Monday, October 9, 2017

Starting the School Year: 2 Perspectives

So we're six weeks into the year! Kortnie and I were discussing the two different approaches that we took while starting the year.  We thought we would share them with you because both approaches are a great way to get started without overwhelming yourself, your kids, and your staff.

Kortnie and I both use PEAK: Relational Training Systems in our classroom.  If you haven't heard of PEAK yet, you need to check it out!  Previously, we used the ABLLS-R to assess our students and guide our instruction; however, we always felt like we got to a point, especially with some of our more advanced students, where we didn't really know where to go or what to do next.  If you've heard of or use the ABLLS-R, you know it's designed to assess skills that children up to age 5 can complete.  Although we were teaching younger students at the time, we still found that with some of them, we came to a roadblock where they were close to mastering all the skills in the ABLLS-R and we were looking for where to go next, but it wasn't in the ABLLS-R. The same shortcoming is apparent in other tools such as the VB-MAPP. While these are both great resources, we just felt as if we were "missing" something.

PEAK takes away the guessing and the wandering blind through the vast world of curriculums on where to go or what to do next.  We could go on for days about our love of PEAK but that's for another post.  If we've caught your interest and you want to know more about it before we post, head over here.


Approach 1: Assess first, teach later.

This approach focuses on assessing all of your students first.  This is your main focus. Trust me, it can be draining. If you have a room full of new kiddos, assessing them is going to be a no-brainer first step. If you don't know what a child is able to do, you are going to struggle to provide effective and efficient individualized instruction. Of course, you're still going to be guiding students through the skeleton of the routine you have laid out but overall your days are going to be lower demand. There are plenty of benefits to this approach including:
a) Taking time to get to know each of your kids before placing "intense demands" on them
b) Being sure your instruction is appropriate
c) Pairing yourself with reinforcement (i.e. Showing them that you're the teacher and you have cool things that they want to work for!)
d) Being able to set basic behavioral expectations
e) Working out the kinks in your skeletal routine.

So, let's talk about how Kortnie went about this.

1. Prep Assessment Materials. Get these ready and have them on-hand. Your kiddo shouldn't be sitting across the table from you waiting for the main act to start! Be ready to roll and try to keep the assessment as quick (but still appropriately) paced as possible.
2. Start Assessing, and Start Small. Maybe you just ask them to do a few and then switch to another kid. It could also look like you providing choices to your students (i.e. "Do you want to keep going or take a quick break?").
3. Use Assessment Results to Formulate Instruction. Now you have all of this information so use it! No more guessing or grasping straws!
4. Build Individualized Skill Binders. The PEAK books really outline how to do this in depth. Each of my students has 5-12 individualized programs selected for them. They're set up in a binder which is for another post at another time.

Depending on your learners and your schedule, this process could take a few days. The PEAK assessments we mentioned before are designed to be low-maintenance and easy to implement. Check out their flip books, for sure!



Approach 2: Teach first, assess later.

This approach focuses on teaching first and assessing later.  This would be a good route to head if you have students that are able to complete work independently for at least 20 to 30 minutes at a time.  In this approach you are teaching the stations that you want the students to complete when you begin pulling students for assessment and intense one-on-one instruction (DTI/DTT).  Initially, you will want to complete each activity as a whole group, providing instruction with errorless learning.  As time goes on, with any good programming, you will want to reduce the amount of prompts you are giving and have the students begin to complete the work on their own, only helping them where they need it.

So, let's talk about how I went about this.

1. I picked my activities.  My students are learning how to do a calendar station, writing journals, math station, following a picture schedule (independent work), and completing a reading program on the classroom iPads.
2.  The first week and a half of school we completed each of these activities together.  I modeled to my students how to complete the activity (calendar, math, writing, etc..) and checking every step of the way to make sure that no errors occurred.  If there was an error, it was immediately corrected.
3.  The second week and a half of school, I began telling the students what activity we were doing, provided visual prompts on the board to help them complete the activity, and said "do your best and let a teacher know if you need help."  While walking around an ensuring errors are not being made and still helping out, as needed.  This would be a fantastic time to begin working on increasing student mands (requests) where they are asking for more information, help, etc..  Give your students enough time to ask for help.
4.  The third and fourth weeks students were receiving minimal help, mostly just when they were finished we reviewed their work.  While students were completing their work, I was preparing their student binders.  Binders include only programs that correlate to their IEP goals.  Once assessed, students will also have programs that correlate with their deficits as well as their IEP goals.

