5 Tips Planning For Next School Year

It’s the end of the year and your drowning in end of the year duties and paperwork…. BUT you can’t stop thinking about the excitement of next school year. I get it- you are not alone! Here are some tips for getting prepared for next school year.

1) Reflecting On The Classroom Management & Organization

Take a look around your classroom and think back over the past school year. Ask yourself these questions…

Did my decor hold up?
What would have made centers run smoother?
Did I have to keep moving something because it was in the way?
Does the room look too cluttered or visually busy?
Did I always have to get up from group or a lesson to get something?

If you have thought of something that could use some tweaking, NOW is the time to start coming up with a solution or plan. You might even want to write your thoughts down so when it gets down to the end of summer you can remember them.

No worries! I have some blog posts with tips to help you plan…

3 Decor Tricks For Special Education Classrooms

Clearing Visual Distractions

Ideas For Limiting Visual Distractions

Using Guided Reading Centers In Special Education Classrooms

Set Up Your Classroom To Run As If You Won’t Be There

5 Tips For Setting Up Your Special Ed. Classroom

2.) Designing A Schedule That Promotes Engaged Learning

Research is clear… building in movement leads to better learning. Sounds great, right?! It can be tricky to think of how it will look in special ed. Many times our students get revved up easily which can make teachers skeptical about adding it in to the day.

Don’t let fear stop you!! This research can be implemented. Check out these blog posts to help you get started:

Incorporate Movement Into Your Schedule For Student Success

Tips For Creating A Schedule In The Self-Contained Classroom

Combine Math & Movement For Better Learning

3) Make New Personalized Visuals & Decor

Look around your room… what has students’ names on it? If you are planning on using the same visuals, posters or decor, make a list of what needs to be made or reprinted with your new class list. For example, we use a question of the day poster every day. It has the students’ names on it, so we wrote a new one and have sent it to be laminated so it will be already when we return.

4) Make Copies Now!

The copier room is always busy at the end of summer. Make copies of any handouts or parent notes that you already know you will need during the first few weeks of school. Here is a list of things I copy in preparation…

*Letters to parents with a list of supplies students need on the first day

*Health update forms that we send home the first day of school

*Free & reduced lunch forms

*Homework policy

Get as much of this ready as possible to free up time during the first couple of weeks. You will be sooo thankful that you did!!

5) Gather All The Info!!

Now is the time to talk to the past teacher and therapist. Ask about current levels, behavior supports, trigger words, phrases that are helpful, routines, etc. Ask to get a copy of the IEP or access to take some notes. Don’t wait until administration and secretaries are swamped to make the request.

Make special note of the student’s goals and get the data sheets and materials prepped now. I even get my data binder ready. I get the tabs labeled with student names and put in all of the data sheets for IEP goals. Here is what mine looks like:

Learn more about our data and work centers HERE.

Don’t forget to pin this post so you can refer back to it!!

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