Working with the adults in your classroom is oftentimes more of a challenge than working with your students. Working as a team can be complicated because you likely did not hire them and you are not their boss, but you are evaluated on how well you work together to serve your students. Even with varying opinions and experiences, it’s so important to handle difficult relationships and conflict with respect.

We want our team to work effectively and a major piece to working effectively is the ability to respectfully resolve conflicts. To help with this, I am sharing five strategies for conflict resolution to help you create more positive interactions with your staff.  

If you are struggling with conflict resolution, come check out the Special Educator Academy where we have some amazing resources to help you train classroom staff and build effective teams.

06:31 - How bringing helpful tools to teachers can be used as a preventative strategy for conflict resolution

09:01 - Why you should be finding out the story behind the staff on your team

11:59 - The importance of setting teachers and staff up for easy successes

13:28 - Why you should be acknowledging the positives, no matter how small

15:44 - What to do if you cannot resolve the problem

Grab the transcript and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode157

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There are a lot of differing opinions on how to do things best in the classroom. This can cause some challenges when collaborating and making sure all staff members are on the same page. Even with differing opinions, expectations, and experiences, collaboration in special education is so important so we can best serve our students.

It is so important that we keep the focus on our students and student progress and not get derailed by our differences. I have five strategies that will promote collaboration in special education and help set you and your staff up for success and help to minimize the challenges and pushback by focusing on respect and collaboration within the team.

I would love to see your classroom visions and hear about any frustrations or challenges you're facing! Send me a message on Instagram @autismclassroomresources and share your thoughts!

05:28 - Why having a classroom vision is so important and tips for creating one

10:27 - The importance of active listening and letting your staff know they are heard

11:32 - Why you should be using “I Statements” when making suggestions or corrections

12:53 - How keeping the focus on the students and goals helps staff to see that you are on their side

14:55 - Why asking your staff how you can help when there is a problem is more beneficial than just providing a solution

Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode156

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The CORE framework is all about helping you create systems to make your classroom run efficiently and smoothly. A key component to an efficient classroom is making sure that your team works well together and understands what they should be doing and how they should be doing it. Making sure that your special education paraprofessionals know all the details of how the classroom runs will help create a classroom that operates without a lot of questions or confusion.

Using a zoning plan to build teamwork within your classroom staff is so beneficial to helping your classroom run smoothly. In this episode, I am answering some common questions I get about zoning plans and how they help special education paraprofessionals clearly understand their duties. 

Let me know your thoughts on using zoning plans in your classroom! Send me a message on Instagram @autismclassroomresources and let me know if you use zoning plans, if you love them, or if you haven’t started with them yet.

02:59 - What a zoning plan is and how it is not just a staff schedule

04:04 - Why is it called a zoning plan?

06:28 - Do you have to use zones in a zoning plan?

09:47 - Should you give your special education paraprofessionals and other staff breaks?

12:00 - How do you develop a zoning plan?

Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode155

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Getting to school and finding out you have a staff member absent can be a major source of stress if you are not prepared. The good news is your autism classroom setup can greatly reduce the amount of overwhelm and stress in these situations. If you have your plans in place, a staff absence will not throw off the whole day for you or your students.

Having your classroom systems set up and practiced will help your classroom run smoothly no matter what situation is thrown your way. Being prepared with a plan for when you or a staff member is out is so important for preventing issues when you are a person down.

I would love to hear your experiences with being a staff member down! Join the free Facebook group and share how you’ve managed being a person down.

02:35 - The difference between being prepared and not being prepared for a staff member being absent

05:45 - What steps go into making a one person down plan

08:04 - The two things you adjust when making a one person down plan

09:08 - Reasons you should be using your one person down plan regularly, even when you are fully staffed

Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode154

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Finding the right tools for effectively training paraprofessionals can be time consuming and challenging. I know how valuable your time is and how crucial it is to have your staff properly trained so I am sharing some of my favorite resources to help you provide training for paraprofessionals in special education.

As a special educator, you know how important it is for your paras to know the “why” behind doing what they do. Providing them with resources to learn why things are done frees up more of your direct training time to train them on how things are done. In this episode, I am sharing four different resources that you can use as training for paraprofessionals in your special education classroom.

Have you found other resources that I didn’t mention for training your staff? If so, I’d love to hear what you use! Send me a DM on Instagram @autismclassroomresources! If you’re looking for more support in training your paraprofessionals, grab your 7 day trial of the Special Educator Academy! 

02:23 - How to use my free webinars to train your paraprofessionals

05:43 - How using the Affirm Modules can help your paraprofessionals gain a better understanding of your classroom and strategies

08:12 - What resources are available through the IRIS Center at Vanderbilt Peabody education department at Vanderbilt University

10:34 - Why the Special Educator Academy is an amazing resource to help you train your paraprofessionals

Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode153

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How can you possibly find time to effectively train your paraprofessionals when there is little to no student-free or duty-free time to do so? It may seem overwhelming and impossible but, with your CORE systems in place, you can be successful in training paraprofessionals in your classroom.

There are several to make training paraprofessionals more achievable even with an incredibly busy schedule. In this episode, I am sharing five tips to help you train your paraprofessionals, ideas for implementing these tips, and some resources to help along the way! 

