Welcome to my ‘Making Reading Fun’ mini podcast series. Today on the podcast I’m talking all about the ‘Book Creator’ app for the third and final episode in this mini series. So many of you have been reaching out to me on Instagram asking how do I get my students to love reading and story time so much. And that’s when I decided to put together a mini series with ideas of how you can make reading fun.. Which will hopefully get your students to love reading as much as mine do!

• Book Creator App.
• Free vs Paid Options.
• Class Create-a-Story.
• Individual Create-a-Story.
• Using the Book Creator app to Extend the Learning.
• Continuing Stories.
• Encouraging Creativity and Imagination.
• Ways to Use the App.

Below are some helpful links that are linked to what I’ve been talking about in this podcast episode;

• Episode #1 Making Reading Fun Series: Story Sacks
• Episode #2 Making Reading Fun Series: Sensory Stories
• Follow Me on Instagram
• Using Book Creator for Data Collection
• Recommended iPad Apps

If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media. Don’t forget to tune in next week to listen in to the next part of my making reading fun mini series.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of our VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.

Welcome to my ‘Making Reading Fun’ mini podcast series. Today on the podcast I’m talking all about sensory stories for the second episode in this mini series. So many of you have been reaching out to me on Instagram asking how do I get my students to love reading and story time so much. And that’s when I decided to put together a mini series with ideas of how you can make reading fun.. Which will hopefully get your students to love reading as much as mine do!

For the second episode in this mini series, I am talking all about sensory stories. These are still one of my absolute favorite tools to use with my students and they can be so easy to put together. In this episode you’ll hear me talking about;

• What are they?
• How to use them.
• Making scripts for them.
• Examples of a sensory story session.
• Storing and organization.
• Preparing and planning in advance.
• Using staff.
• Benefits of sensory stories.

Below are some helpful links that are linked to what I’ve been talking about in this podcast episode;

• Episode #1 Making Reading Fun Series: Story Sacks
• VIP Membership; Sign Up for a 3 Day Free Trial
• Free Sensory Story Script: How to Catch an Elf
• Making Story Time Fun Podcast Episode

If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media. Don’t forget to tune in next week to listen in to the next part of my making reading fun mini series.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of our VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.

Welcome to my ‘Making Reading Fun’ mini podcast series. Today on the podcast I’m talking all about story sacks for the first episode in this mini series. So many of you have been reaching out to me on Instagram asking how do I get my students to love reading and story time so much. And that’s when I decided to put together a mini series with ideas of how you can make reading fun.. Which will hopefully get your students to love reading as much as mine do!

For the first episode in this mini series, I am talking all about story sacks. These are still one of my absolute favorite tools to use with my students and they can be so easy to put together. In this episode you’ll hear me talking about;

• What are they?
• How to make them.
• Ways to store them.
• Using them with your students.
• School-wide systems.
• Sticking to a budget – simple and cheap! Use what you have.

Below are some helpful links that are linked to what I’ve been talking about in this podcast episode;

• Hungry Caterpillar Story Stones
• Hungry Caterpillar Felt Story Props
• Story Sack Ideas Pinterest Board

If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media. Don’t forget to tune in next week to listen in to the next part of my making reading fun mini series.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of our VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.

In this podcast episode today I’m talking about why you need to stop being a yes person! (Teacher edition, of course!) I don’t know about you, but I spent many years being a yes person. I feel like within the education world, it’s just in our blood. We always want do whatever we can help to our students and those around us. And sometimes that ends up backfiring, because we don’t know when to say no. That is when burn out can hit like a spade to the face. And nobody wants that!

• What is a yes person?
• Why I stopped being a yes person.
• The consequences.
• Ways you can say no.

• Time Saving Tips for Your Classroom
• Tips for Assistants
• Delegating Jobs

I know this can be quite a big topic to cover. And I like to try and keep my episodes short and sweet for those of you who don’t have much time to listen in. So, if you want to do some extra reading, I’ve attached some helpful links below.

If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of our VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.

Today on the podcast I am sharing 5 secrets to a happy classroom with you. Now it’s not all sunshine and rainbows in the classroom all day, everyday. But there are some great ways that you can ensure your classroom is a positive and welcoming place for students and staff too. I’m always asked what my ‘secrets’ are for making that type of environment.. So, I’ve been busy trying to put together my top 5 not-so-secret secrets for you all.

• 5 not-so-secret secrets to a happy classroom.
• Connecting with your team.
• Relationships.
• Being you.
• Having fun.
• Students feelings.
• Structure.
• Routine.

I have put together below some helpful links for you linked to this podcast episode.

• Building Relationships with Students
• 5 Time Saving Tips for Your Classroom
• Classroom Staff Management Podcast
• Behavior Management in the Classroom
• Strategies for Classroom Management

If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of our VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.

On the podcast today I am answering a question that gets sent to me a lot.. ‘Why is early intervention important?’

