Here are the items that were always on my wish list:

1) Velcro- I always bought the dots the most. It saves time and scissors. I also always labeled the boxes. Soft went on the surface and hard went on the pictures/ icons. I snagged too many sweaters- so this was a pet peeve of mine and my paras knew it. School Specialty was where I found it the cheapest and I bought the biggest rolls that I could find. There is also Veltex which is Velcro fabric so you can make large bulletin boards for schedules, calendar, etc.

2) Home laminator: This is totally a splurge item, but I always needed laminating when the machine was either broken or when it was not the official laminating day. PS- the amazon brand laminating sheets are the best!

3) CARD STOCK- I cannot say it enough. White card stock is your friend!

4) Plastic Shoe Boxes-These come in handy for making task boxes, containing IEP goal materials and data sheet, and general organization. You can find them for a dollar a piece- so they are an investment, but it is worth it. PS- you can use Sharpie marker on them and take it off with nail polish remover.

5) Take Out for Frozen Meal food containers- These are great to store small pieces in OR to do sorting activities.

6) Binders: At the end of the year, I would go through the hallways after locker clean out day and find brand new binders. Any binder that had a clear paper holder front, I would add to my collection. I used these for everything- notes home, data collection binders, IEP materials, IEP binders, transition binders, etc. The sky is the limit for binders.

7) Home paper cutter: do not individually cut out icons. I prefer this paper cutter because its lighter weight and folds nicely without having the huge handle.

Feeling overwhelmed and stressed at the start of the school year is normal for educators. Establishing classroom routines, procedures, and expectations at the start of the school year can be an impactful way to reduce stress.

Strong classroom management can prevent disruptive behaviors, increase student engagement, and create a positive classroom environment. Spending the time establishing strong classroom procedures now, will prevent unnecessary stress throughout the school year!

Here are quick tips on effective classroom management:

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/classroom-management-problems/

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/classroom-management-plan/

https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/stop-yelling-at-students/

I highly recommend, "The First Days of School", by Wong and Wong.

I worked for two different school districts and both used KIDDS for their IEP's.

I agree with Erean - reading should be individualized. Some students do not hear the various phonetic sounds, this can be true, especially with students who have speech difficulties. I wouldn't eliminate phonics from any reading program unless the student becomes too frustrated. There are many ways to teach phonics and using a visual type program can be rewarding and beneficial for many students.

My school was exceptional with this. First, the specials must meet regularly with the grade-level teachers to learn the curriculum. In art, they studied and created shapes and studied abstract artists/art. PE had an entire curriculum based on balance and focus. In music, they created rhythms and songs to learn about historical facts and to memorize information.

I love the idea of a strengths assessment. This creates a way to share responsibilities and to rely on her/him for suggestions.

Listen to the parent without interruptions. Stay calm and don't let your frustrations show in your voice. As you listen, attempt to find things you can agree with. Take every opportunity to share positive things about their child before communicating negative things. Continue to build positive communication between the difficult meetings.

Before jumping in with suggestions, take the time to get to know your mentee. Building trust will create an open relationship. Look for the positives and build from there.

Kristen, I like that idea of only getting a few students at a time. It gives you a better opportunity to interact with each student.
Those first moments of interaction are very important. When the students see you waiting for them at the door, lets them know that you are excited to see them. Have an activity that they can be working on so that you can interact with the others. A couple of ideas might be having a scavenger hunt (this would allow them to move around and become familiar with the classroom). Another idea is to have them draw a self-portrait and write words on it that describe themself.

To piggy back off of Gina - some verbs that you might use could include:
Develop and implement

Encourage

Create and foster

Provided various hands-on activities

Monitor and record

I found this list that might be useful:
https://www.teachstarter.com/us/blog/teacher-favorite-5th-grade-books/

A good team leader possesses effective communication skills, strong ethics, empathy, and the ability to inspire the other teachers. They create a positive work environment, maintain team morale, and establish healthy working relationships with their team members.

This sounds like such an easy questions, but all teachers experience this!! It's important to give all your students a chance to participate but we always have those who are so eager to answer that they often blurt out the answer. Setting the rules and modeling them is important. Whether you use a talking stick or a creative way to call on your students, you will need to practice and be consistent every time!

I have been exploring the features of goblin.tools and have identified potential benefits in utilizing it with students to provide feedback on their writing and help them understand how their work is perceived by others. Additionally, I believe it could be a valuable tool for teachers in crafting behavior narratives.

I catch up on my reading - both enjoyment and professional

I send them positive emails to let them know how much they are appreciated.

