Download my FREE Being a Good Friend Social Story and Choices Sorting Mat! I look forward to connecting with you and sharing SpEd Spot tips and FREEBIES! Download the Social Story Built with ConvertKit In the special education classroom, student behaviors often stem from a deficit in social skills. If we only reactively address the behavior, then it will be hard to see lasting improvement. However, proactively addressing behavior concerns with social skills direct instruction can make a huge difference! Problem Scenario Do you have students who struggle with expected behaviors when interacting with peers and maintaining friendships? This year, I have some girls in particular that are quite catty which has led to a lot of unexpected drama! I also had some boys who were a bit “mindblind” and only thought of themselves when it came to winning, being first in line, or playing with certain toys. Being a Good Friend Social Skills Direct Instruction When teaching social skills (or ......

Many students with autism have difficulty with transitioning. This is another great idea from the Miami Valley ACT team for managing transitions.  How it works: Provide word or picture at the bottom of the ruler to indicate what the next activity will be. Starting at 5, take off number cards to visually countdown to the next activity. Pros: perfect for kids who have difficulty transitioning (especially from a preferred activity to a nonpreferred activity), teacher remains in control of the timetable (versus a visual timer which cannot be controlled). Cons: difficult to remember to do each time there will be a transition ...

Unfortunately I cannot take full credit for this system. This idea came to me from the amazing Miami Valley Regional Center ACT team (see Autism Team Moodle post under great books and websites). However, ever since implementing this idea it has made a world of difference with one student with autism. How it works: Student chooses what reinforcer to work for and places picture/word in designated spot. As they complete the given task(s) they are able to remove a token from the Velcro strip. Once all of the tokens are finished, they earn the reinforcer. Pros: great for kids who need to know when they will be done or have trouble staying on task Cons: very structured approach I have modified my visual contract to make it even more structured however due to this one kiddos specialized needs. The big concern we had with him was he HATED structured teacher time. He would have a meltdown every time he knew it was time to work one-on-one with myself or one of my paras. Knowin......

This system is my favorite and my most popular one to use this year. It is so easy. How it works: Student starts with designated number of cubes. Cubes aretaken when student engages in undesirable behavior. Colored cubes can be usedto designate “timeout” or other consequence.     Pros: materials are easily accessible, greattangible way to provide warnings Cons: emphasis on negative behavior, timeout isnot feasible in all settings ...

How it works: Student selects a reinforcer to work for. Student earns “tokens” for demonstrating desired behaviors. Once all of the tokens are earned, student receives reinforcer and systems starts over again. Pros: emphasis on positive behavior, teacher can control pace of earning tokens Cons: once tokens are earned they should not be taken away, providing time for certain reinforcement can be hard to schedule ...

This is the cutest treasure chest I have ever owned! I knew I had to have it the moment I saw it at IKEA. On top of how incredibly cute it is, this treasure chest is also very lightweight (even though it is pretty big) and cheap! It was only $15!! http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30079407/ ...

Each week my students work towards earning the weekly behavior reward movie. On Fridays, students who have had a good week (based on staying on "green" on the behavior wheel) get to watch a movie during the last half-hour of the day (and sometimes get a popcorn treat as well!). I use the pictured chart to monitor who will get to watch the movie that week. At the end of each day, we have our afternoon behavior meeting where students discuss their behavior and get to move their car if they earned it.  Not only is our car chart super cute, but it also aligns with our classroom C.A.R.S. theme which stands for Capable And Responsible Students....