testing begins.

10. Start and stay positive
As a special educator, you'll have lots of responsibilities this year, and it may seem overwhelming at times. If your focus is on the needs of your students and their success, you'll stay motivated and find ways to make everything happen. Being positive, flexible, and organized from the start will help you and your students have a successful year.


Click the apple to visit Reflection & Resources with TarheelState Teacher.  Below is a freebie perfect for putting reading progress monitoring in one place. Have a great beginning of the year.





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IG Giveway Hop--10 Tips for Teaching English-Language Learners

I'm super excited to announce that Anne Rozell reached 700 followers on her Teachers Pay Teachers Store! Join in the fun to help her celebrate. This Instagram Blog Hop has 2 $70 gift cards to Teachers pay Teachers.



Paige Bessick from Our Elementary Lives has some great reading and phonics products, stop by and check them out.


Over the last couple of years, I have these activities are easier to embed in bust classrooms and very easy to do throughout the day.


1. Know your students
Increase your understanding of who your students are, their backgrounds and educational experiences.Get to know educational needs and ways to support them.

2. Be aware of their social and emotional needs
Understanding more about the students' families and their needs is key. Are student's possibly live with extended family members or have jobs to help support their families, completing homework assignments will not take priority.

3. Increase your understanding of first and second language acquisition
Although courses about second language acquisition are not required as part of teacher education programs, understanding the theories about language acquisition and the variables that contribute to language learning.

4. Student need to SWRL every day in every class
The domains of language acquisition, Speaking, Writing, Reading and Listening need to be equally exercised across content areas daily. Assuring that students are using all domains of language acquisition to support their English language development is essential.

5. Increase your understanding of English language proficiency
Social English language proficiency and academic English language proficiency are very different. A student may be more proficient in one vs. the other. A student's level of academic English may be masked by a higher level of Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) compared to their Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). For example, a student may be able to orally recall the main events from their favorite movie but struggle to recall the main events that led up to the Civil War.

6. Know the language of your content
English has a number of polysemous words. Once a student learns and understands one meaning of a word, other meaning may not be apparent. Review the vocabulary of your content area often and check in with students to assure they know the words and possibly the multiple meanings associated with the words. For example, a "plot" of land in geography class versus the "plot" in a literature class. A "table" we sit at versus a multiplication "table."

7. Understand language assessments
Language proficiency assessments in your district may vary. Find out when and how a student's English language proficiency is assessed and the results of those assessments. Using the results of formal and informal assessments can provide a wealth of information to aid in planning lessons that support language acquisition and content knowledge simultaneously. For me, student's just finished year three of the WIDA. It's taken in January but still don't get the information back util August. (ugh!)

8. Use authentic visuals and manipulatives
These can be over- or under-utilized. Implement the use of authentic resources for example; menus, bus schedules, post-cards, photographs and video clips can enhance student comprehension of complex content concepts.

9. Strategies that match language proficiency
Knowing the level of English language proficiency at which your students are functioning academically is vital in order to be able to scaffold appropriately. Not all strategies are appropriate for all levels of language learners. Knowing which scaffolds are most appropriate takes time but will support language learning more effectively.

10. Collaborate to celebrate
Seek support from other teachers who may teach student's. Other educators, novice and veteran, may have suggestions and resources that support English language development and content concepts. Creating and sustaining professional learning communities that support students are vital for student success.

I hope these suggestions help you build stronger Second Language Learners in your classrooms. To continue on this hop visit Lisa's Instagram.


Follow me at my Teachers pay Teachers store or on Instagram for more Freebies!































Favorite Things Blog Hop


With Christmas approaching I always take time to reflect on some of my favorite things. One thing I have come to love is snow shoeing. Last year my parents retired to the Colorado Rockies, this was our first Christmas ever spend in the mountains. Go figure-right. I have lived in Colorado most of my life and have never spent Christmas in the mountains. As a family we went show shoeing. We took the dog-mine being Italian Greyhounds-had a grand time.

I'm donating a gift card from one of my favorite stores-Target. I need a 12 step program.  I love their $1 bins. They are perfect for everything from dressing my dogs to filling my treasure chest. I have to work at staying away. I get most of everything I need from Target. Have fun and enjoy the shopping trip.

I have a group of struggling learners who have had a hard time showing growth on Nonsense Word Fluency from Dibels. I created a set of cards that I can give students that have them sound out the nonsense word and then blend it back together again. They are perfect for reading centers, RTI Intervention work or struggling readers who need extra practice with nonsense words. This has do wonders to bring student scored up from an average of 40 sounds and no whole words to 15 whole words read correctly. This item is at my store for 50% off. Click on the picture.



Enjoy you Blog Hop! Have a great and safe holiday!




Because we value our followers and wanted to treat you to our favorite things Oprah style, we have put together the best giveaway of the season! My bloggy friends and I welcome you to the best, biggest, most cheerful event of the season:










7 winners for 7 prize packs!
























Come and enter the giveaway and check out my bloggy friends' favorite things:







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About Me

Welcome to my all thing special education blog. I empower busy elementary special education teachers to use best practice strategies to achieve a data and evidence driven classroom community by sharing easy to use, engaging, unique approaches to small group reading and math. Thanks for Hopping By.
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