Mini-Series: Strategies to PREVENT Elopement #1

No....this mini series isn't about getting married....in the special ed world, we know that elopement is just a fancy word for running away.  This is one of the most challenging behaviors to deal with in a school setting as it is disruptive and can be very dangerous.  As a consultant in a school district, this is one of the most common issues I get called in to help with.  As some of you may already know from reading my blog, I do not like to be put in a position where I have to be re-active on the fly to challenging behavior.  I would rather PREVENT the behavior from occurring in the first place...and then if the behavior still occurs (which it most likely will), I want a specific plan laid out so everyone in my classroom knows what to do.  This mini series of posts will cover identifying function/replacement behavior for elopement, simple to implement prevention strategies, and creating a safety plan.

As with any other challenging behavior, the first thing we need to think about before we can prevent the behavior from occurring is, What is the function?  In order to figure this out, we can look at antecedents and consequence (what is happening before and after the behavior occurs).  You can use an ABC chart such as the one below to take this type of data.

Animal Habitat Book

In one of my last posts, I wrote all about my love for Adapted Books and how they helped transform literacy in my classroom by motivating and engaging my students.  Today, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite adapted books about Animal Habitats.  The books covers habitats such as a farm, ocean, rain forest, bee hive, nest, desert and house.

10 Task boxes for Under $15: Target Dollar Spot Finds

Ok you guys...so besides the dollar tree, binders, laminating, data, and preventing problem behaviors....my other love is THE TARGET DOLLAR SPOT!  I had found some awesome materials that would be great to make task boxes or use for direct instruction back in January and now they are back...and they added even more!

Although I was overwhelmed with seeing the back to school section in the seasonal area of my local target,  I was thrilled with my dollar spot finds.

Adapted Book Resources

Gearing up to teach literacy skills to students across varying ability levels can be extremely difficult. Why not use a type of text that can be beneficial for students who have wide variety of literacy skills?....enter Adapted Books.  There are lots of ways you can "adapt a book."  You can do things to make the book physically easier to manipulate (like adding page fluffers), easier to read (modifying the text on each page, adding Braille, etc), or you can make them an interactive experience! This last point is typically what I mean when I say "adapted book."  I have found adaptive books extremely helpful in keeping my students engaged and motivated to complete literacy activities!  Depending on their level, students can work on concepts such as matching, identifying vocabulary, comprehension, as well as sight words and fluency. The goal of today's post is to give you some quick and easy ideas/resources for creating your own adapted books as well as where to find some great pre-made resources.

Adapt Pre-Made Books:
My first year of teaching, I found using adapted books a life saver!  I started with books that were already in my classroom  (i.e. "Brown Bear" by Eric Carle) and just found pictures (thank you google image and Boardmaker) of items on each page.  I would pass out the pictures to a small group of students and when we got to "their page," they would velcro their picture into the book.  Having pictures in their hands as we read kept their little hands occupied.  In order to know when it was their turn to stick their picture in the book, students had to pay attention to each page which helped keep them engaged throughout the entire story.  For more advanced readers, these books were also at our "quiet reading" station.  Students could read the words with story as well as velcro in the pictures as they read.  At one point, I also had a listening station with adapted books where students would listen to the books being read to them and velcro in the pictures as they went.

Teaching Cooking in the Classroom

Cooking was the key to my students' hearts from the very start.  Back in my first year of teaching, we used to cook every single week...sometimes multiple times a week.  Sure, I spent a lot of my own money buying materials, but when I had a group of students who could not sit together for longer than 1 minute for any typical "academic" task, I had to explore creative options to teach them in a way that was motivating!  Today's post is meant to describe not only some of the skills you can target during a cooking lesson, but also to give you a variety of ideas/resources for implementing cooking in your classroom.

Skills to Target During Cooking Lessons

We used cooking activities to practice COMMUNICATION.  I created communication boards so my students could request the necessary ingredients and supplies to complete the recipes.

Happy Holidays (Freebie!)

Hello again and happy holidays!  It has been some time since I posted.  Ever since re-locating a year and a half ago, I have struggled to keep up a regular posting schedule.  On the bright side, I have been taking a lot of time to spend with my family and to take care of myself.  We recently bought a house (!!) which is keeping me busy and both my husband and I started new jobs (for the second time since moving).  We are still trying to train our little stinker of a dog to sit, stay, and shake, but she is making steady progress (I haven't resorted to taking/charting data on her behavior quite yet!).

Back To School Ebook!

I am SUPER EXCITED for today's blog post!  A bunch of us (25 to be exact) Special Ed bloggers have been cooking up an awesome Back To School Ebook full of TIPS and FREEBIES for you guys as some of you start to think about the upcoming school year!  

For new teachers or veteran teachers, the tips alone are worth the download...I know I got a lot of great ideas from reading others' suggestions!  This is also an awesome way to find some new bloggers to follow on whatever your favorite social media platform is....Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, or all of the above!  So click on the image below for your copy of the Back to School Ebook...

My freebies include my back to school forms and back to school visual rules!

The other best way to celebrate the back to school season is with a giveaway.  I will be giving away a $40 gift card to my store for one lucky winner!  Enter below...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make sure to check out all of the blogs included in this event as there are many giveaways going on as well by clicking on the link below!

An InLinkz Link-up