Using an online forum, we mentor new teachers to provide support, resources and answer any questions that come up. Mentors are trained to provide prompt feedback so that the new teachers do not have to wait for assistance. Having an online system has been effective because there is no time restraints and the teachers have support 24/7.

What learning hooks have you used to engage your students?

Have you ever used livebinder? It is a digital notebook that you can create tabs and download materiel (and it's free!)
https://www.livebinders.com/welcome/

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got" is a quote by Henry Ford

Work closely with the sped. teacher. He/She can provide you with details of how the students learns best and what accommodations/modifications they might need.

Here is a youtube video that has songs for this:
https://youtu.be/pflZuQfp6go

I have used something similar only using dots on the coins. The hair is an even better idea! Any time you can incorporate fun visuals, the students are going to have fun and remember! Thank you for sharing this!

Gina, using your OT for guidance is an excellent plan! Our OT is just as amazing - providing tracking activities to assist. One of the activities she has me do (individually with students) was to use a pencil topper or eraser and have the student follow it going right to left, up and down and sideways. Another activity that I used was a sight word tracking page, where the student highlighted specific sight words that were buried within other words.

Dawn and Kristen have given some great ideas for comprehension. It is also important for students to have the appropriate background information before reading. Providing them with this helps them to be able to “identify” and relate their own background to the story.

I write the sight words on cards using a crayon and a different color for each letter. The waxy crayon gives them a tactile feel when they trace the words with their finger. The different colors for each letter gives them colors to help visually. Also, start with a small amount then gradually add as they are learned.

I have kept every card and note from my students and parents. They are a nice reminder that what I am doing is appreciated.

This is where building relationships at the beginning of the year help. If you have regular phone calls or emails to inform your parents about both successes and difficulties, your parents are going to trust you. Often times, we only contact our parents when there is a problem.

This is where building relationships at the beginning is key. Getting to know them and letting them know that you are always going to be in their corner. I also started out with material that I knew that they could be successful, then built from there. This helped to build their confidence and they were always willing to give me their best effort. We also celebrated every single accomplishment.

I always used an agenda so that I could stay on task and keep on schedule. I took notes as we talked so that I could follow up with anything later.

visuals

Visuals are beneficial for learning!

Anchor charts are great tools to support what your students are learning, keep students engaged, provide a visual to capture key information and to help your students be more independent.

You can use anchor charts to introduce a new concept, review what you have taught, and provide your students a visual reference.

Need some ideas?
https://www.boredteachers.com/post/30-awesome-anchor-charts
https://luckylittlelearners.com/ideas-for-organizing-anchor-charts/

You need to be very specific with your student. Avoid using sarcasm - they take everything literally. I'm not sure what age your student is, but you might consider a social story. I always found that if you incorporate the social story with something that they are interested in. For example, I had a second grade student who loved robots so he had a social story that had robots as the characters. Carol Gray is a leader in social stories and you can read more about them here: https://carolgraysocialstories.com/

As a special ed. resource teacher, scheduling has always been a difficult task. I found that using a hands on interactive board, the task becomes much easier to see. I start by creating magnetic tickets for each of my students with the amount of time that they need to be scheduled. Using a magnetized board, it makes it easy to move things around and visually see who is scheduled. It also makes it easy to change schedules easily when there is a change in the routine. Here is a picture of my schedule board that includes my paras and who they are scheduled to work with for the day.

I agree with Noraa. Many of our difficult parents only hear from us when there is something negative to tell them. Give parents positive notes or phone calls along with those difficult conversations.

Take a movement or brain break. Here are some ideas: https://www.theottoolbox.com/brain-breaks/

Take a movement or brain break. Here are some ideas: https://www.theottoolbox.com/brain-breaks/

1.Make sure that your students know the goal and deadline for each task.
2. Create exit tickets for each center.
3. Celebrate each student's completed center.

Don't be afraid to ask questions. Lean on the seasoned teachers - they are always glad to help and share ideas.

Having a binder is a great idea for keeping student information and data. Several years ago, I became acquainted with an online binder called https://www.livebinders.com a free platform that allows you to keep information. It works just like a hands on notebook with tabs and a place to keep information. The best part about it, is that you always have it at your fingertips instead of having to lug around a notebook.

You can also give your students something to listen for. (For example: John is going to find something that changes everything, listen and see if you can see what it is…..)

Ashley, I’ve done something similar with cards that I received over the years from students.

