The Resource Room: Recent Episodes
Amanda Wilp
As a Special Education Teacher, you are always helping others. But who support YOU? In this podcast, I'll be sharing my SPED tips, tricks, researched based strategies, and professional development to help you grow and learn as a resource room teacher.
In the coming seasons, I'll be discussing how to improve reading comprehension, decoding, encoding, math computation, and so much more!
Download the New Special Education Teacher Guide so you can have all the tools you need right at your fingertips! ❤️
Download the New Special Education Teacher Guide so you can have all the tools you need right at your fingertips! ❤️
Download the New Special Education Teacher Guide so you can have all the tools you need right at your fingertips! ❤️
Download the New Special Education Teacher Guide so you can have all the tools you need right at your fingertips! ❤️
Download the New Special Education Teacher Guide so you can have all the tools you need right at your fingertips! ❤️
Download the New Special Education Teacher Guide so you can have all the tools you need right at your fingertips! ❤️
Download the New Special Education Teacher Guide so you can have all the tools you need right at your fingertips! ❤️
In season 14, we are talking about those crappy IEP goals. Whether you wrote it yourself or inherited it from someone else, we've all seen them.
And those crappy IEP goals often lead to even more stress when it's time to progress monitor. 🥴 In today's episode, I'm sharing the three reasons why progress monitoring is so hard in order to create better systems and strategies for making it easier!
In season 14, we are talking about those crappy IEP goals. Whether you wrote it yourself or inherited it from someone else, we've all seen them.
Today, let's pick apart this IEP goal for addition and subtraction problems. What do we like? What do we not like? Then, let's work to never write those crappy goals again!
In season 14, we are talking about those crappy IEP goals. Whether you wrote it yourself or inherited it from someone else, we've all seen them.
Today, let's pick apart this IEP goal for math facts. What do we like? What do we not like? Then, let's work to never write those crappy goals again!
In season 14, we are talking about those crappy IEP goals. Whether you wrote it yourself or inherited it from someone else, we've all seen them.
Today, let's pick apart this IEP goal for reading comprehension. What do we like? What do we not like? Then, let's work to never write those crappy goals again!
In season 14, we are talking about those crappy IEP goals. Whether you wrote it yourself or inherited it from someone else, we've all seen them.
Today, let's pick apart this IEP goal for reading sight words. What do we like? What do we not like? Then, let's work to never write those crappy goals again!
In season 14, we are talking about those crappy IEP goals. Whether you wrote it yourself or inherited it from someone else, we've all seen them.
Today, let's pick apart this IEP goal for decoding words with typical spelling patterns. What do we like? What do we not like? Then, let's work to never write those crappy goals again!
In season 14, we are talking about those crappy IEP goals. Whether you wrote it yourself or inherited it from someone else, we've all seen them.
Today, let's pick apart this IEP goal for letters and sounds. What do we like? What do we not like? Then, let's work to never write those crappy goals again!
In season 14, we are talking about those crappy IEP goals. Whether you wrote it yourself or inherited it from someone else, we've all seen them.
In this episode, I'm sharing a few of my reasons WHY you might have crappy IEP goals so that we can fix it in the long run!
If you are new to special education or are changing the way that you service your students, you might be wondering what the heck do you do in a resource room all day? In the episode, I'm sharing the number one things that MUST be accomplished as well as two other areas if and when you have time. :)
I believe that using our calendar will either make you or break you as a special education teacher. In this episode, I'm sharing all of the things that I believe you should be adding to your calendar to ensure a successful year.
Creating schedules in special education can be difficult. In this episode, I'm sharing how my team and I work together to create our schedules to best serve our students. You can make a copy of my scheduling template here!
Y'all, I am really good at spending money, so this podcast episode was made for me. If your school or special education department is giving you money to spend, here are my top picks for how to spend that money!
While I am really good at relaxing in the summer, I also like to spend some time getting things organized and ready for the school year. In this episode, I'm sharing a few things that I like to prep over the summer to ensure that I'm successful and ready all year long. Links Mentioned: * Parent & General Education Teacher Surveys * Quick & Easy Assessments
As special education teachers, I think it is important to always be learning and reflecting. As you're going into the summer or relaxing by the pool, what is the one thing you suck at and are going to work to get better at? In this episode, I'm asking a few questions to get your wheels turning!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
As special education teachers, we talk about routines and procedures often. I've shared so many of my routines that I do every day with students, and I thought it was time to share about the TEACHER routines that we have. What do we need to do to be ready for our students, general education teachers, and meetings? Pick and choose the routines that YOU need and when would be a good time to implement them!
