Mrs. D's Corner

teaching from the heart, not the books.

items Teachers love and Can’t Live Without

Things Teachers Can’t Live Without

Whether you are a veteran teacher or entering the classroom for the first time, you know that there are items that teachers cannot live without! Favorite markers, that perfect pair of scissors, that brain break trick that’s saved you a hundred times, there are just some things that you cannot teach without. A few years ago I shared my 25 must haves for special ed teachers, but I was curious. So I decided to ask the veteran teachers in Mrs. D’s VIPs Facebook Group, what items they can’t live without and why. Is your must-have item on the list? The… Read More

Summer Rituals from Veteran Teachers to Prepare for the New School Year

Summer Rituals from Veteran Teachers to Prepare for the New School Year

Those who say that teachers have the summer off clearly have never taught. No matter how many days we have off during the summer, there are never enough to feel completely ready for the new school year.  A few weeks ago, I asked veteran teachers in Mrs. D’s VIPs Facebook group what they do during the weeks off to prepare for the first day of school… ya know, like back to school rituals. Their summertime back to school rituals may surprise you! Join the group and weigh in on the conversation here. The VIP veteran teachers had some great advice for summertime… Read More

Mental Health: Tips for Helping a Friend + Tips for Selfcare blog header

Mental Health: Tips for Helping a Friend + Tips for Self Care

According to the World Health Organization, mental health is defined as “a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. As someone who lives with anxiety, I want to share some tips that have worked for me when it comes to asking my friends and family for help. And I’ve asked my husband to share a few tips on how to help your spouse if he or she has a… Read More

errorless learning blog header. mrs ds corner.

Does Errorless Learning Really Work? | Errorless Teaching

Errorless Learning sets students up for success and is a great option for students who need immediate positive feedback. But what is Errorless Learning and what students will benefit from this type of teaching technique? Today I am going to teach you all about Errorless Learning, answer your most important questions, share examples of Errorless Learning activities, and give you a few freebies that you can implement tomorrow. Are you ready?! What is Errorless Learning? Errorless learning is a skill learning activity in which the student can not get the answer incorrect. Prompts are given to the child to ensure… Read More

data shortcuts to save teachers time blog header. mrs ds corner.

Data Collection Shortcuts That Save Teachers Time

Teachers are always crunched for time, that’s no secret. And we have a lot of paperwork, that’s another not so secret secret. So any little tips or tricks we can pick up along the way to help us save a few minutes are like gold in our book. Today I am going to share with you some data collection shortcuts. You’ll no longer need to write out “hand over hand” when conducting data collection trials. 😉 General use data shortcuts: I- independent SC – self corrected VP – verbal prompt IV – indirect verbal DV – direct verbal G –… Read More

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How to Avoid Teacher Burnout | Tips from Veteran Teachers

Teaching is a very rewarding profession. We do it because we love it. But that doesn’t mean the long hours, paperwork, and endless meetings don’t burn us out. Without proper self care and support, teachers can easily become overloaded, overworked… and eventually burnout. Psychology Today describes burnout as “a state of chronic stress that leads to physical and emotional exhaustion, cynicism, detachment, and feelings of ineffectiveness and lack of accomplishment.” Have you ever felt burnout as a teacher? If so, you aren’t alone… whether it’s year 1, year 5, 10 or 28. Here are some tips from veteran teachers in Mrs…. Read More

4 technology skills to teach special needs students

4 Technology Skills to Teach Kids with Special Needs

It’s no secret that technology is a huge part of any classroom these days. Computers, laptop carts, smart boards, tablets… our kids have access to so much information at the tips of their fingers. But in my experience, some of our students can work an iPad better than I can… to play games or watch YouTube… not to follow instruction, enter passwords, or do anything past that. As a teacher, it is important that we are teaching our students these important technology skills. Today I am going to share with you 4 of the top technology skills that our students… Read More

Guided reading groups and lesson planning for a self contained classroom.

Guided Reading Lessons + Rotation in Self Contained SPED – Part 2

Planning for guided reading groups in a self contained classroom can be very overwhelming, especially if you have multiple levels of reading groups. It’s overwhelming, but it is NOT impossible. If you haven’t read Part 1 of this blog post series, you’ll definitely want to start there. You can read Guided Reading Lessons + Rotation in Self Contained SPED – Part 1 here. That blog post will give you a very in-depth explanation of how I run Guided Reading in a self-contained classroom. If you’d like to watch the video version of all the ins and outs of how I… Read More

Guided Reading Lessons + Rotation in Self Contained SPED - Part 1 header

Guided Reading Lessons + Rotation in Self Contained SPED – Part 1

When you teach in a self-contained classroom, you have a huge array of student ability levels and disabilities. This makes lesson planning for 4-5- even 6 different reading groups with varying strengths and weaknesses a little more challenging. It’s not impossible, and it makes you a better teacher, but it is still challenging. The most students I have had in my self contained classroom is 7 students, but within those 7 individual students were 7 different ability levels across 4 grade levels. #holybuckets So today I am going to share my Guided Reading rotation schedule, along with all of the… Read More

