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Simply Special Ed

Resource Downloads & Teaching Advice

 

 

Latest

Creating a Supportive Classroom Environment for Students with Special Needs

The key to a calm, welcoming classroom is to create a supportive classroom environment for students with special needs! I'm going to give you some tips and tricks to cultivate your classroom environment! Build rapport with your students The best way to begin to build a supportive classroom environment is to build rapport with your students. There are lots of ways you can do this: Build routines Students crave stability and structure. Make your classroom a supportive environment ... continue reading...

What Is The Active Learning Approach in Special Education?

As a special education teacher, it can be challenging to provide an engaging and effective learning experience for students with significant multiple disabilities. However, with the right approach, you can help these students achieve their full potential. One approach that has proven to be highly effective is Lilli Nielsen's Active Learning. I was very lucky to get to go to a training on Active Learning hosted by our state Deaf-Blind Project. The two day training was amazing, in this post I’m ... continue reading...

Skills to Teach during Recess in a Special Ed. Preschool Classroom

Do you have social skills or gross motor IEP goals to track? Social skills, gross motor, and self help skills are some of the skills students learn while they're playing at recess. As an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher, I'm constantly tracking IEP goals related to social skills and monitoring student developmental stages. Check out how I teach, monitor and track skills during recess time. What Skills Should I Teach? In Early Childhood, I’m provided with a booklet of ... continue reading...

How to Organize Centers in a Special Ed Pre-K Classroom

Are you in the process of setting up centers? Do you need ideas on how to organize your centers? Keep on reading to see how I up centers in my Co-Teach Blended Pre-K classroom. Centers Lesson Plan Math, fine motor, library, writing, puzzles, and science are some of the most popular centers in special education classes. As an Early Childhood Special Education Teacher I know that centers are the way children learn and grow. The first step is to decide how many centers you will have in ... continue reading...

New Teachers

Professional Development for New Special Ed Teachers

Professional development as a self-contained teacher can be hard to come by. Finding PD that applies to us doesn't come around often. That is where Simple Self-Contained Setup 101® comes in! Finally, ... continue reading...

10 Jobs for SPED Teachers NOT in the Classroom

Are you a special education teacher looking for a job outside of the classroom? These are 10 jobs for sped teachers NOT in the classroom! Jobs in Schools Reading/Math Specialist: work with ... continue reading...

Free Downloads

4 Ideas for a Calm Down Center

Our students can experience lots of big feelings throughout the day, and often times then may have a hard time regulating those emotions. This is where we come in and teach them self-regulation and ... continue reading...

Working on Fine Motor Skills with Visual Crafts

Any time we do something pizza-themed [like this FREE VISUAL CRAFT], my students go nuts! It is so fun and motivating for them! I am able to target almost all of my occupational therapy IEP goals ... continue reading...

In Case You Missed It

A Day in the Life of a School-based OT

I love working as a school-based occupational therapist (OT)! I work as a district employee at a public school in Pennsylvania. I am the OT servicing five of our district's buildings: two secondary ... continue reading...

Ideas for Winter Fine Motor Practice

You may be familiar with the Simply Special Ed Fine Motor Centers. OT Blogger, Taylor, called them her number one must-have SSE resource! But did you know that there is a Winter Version of these fine ... continue reading...

Hi amazing teachers!
I'm Alyssa Shanahan -- a former Elementary Special Ed & Life Skills teacher. My classroom focus was always to keep things simple, increase communication, and build independence. Simply Special Ed's goal is to help teachers and students reach their full potential in and out of the classroom!

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The Special Education Referral Process

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