Looking to make centers a little less stressful?
So are so many other resource room teachers.
And to be honest, at first, I thought some of ya'll were a little crazy.
But it turns out, I need YOUR help!
Download the First Draft of My Centers Here!
Then, hit reply with your feedback.
Looking to make grading a little less stressful? I've got you covered!
In this episode, I'll be sharing:
- Way to Make Copies to Speed Up the Grading
- Why It's Ok to Throw Some Papers Away
- Why It's Ok to Only Grade PART of an Assignment
- How You Can Use the Kids to Self Check
Looking to make those case conferences a little less stressful? I've got you covered!
In this episode, I'll be sharing:
- Make a Checklist for Conferences
- How to Backwards Plan for Conferences
- Utilize Good Assessments
- Build Relationships
Looking to make assessing your students a little less stressful? I've got you covered!
In this episode, I'll be sharing:
- Targeted Skills
- Available Assessments
- Finding & Creating
- Quick Access
Links Mentioned:
- Sequence of Skills Template
- Assessments for Special Education
Looking to make your parent relationships a little less stressful? I've got you covered!
In this episode, I'll be sharing:
- Safe or Happy
- Every Parent is Different
- The Golden Rule
- Communicate
Looking to make dealing with general education teachers a little less stressful? I've got you covered!
In this episode, I'll be sharing:
- You Serve Students...and Adults
- Be Reliable
- Communicate Well
- Be a Valuable Team Member
- Make Yourself Part of the Team
Looking to make planning for your small groups a little less stressful? I've got you covered!
In this episode, I'll be sharing:
- How Developing Routines Will Make Things Easier for You
- Make Copies in Advance
- Using Lesson Plan Templates
Links Mentioned:
- Lesson Plan Templates
Looking to make paperwork and writing IEPs a little less stressful? I've got you covered!
In this episode, I'll be sharing:
- How to Audit Your Time
- You Need to Create a Plan
- Be Someone You Can Trust
Link Mentioned:
- Monday.com Instagram Reel
- Monday.com TikTok
Looking to make progress monitoring a little less stressful? I've got you covered!
In this episode, I'll be sharing:
- This Is Your Monster
- How to Build Routines
- Make a Plan to Record that Data
What are you doing in your reading intervention groups? In this nine part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about reading fluency!
I'll be sharing:
- What routines can you implement?
- What goals can you write?
- How can you progress monitor them quickly?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Reading Intervention
What are you doing in your reading intervention groups? In this nine part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about writing!
I'll be sharing:
- What routines can you implement?
- What goals can you write?
- How can you progress monitor them quickly?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Reading Intervention
What are you doing in your reading intervention groups? In this nine part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about phonological awareness!
I'll be sharing:
- What routines can you implement?
- What goals can you write?
- How can you progress monitor them quickly?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Reading Intervention
What are you doing in your reading intervention groups? In this nine part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about answering open-ended questions!
I'll be sharing:
- What routines can you implement?
- What goals can you write?
- How can you progress monitor them quickly?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Reading Intervention
What are you doing in your reading intervention groups? In this nine part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about spelling!
I'll be sharing:
- What routines can you implement?
- What goals can you write?
- How can you progress monitor them quickly?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Reading Intervention
- Spelling Intervention Sample
What are you doing in your reading intervention groups? In this nine part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about reading comprehension!
I'll be sharing:
- What routines can you implement?
- What goals can you write?
- How can you progress monitor them quickly?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Reading Intervention
What are you doing in your reading intervention groups? In this nine part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about !
I'll be sharing:
- What routines can you implement?
- What goals can you write?
- How can you progress monitor them quickly?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Reading Intervention
What are you doing in your reading intervention groups? In this nine part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about decoding!
I'll be sharing:
- What routines can you implement?
- What goals can you write?
- How can you progress monitor them quickly?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Reading Intervention
What are you doing in your reading intervention groups? In this nine part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about sight words!
I'll be sharing:
- What routines can you implement?
- What goals can you write?
- How can you progress monitor them quickly?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Reading Intervention
What are you doing in your math intervention groups? In this four part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about critical skills to incorporate in just five minutes of your small group time!
I'll be sharing:
- A few critical skills that are important for your students to master
- WHY these critical skills are important
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Math Intervention
What are you doing in your math intervention groups? In this four part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about word problems!
