My Experience With Simple Self Contained Setup 101

I’m so excited to talk about my experience with the Simple Self Contained Setup 101 course!

I have been a self-contained teacher teaching elementary autism students for five years. This past summer, I enrolled in the Simply Special Ed Simple Self Contained Setup 101 course. I learned an incredible amount of helpful information and was able to complete the whole course before I went back to school!

The Roadmap

The course is organized by this roadmap. This roadmap told me what I would be learning and when to expect it. Each stop was a topic and a new week. I had a whole week to complete each module if following the roadmap format. This was a helpful visual tool for me during the course!

The Roadmap Modules

Every week, a new module was released in the Simple Self Contained Setup 101 course. There are five modules:

The Schedule
The Team
The Classroom
The Curriculum
The Changes

Each module was so easy to complete because the longest video was less than 5 minutes long! The training videos were broken up nicely and easy to follow along. Alyssa also hosted an exclusive Facebook Group for course members where I could ask questions as well as share my progress. This really helped keep me on track with the course! Every other week, Alyssa held a live Q&A to discuss the course and answer any questions the members had. I felt so supported!

The Schedule

This is a picture of a sample schedule. — This is a picture of a sample schedule from Simply Special Ed.

This first module was amazing! One of the most difficult things about setting up a self contained classroom is making the schedule. In this module, Alyssa walked me through how to make my daily schedule, what not to do, and how to set up student schedules. She included so many resources and tips with this module as well!

Because of this module, I was able to set up my schedule during the summer and focus on other things for my classroom.

The Team

This module was such an informational part of the Simple Self Contained Setup 101 course. In this module, Alyssa taught all about the team including paraprofessionals, service providers, and parents. This is what we do not learn in school, so it was incredibly valuable to me! I learned about setting expectations, communicating, and training tips – all things I wish I could have learned years ago.

I have been using her tips to this day and my class is running so incredibly smoothly this year!

The Classroom

I don’t know about you, but for me, the most daunting part of a new school year is setting up my classroom – it can take so long! Alyssa had some amazing tips during this module that blew my mind. In my opinion, one of the BEST things about this module was the exclusive resource she created just for the Simple Self Contained 101 course – the Classroom Layout Builder.

With the Classroom Layout Builder, I was able to setup my whole classroom before even entering the room at all! Once I had my layout completed, I emailed my school’s custodians the layout, and they set up the furniture for me – it was so easy!

Join the waitlist now, the course only opens enrollment once a year!

The Curriculum

Planning for curriculum in a self contained classroom can be a little crazy. The curriculum module was all about planning and organizing my curriculum, which was incredibly helpful. Once I planned and figured out what I was going to use, I was able to quickly prep the curriculum before the first day of school.

Alyssa included some planning guides that are incredibly helpful and are visual reminders of what I need to do. I learned so much about curriculum planning, how to differentiate, how to get curriculum funding, and how to deal with gaps!

The Changes

This is a photo of the checklist to use before implementing changes in the classroom.

The last module of the Simple Self Contained Setup 101 course was one that has really stuck with me. I learned that making changes take time – and to be patient with myself and my students. I definitely needed to hear this. Implementing what I learned in The Changes module has made a huge impact on my classroom this year.

This school year has not been easy yet, I am doing okay right now. I know because I took a little bit of time to learn and work through the Simple Self Contained Setup 101 course during my summer break, I am having success.

This course is amazing, Alyssa Shanahan knows her stuff, and next time the course opens, you should consider joining – you will not regret it!

This is a photo of the certificate of completion from the course.

Bonus, I was able to earn 10 hours of CEUs from taking the course!

Thank you for reading about my experience with Simple Self Contained Setup 101! If you have any questions or comments, leave them below – I would love to hear from you.