We know how important data collection in special education is but how can we make it work in actual classrooms? There are so many factors that play into our data collection and analysis systems that go beyond our control and can make it challenging for us and our paras to collect data. In this episode, I am joined by Sasha Long who is sharing recommendations for data collection, tips for beginning teachers, and a great perspective on the state of where we’re at in teaching. 

Sasha Long, BCBA, M.A., is the founder and president of The Autism Helper, Inc. She is a board certified behavior analyst and former special education teacher. Sasha shares strategies and best practices through her blog, podcast, membership, and online courses. Sasha travels internationally as a speaker and consultant providing individualized training and feedback to parents, educators, therapists and administrators in the world of autism.

02:28 - Why reinforcement is so important in making data work in the classroom

06:40 - Sasha’s tips for making data collection in the classroom easier

09:30 - Why we need to allow for flexibility in the way that data is collected by others

12:34 - Sasha’s best advice for beginning teachers setting up a data system

23:49 - The difference between behavior data and academic data

28:47 - Sasha’s reminder about data collection in the current state of teaching

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode167

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One of the most important factors in teaching language and communication is to ensure that we create many opportunities to practice throughout the day. As special educators, we know that to help our students improve communication skills, we must provide the tools needed for them to communicate beyond just when we are working on communication. In this episode, I am diving into the importance of encouraging communication throughout the day, why students’ communication systems are available to them at all times, and ways to engineer the classroom that supports our students in improving their communication skills.

If you are looking for tools to help engineer your classroom, be sure to check out my communication boards. I'd love to hear how else you are engineering your classroom! Come share your ideas or pictures inside the Facebook group. I can’t wait to see how you are setting your classroom up to help encourage communication!

02:33 - Why we need to ensure students are getting many opportunities to practice communicating throughout the day and how to track these opportunities 

06:34 - The importance of making sure that students’ communication systems are available throughout the day, not just when we are intentionally practicing communication

11:12 - Why having different types of communication supports set up in the classroom is crucial to improving communication skills

12:28 - How to set up communication devices to include special vocabulary when needed

14:03 - How to increase the number of opportunities students have to practice communicating during activities

18:02 - Why including simple switches in your classroom is incredibly beneficial for your students

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode166

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As special educators, it is so important to help our students expand their  functions of communication and enhance their communication skills. It is especially important for our students who use any kind of augmentative communication that we help them to build their communication skills.

In this episode, I am sharing 8 things you can do to help support communication within your classroom, particularly if you’re working with students who use augmentative communication, including the importance of core vocabulary, why we want to combine communication activities, and providing the “Goldilocks” of communication.

If you are looking for more ways to ramp up your communication instruction for the coming year, join me inside the Special Educator Academy! There is a whole set of resources for communication and so many more topics that I know will help take your teaching to the next level! I can’t wait to see you inside! 

03:13 - Why we need to focus on the function of communication rather than the form of communication

04:40 - What core vocabulary is and why it’s important when building students’ communication skills

08:31 - Why we should start with requesting but then move on 

09:14 - The importance of creating communication opportunities throughout the day

10:36 - Why students need the opportunities to practice combining communication activities

11:36 - How to model for students using their tools of communication

12:46 - The benefits of having repeated practice of communication activities for students

14:42 - What the “Goldilocks of communication” is and why it’s crucial in helping students build their communication skills

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode165

Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free

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There are so many ways and reasons we use communication. Helping our students communicate effectively and expand the ways in which they are communicating is key. It’s important that we work on why a student is communicating and what they are trying to say rather than focusing on how they communicate it. In this episode, I'm talking about why the functions of communication are important, what different functions of communication are, and how we can help our students with these different communicative functions. 

I’ve gotten so many requests to cover communication and language and I am so happy to share this episode with you! If you have topics you’d like to hear covered on the podcast, please send me an email at [email protected]. I would love to hear from you!

01:46 - What communication functions are and why we care about them

04:01 - The difference between intentional communication and unintentional communication

07:26 -  A look at communication functions for regulation

11:58 - Social interaction functions and how to help teach our students these functions

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode164

Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free

Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com

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The end of the school year is quickly approaching which means that both students and teachers are getting a little squirrelly. So how can we keep our students on track, reduce the chaos, and keep student behavior under control? In today’s episode, I am sharing 5 strategies to help reduce end of year behavior challenges so you and your students can continue to thrive.

What’s your best way of coping with the end of the school year? Let me know inside the Facebook group! Share a picture of this podcast and let’s talk more about it.

02:36 - The importance of adding in more visuals at the end of the school year

08:30 - How to redirect using a combination of words and visuals

10:26 - What the High Octane Mix is and why now is the time to start using it

13:55 - Why we need to keep the schedule as consistent as possible at the end of the year

14:56 - How using social stories is especially beneficial this time of year

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode163

Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free

Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com

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The past few years have been especially stressful and exhausting for teachers. Students still have not fully adjusted to being back in the classroom and we have been seeing more behaviors than we have in the past. That means that now more than ever, coping strategies and true self care are so crucial for teachers. 