I'll be sharing:
- How can you make word problems fun and hands on?
- How much time should you spend on word problems every day?
- How can you progress monitor IEP goals for word problems?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Math Intervention
What are you doing in your math intervention groups? In this four part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about math facts!
I'll be sharing:
- Why you should practice math facts every day?
- Should you be doing timed tests?
- How do you set small goals?
- How much time do I spend on math facts?
- How can you progress monitor math fact IEP goals?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Math Intervention
What are you doing in your math intervention groups? In this four part series, I'll be sharing what I do in my resource room.
Today's focus is all about computation!
I'll be sharing:
- How can you make computation fun?
- How can you progress monitor?
- How much time I spend of my thirty minute group?
Links Mentioned:
- Free Week of Math Intervention
- Math Bingo Freebie
Alison Ryan, M.Ed, has been working in schools since 2005 as a classroom teacher, reading interventionist, reading specialist, and Director of Curriculum & Instruction.
She is trained in the Orton-Gillingham method, has extensive experience working with struggling readers, and has a master’s degree in literacy leadership.
Links Mentioned:
Phonics Routines Blog Post
Phonics Diagnostic Assessment
Find Alison Online:
Website
TeachersPayTeachers
Lindsay Sauer is a passionate first grade teacher. She shares resources, tips, and tricks she's learned over the years! She's a working mom who has changed everything after reentering the classroom and completely revamping everything about my practice.
She's also a published author.
After preparing a guide to help her student teacher, she realized that so many teachers needed the questions and reminders for good classroom management. Many revisions later, she's sharing her big THREE for back to school.
Grab Lindsay's book here!
Find Lindsay online:
Website
TeachersPayTeachers
Stephanie is the author behind Mrs. D’s Corner. She’s your go-to-girl for inspiration on everything elementary special education. Her passion is making grade-level content functional, engaging, and meaningful for all students, and to make learning fun and easy by providing tried and true lessons and activities that are implementation ready, differentiation provided.
She provides tips, tricks, and hacks that actually work in the special education classroom setting. And she’s your biggest advocate when it comes to taking care of yourself (because you are important too!).
For as long as she can remember, she has always wanted to be a teacher. You know, the taking extra worksheets at school to come home and teach my [invisible] students kind-of-always-wanted-to-be-a-teacher.
After 9+ years in the field, she knows first hand how exhausting teaching can be, yet how absolutely wonderful and life changing it is.
Links Mentioned:
Intentional IEP Membership
Find Mrs. D’s Corner:
Website
Teacher’s Pay Teachers
Brandie is a behavior consultant, teacher mentor, and coach. She mentors new teachers and provides online Professional Development. She believes that teaching is hard, but you don’t have to do it alone!
Links Mentioned:
IEPs Untangled
Bite Size Behavior
Find Brandie Online:
Website
Megan Ocken-Helmen is a Pediatric Neuropsychologist and the owner of Developmental Discoveries. She believes in balancing clinical expertise and research-based interventions with connection and a sense of humor.
She also believes in respecting each child as a whole human who can be included in the evaluation process. Collaborating with parents to better understand their child and seeing ‘the lightbulb go on’ is a rewarding experience. She loves that her job allows her to hyperfocus on my interests and also be silly while getting to know and supporting the neatest kids.
Outside of work, she hears a lot about Pokémon cards and iPad games from her two kids. She loves sleep, the color magenta, travel, and a good Netflix documentary binge.
Find Megan Online:
Website
Megan's Services
I love me some Chick-fil-A, and my impatient self can even go through their drive thru no matter how long that line is.
Our progress monitoring should be the same.
Using this analogy, I compare progress monitoring to the Chick-fil-A drive thru to help us realize how important a good system is for successful and easy progress monitoring.
Does writing written expression goals overwhelm you?
Maybe because there are so many components and it's easy to get lost. In this episode, I'll be breaking apart all things written expression.
Do you ever wonder where to start with reading comprehension goals?
They are complex and have many layers. In this episode, I'm breaking down reading comprehension to make writing and defining those goals a little easier!
Progress monitoring can be extremely overwhelming for special education teachers. And with good reason, honestly. It is important for instruction and provides accountability to parents, teachers, and administration.
However, that does't mean that it needs to be hard, complicated, or time consuming. In this episode, I'm sharing the mistakes that I have made throughout the year that have made progress monitoring more painful than it should be.
