Back to School

Autism Specially Designed
Sep 20, 2018
5 min read

Ready or not here they come!

So I'm back. Or I hope I'm back. I know, I haven't posted all summer. Don't get me wrong I have thought about it. I also thought I would have more time this summer. But let's just say blogging wasn't high on the priority list. Maybe it should have been. I find it oddly therapeutic to write it all out. Typically I'm a verbal processor... maybe I don't even need the listener present as long as I'm processing. But not important. My other problem with blogging this summer was that I had so many thoughts and so many ideas I couldn't sift through them to get them out. I tried to write a few times and then I would walk away and say "it'll come to me". Guess we're about to see if it came or not.

A new school year comes with a lot of excitement... and some nerves. (And for me a lot of coffee!) As educators we are always thinking... "how can I make a difference this year?" "what do I need to change to make this year better?" I have told you before... I LOVE my school division. Our superintendent stood on a table to address new teachers and said "I'm telling you to take a risk... take a risk and fail". Sometimes our ideas don't always work out and that's okay. Are you learning from your failure? Are you reflecting on what went wrong? And sometimes what went horribly wrong? The point was this... are you changing and are you challenging yourself to make a difference for your students? Because we all know #KidsDeserveIt!

This summer my goal was focusing on expectations. How often do we talk about student expectations but forget about teacher expectations. And not just expectations but expectations with a plan. And when I say plan I mean checklists and visuals. Why do we always forget that we need visuals too? I mean please do not ever take my phone and google calendar away! I would be completely lost and my teachers would be wondering where I am. But when it comes to classrooms why aren't we spending the same amount of time organizing ourselves and giving ourselves visuals.

This PD week I had the opportunity to run a training on designing an effective learning environment. And more specifically a self-contained learning environment. A learning environment geared to reaching ALL the needs of my students especially those on the autism spectrum.

And I know it's probably stuff we've all heard but I'll say it again. If we as educators and staff are not organized and prepared how can we effectively teach those with executive functioning deficits? And simpler than that, if I can't find the activity I want to do with my students what happens to those with short attention spans as I waste time searching.... Ya'll ORGANIZE!

Plan... plan... and plan some more!

So here are my steps--step by step... I bet you have similar ones!

1. Organize 😀

Bet you couldn't guess that was coming -- what does your caseload look like? How will you keep track of data? How will you keep track of IEP goals? And staff materials? And classroom procedures? I have so many more questions... maybe I need a post just for organizing!

2. Plan

Plan your day, plan for changes, plan for where materials will be kept, how will students access schedules and materials. PLAN FOR EVERYTHING!

3. Environment!

What is the environment of your classroom? What is the structure?-- draw a diagram! It's fun... pretend you are an interior designer and draw in everything (trust me it's not pretty but it's effective) How will you create physical boundaries? Where is your DT area? What about your word work area? Or calm down? Or one of my faves that I think is often overlooked... your transition area? How and where are you going to teach your kiddos waiting skills?

(Like always TheAutismHelper.com comes through on more awesome resources! I show this at all my trainings!)

4. Schedules

Like I said I can't live without my schedule. Have a class schedule. But just as important have a staff schedule. They can't read your minds! And this also limits all the times you have to give your staff directives of what to do throughout the day. It will just run that much more smoothly... it just does! I had a couple instructional assistants a few years ago that thought I was insane when I gave the detailed class schedule that was broken up by student every 20 minutes. But when I left that classroom I received phone calls begging for me and my crazy schedules to come back. They no longer knew what to do during the day. And as always... student schedules. We need schedules. They need schedules. End of story :)

5. Visuals

I love visuals. Our kids love visuals. And more importantly they NEED visuals. And not just visual schedules. Yes, those are important. All my kiddos have some type of visual schedule. But they need visual directions. They need mini-routines. They need calm down strategies. They need cues. They need visual rules and expectations. They need visual and concrete reinforcement systems. But with visuals you also need to PLAN... bet you didn't see that coming ;) Where will the visuals be stored? *hint* where the kids need them! How to unpack in the morning routine is next to the classroom door or better yet the kiddo's cubby. Washing hands routines is yep, you've got it... next to the sink. And don't forget the communication visuals. Communication strips, PECS, conversation starters... and the list goes on and on.

(Thank you www.northstarpaths.com for this amazing visual!)

So there are my Top 5.... I have 4 more but I'll save those for another day. Guess it looks like it did finally come to me. Maybe because this is what my brain has been focused on for 3 weeks. Maybe because our classrooms are finally ready for students arrival on Tuesday. And don't get me wrong if things aren't working we will change them. But we are ready! And I for one cannot wait to see my kiddos! I can't wait to see how they have grown and how they will continue to grow. I can't wait to see how they respond to the amazing learning environments my teachers have created. I can't wait to see what I learn throughout this school year!