Be The Exception In Special Education

Inclusive education is the practice of educating students with disabilities in the mainstream classrooms alongside their typically developing peers. Research tells us that inclusion learning can have some big, positive impacts on academic and social outcomes for students with disabilities. However, as special education teachers, we have to be prepared to support these students in this setting..it...

2022 has been hard in many ways, some of those completely unexpected. But here we are at the end of the year, we made it! I am so proud of all that has been accomplished and the difference that you have each made for your students.    In this week's episode I am sharing the top 5 episodes from 2022. Each of these was full of tips and strategies that so many of our special education besties have al...

How many of you are trying to figure out how to teach life skills to your early learners? Does it feel like you don't even know where to start? Where to fit it in the day? There seem to be plenty of curriculum options, but how do you know which one meets the needs of your students the best?   There are so many questions to consider when thinking about life skills in the early elementary classroom....

Sometimes as early educators we get caught up in our own classroom and forget to think about the future of our students. But the future is there and we want our students to be as successful as possible. For many of them that means attending college. But how can we help them get there?    In this week's episode I'm chatting with Perry LaRoque about how we can help our students navigate the college...

Ever have the perfect lesson planned out, down to the minute and then things somehow just go wrong? You have that one student that always seems to finish quicker than the other students and they need something to do. And whatever that "something" is, they must be able to do it by themselves because you and the aids are busy with the rest of the students. So what do you do, what do you assign them?...

Dyslexia is a general term for disorders that involve difficulty in learning to read or interpret words, letters, and other symbols, but that do not affect general intelligence according to Webster's Dictionary. Many of us are familiar with the general terms of dyslexia, but often we do not understand the many complexities of this disorder or the accommodations that our students need.   In this we...

Do you get a sinking feeling in your stomach when you think about progress reports? No matter how hard I try to be organized, they seem to sneak up on me every time. That makes them feel so overwhelming for me! So this year, I set out to do things differently.   In this episode, I am sharing some ideas that have made things just a little easier over the years when it comes to progress reports. The...

A few weeks ago I did a podcast about collecting data and how to not feel so overwhelmed by the sheer volume of it all. I received numerous messages asking for even more help on getting this huge task under control. Data affects us all and no matter how long we have been in education, we are always looking for ways to do it better.    In this week's episode I am chatting with Heather from Full Spe...

Does your school require parent conferences? Do you feel like they can be a total waste of time? Or maybe you just feel overwhelmed by them and never know what to share with parents? Parent conferences can be such an effective tool for special educators when they are done right.   In this week's episode I'm sharing the why behind parent conferences and some ideas of things that you can share durin...

It has been said many times that the IEP team is much like a puzzle with all the pieces or people fitting together to do what is best for the student. One of those pieces is the speech therapist. Many of our students receive speech services in addition to all of the work we are doing with them. That means that we need an excellent relationship with our speech therapist.   In this week's episode, I...

Data collection is a given when working in special education. We are constantly evaluating if and how our students are progressing. The sheer volume of data that we collect can feel a bit like those Halloween beasts that lurk around this time of year. But it doesn't have to be that way.   In this week's episode, I am sharing some strategies and some resources that will help you feel confident abou...

As special educators we are always working with a team of people. The school psychologist is one of those team members. We don't always have a good understanding of everything that their job entails, all the acronyms, etc. And that information can be even more overwhelming for the parents. So how do we work with our school psychologist to make the most of the IEP meetings?   In this week's episode...

Halloween is right around the corner. For years I wanted to be the teacher with the cute learning activities and crafts, but it always felt so overwhelming. I soon realized that with a little pre-planning on my part it really wasn't all that difficult to do all the things with my students. I quickly developed multiple resources that I could use in my self-contained classroom each year.   In this w...

Being a self contained teacher is so rewarding, but it can also be hard some days. There are so many moving pieces, so many things to keep up with. It can quickly become overwhelming.    In this week's episode I am chatting with Micala from Hardly Contained in Sped. As a self contained teacher she understands the challenges that you are facing everyday. She is sharing some tips and strategies to m...

What is CVI? Cerebral visual impairment (sometimes called cortical visual impairment or CVI) is a disorder caused by damage to the parts of the brain that process vision. It's most common in babies and young children, but can continue into adulthood. A child with CVI has vision problems that are caused by their brain that can't be explained by a problem with their eyes. Normally, the eyes send ele...

Are you already feeling overwhelmed with some classroom behaviors? Do you feel like you have already tried all the tools in your toolbox and nothing seems to be changing? It seems like we completely skipped the honeymoon period this year and things are already starting to pop up.    In this week's episode I am chatting with Abby from Mrs. Moes Modifications about overcoming classroom behaviors. Sh...

How many steps are you taking during the day at work? Most days it feels like I never sit down! Some days I even find myself crawling around on the floor for some learning activity with my students. The way I dress matters…from my shoes to my clothes I need to be both professional and comfortable.   I've been asked several times lately about this very topic over on Tik Tok so in this week's episod...

Teacher burnout is such a hot topic right now! It is something that we all deal with in certain ways and something that we have talked about several times on this show. There just seems to be so much right now and it feels like something new is added to our already overflowing plates each day. So what can we do? How can we avoid burnout to the point that we are ready to quit?   In this episode I a...

School is back in full swing for me and I will be the first to admit that it has been a lot! Even as a veteran teacher I am finding it difficult to get my footing right now and feel like things are smoothing out. I spent some time recently really focusing on what I could control and things that I could change to make life a little easier.    In this week's episode I want to share 5 things with you...

Burnout is a very real thing. We have all experienced some level at different points in our career, some just more than others. So how do we avoid burnout and have a healthy relationship with our jobs? What self-care can we focus on that makes a difference and allows us to hold onto a part of ourselves?    In this week's episode I am chatting with Sarah Forest from The Designer Teacher. Sarah know...

How many of you feel like your desk at work is kinda like your second junk drawer at home? I know sometimes mine can get a little overwhelming with ALL the things, but for sure there are things that I need to keep in there that just make life easier. And that is what some days are about…just making things easier.    In this week's episode I am sharing some insight into those things that I think ar...

Paperwork, paperwork and more paperwork! It is never ending for a special education teacher. And there are so many different kinds to keep up with and often with multiple due dates. How in the world are we expected to keep up with it all and feel like we have a handle on it? Especially if you are a new teacher trying to balance everything else on top of the paperwork?    In this week's episode I a...

Are you new to Special Education this year? Or maybe you aren't new but the last few years have been so overwhelming that you feel like you need a refresh this year? Being a special educator is no easy task. There are so many moving pieces and you have to be on top of all of them, at the same time! So how do you do it?    In this week's episode I am sharing some steps to get you ready for the new...

It is back to school time..it is both exciting and a little sad as we let go of our carefree summer days for structure and schedules. And with back to school, there are tons of items on our to-do list. And sometimes we forget about a few key items as we get caught up in the chaos. Where do we start? What do we really need to focus on? What can wait until a few weeks into school?   In this week's e...

Have you been to Target recently? The back to school aisles are bursting at the seams and they are crowded with parents and a mixture of both sad and excited students. I still haven't fully decided how I feel about summer ending. On one hand I want the down time that summer allows, but on the other hand I want the structure that school brings..and I miss my students.  But no matter how I feel, bac...