Mrs. D's Corner

teaching from the heart, not the books.

As teachers, we give our all every single day. It is both rewarding and challenging to be a teacher. For every frustrating moment, there are ten positive moments. But at the end of the day, it is important to take care of ourselves too. 6 Self care tips for teachers to prevent teacher burnout and stay healthy. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

6 Self Care Tips for Teachers

It is both rewarding and challenging to be a teacher. For every frustrating moment, there are ten positive moments. And as teachers, we give our all every single day. But let’s be honest… teaching is exhausting! In a very life-fulfilling, meant-to-do-this, exhausting way. Burnout is a real thing in the teaching world, regardless of the subject or age group a teacher is teaching. Not only do we need to manage lesson plans and daily activities, but we also need to take care of parent meetings, IEP paperwork, classroom preparation and more. It can be hard to keep up with everything!… Read More

https://www.mrsdscorner.com/toptechresources/

Top Technology Resources for Students with Learning Disabilities

Finding technology resources that help us special education teachers adapt curriculum and accommodate all of the learners in our classroom is a tough order to fill sometimes. Then there’s always that one time when you need technology to work, and it doesn’t. So you’ve got to quick find another option… or scrap the lesson until later when the iPad is fully charged. Today’s post comes from Brittany, a very good friend of mine and someone who deems herself as “an educator obsessed with teaching with technology.” She loves creating and sharing teaching resources for technology teachers, media specialists, and technology facilitators… Read More

54 dinosaur books for kids with dinosaurs as the main characters. Dinosaur read alouds for children. Dinosaur books for elementary students. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

54 Dinosaur Books for Kids

Dinosaurs are fascinating, and not just to children. People all over the world love dinosaurs and love learning about these extinct animals. What better way to get students engaged and loving reading, than with dinosaur books for kids. By giving students multiple opportunities to read stories with dinosaurs as the main characters, you’ll instill a love and intrinsic want to keep reading. Enjoy this special curated list of 54+ dinosaur books for kids that are perfect for any elementary classroom. Jurassic Park (Little Golden Book) – In 1993, Steven Spielberg introduced audiences everywhere to Jurassic Park and now the movie’s youngest fans… Read More

Earth Day crafts for any elementary classroom. 20 Earth Day crafts for students with special needs. Crafts that help practice and define fine motor skills, communication, and more! Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

20 Earth Day Crafts for Any Elementary Classroom

Earth Day is a great opportunity to talk to students about the Earth and caring for the world around them. Earth Day crafts are a great way to supplement your Earth Day Lesson Plans. Not only are crafts engaging of students, but they help practice and refine the basic skills needed to succeed. Cutting and pasting, following directions, writing… Enjoy this curated list of 20 Earth Day Crafts for Kids, perfect for any elementary-aged classroom. Papier-Mâché Globe – Celebrate Columbus Day with this handmade globe! Old Bottles, New Buddies: Cute Upcycled Planters for Kids – With this craft you’ll be… Read More

60 books about disabilities for kids. Children's books about disabilities to introduce tough topics to other children and adults. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

60 Books about Disabilities for Kids

As a teacher, or parent, who works in education… we meet a lot of students with different abilities and specialties. And sure, we have Autism Awareness month and disability awareness… but it’s so much more than just being aware. (This post contains affiliate links.) Below you’ll find a curated list of books on special needs, acceptance, and tolerance. There are also books that describe children who have other differences that may make life a little challenging, like walking, hearing, seeing, understanding social cues, and more. These are books that you can use to introduce the topics presented to other children,… Read More

autism awareness bulletin board. autism awareness and autism acceptance poster display. free download.

Autism Awareness Bulletin Board Display

April is Autism Awareness month, but it’s so much more than awareness… it’s about acceptance and seeing people, our students, for who they are. This bulletin board display will help students, staff, and everyone who walks the halls of your school think about each child first and not the “label” of Autism. One of the most important things is to be understanding. For some students (and adults), we have to educate them on how to be understanding… how to be accepting. It only starts with awareness. Caity and I feel very strongly that the message behind this bulletin board is so… Read More

Finger Gyms Fine Motor Exercises. Exercise little fingers each day with a specific classroom rotation to practice fine motor development using everyday objects that you already have in your house and or classroom. The Sped Connection Guest Blogger at Mrs. D's Corner.

