Special Education for Beginners | Managing Paraprofessionals, Special Education Strategies, First Year Sped Teachers, Special Ed Overwhelm, Paperwork for Special Education Teachers

#018 Super excited to host my first guest of the podcast, Lindsey Gurley. Lindsey shares her struggles with making the hard decision to leave her job mid-year and accept a position at a different school. If you are struggling with making this same decision, I hope this episode will give the insight and knowledge you need to make the best decision for you and your family. You can follow Lindsey on...

#017 In today’s episode, I talk about the prompting hierarchy and the importance of teaching it to your paraprofessionals. A prompt can be a visual, verbal or physical cue. Why Use Prompting with Your Student? There are many ways to teach children, but prompting is especially effective when working with children with autism. This method: Teaches the best way to reach a goal Reduces frustration Pro...

#016 In the world of special education, there are absolutely going to be times when having a one to one para is either necessary or inevitable within your department. I am not arguing the fact that some students need an adult with them all day for either safety reasons or due to behavior issues.  Instead, I am challenging the scheduling aspect of assigning the same para to the same child all day,...

#015 The Responsibilities of a Special Educator-Part 3 This is the final part of a 3 part series on the responsibilities of special education teachers. We have discussed our responsibilities to our students in Episode 13 and our responsibilities to our school in Episode 14. In today's episode, we take a look at our responsibilities to our administration. This could be your principal(s), speci...

#014 Welcome back to the Sped Prep Academy Podcast. This is the 2nd part of the 3 episode series on Special Education Teacher Responsibilities. In this episode, there are 3 main roles we assume as special educators within our schools  Manager Consultant Facilitator Listen in as Jennifer explains the responsibilities we have to the building(s) in which we work and how the job can be compared to a c...

#013   The Responsibilities of a Special Educator- Part 1 This is a 3 part episode for obvious reasons... A special educator has SO many responsibilities that it would do this topic a disservice to try to cram it all into one short episode. Today's focus is on our responsibility to our students and breaks it down into 3 main areas Assessment Planning Instruction These areas are cyclical...mea...

#012 3 Ways to Include Students in the IEP Process Welcome back to the Sped Prep Academy Podcast. Transition IEPs are great for students who are in middle school and high school and need that support to transition into life as an adult with a disability...but what about the littles? Why can't they be a part of the process as well? In this episode of the Sped Prep Academy, I go over 3 EASY way...

#011  Welcome back to the Sped Prep Academy Podcast. I n today's episode, I discuss how to presume positive intent within the field of special education. So what exactly does Presuming Positive Intent mean?  It means  always starting from the idea that a person means well or is doing their best,  ℕ𝕠 𝕞𝕒𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕨𝕙𝕒𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕪 𝕤𝕒𝕪 𝕠𝕣 𝕕𝕠.  And while presuming positive intent carries over into all aspects...

#010  Welcome back to the Sped Prep Academy Podcast. I'm super excited to have moved into double digits today!! No one benefits more from working as a team than your students. You’ll be amazed at how much more you can accomplish for your students when working collaboratively is made a high priority in your building. In today's episode, I explain the barriers that are blocking a collabora...

#009  Welcome back to the Sped Prep Academy Podcast As a district “lifer”, I have been asked to provide support to the newbies who are hired as well as other colleagues throughout the years, and one of the questions that comes up a lot is what is the difference between accommodations and modifications. For the longest time, I had trouble differentiating between the 2 of these when writing my IEPs...

#008  Welcome back to the Sped Prep Academy Podcast What exactly is a Survey Level Assessment?   In today's episode, I dive into what a  Survey Level Assessment actually is and I walk you through the 4 steps to administering a survey level assessment including... 1. How to decide on a starting point 2. Gathering the materials you will need 3. Giving the probes & analyzing the data 4. Usin...

#007 Welcome back to the Sped Prep Academy Podcast It's the cornerstone of our jobs. It's the basis of our instruction. It's the method of building relationships with parents...can you guess what it is?? If you guessed IEP you would be correct. Sped Teachers are in the business of writing IEPs and sometimes it feels like that's all we do. It's hard to get into a routine wh...

#006 Welcome back to the Sped Prep Academy Podcast.  There are 5 IEP meeting types that don’t exactly shout out “rockstar sped teacher.” In this episode I discuss the mistakes that many teachers have made (including myself) during IEP meetings.  In fact, I have left meetings, especially in my early years, where my face and neck were red, I was sweating profusely and knew I was going to get called...

#005 Welcome back to the Sped Prep Academy Podcast.  What a crazy beginning of a school year it has been! This might possibly be the most overwhelmed I've been at the start of a year. In this episode I share some of my struggles with you and 3 ways I cope with being overwhelmed so that you don't feel like you're all alone in this profession. You can check out the show notes at www.s...

#004- Did you know that only 11 of the 50 states have professional development programs to assist paraprofessionals in their efforts to attain highly qualified status? In this episode we discuss that training the paras is essential and in the long run, benefits everyone...you, the district, the teachers, the paras themselves and most importantly the kids. I share with you the systems I have put in...

#003- Have you ever hired a paraprofessional and the relationship turned out to be a total nightmare? Been there, done that. Hiring the right paraprofessional for you special education department is an extremely important piece of the puzzle, if not the most important piece in developing a strong team right from the beginning. If you put in the work up front to find the right person, you will begi...

#002 Hey there and Welcome back to the Sped Prep Academy Podcast.  Today’s show is all about self care.  As teachers, we give and give and give, but we can’t give our best self if we don’t have anything to give.  In this episode I share with you my top 5 ways that I provide a little love to myself during stressful times and if you stick around til the end of the show and I’ll share with you a link...

#001- Sped teachers unite! Meet Jennifer and join in her crazy life as a special educator. On a mission to bring together special educators across the world, Jennifer reveals her passion for the field as well as her desire to help other teachers realize they are not alone. You can find out more about what she has to offer at http://www.spedprepacademy.com I hope you enjoy this first episode where...