I also share that I have a webinar for special educations called 3 Things You Can Do NOW to Make Progress Monitoring Easier All Year. If you want to watch the replay, you can sign up here!
Today, I'm sharing an interview I did with two special education teachers who are using my special education reading intervention in their resource rooms.
I love hearing ideas for implementing it that might just be different from the way that I typically share. And these girls have a LOT of great ideas and insights! ❤️
You can download the free week of intervention that these sweet ladies were talking with me about here: https://quiet-moon-3462.ck.page/e77fd2594b
This summer, as I've been sharing my webinars, I keep seeing special education teachers asking the same questions over and over.
I saw it so much that I decided to veer off of my pre-planned schedule to record a few episodes about the mistakes that we are making as well as some things that we can do differently.
In this episode, I mention my Reading and Math webinars that can be watched on demand. Below, you'll find the links, so you can work to develop some really great routines for your students.
9 Reading Routines for the Resource Room
4 Math Routines for the Resource Room
Dawn Ellis has been teaching for over 12 years in elementary and preschool special education and has an Educational Specialist degree in Special Education. Dawn has also a National Board Certified Teacher in the area of Exceptional Needs Specialist. She has worked with inclusion, resource, severe/profound, and autism classrooms throughout the years. She has been a state finalist for Teacher of the Year, as well as other awards within the district and state.
One of her most noted accomplishments is starting a school garden and coffee cart that was accessible and maintained by our students in the self-contained special education classroom. When she's not teaching, she is a mom, an avid reader, and also a podcaster. She has a podcast specifically designed for special education teachers, Be The Exception, to gain weekly tips to use in their classrooms. She also maintains a blog, sticker shop, TPT store, and a social media presence as Cultivating Exceptional MInds where she creates and shares time-saving strategies and resources for special education teachers.
Links Mentioned:
Escape Rooms
Blog Post: Board Games
Blog Post: ESY
Blog Post: Take Your Sick Days
Find Cultivating Exceptional Minds Online:
Website
Podcast
TikTok
Etsy
Teacher's Pay Teachers
Sarah Paul is a reading interventionalist for kindergarten through third grade. Prior to that, she taught first grade. She has a blog called Sarah's Teaching Snippets that she started in 2010. She started studying dyslexia about ten years ago, which began her journey with the science of reading. She has received OG training through the Dyslexia Training Institute and additional training through PDX Reading Specialist.
Links Mentioned:
Overcoming Dyslexia by Sally Shaywitz
Explicit Instruction by Anita Archer
Speech to Print Louisa Moates
Equipped for Reading Success by David Kilpatrick
Speldsa.org
Assessments
Find Sarah's Teaching Snippets Online:
Website
Teacher's Pay Teachers
Caitlin is a certified special education teacher and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst. She works full time as a behaviorist for a public school district. In addition, she teaches part time for Rutgers University (Graduate School of Education) and manages a successful Teachers Pay Teachers store (Beltrans Behavior Basics).
Find Beltran's Behavior Basics:
TeachersPayTeachers
Meredith Mitchell is a special education teacher with over 20 years of experience. In 2021, she was named teacher of the year for the state of Alabama for District III.
Meredith has her own special education consulting business called Meredith Mitchell’s Methods. She speaks at conferences all over the south east educating other special educators on how to write IEPs that are manageable, measurable, and meaningful. She is also a Master IEP Coach.
When she not teaching, she spends time with her family. Meredith is married and has three children. She stays busy going to soccer games, tumbling practice, girl scout meetings, and taekwondo.
Links Mentioned:
IEP Essentials Toolkit
Find BIAS Behavioral Online:
Website
Overbooked
Brittany Blackwell, M.Ed. is an award-winning special educator and self-care strategist from South Carolina with over ten years of experience working with elementary and middle school classrooms.
Brittany is no stranger to teacher burnout and has a passion for empowering teachers, parents, and students to prioritize self-care and mental health. Brittany's digital approach to self-care through digital planning, vision boards, and strategies has reached the homes of thousands of educators across the world.
Also known as "MsPrincessTeach" on Tiktok, Brittany's social media following grew through her fast-paced, lighthearted tutorials and humorous real life experiences. Brittany helps teachers create their own Individualized Self-Care Plan by providing sustainable strategies, handcrafted products, and digital resources to reduce stress, automate the mundane tasks of teaching, and prevent overall teacher burnout.
Her approach gives support so that educators can maximize fulfillment and effectiveness in their personal and professional lives.
