It’s usually about the end of November or early December that my fellow teachers and I realize that we should start discussing paraprofessionals and support staff gifts ideas for our incredible staff. Sadly, we’ve usually missed the prime Black Friday deals and there isn’t much time for shopping aro...

I have never been to an IEP meeting with an unlimited amount of time and I’ve been to over 100. IEP meetings are designed to create a legal document, so they are incredibly important for the student, but they often have time limits. Unfortunately, this doesn’t lend itself to organic conversation, ma...

Community based instruction trips/outings (aka CBI trips) are (hopefully) part of the daily, if not weekly, schedule for your students in special education.  

CBIs can also be referred to as Community Based Learning or CBLs.   CBIs are valuable experiences for all students, from middle school, t...

The first week of school usually triggers thoughts of anxiety, feelings of chaos and exhaustion, and meltdowns (from adults, not necessarily students), and while some of that is true I have been doing ONE thing from the past 3 years and I’ll never go back! On day two or three, I give every student m...