How about using a little MAGIC! The magic 5:1 ratio is an evidence-based positive behavior strategy that helps us to increase our use of positive social reinforcement by increasing our focus on the positives. The research on the ratio shows us that for every 1 negative interaction (redirection, academic correction, feelings not being validated, being ignored by adults or peers, etc.) there must be 5 positive interactions (being listened to, someone validating our feelings, ideas being appreciated, accepted by adults or peers, etc.).

This 5:1 ratio has been studied and found effective in personal relationships, professional relationships, and in schools. In schools, the 5:1 ratio has been found to increase students' feelings of connectedness and positivity towards their classroom peers and teachers. By focusing on the positives and appropriate student behavior, teachers were able to increase student engagement in academic tasks, increase appropriate student behavior, and increase the overall positivity of the classroom. And who couldn’t use more positivity in their life?

Can it really be that easy? YES~ but know that at first, all that positivity can seem fake, silly, or ridiculously hard to find. As teachers, we are trained to solve problems, therefore by nature, we look for problems. The 5:1 magic ratio makes us shift our focus and combat our natural instincts. It takes practice to look for the positives, but I promise that they are all around us- if we take the time to look.

Here are some tips to get started:

• Ignore low-level disruptive behaviors, and instead find a student doing the opposite and appropriate behavior. Give that student direct positive feedback- “Johnny, thank you for raising your hand.” OR “Susie, I appreciate you lining up quickly and quietly.”

• Use positive greetings to introduce lessons. “I am so glad all of you are here today, we have some fascinating and exciting math learning activities.” OR “This is the best lesson ever because today I get to teach you how to make the sound of letter K.”

• Take 2 minutes to have student lead conversations. For example, have a question on the board that references something your students would like to talk about “What you had for dinner” and then allow students to tell you all about the topic- or anything else for 2 minutes. Validate that your students are important to you by showing interest and engagement in what they share.

• Use positive gestures to acknowledge students when they answer questions correctly or demonstrate a classroom expectation.

Here are a few fairly simple changes that could be made to assignments to make them more appropriate for your students:

Method
– change how the lesson is delivered. Use charts, music, books, props, video or infographics.
Materials
– have students produce their work using crayons, markers, paint, modeling clay, computer software, cameras, popsicle sticks, or Cheerios.
Product
– change the assignment from writing to drawing, art, music, drama, or voice recording. Have students create a poster, diorama or power point presentation.
Quantity
– change the number of questions, length of assignment, or ask for odd-numbered answers only.
Groupings
– change how the students are grouped for the lesson. Will they work in pairs, small groups or be independent? Will the student work with a teacher, a paraprofessional or other support personnel by phone or video conference?
Grade
– change the grade-level expectations of the activity. Go down a grade or up a grade depending on the student’s ability.
Teacher
– change the teacher! Ask the Reg. Ed. teacher if you can create a support video to deliver the lesson.
Resources
– change the resources you use for class activities. Look for different web sites, online manipulatives, virtual read alouds, or websites where students can listen to texts as they read along.

Playing board games, watching a movie or using stories to discuss emotions with questions. Observe your students on the playground and use those "teachable moments" to point out feelings.

1. Model - this goes without saying for teaching any skill!
2. When you see someone demonstrating emphathy, point it out and praise them for it.
3. Set aside some time to teach emotions.
4. Get your students involved in the community.

Sorry for all the information in my above comment. Copy/Paste Error! Not sure how to delete!!!

. Going into your classroom for the first time can be overwhelming. Desks are usually pushed against the walls, bulletin boards are empty and everything looks so uninviting. You look around wondering where to begin and to arrange everything. It's even more frustrating when you walk through the school and see the "seasoned" teachers with amazing rooms that look like they hired a decorator!
Title: Time for Some Fun. (These were your ideas from the RMI)

Mentors, don't forget to participate!

Are you a listener or a talker?
What is the last song on your playlist?
What is your favorite treat?
Do you like summer or winter, books or films, salty or sweet treats, etc.....
What's something people would not believe about you if you told them?
What is the funniest comment a student has said to you?
Two truths and a lie
Would you rather......go to the beach or mountains, drink coke or pepsi)
Share your "most beloved/can't live without it" school supply
Share your favorite "go-to" supper ideas for super busy school nights.
You Can Only Choose One (example: go on vacation to....1. cabin in the woods. 2. beach 3. spa, etc.)
Share your favorite idea/activity to use for......
What are the 3 most often emoji's you use on your phone?
If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would you go? Why?
In 1 or 2 words, where are you going to go to treat yourself after school? (Dairy Queen, Starbucks, Sonic, McDonalds)
Take a picture of the view from your window and share it with us.
Name a random thing that always makes you smile?
Name one thing that people don't know about you?
Name your favorite (soda, candy, color....)
Would you rather have more money or more time?
What are 2 qualities that you have that make you a Super Hero?
If you were famous for the last thing you did before leaving for school today, what would you be famous for?
Congratulations! You just won the Lottery. The only catch is you have to spend it on your classroom and/or students. What would you buy?
Name 2 truths and a lie about yourself..... guess which one is the lie!
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Title: Setting Up Your Classrooms