Links Mentioned:
The Individualized EduCare Program
Untamed
Tiny Habits
The Resilient Teacher Podcast
Find Teaching Mind Body and Soul:
Website
TikTok
Tiffaney is a Special Education teacher and single mother who finally decided to go for her dreams of designing shirts and becoming a Special education teacher.
Links Mentioned:
Happy Mail
Find De'avionBlu Innovations:
Website
Dana Howell is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and the face behind BIAS Behavioral. She has over 15 years of experience in the field of special education. Her mission is to help parents and school professionals learn evidence-based strategies which they can use to safely manage challenging behavior. She breaks down tough behavioral concepts into visually engaging, actionable steps that anyone can use.
Links Mentioned:
Smarty Symbols
Visual Supports on TpT
Find BIAS Behavioral Online:
Website
Teacher's Pay Teachers
Emily Norris is an Alabama native passionate about inclusive education for all!
She is currently a K-3 resource special education teacher servicing children with Autism, ADHD, Dyslexia, and Specific Learning Disabilities. Emily has served on the Teach it Special team as a presenter, won Teacher of the Year for her sweet school for the 2020-2021 school year, and presented multiple times for differing professional development platforms on supporting behaviors in the general education classroom.
Emily is married to Tyler and the reside in their happy hometown with their dog Beatrice.
Links Mentioned:
Lessons and Latte's Progress Monitoring Page
Autism Resource Classroom Data Sheet
GOAT Educators: Trauma Informed
Teach It Special
Find Emily Online:
Jennifer has held a variety of roles in special education for over 25 years! She entered the classroom every day dedicated to making learning inclusive AND engaging. As much as she loved seeing her students' faces light up, she now feels the EXACT same way mentoring other teachers.
Through instructional coaching, mentoring, and content creation, Jennifer is sharing what she’s learned along the way. At Positively Learning Blog, you will find behavior supports grounded in restorative practice, tried and true tips on incorporating fine motor development skills through literacy, literature recommendations to build your classroom community, and that's just a start!
In summary, Jennifer stays busy behind the scenes supporting you while you're busy changing lives!
Links Mentioned:
Swipe File YouTube Link
Special Educator's Resource Room
Find Positively Learning Online:
Website
Teacher's Pay Teachers
I could sit and talk about special education all day long. In this surprise, finale episode, I invited back all of this season's guests to talk about several special education topics.
Links Mentioned:
Amanda's Solid Colored Amazon Shirts
Amanda's Camo Amazon Shirt
Cassandra's Snow Shoveling Meme
Cassandra is a self contained behavior teacher from Indiana. She's a good friend of mine and is always full of helpful ideas and strategies. She's a full time teacher and mom to a newborn. She's sharing her tips for making data collection easier to save you time!
Stephanie is the author behind Mrs. D’s Corner. She’s your go-to-girl for inspiration on everything elementary special education. Her passion is making grade-level content functional, engaging, and meaningful for all students, and to make learning fun and easy by providing tried and true lessons and activities that are implementation ready, differentiation provided.
She provides tips, tricks, and hacks that actually work in the special education classroom setting. And she’s your biggest advocate when it comes to taking care of yourself (because you are important too!).
For as long as she can remember, she has always wanted to be a teacher. You know, the taking extra worksheets at school to come home and teach my [invisible] students kind-of-always-wanted-to-be-a-teacher.
After 9+ years in the field, she knows first hand how exhausting teaching can be, yet how absolutely wonderful and life changing it is.
Links Mentioned:
Draft Stickers
Intentional IEP Membership
Wrights Law
Find Mrs. D’s Corner:
Website
Teacher’s Pay Teachers
After a debate in The Resource Room FB Group, I thought an episode was needed.
What are accommodations? What are modifications?
Do you know the difference?
Click Here to Read the Blog Post with Freebie Mentioned
Kristy is a resource room teacher in Texarkana!
Her school has been experimenting with coteaching this year. She's sharing her experience and relationships with various teachers to help other resource room teachers gather ideas for co-teaching with other general education teachers.
Michelle is a resource room teacher from Arkansas. She is one of the most creative people I’ve met. She loves to create activities for her students to keep them engaged and meet their needs.
Links Mentioned:
Linktree
Whole Brain Teaching
Lisa Hollady is the creator of Chalkboard Superhero. She grew up in central New York and always knew she wanted to be a special education teacher. After graduating with her Masters in 2008, she has been working with students on the spectrum. She has had an array of different abilities but most of which had ASD. She worked in a self-contained setting in elementary for 8 years. This past year, she took a new position in a different district at the High School level in a 6:1:3 intensive Autism program and has since fallen in love with the program. Designing the curriculum for transitioning students is very different from providing foundational learning in Kindergarten, but it really has been a blessing.