So a quick recap.  Two ways we go about starting our school years, (1) assess first, teach later and (2) teach first, assess later.  Either way will work, but think about your class when picking an approach.  PEAK is awesome, so check it out!

How do you start the school year?


Happy Teaching!




Saturday, August 19, 2017

The SPED Squad Relaunch!

In the spirit of the back-to-school season, we, Adventures with ABA in AS and Specially Designed for Special Minds, have decided to join forces and bring you a blog filled with ideas for your Autistic Support classroom in an ALL NEW 4K, 3D, IMAX EXPERIENCE!!!

....Well, we actually can't provide that for you yet, but maybe one day!

Just a quick refresher about who we are!  Kortnie and I are both Autistic Support teachers.  Currently Kortnie is teaching grades 3 - 5 and I am teaching grades 6 - 7.  Together, our experiences combined  encompass kids 2 years old - 16 years old with autism, cerebral palsy, ADHD, PTSD, ODD, intellectual disabilities, and typically developing children with problematic behavior, in addition to other diagnosis.  Both Kortnie and myself are Licensed Behavior Specialists (LBS) and work as Behavior Specialist Consultants (BSCs) part-time. Additionally, Kortnie is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA) and I am currently studying for the exam!  For more information regarding us feel free to contact us directly or check out the Meet the Teachers section!

We hope that you find our resources as well as our anecdotes, to be helpful at school, in the home, and/or in the community.  In keeping with the back to school theme, we've revamped one of our most popular resources!  Let us paint a picture:  You're in your classroom, 8 kids with autism, 12 students of varying disabilities in Life Skills, or maybe 27 kids in your regular education Kindergarten classroom.  It's August.  It's hot.  It's the first week of school and you're still getting to know your students and they're getting to know you.  It's time to transition to lunch, your first 30 minutes, which ends up being more like 10 minutes, alone.  You ask your students to line up and it's PURE CHAOS!  Bumping.  Yelling. Pushing.  Shoving! That's where our most popular resource comes into play.  The new and improved Puzzle Piece Line Up Visuals.  We've both used these types of visuals for years. There are so many versatile ways to use them!  If you students already know their numbers, start with that.  If your students don't know numbers, but know colors, use colors!  For students that are more advanced you could use ordinal numbers or prompt them to stand on the "one that equals 10+5", subtraction, multiplication, or division!  Regardless of age and abilities, learning transitions can be hard for everyone, but with the Puzzle Piece Line Up Visuals transitions can be smooth and efficient.



You can find the original Line Up Visual here or enjoy one of the single color packs. If you're feeling fancy, though, we suggest you go for the bonus bundle. It has extra visuals for "teacher," "doors," "lights," and more that will be sure to impress! Plus, rainbows!

We hope you've had a relaxing summer and are as excited as we are to start the school year!


Happy Teaching!

Monday, March 30, 2015

Environmental Print Card Freebie - Set 2

In celebration of a sudden wave of new Facebook likes, I've added my second set of Environmental Print Cards to my TpT store as a FREE download! I'm not sure where exactly these likes are being trafficked from (it's embarrassing that I have not been able to post since 6/2014) but I do know that my original set of Environmental Print Cards (grab them HERE) was much appreciated.

So many kiddos have been FLYING through the environmental print labels; it's great to see the skill generalizing when out in the community for instruction. That's right; bus trips are no longer silent but instead filled with students commenting on the environmental print they see. For some students, the simple label may be too easy so I started incorporating questions regarding function, feature, and class as well as random wh- questions into the mix. One of the favorites is a form of guessing game.

Student X: "Look, Burger King!"
Ms. C: "Wow! Tell me three foods you could eat at Burger King."
Student X: "I eat burger, fries, and chicken."
Ms. C: "That's great. I'm thinking of something red that you could put on a burger. It's a sauce made from tomatoes. What is it?"
Student X: "Ketchup on burger?"
Ms. C: "That's it! Do you like ketchup?"

...And so on. It's unbelievable how quickly commenting and conversational skills start to develop once those solid receptive vocabularies and requesting skills are built. These cards can promote other life skills, as well. The second set includes twenty four new logos and I'm sure set three will come when this busy teacher finds a bit of time.



How do you use these cards with your students? What environmental print labels are most important to learn?


Happy Teaching,
Kortnie C.

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Back 2 School Sale & NEW Chevron Basic Skills Poster Mega Pack!

