I wrote this blog post several weeks ago…before this terrifying pandemic and all the associated changes to every aspect of my job as a teacher. I’ve been using this time to reflect on practices I want to improve in my classes next school year when we return. If you are in a place where you […]
Author Archives: sara
E2E Free Lessons of the Week: April 6
SECD Lesson: E2E Coping Skills from A to Z. *The game instructions state that an alphabet die is required. However, a jar with scraps of paper (a letter of the alphabet written on each scrap) would work just as well. Roll the alphabet die and draw a card from the deck; identify a coping strategy […]
E2E Free Lessons of the Week: March 30
Free SECD Game of the Week: E2E School Skills Building Bricks This is my most popular stand-alone game on Teachers Pay Teachers. It DOES require a large number of Legos in assorted colors, but it can be adapted to work with what you’ve got on hand. Students of all ages (even the “big kids” in […]
E2E Free Lessons of the Week: March 23
Welcome (or welcome back)! Here are this week’s free lesson offerings: Free Adapted Literature Selection: A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner This retelling of William Faulkner’s A Rose for Emily reads at an automated readability index of grade 5/6. This text aligns to the version in Holt’s Elements of Literature: Fifth Course. Classic literature […]
Empowering Peer Models to Lead Lessons
One of the absolute best parts of my personal life skills class is the peer models. I’ve got truly exemplary peers leading groups in class. Now that we are trying to navigate remote learning, I appreciate then even more. They are the ones reaching out to their peers via FaceTime, text, Instagram, phone, and mail. […]
E2E Free Lesson of the Week: March 18
I’m as shocked as everyone else that schools in my area have closed for the year. I know that families are feeling stressed about how to proceed with teaching at home. Schools WILL push out materials, but you may find yourself needing something to supplement it, especially if your student has an IEP. However, my […]
How to Choose the Right Peer Models for Your Social Skills Class
I write often about my program’s cadet teachers (peer models). When teaching normative social skills to adolescents, tapping into the resource of other teens is powerful. While younger children may enjoy and seek the approval of teachers, teens (yes, including those with intellectual disabilities, ASD, or behavior disorders) prefer acceptance and approval from people their […]
Data Collection Forms
It has long been a source of fury for me when students are moved to more restrictive settings without reliable data or without having tried every reasonable intervention to allow them to remain in the least restrictive educational setting. I’ve seen firsthand how it can turn a kid’s world upside down to be removed from […]
Adulting 101 Bootcamp
Working with secondary students who have intellectual disabilities comes with an enormous amount of pressure. I feel a strong sense of urgency. There is an immediate need to help them prepare for life after high school. Even a freshman has only four years to learn as much as possible about how to function as an […]
Rethinking How We Teach Social Skills: The Project-Driven Classroom
I’ve had so many ideas swirling around for blog posts for the past several months that I’ve had trouble deciding where to start. I have been co-teaching in general education classes and helping students at my school grow and develop a personal life skills class and club. The process of seeing teens with and without […]