At this point in her life, she considers herself an Autism specialist.
In 2010, she married my best friend of 10 years, and they have 3 beautiful children. Ava is 6 and Jacob will be 4. They just added to the family and her name is Ryleigh. Jacob has Down Syndrome and is the fire behind her passion as a Special Education Teacher. She truly tries to make all of her resources fit the needs of all children. She has a passion for making resources fun, engaging, and purposeful. She really hates wasting kids' time, as she feels the time spent in school is so very precious.
Find Chalkboard Superhero:
- Online
- Teacher’s Pay Teachers
Check out Lisa’s Independent Work Systems Masterclass!
Heather is a special education teacher mentor. She helps self-contained special education teachers with individualized and personalized support to make self-assured educational decisions so that you can avoid the stress, overwhelm, and burnout in this field. I believe special education teachers are better together!
She has been a special education teacher in Illinois for 8 years! She’s taught in self-contained classroom settings for middle school and high school students. She currently teaches middle school!
Her passion is supporting other educators and is what has led her to start a website and blog alongside her Boom Learning store and TeachersPayTeachers store!
In her first 4 years of teaching, she felt so alone. The lack of curriculum, administration support, and daily tasks had really worn her down. She turned to social media and found inspiration to continue to grow and learn as an educator.
Links Mentioned:
The Inner Circle Podcast
Those You Can’t Teach
Find Full SPED Ahead:
- Website
- Teacher’s Pay Teachers
- Get on the Waitlist for the Full Sped Ahead Mentorship!
Whitney works with kindergarten through sixth grade students with special needs in Phoenix, Arizona. She absolutely loves it. Her passion is helping both students and educators through sharing products, resources, and ideas. She enjoy sharing her knowledge while also continuing to learn from others.
Whitney uses her experience as a former paraprofessional to help maximize student growth and success through training and utilizing her paraprofessional.
Find Rooted in Resource:
- Facebook Group
- Teacher’s Pay Teachers
Jennifer Hofferber lives in Oklahoma, but she’s a special education teacher in Kansas since 1995 (yes, you read that right!)
In 2007, she was named Special Educator of the Year for the state of Kansas. Then, in 2015, she received the great honor of being named to the Kansas Teacher of the Year Team and got to travel the state visiting schools, talking to legislators, and collaborating with some amazing administrators and educators.
She loves teaching children, but she has also realized that teaching teachers is just as important. She loves helping special education teachers have courageous conversations and train their paraprofessionals to help and support students in their classrooms.
Links Mentioned:
Shifting the Monkey
Find Sped Prep Academy:
- Website
- Podcast
- Teacher’s Pay Teachers
Click here to join her waitlist for her Paraprofessional Training!
Ashley is the teacher behind Spedtacular Days. She is currently an elementary resource teacher. She previously taught in a middle school self-contained setting for several years in Virginia. She has taught all subjects, including a functional skills class. It is her job to create and adapt curriculum for a variety of needs in my classroom. Differentiating is one of her favorite parts of her job. Seeing one topic come to life in multiple ways makes her heart so happy.
When she’s not teaching, she is a wife to her amazing husband, a mom to a little boy and boy/girl twins. Life with 3 littles has become quite an adventure!
Ashley prides herself on being able to collaborate with general education teachers and will share exactly what she does in today’s podcast episode.
Find Spedtacular Days:
Online
Teacher’s Pay Teachers
I’ve been a licensed speech-language pathologist for the last 12 years and have seen it all. I graduated from the University at Buffalo in 2005 and received my masters in 2007 from Adelphi University. Since then, I have worked with children from preschool to high school, in both schools and home-based agencies. I’ve been at my current New York public school district for almost a decade, handling a caseload of 65+ fifth and sixth graders every year.
What I’ve found is that both new and veteran SLPs are struggling. Our caseloads are staggering, our resources are thin, and we can’t find enough ways to reach our students. On top of that, we have to juggle everything else: bus duty, paperwork, progress meetings, PD, activities prep, and our own personal lives.
Find Speech Time Fun:
- Online
- Teacher’s Pay Teachers
- Podcast
Click here to check out the SLP Conference!
I love to learn from other special education teachers. How about you?!