Hey, followers!

I hope you're loving your summer as much as I am!

Today's post will be short and sweet, as I am still juggling the many things a full-time graduate student, full-time special education teacher needs to accomplish.

First on the agenda, mark your calendars! The first (of I hope many) back to school sales is soon on Teachers Pay Teachers!


Stop by my TpT Store to grab all of your Adventures with ABA in AS favorites at a discounted price! Don't forget to "like" Adventures with ABA in AS on Facebook for exclusive updates, discounts, and freebies! My cart is prepped and ready for the big sale; hopefully, I don't fall in love with too much more between now and August 4th!

I've been working hard on a few different projects right now. I've decided to use a black and white chevron/chalkboard theme this year for the classroom. Why? 1) Classic b&w jives with just about anything and 2) I'm in love with both chevron/chalkboard. Double win.

Hopefully, you've had a chance to check out my NEW Customizable Chevron Communication Mega Pack for this year:


Did I mention that I'm super proud of the fact that I've included a QR code for quick-and-easy access to Adventures with ABA in AS for parents? ;)

To add to this, I've created a Chevron Basic Skills Poster Packs available in TWO font options: pencil and chalk! The poster packs include a TON of full-color basic skills including alphabet (with uppercase/lowercase and graphic), 2D and 3D shapes (with name and graphic), basic colors, numbers (TWO SETS: stars and dice), money, and more!


OR


Did I mention each Chevron Basic Skills Poster Pack includes my Dear Students/Dear Teachers, You are... Motivational Poster Set, too?




I can't wait to get this school year rolling!

Happy Teaching,
Kortnie C.

Thursday, June 26, 2014

Free Through Friday "Dear Students/Dear Teachers, You are..." Motivational Poster Set in Black Chevron with Color POP!

Does anyone else feel like a motivational freebie? I've been on a roll lately making supplies for my new Chevon theme. Last week, I finished up my customizable chevon communication pack and yesterday I put the final touches on my academic poster pack! (Look for that available soon in my TpT Store!)

Luckily, you can get this one FREE through FRIDAY:




Cute, right?!

I can't wait to hang a copy of each of these on the front board of the classroom or maybe in the hallway. Everyone needs a reminder of how important they are! The pack includes posters for both teachers (this includes parents, a child's first teacher!) and students. Although I found the original inspiration on Pinterest, I am unable to find the exact pin. Hmmm, if you find it (or if it's yours) let me know so I can credit the source appropriately! I changed it up a bit to make it more personal and customizable, as well!

The whole packet of Dear Students/Dear Teacher you are... Motivational Posters is available for download for in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store! Enjoy!

Happy Teaching!
Kortnie C.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Moving Forward & My Latest Creation [Customizable Chevon Communication Mega Pack]

Two weeks after the official end of the 2013-2014 academic year and I haven't even begun to decelerate!

The last day of the year (AKA not even a week ago) went a little something like this:
6:30 AM - My arrival at school
6:31 AM - Ponder how many students would be in attendance
6:32 AM - Fret about all of the pressing items on my "to do" list
6:33 AM - Fret about losing my coworker (and best friend) next year :(
6:34 AM - 8:00 AM - Enter the teacher time warp
(For those of you that do not know about the teacher time warp, consider yourselves lucky, as it is the equivalent of unknowingly traveling through time at light speed.)
8:05 AM - Exit time warp just in time for the first of my students to arrive and think to myself, "What did I even accomplish these past two hours?"
8:10 AM - All other students and coworkers arrive
8:10 AM - Realize I'm dangerously close to be late to an IEP meeting, shame the copy machine for collating my prints by page number (i.e. Page: 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1... 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2...) for said IEP meeting, and rush off to the teacher's lounge (a location I've never been... even after a year of employment)

Wait, what? I'm only at 8:10 AM?!
Skip a few hours ahead to...

2:30 PM - Driving to the airport to check in for my 3:30 flight to... [my vacation destination ;)]
And I've been here ever since.

Don't worry; I haven't eloped. I'm just on vacation!
Aside from the sun (and birds) rising at 3 AM, I love it!

Yes, it is 3:00 AM in this picture!

 I love exploring the city!

Last clue: Coffee is a popular drink here!


Any guesses as to where I am? (If you're the first person to comment with the correct answer, I'll send you any one of my TPT products for FREE! (Oooooooh! Get my new Customizable Chevon Communication Mega Pack at a 100% discount!) Only one guess per person!