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Sentence Building Activities for Special Ed

Do you have students in your special education classroom who struggle with writing sentences? Or maybe they struggle with putting words together to form a sentence? Today I would like to introduce you to Sentence Building. This resource was created out of a desperate need for my own self-contained classroom. Students in my classroom, verbal and nonverbal, were struggling with sentences… writing them, putting them together… the whole nine yards… but they had IEP goals to meet and I had zero curriculum to help them achieve their annual goals. So I created it for them, providing models and guidance to… Read More

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Printable, Interactive Sight Word Books for Special Ed

Sight words are commonly used words that are an essential part of any educational curriculum. These high frequency words are part of everyday life, so it is important to teach our students these words on sight so they don’t have to sound them out each time they are encountered. These sight word books were created out of a desperate need for my own self-contained classroom. Students in my classroom, verbal and nonverbal, were struggling with identifying, reading, and learning sight words… but they had IEP goals to meet and I had zero curriculum to help them achieve their annual goals…. Read More

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Jobs You Can Have With a Teaching Degree (Outside of the Traditional Classroom)

When you go to college, they never really tell you how hard it can be to find a teaching position (in some states), and the politics of teaching aren’t discovered until you have your own classroom. And with the educational pendulum so far to one side, lack of support, parent demands, the never-ending-paperwork, little to no curriculum, large class sizes… let’s be real, it’s no secret that many teachers are leaving the profession altogether. But the kids are why we do what we do. The kids are our why. The kids make all of the hardships worth it. That will… Read More

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How to Deal with the Negative Nancy Teacher Down the Hall

Teaching is tough. T.O.U.G.H. Honestly, we all have moments where we need to vent out our frustrations. It is therapeutic to let it out, especially to people who understand (fellow coworkers and friends). It happens to all of us and it is completely normal to feel frustrated, overwhelmed, and alone as a teacher. But there is a very big difference between having a rough day and needing to vent, and being a Negative Nancy all. the. time. about all. the. things. Here are some tips from veteran teachers in Mrs. D’s VIP Facebook group to help you cope if you… Read More

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Themes for Every Day of the Week | Classroom Themes

Teaching is so much fun, even more so when you have a classroom theme! And I don’t just mean your entire class theme is nautical or Dr. Seuss or rainbow, I mean each day of the week has a theme. #saywhat! YES! If this idea is new to you, I definitely recommend trying it out. Start with just one day of the week, I think Friday is the best because… well it’s Friday and works as a HUGE motivator for students! Your whole entire day does not need to be themed, just a part of your schedule. For example, when… Read More

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15 Things to Talk About in the Teacher’s Lounge

Oh the teacher’s lounge… it can be such a great place, yet such a black hole of gossip. So much good and collaboration can take place in a teacher’s lounge, but more and more I just hear and see it used for a place of gossip and badmouthing. I get it. You have rough days, we all do. And as teachers, we naturally enjoy collaborating with others. So when we have a rough day, we want to tell someone about our rough day to get it off our chest before we go home… because we certainly never take our work… Read More

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Communication Stickers | Simple, Sticky Way to Communicate with Parents

One of the biggest struggles as a teacher is communication. Not that we are bad at it, it’s just that we have so little time. A simple task that takes a mere minute per student adds up when you have a class of 12… or 30. Those are precious transition minutes that my students need direction. And it’s not just about lack of time. Let me be honest… I teach a self-contained class of students with special needs… and we don’t always have time to get to science lessons (outside of ELA or Math instruction). I know, I know! Thankfully… Read More

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Things Special Ed Teacher Wish Other Teachers Knew

Dear general education teachers, there are some things that we special education teachers would like you to know. Let’s start by saying that we love working with you and we love that you are part of our student’s team. The more hands on deck, the better. The more brains, the better. But there are some things we would like to clarify. OUR STUDENTS Our students are not that different from your students. Our students are capable. They are smart. They understand so much more than you think they do. And to piggyback on that, our students are capable of high level… Read More

data collection and progress monitoring I took data now what blog post header

Progress Monitoring: I Took Data, Now What?!

Being a teacher of students with special needs, and having taught in so many different school settings and states, I feel like I’m really good at tracking data. Truthfully, I’m a data nerd – I LOVE collecting data and student progress. Because of this, I’m constantly assessing IEP goal and objective progress. On a weekly and daily basis, I take data in a lot different ways. If you haven’t read the Data Collection for Special Education Teachers blog post, you’ll want to start there. One of the most important data collection sheets is my weekly progress monitoring page. I get asked… Read More

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