In this season of the podcast, I'll be sharing an interview with a fellow special education teacher each and every week.
It is by far the most fun I've had on the podcast so far.
If you would like to share a little about yourself and your classroom, you can sign up here!
Are you a naturally organized teacher? Some of us are. Others, not so much.
While I can sometimes be scattered, I am usually a pretty organized person. In this episode, I'm sharing all of the things that I do to get my special education caseload organized!
How do you feel about progress monitoring? Do you love it? Do you dread it?
For me, I did progress monitoring wrong for a LOOOONNG time. Today, I'm sharing some simple tips for you to implement before and after progress monitoring.
What procedures do you have in place? In this episode, I'm sharing the things that you should explicitly teach your students during the first few days of your small groups.
Would you like to take a peak inside my first week in Special Education?
In this episode, I'm outlining exactly what I do with my students.
I mention a few things in this episode. You can find the links below!
- Our Class is a Family
- The Magical Yet
- Informal Assessments (Quick & Easy to Give!)
- Back to School Themed Printable Reading Books
Did you just find out about your special education role? Are you a new special education teacher? In this episode, I'm sharing about my back to school to do list.
Click here to download the back to school shopping list and to do list! :)
In special education, Back to School Night looks a little different for us! In this episode, I'm sharing what I do to make it a success.
Downloads
- Two Truths & a Lie Template
- Meet the Teacher Page
- Conference Cards
In this episode, I'm summarizing ALL of the special education strategies that were mentioned in previous episodes and discussing how they can help many students in many different ways. So, whether your students are struggling with weaknesses in memory, auditory processing, visual processing, or another perceptual disability, you'll be sure to find a few strategies in this episode to use with your students.
Word problems can be so overwhelming for us and for our students. Have you ever sat down and thought about WHY?
In this episode, I'm share a few factors that go into solving word problems accurately.
How do low scores in expressive and receptive language impact our students' ability to do math? Well, in this episode, that's exactly what I'll be sharing.
What should you be looking for and what can you do to help and accommodate them?
Are you interested in joining in on any of my summer activities? I can't wait to see you!
Links Mentioned:
- Summer Book Study
- Webinar Wednesday
In this week's episode, I'm sharing how various weaknesses in memory might be causing your students to struggle with math. I also shared strategies for helping students conquer these weaknesses.
This week, I'll be sharing common characteristics that you might see in students with motor and spacial disabilities. I'll also share a few strategies to help students conquer these difficulties.
Visual & Auditory Disabilities are incredibly hard for our students. After all, school is very visual and auditory based. In this episode, I'm sharing 11 characteristics that you might see in your students and a few strategies to help them overcome areas of weakness.
In this episode, I'm sharing two big ideas: how to break up addition math facts and strategies for solving them.
Our kids all have different strengths and weaknesses. They all have different things, so in this episode, I'm sharing my suggested routines that you might consider for your small groups.
We often see our students struggling, but it can be hard to pinpoint WHY! In this episode, I'll be covering seven reasons why your students could be having trouble in math.
You guys had a lot of GREAT questions. In this episode, I'm sharing my answers to the following questions:
- How do you know where to start?
- What if groups progress at different levels?
- How do you progress monitor spelling?
- How do you decide how much small group time to dedicate to spelling?
- Why can some kids read words they can't spell and visaversa?
- Is it better to have students spell easy words 100% independently or harder words with more support?
- Could I (or should I) use these spelling lists in general education?
- Do you ever grade spelling tests using "correct letter sequence" instead of just marking the whole word wrong?
This episode is a little different. I recorded a few of my small groups so that you can listen in on what I'm doing each day to practice spelling.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Spelling Freebie: You can download five weeks of spelling lists to try with your students.
Email Address: theprimarygal@gmail.com Email me if you have any questions that you'd like answered in the Q&A episode. :)
I love watching my students develop their spelling skills. It's amazing to watch them go from a high level of support to independence. But, it's a process. In this episode, I'm outlining the various levels of support that your students might need from you.
I also stress the importance of communicating that information with other teachers and parents.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Spelling Test Printables with Level of Independence: I just recently began using these in order to communicate how a student completed the test.
Spelling Freebie: You can download five weeks of spelling lists to try with your students.
Email Address: theprimarygal@gmail.com Email me if you have any questions that you'd like answered in the Q&A episode. :)
Blog Post: This week's podcast is also recorded in blog post form.
I once thought that morphemes were for higher level readers and spellers. And boy was I WRONG! We should be teaching our students about morphemes as they begin to spell and decoding CVC Words.