Finger Gym: Daily Activities for Fine Motor Exercises

Fine Motor exercises are an important part of any child’s curriculum and learning experience. Learning how to control your hands and refining those hand muscles help a child learn how to do important, every day life skills like feeding, wiping, zippering, and tying shoes. Because many students who receive special education services often have delays in fine motor abilities, it is part of our job to make practicing these super important skills in a way that is fun and engaging for our students. Enter: Finger Gym. Welcome to the SPED Connection, a collection of tips and tricks from other special… Read More

22 Saint Patrick's Day Crafts for kids that are easy, simple, fun and inexpensive. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

22 Saint Patrick’s Day Crafts for Kids

Simple, hands on craft that all kids will love for Saint Patrick’s Day. Shamrock symbolism gets students talking all about luck, love, hope and faith with this print and go classroom craft. Just a few supplies, like construction paper and a stapler, to create this cute rainbow heart clovers craft! Using food in an unconventional way always sparks interest with the kids. This silly marshmallow paint craft is sure to be a hit. Fun Food Friday just got an upgrade… use these free visual recipes to make food into works of art. Your students will love the Leprechaun Juice! Who… Read More

30 Technology books for kids of any age. Teach students about technology responsibility, online bullying, staying safe online, and so much more with these children's books about technology. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

30 Technology Books for Kids

Technology is all around us and our students are emerged in technology every day. It’s inevitable that our curriculum should also be teaching students things like staying safe online, about online bullying and technology, and so much more. Below are 30 great technology books for kids filled with learning, fun stories, and great illustrations on the joys and cations of technology.   When Charlie McButton Lost Power is a hilarious story about young computer addicts and those who love them. Webster’s Email is a fun a witty story about little spider and how he begins to regret emailing a funny… Read More

These books about sharks are informative, somewhat intense, but so important. Sharks are the biggest part of the ocean ecosystem, and sharks need our help. Sharks aren't the "bad guys" you see portrayed in the movie Jaws or the highly comedic Sharknado, and I am on a mission to change how my students view sharks... starting with these books. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

23 Books About Sharks for Kids

My love for children’s books is strong, and it’s no secret. My love of sharks is strong too… and also not a secret. I have been steadily growing sections of my classroom library, and while I have plenty of informative, real life “picture” fact books about sharks, I wanted to introduce more shark books to my students. These books about sharks for kids are informative, somewhat intense, but so important. Sharks are the biggest part of the ocean ecosystem, and sharks need our help. Sharks aren’t the “bad guys” you see portrayed in the movie Jaws or the highly comedic… Read More

Coding and STEM in a special education class, planned and differentiated for you... making the entire unit easy. The only thing you need to do is facilitate the learning and higher level thinking. The teacher guide walks YOU, the teacher, through everything in simple words so that coding is not overwhelming, and so you are easily able to introduce how to code to your special needs students. Guided Coding Stories are all about combining stories and coding together in an easy, understandable way.

Coding in Special Ed – Guided Coding Stories

Computer science is a trending topic, and is a topic that a lot of teachers are being asked to teach in elementary schools these days. More STEM Labs, Makerspaces, robotics clubs, and technology classes are in our schools than ever before. The reality is that the current model is not simple enough for all learners to succeed. There needs to be a level of understanding (about coding) before students can successfully program a robot or build an algorithm for a block coding program. This is where Guided Coding Stories comes to the rescue! My technology teacher friend, Brittany, and I developed… Read More

Teaching is hard, but we are strong and capable of doing all the things. Read these 20 teacher affirmations when you feel alone, when you need a pick me up, or just to put some positivity into your day. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

20 Teacher Affirmations to Keep a Positive Mindset

Teaching is tough. No two days are the same, which is also what makes our job the best. But, for real, it. is. tough. Legislation changes, new students in the middle of the year, a million and one meetings… the list goes on and on. And I will be the first to admit that some mornings I struggle to get out of bed to do the one thing I love: teaching. I truly love teaching, and I know that you do too. But if you’re like me, which I’m guessing you are, you struggle with feeling like you are not… Read More