I’d love to hear your thoughts and ideas for training paraprofessionals so send me a DM on Instagram @autismclassroomresources! If you’re looking for more support in training your paraprofessionals or with the CORE model, grab your 7 day trial of the Special Educator Academy! 

03:09 - How to use a “One Man Down” plan to find time to training your paraprofessionals

05:42 - Why having someone else lead an activity makes for a great time to observe and train

06:38 - How video modeling can be incredibly useful way to train your staff

09:03 - Why checklists are a great way to clearly let staff know what is expected

12:47 - Why modeling for your paraprofessionals is one of the best ways to train them

13:51 - BONUS tip to help you successfully train your paraprofessionals

Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode152

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

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A huge factor in how efficiently and automatically your classroom runs is if your staff is on board with the classroom systems. We want our classrooms to run smoothly and with less support from you as the special education teacher. In order to do this, we must effectively communicate our expectations of special education paraprofessional duties to our staff.

There are many tools and strategies that can be implemented to help communicate the duties of the paraprofessionals in your classroom. Making sure the staff knows the students’ needs, using a zoning plan, having a system for lesson planning, and using checklists and visuals can all help to ensure your special education paraprofessional duties are understood by the staff.

Be sure to grab your FREE Staff Target Visual Supports and Lesson Plan Templates to help get these systems in place! If you’re looking for the how-to of implementing the CORE model in your classroom, grab your 7 day trial of the Special Educator Academy! 

03:43 - How to make sure that your staff knows the needs of your students using 

05:43 - Why using a zoning plan helps to ensure your staff knows what is expected of them throughout the day

08:58 - Why lesson plans are so important in making sure your staff knows what they need to do for each activity

11:19 - How to use checklists to communicate the steps of routine tasks

12:05 - What you can use as visual supports for staff

Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode151

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Using the CORE model of systems in your classroom can free up time to do more direct instruction, planning, and time for yourself. In order for these systems to help reduce stress and exhaustion, they must be set up ahead of time. One key thing to set up ahead of time are the systems of instruction we will use in our classroom.

As special educators, we need to make sure that our systems of instruction are set up in a way that allows us to instruct in a predictable way that follows best practices. So today, we are talking about characteristics of strong instructional programs and why we should always use consistent methods of instruction.

I’d love to hear what systems work for you! Come join us in the Special Educators Connection Facebook Group and share your favorite teaching methods! If you’re looking for more support with your systems of instruction, check out the Special Educator Academy! 

02:02 - The 3 things to focus on for a strong instructional program

05:25 - The importance of repetition when learning something new

07:47- Why we should be using consistent methods of instruction and how having a written teaching plan helps with that

10:34 - Why we need to ensure we are setting up our programs to help students generalize their skills

14:13 - How checklists are beneficial in an instructional system

Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode150

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As special educators, we have so many things going on in our classrooms everyday. We all want to find a way to be more efficient and save time in the classroom. That’s where the CORE model comes in. Setting up the different elements of the CORE model may take some time upfront but will save you so much time in the long run.

When trying to save time in the classroom, there are a few tips that can really help. We want to ensure we have buy-in from our paraprofessionals, set aside specific time to complete tasks, set time limits for ourselves, and make information easily accessible for ourselves and other staff members. If you have some great efficiency tips, I’d love to hear them! Come share them inside the Special Educators Connection Facebook Group! If you’d like more in depth information about how to create these systems, check out the Special Educator Academy! 

03:04 - Why you should be getting input from other team members when creating your classroom systems 

05:31 - How setting specific times to work on different elements of your systems will help make you more efficient

07:17- Why you should be setting a time limit when completing different tasks 

09:22  - How centralizing information for your team saves you and your team time and increases efficiency

11:44 - How checklists and to do lists can help save time in the classroom

12:48 - The power of getting an accountability buddy to complete tasks with

Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode149

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Are you ready to reduce stress and decision fatigue and regain some energy and happiness by improving the systems you have in your classroom? We all know there is no stress like teacher stress and if we can set our classrooms up in a way that can reduce this stress, it is well worth the time and effort to get the systems put in place.

We are covering the benefits of the CORE model, the impact of decision fatigue, and five ways the CORE model helps reduce special educator stress. Have you found systems that work in your classroom? Come share time inside the Special Educators Connection Facebook Group! If you’d like more in depth information about how to create these systems, check out the Special Educator Academy! 

02:34 - How the CORE model helps to reduce the need to make decisions in the moment 

05:16 - Why the CORE model can reduce decision fatigue

08:50- How this model reduces special educator stress by increasing engagement and reducing behaviors

10:52  - Why making decisions when you’re calm helps you to make better decisions

11:10 - How to reduce the teacher stress of wondering how your classroom will run if you aren’t in the room

12:19 - How the CORE model systems help your classroom run more efficiently leading to less decision fatigue

Grab the transcript, freebie and resource links at http://autismclassroomresources.com/episode148

Autism Classroom Resources' Free Resource Library... http://library.autismclassroomresources.com

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

Join the Free Facebook Group specialeducatorsconnection.com