In this episode, I highlight various types of morphemes, when and how we use them, and how early we should be teaching them.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Spelling Freebie: You can download five weeks of spelling lists to try with your students.
Email Address: theprimarygal@gmail.com Email me if you have any questions that you'd like answered in the Q&A episode. :)
Blog Post: This week's podcast is also recorded in blog post form.
These two topics are HARD! In this episode, I'll be sharing a few tips for teaching vowel teams so that they aren't intimidating for you or your students. I also share my approach for teaching syllables from early, more simple syllable types to more difficult syllable types for higher spellers.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Phoneme & Grapheme Chart: I've shared this in earlier episodes, but I know you may not have had a chance to download it.
Spelling Rule Book: I'll continually update this as I learn of new spelling rules or add other graphemes besides vowels.
Syllable Types: These syllable posters can be used to hang in your classroom or print smaller versions for your students to keep as a reference for themselves.
Email Address: theprimarygal@gmail.com Email me if you have any questions that you'd like answered in the Q&A episode. :)
Blog Post: This week's podcast is also recorded in blog post form.
I use letter tiles to teach my students to blend, segment, and manipulate words. In this episode, I'm sharing what I do each and every day. I also have a few weekly routines that I share in this episode as well.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Spelling Freebie: You can download five weeks of spelling lists to try with your students.
Letter Tiles: You can download the letter tiles that I use with my students. I print the vowels on one color and the consonants on another. I like to use cardstock and laminate for durability.
Email Address: theprimarygal@gmail.com Email me if you have any questions that you'd like answered in the Q&A episode. :)
Blog Post: This week's podcast is also recorded in blog post form.
These two terms are so often used interchangeably. In this episode, I hope to clarify and give examples of each.
But most importantly, I hope that I can simplify the approach you have on helping your students spell. For many words for younger students, spelling is a two step process.
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Spelling Freebie: You can download five weeks of spelling lists to try with your students.
Email Address: theprimarygal@gmail.com Email me if you have any questions that you'd like answered in the Q&A episode. :)
Blog Post: This week's podcast is also recorded in blog post form.
In this episode, I'm sharing simple explanations for phonemes and graphemes, as well as potential difficulties that you might see in your students.
I also share why GRAPHEMES can be difficult for your students!
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Spelling Freebie: You can download five weeks of spelling lists to try with your students.
Email Address: theprimarygal@gmail.com Email me if you have any questions that you'd like answered in the Q&A episode. :)
Blog Post: This week's podcast is also recorded in blog post form.
In this episode, I discuss three big topics:
- Questions to Ask Yourself about Textbook Spelling
- What Teachers DON'T Know about Spelling Rules
- Research Based Strategies for Teaching Spelling
Links Mentioned in this Episode:
Spelling Freebie: You can download five weeks of spelling lists to try with your students.
Email Address: theprimarygal@gmail.com Email me if you have any questions that you'd like answered in the Q&A episode. :)
Blog Post: This week's podcast is also recorded in blog post form.
In this pep talk episode, I'll be sharing what you need to know to be a great reading teacher by bringing together all of the things that I've shared with you over the last six episodes.
Plus, I'll let you know what will be coming in season TWO!
AFTER reading a passage, we ask our students to do so many difficult things. We need to have a few activities to help our students recall details and process what they've read so they can answer questions about the text.
In this episode, I'll share a few things that you can do to help your students answer questions as well as share a few activities that you can do to process all of that information!
While reading with your students, you have ONE job! You need to help them monitor their own comprehension. But how do you do that?
In this episode, I'll be sharing a few activities that you can do with your students to help them monitor comprehension.
Before you read a passage with your students, you should be helping them build background knowledge and giving them a purpose for reading.
In this episode, I'll be sharing a few activities that I do with my students to help give them a purpose and discuss what they already know.
Do you have students who read so fluently but aren't able to comprehend what they've read? They're lacking a few things, and I can't wait to share them with you in this episode.
I've used the words "Reading Skills" and "Reading Strategies" interchangeably. I'm sure you have too. Do you know the difference?
In this episode, I'll be sharing the difference between the two and what you need to do to help your students with disabilities become better at understand what they've read.
In this episode, I'll be sharing:
- What is reading comprehension?
- What impacts reading comprehension?
- What do good readers do while reading?
In this episode, you can get to know a little more about Amanda. She'll also be sharing her goals and topics for this podcast.