25 valentine's day books about friendship and love, perfect read alouds for any classroom. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

25 Valentine’s Day Books for Any Classroom

It’s that time of year: hearts, cards, kisses, and reminders of love and friendship! Here are some great kids books celebrating affection in it’s many forms and encouraging kindness to one another. Porcupining: Porcupining is the passionate tale of love and friendship between two prickly creatures in a petting zoo, and a perfect read aloud for Valentine’s Day. Hokey Pokey – Another Prickly Love Story: In the second adventure, Barb loves to dance, but Cushion has two left feet, and usually ends up prickling someone with his quills. How will he ever learn to dance? Love Monster: Love Monster is a slightly… Read More

Core Vocabulary is an essential part of every person's life, and for our nonverbal students they access core vocabulary and language through assistive technology and AAC devices. Learn about the simple lesson I use with my students to practice the use of AT devices, while practicing the basic skills all students need (including fine motor). Includes a free printable for implementation tomorrow. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

Assistive Technology and Core Vocabulary: A Look Inside

Core Vocabulary is an essential part of every person’s life, and for our nonverbal students they access core vocabulary and language through assistive technology and AAC devices. Today I want to share with you an activity that I do in my classroom during centers. It has to be done in a 1:1 or small group setting, so it’s not something that’s fully independent, but you could certainly adapt to make it fit the needs of your classroom. This is a GoTalk32. This past school year I got to learn how to program one and use one for one of my… Read More

Using music in the classroom for transitions, sensory integration, and more. The supplies you need to get started, when to use music in the classroom, why you should be using music in the classroom, and other ideas for incorporating music in the classroom. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

Music in the Classroom: Put a BOOM in Your Room

Music is a saving grace for many people, including our students. For many reasons. Music is a powerful tool, and as a teacher you should be utilizing the power of music in your classroom. Not only does music help to facilitate positive feelings during the school day, but music can also be used to create a routine. When students learn cues in specific songs, they will know that it is time to clean up, move to the rug, or time for any other transition to occur. Let’s think about it… have you ever thought about the reason why children are… Read More

Hosting a Classroom Friendship Valentine's Day Party in your special education classroom. FREE center rotations and ideas for a classroom valentine friendship party. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

Hosting a Class Valentine’s Day Party in Special Ed

Holidays are a great opportunity to infuse fun and excitement into your classroom. While holiday party’s can be a lot for us to plan, students surely enjoy them and what better way to practice friendship than a Valentine’s Day Friendship Party. It might be a few days, weeks, or months until Valentine’s Day, but right now is a great time to plan a partayyyy. 🙂 A friendship party! One benefit of having a friendship party for Valentine’s Day is that you can use the activities to strengthen friendships among your students… in your classroom and the regular ed classroom. Here… Read More

Emergency Backpack. Doing more than just surviving unplanned for events in the school day, like fire drills and lock downs. Also being fully prepared for field trips and classroom evacuations due to behaviors. Free emergency backpack checklist included. Blog post at Mrs. D's Corner.

Emergency Backpack: Being Prepared for Anything

As a special education teacher, we try to plan for everything. But how do you plan for unplanned for events, like fire drills, lock downs, and evacuating the classroom due to severe behaviors? With an emergency backpack. Welcome to the SPED Connection, a collection of tips and tricks from other special educators all over the world. Because we’re all in this together! Today’s tip comes from Allison M. You can find her on Instagram here. She is a K-5 self contained special education teacher, and also works extensively within the community coaching baseball, wheelchair soccer, and volunteering. She says her favorite… Read More

Mrs. D's Corner. Winter Games crafts for any elementary special needs classroom. Winter crafts books for kids. Winter Games crafts for kids. Olympic crafts for kids.

14 Winter Games Crafts for Any Classroom

Winter is a great time of year, but it’s cold. Possibilities of indoor recess loom around during this season, so it’s always a great idea to have a backup plan. Crafts are always a great go-to for indoor recess. Crafts are also great for lesson extensions, fine motor practice, and creating student-built bulletin boards. Can you tell that I love doing crafts in the classroom? The special, curated list of 14 Winter Games crafts goes along great with the 2-week unit. If you are in need of a Winter Games unit to teach your students all about winter sports and… Read More

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