Early intervention is becoming a more well known subject to talk about in the education world. But it might still be overwhelming if you are unsure about what the term is, who it’s for and whether it is something that will be suitable for your child or students in your care.

in this podcast episode today, I am going to be talking all about;

• What is it?
• When does it take place?
• Why is it important?
• What types of early intervention are there?

Today’s episode was short and sweet, mainly because I don’t want to overwhelm you with everything at once. Hopefully you found the round up 5 key takeaways at the end of the podcast episode helpful for refreshing what you have learned today. But, just in case you are looking for some extra information, I have put together some helpful links for you;

• The Benefits of Early Intervention and Autism
• Early Intervention Must-Haves by The SLT Scrapbook
• The SLT Scrapbook
• Early Childhood Intervention by MrsSpeechieP
• Teletherapy Occupational Therapy Early Intervention Activities by TheOTToolBox
• Free Early Intervention Printable by ABA Speech

If you found this podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of our VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.

In this podcast episode I am talking all about using crime scenes in the classroom. Since sharing about the crime scenes that I use on my Instagram stories, and on my blog, I have had so many questions from you all about them. So I thought I would answer some of those questions in a podcast episode.

What Am I Talking About?

I started using crime scenes in the classroom around 2-3 years ago with my students. The main reason was because I know how much my students benefit from hands-on and engaging learning activities. But there's also so many other reasons to use them.

When I am planning my crime scenes, I typically have them set up so that my students are going to be working on each of their senses. I like to change them up every month - and honestly my students love this! They're always looking to our crime scenes. And I usually extend them to a full day of learning with centers based around the theme of the crime scene.

Helpful Links

Below are some helpful links to find out more about my crime scenes and where you can download them too.

If you found this using crime scenes in the classroom podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of our VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.

Today on the podcast I am talking all about delegating jobs to classroom staff. This is a really important subject to cover. Because I think it's very easy for us to feel like we have to do all of the things. But, we have some amazing staff in our teams - and we should be using them!

In this podcast episode today I am talking about;

• Why you should be delegating to your classroom staff.
• Staff strength and weaknesses.
• Professional development.
• Letting go of control.
• The benefits of giving your staff areas of responsibility.

Below are some helpful links that fit with our topic of discussion today.

• Tips for Special Ed. Classroom Assistants Podcast Episode
• Using Assistants During Distance Learning Podcast
• Classroom Staff Management Podcast
• Special Education Training for Paraprofessionals and Teachers
• Editable Paraprofessional Binder

If you found this delegating jobs to classroom staff podcast episode helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of our VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.

Another 'new' thing that has been thrown at us this year are online meetings. And today I am so excited to share my 10 virtual IEP meeting tips with you in this podcast episode. My tips will hopefully help you to have positive, professional and stress-free virtual IEP Meetings.

Whether you are doing IEP meetings on Zoom, FaceTime, Teams.. Or any programme you are using. This podcast episode is helpful for anyone who will be running virtual IEP meetings. I've packed it with 10 of my best tips.. plus an extra bonus tip.. that have helped my online meetings run smoothly and successfully for all in attendance.

• Virtual IEP Meetings
• Schedules
• Meeting Etiquette
• Rules
• Planning in Advance
• Plan B
• and so much more..

• The Secret to IEPs
• Creating and Modifying IEP Goals
• 5 IEP Meeting Tips for Teachers
• IEP Tips for Parents and Teachers

If you found this 10 virtual IEP meeting tips helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of our VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.

Today on the podcast I am talking all about why it's ok to be angry. And that goes for our students, as well as us staff. Originally, I was going to do an episode that discussed all about feelings in general. But then recently I've been seeing a lot more discussions going on about anger and ways to stop it.

And the secret is.. Don't stop it!

It's ok to be angry!

It's ok for us to be angry.. for our students.. our staff.. Anger is a valid emotion. And instead of discouraging it or making it feel 'wrong' or 'bad' we should be helping our students understand anger. As well as ways that we can manage our anger.

That’s something I’ve always tried to drum into my students... It is ok to feel however you feel. Your feelings are valid. And this includes anger.

Now the way that you handle and present that anger is a whole other ball game. But feeling angry isn’t something bad or something that we need to discourage. In fact, we should encourage it. We should help our students understand their anger. And that’s why I really wanted to do an episode solely on just being angry. Because it genuinely is that important to me.

In this episode today, I am talking about..

• Why it's ok to be angry.
• Encouraging and helping students understand anger.
• Coping mechanisms and reactions.
• How we can support our students.
• Ways to talk to our students when they are angry.

• Free Calming Strategies Adapted Book
• Feelings and Emotions Resources
• Setting Up a Classroom Calm Down Area
• Calm Down Corner Resource Bundle

If you found this podcast episode about ‘It's Ok to Be Angry’ helpful, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues on social media.

P.S. Have you signed up for a 3 day free trial of our VIP membership yet? If not, click here to do it now and go and get access to a huge range of resources, templates, crafts and more for free.