In this episode, Kelsey Sorenson of Wife Teacher Mommy is joining me to talk all things self care. She is sharing actionable tips to help you balance all your different roles, how to conceptualize events in a way that will impact how you feel about them, and the upcoming Educate and Rejuvenate event. 

I’d love to hear what you are taking away from this episode! Join the Facebook group and share your favorite tips and takeaways!

06:59 - Tips for handling stress about things that are out of our control

13:22 - Kelsey’s take on how teachers can advocate for what they need

22:16 - Why self care isn’t selfish

23:16 - What self care is and what it looks like

29:15 - Suggestions for how teachers can spend their time this summer preparing for next school year while also taking a much needed break

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode162

Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free

Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com

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A crucial part of building strong relationships with families is ensuring that there is a clear communication method between home and school. One of the hardest parts of establishing a communication system is deciding what needs to be shared and how to share this information in a way that works for both you and the families. We all know how busy special education teachers are and families are often quite busy as well so having efficient and effective communication is key.

Finding how to communicate with parents effectively does not need to be complicated. In this episode, I am sharing 5 things you should not do and 5 things you should do when communicating with families. 

Are you loving what you are hearing on the show? DM me on Instagram or leave a review and let me know. I love to hear when I have had an impact on others!

01:12 - Why having a home-school communication system is so important

03:37 - The 5 Don'ts of a strong communication system between school and families

13:20 - The 5 Dos of parent communication

19:58 - My secret tip for successful home-school communication

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode161

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One of the most important elements in an IEP run smoothly is a strong and established teacher parent relationship. These relationships are the heart of the educational experience for all students, not just Special Ed. Teachers and parents both want to ensure their students are being provided the best education possible and establishing trusting and positive teacher parent relationships is crucial to doing so.

All children do better when school and home are working together to support them and there are so many reasons to focus on building relationships with parents. In this episode, we are looking at why it is so important to have strong teacher parent relationships.

If you’ve gotten any great takeaways from this episode, I’d love it if you leave a review or DM me on Instagram and let me know. It’s so inspiring to hear when I have had an impact on others!

02:45 - The importance of having positive teacher parent relationships

05:08 - How having a positive relationship with parents can be beneficial when issues arise

07:33 - Why building a strong relationship is especially important when our students have limited communication skills

11:23 - How having good home-school communication is beneficial when working on generalization of skills

13:23 - The importance of a strong parent teacher relationship to foster a feeling of safety for both students and parents

14:21 - Why teachers and parents need to work as a team with the common goal of supporting the student as best as possible

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode160

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Focusing on literacy can be difficult for special education teachers. The relationship between language and reading and the difficulties some of our students have can make teaching literacy challenging. Literacy expert Sara Marye is joining us to share some amazing strategies for teaching literacy to help us better reach our students.

Sara is a former teacher, literacy coach, and assistant principal and is the creator behind The Stellar Teacher Company. She is an expert at helping teachers better support their students in reading and writing. In this episode, she is sharing practical and effective ways we can use routines to help our students develop their reading skills and become confident writers.

Join us in the Special Educators’ Connection Facebook group and let us know how Sara's routines are working in your classroom!

01:53 - Sara’s background as a classroom teacher and literacy expert and how she now supports teachers in finding ways to effectively and efficiently implement strategies for teaching literacy

03:40 - What a literacy routine is

04:59 - Examples of a literacy routines that would help students build the foundational literacy skills many students need

11:00 - How to include literacy routines into the day and how it benefits students with disabilities 

15:05 - Benefits of using a literacy routine with students

19:57 - How teachers can get started with literacy routines in their classrooms 

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode159

Listen to Sara's podcast, The Stellar Teacher Podcast: https://www.stellarteacher.com/podcast

Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free

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Having someone come into your classroom for a teacher observation can be a stressful experience that most of us are not too fond of. But being observed by an instructional coach, principal, or even another teacher can be a very positive thing. Having others observe you and your classroom gives you opportunities to make your classroom better.

When we can move past the stress of being observed, we can see that having another person allows us to improve in areas we weren’t aware needed improving. It gives us another perspective and fresh ideas that can help us better serve our students. Although having a  teacher observation can be uncomfortable, it is a great opportunity for collaboration and today, I am sharing tips to make the feedback discussion as productive as possible.

Join us in the Special Educator Academy  where you’ll be surrounded by others looking to collaborate as well as trainings and strategies to best help your students!

03:19 - Why getting a fresh perspective from an observer can be incredibly helpful in improving your classroom

04:16 - How having an observer with a different skill set can allow for new ideas and strategies

06:03 - The importance of avoiding becoming defensive when receiving feedback from your teacher observation

07:58 - How to talk about what you think is going well in your classroom with the observer

11:36 - Why you should work with the observer to create an action plan

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode158

Join the Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library: https://autismclassroomresources.com/free

Want more information about the Special Educator Academy? SpecialEducatorAcademy.com

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