. Going into your classroom for the first time can be overwhelming. Desks are usually pushed against the walls, bulletin boards are empty and everything looks so uninviting. You look around wondering where to begin and to arrange everything. At the beginning of the year, you might not have any idea on how to make your room inviting. It's even more frustrating when you walk through the school and see the "seasoned" teachers with amazing rooms that look like they hired a decorator! Having a theme can often spark some creativity and get you started. Here are some room ideas that might inspire you:

https://www.weareteachers.com/classroom-before-and-after-photos/?utm_content=1628821474&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

For Discussion:

Tell us about your classroom or better yet, post a picture!
If you need ideas - maybe one of us can help you.
........................................................................
Title: Getting to Know Your Students

No matter what level you teach, establishing a rapport with your students is key to knowing how to help them learn. This is especially true for special education teachers. Our students need to know that they can trust you and you want them to succeed. Let’s share some of our favorite ways to build a relationship with our students.

Here’s one that can be used individually or as a group:

A 30 second interaction can build relationships. Give yourself a simple goal: Learn one new thing about a student each day. Ask intentional questions. Rather than “How is your day?” or “How’s it going?” ask a question like:

What is something I don’t know about you?
What’s been the highlight of your week?
I noticed you ________, tell me more about that
It can be an added challenge to get to know our students who are non-verbal, but it is just as essential. What are some ways you build relationships with all your students, no matter their level? If your students have already started back, do you have any success stories from the week relating to relationship building?
…...............................................................

Setting up your classroom’s physical space, and establishing classroom routines are among the most important things you will do at the beginning of the year.
*What kind of environment do you want to encourage?
*Do you want your students to interact? Keep this in mind when you are arranging tables/desks.
*How can you arrange your classroom so that your students have a feeling of ownership and community?

In her book, Mindset, Carol Dweck argues that students have an underlying belief about learning: either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A fixed mindset belief suggests that people are born with or without certain abilities and talents, and that abilities cannot be changed. Fixed mindset learners try to prove themselves and will often shy away from challenges because they do not want to appear to be struggling. A growth mindset learner, on the other hand, believes that abilities and talents can be cultivated and improved through hard work. Growth mindset students enjoy a challenge and see struggles and failures as necessary parts of growth. Learners with a growth mindset are certainly more motivated to work hard.

How do you foster a growth mindset in your classroom?

-Praise students for their efforts and hard work.
-Model the growth mindset. Ask your students for feedback about your teaching and be willing to make necessary changes.
-Give students timely and descriptive feedback from the assessment so that they can move forward in their learning.

Games are great for learning! Here are some games:
https://www.splashlearn.com/blog/sight-word-activities-for-kids/

The Library of Congress has free educational sets that teachers can use:

Here are some free primary source materials from the Library of Congress that are are free for teachers:

https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/?fa=partof_type:primary+source+set

There are also teachers guide:

https://www.loc.gov/programs/teachers/getting-started-with-primary-sources/guides/

We use student data to inform our teaching. We gather data through progress monitoring, formal and informal assessments, observations, and file reviews. All this data helps to inform our practices and help us to answer the questions:
1) what are our students’ current strengths and barriers (weaknesses)

2) how will we know when they have mastered a skill and

3) how will we respond if the student is not making progress toward a skill?

Here is an article about ways that data can inform our instruction: https://www.edutopia.org/blog/using-student-data-inform-teaching-rebecca-alber and
another article about how to share data effectively: https://globalfrp.org/content/download/102/695/file/7-DataSharingTipSheets-HarvardFamilyResearchProject%20(2).pdf

If you walk into a collaborative classroom, you will see: respect, curiousity, and students interacting positively with one another, and students expressing their ideas without the fear of judgement.

It takes time to develop this type of learnig environment. Students need to build relationships with one another as the teacher demonstrates these characteristics as she develops her own relationships.

To create a collaborative classroom, the teacher must be a role model for:
1. Respect - make all students feel that their opinion is valued.
2. Open minded - demonstrate that everyone is accepted and can feel comfortable in sharing their opinion.
3. Diversity- Point out special qualities that students might have and these unique qualities can often add to learning.

Four parts of collaboration:
1. Identify
2.