Behavior Clip ChartI have had a lot of requests for my behavior chart lately so I decided to update it and add it as a freebie. If you have any questions on how I use it check out this post and this ebook.  I would love to know how you use it in your classroom or if you have another system that works great for you. OK, I have made you wait long ...

I have linked up with Heather over at  Krazy About Kindy to discuss behavior systems in the classroom. This year I started using a clip chart that was all over Pintrest last summer. I designed it in Microsoft Digital Image Suite and added some graphics. Then during one of Vista Prints ''sales'' for free banners I ordered it. I LOVE it! Being a ...

Matthew Vannice (@W3iGHTLESS) recently posted a brief literature review (including a video!) on instructional approaches, or strategies, for addressing problem behaviors.  Mr. Vannice is a special educator and intervionist at Lucile Erwin Middle School in Loveland, CO.  Since I thought this information has great value for everyone in the field of ...

Fingernails screeching down a chalkboard.  The booming bass on a car stereo.  These are just a couple of sounds many people find irritating.  For students with autism or other disabilities that affect sensory processing, many sounds that we take for granted can be difficult to ignore.  The humming of fluorescent lights, the swishing and gurgling ...

Well, that's what he thought. Every time I said the word ''hail'' during our weather lesson yesterday, one of my little gems pointed to me and accused, ''Awwww! Teacher said a cuss word!'' I cued the video segment to the hailstorm and indicated that it was ''hail''- frozen precipitation. I wrote it on the dry erase board. After yesterday, I ...

I’ve never been good at following rules. While I understand important rules that keep us safe and maintain a certain degree of order, a lot of rules seem to exist only to stifle creativity. In my personal life, I like to do unexpected things at unexpected times; things that are outside of society’s “norms”, and don’t follow the “rules” of the ...

Sometimes Art Class Isn’t Just About Art By my fourth year of teaching, I had learned a few things about my kids. They were each others worst enemies. That’s the problem with taking all the “bad” kids and sticking them together…they feed off of each other. There’s no “regular” kids to set the standard. There’s no peers that offer an ...

originally uploaded by mriggen A 7 year old dies after being held face-down for hours. A 13 year old hangs himself in a seclusion room.  A 4 year old with cerebral palsy and autism experiences bruising and post traumatic stress disorder after her teachers restrain her in a chair with leather straps.  These are just some of the findings of ...

It never really gets easier. I get better at my schpeal, but telling a parent their child tested in the retarded range is never easy. It can lead to some very awkward and emotional moments, especially when a parent is getting the news for the first time and the child is FOURTEEN years old. I present to you, Awkward Conversation #249 (get a fresh ...

Today Amelia Bedelia was gone again (she had planned a trip before she got this job), so we had last Friday and today without her.  And…Leo was once again just fine.  So was Edward, for that matter. I treated Leo like I would any other child, so when he refused to clean up I took him over to the timeout chair for a brief timeout.  He ...