The good news is, almost 24 straight hours of air travel allowed me to begin prepping for what the next two months will bring:
1. Summer Class
2. CBA Learning Modules
3. Research Thesis
4. Upcoming IEP Meetings
5. Summer Employment
6. Staff Training for 2014-2015

On second thought, 24 hours wasn't long enough!
I digress (but only because I'm excited for what's in store for the future!).

Focus. Focus. Focus.

Okay. I was hard at work today building a communication packet to use for next year. "What's wrong with your existing WEEKLY NEWSLETTER AND MONTHLY CALENDAR MEGA PACK?" you say? Absolutely nothing. Except I love all most things novel so I made a new one. Due to my inability to commit to an actual "theme" (i.e. puppy dogs, owls, jungle, or the like), I've been making all of my supplies next year in a black-and-white chevron style. I love it. (I hope you love it, too.)



So, my new calendar pack is a bit revamped. It includes THREE ways to communicate with families (daily, weekly, and monthly). In our classroom, we believe communication is important, so, we use all three.  [If any of our classroom's families are tuned in - here's a heads up for August as I know it (so far!)] Here's a little breakdown of how it works in our classroom:


The Map of Our Month is an overview of the upcoming month's activities/events, day schedule, and any other holidays or changes to the school routine (i.e. early dismissal, no school). It is (ideally) sent home a few days prior to the start of the month to give families an overview of what to expect. I like to think our families hang this up on the fridge at home ;). We also post a large version of this in the classroom for students and staff to reference. It works wonders!



The Peek of Our Week is sent home the Thursday or Friday beforehand. New this year, I've included a QR code to the blog for easy access ;). Additionally, the Peek of Our Week reminds families of the upcoming week's activities, contact information, our current theme/focus, and any other news. It also includes birthday announcements and snack week reminders!



Finally, Daily News are sent home with each student every day. As part of our regular schedule, a staff member is assigned two students to work with 1:1 (in an alternating fashion) or in a dyad. Originally, the lead classroom teacher filled all of these out at the end of the day but now, each staff member completes the Daily News for his/her previously designated student(s). In short, it's a life saver, saving the lead teacher a bit of time/anxiety while allowing the Daily News to be more detailed and accurate.

Our Daily News includes a brief description of the programming the student was exposed to that day ("Today, I worked hard on... expressive number labels, turn taking, ABBC patterning"), any related arts or services the student attended, and a lunch report. Additionally, there is a space at the end of the news for any teacher comments/special messages.

New this year (to see last year's version of daily news, head over to my coworkers TPT store), is a "behavior rating." I wanted a quick and easy way to give parents a feel for how their child's behavior was at school that day. (Trust me, this is yet to be launched in a classroom but it may be something I beta-test during my time teaching at a summer program for Kinders!)

With this communication pack, you'll be set for daily, weekly, and monthly communication for years to come! (Dates aren't included so you can use it as many years into the future as you wish.) The files are available in both PDF and Word/JPG form to make customization easy peasy! Use my provided templates as a springboard for ideas or edit it any way you like!

Grab your own copy of my Customizable Chevon Communication Mega Pack now! Or comment a guess as to where I am on vacation for a chance to win your choice of one of my TPT products for FREE! Ready? Set? Go! Go! Go!


Happy Teaching!
:) Kortnie C.

P.S. For our classroom families that read, I hope you like what you see! Check back soon for more updates and announcements regarding our Adventures with ABA in AS!

Friday, April 25, 2014

Quick Update - DonorsChoose

Happy Autism Awareness Month!


The nails of my co-worker ;)



After the past four months I've experience, I am not quite sure where to start. Truth is, I can't even really do that. We are merely two weeks away from the end of my first of two years of graduate school.

I never thought reality could be this cruel.

Keep.
Moving.
Forward.


Anyways, on a brighter note, we were able to celebrate birthday party social skills today at a local indoor "bounce house." The kiddos LOVED it. Each of them wore a smile the entire play session (of course we saw a few frowns when it was time to eat).

My last and final update for now is the creation of my DonorsChoose page.
You can visit it here.
Or at www.donorschoose.org/adventureswithabainas.

My first project is pending approval but feel free to stop by my page before the big reveal. On that date, I will hopefully give a more detailed blog post about our past and present fundraising efforts. We are so grateful for all of the family and community support we have received. Thank you, thank you, thank you! :)

Happy Teaching!
Kortnie C.