Primarily Au-Some

from disability to possibity

Community Resources for the Sped Classroom

Life skills are a crucial part in many of our students days. We must balance academics with them though, even though we all sometimes wish, life skills could be a bigger part of our students' days. So how can we combine life skills and academics?! Well, I've got a few ideas for you below! 1. Grocery ads. Yes. These are free my wonderful sped friends! I use real grocery ads and use them in a few ... Read More about Community Resources for the Sped Classroom

Organizing for IEP’s at the Beginning of the Year

If you've read my blog before, you know I'm all about working smarter, not harder. That's why I've stream lined the process I use in organizing and planning for IEP's.  I'd like to think at this point I'm a pro at IEP's. I've written countless and in the past 2 years have sat through more than 150 IEP's each year! Yes. You read that right. That is 300 in the last two years, if you have ... Read More about Organizing for IEP’s at the Beginning of the Year

Working Effectively & Collaborating with Paraprofessionals!

A great parapro can save you time, help increase student learning, and basically be your right hand. On the other hand a bad parapro can make your life harder in many ways. A good parapro is worth their weight in gold. I’ve had the privileged to work with some amazing Para's and also was unlucky to work with a few who were less than stellar. So what is the secret to having a great ... Read More about Working Effectively & Collaborating with Paraprofessionals!

Exposing The Hidden Curriculum

The first time I heard about the “Hidden Curriculum”, I started thinking…. “Oh, Crap! What did I miss. We never talked about that in college. Is it a Math curriculum? A really good Reading Curriculum?” I was perplexed but didn’t want to embarrass myself by asking what it was, since it must be what all the great teachers use in their classrooms. “Am I the only one who doesn’t know what this ... Read More about Exposing The Hidden Curriculum

Using iMovie in the Special Education Classroom

I'm always searching for ways I can make my life easier in my work. Work smarter, not harder. That's what we all want, right? Well I've figured out that using iMovie in the sped classroom is, well, pretty genius, if you ask me. Although I'm not trying to toot my own horn! haha.  If you aren't familiar with iMovie you can google for tutorials on how to use it. It's fairly easy, but it will ... Read More about Using iMovie in the Special Education Classroom