Hi! I am Allison. I am an Intervention Specialist and Certified Autism Specialist with nearly 20 years of experience working with students with autism and low-incidence disabilities.
I taught in an elementary special education classroom where I created countless individualized supports, organizational tools, and differentiated activities for my students before transitioning to my current position on an autism and low-incidence coaching team where I have had the pleasure of meeting and helping teachers in hundreds of classrooms in the Dayton, Ohio area. I am passionate about special education and helping teachers!
π Do you need some easy solutions for paraprofessional management? Including a great gift idea and FREEBIE?! π
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Hi Reader! In my role as an autism and low-incidence coach, I support hundreds of teachers each year. And a common concern I hear again and again is teachers feeling ill-prepared to manage their paraprofessionals in the classroom. I get it! So much of our undergraduate training focuses on working with our students (obviously!) but very little if any helps us work with our paraprofessionals! π΅βπ«π΅βπ« During my time in the classroom, I developed a variety of tools to train my paraprofessionals and improve our team communication. In today's SpEd Spot Snippet I am going to share my favorites... and if you read all the way to the end there is a special freebie for your paras! π I developed my Paraprofessional Role Sheets as an easy-to-follow guide for my paraprofessionals which includes the purpose of various classroom activities, their role, and quick reference do's and don'ts. β I have included completed versions that are ready to print or some editable options for you to personalize them to best meet your classroom needs! Last fall I got the idea to give my original Editable Paraprofessional Role Sheets a modern makeover. π‘The original bright rainbow-colored πones fit well in my classroom. However, I realize that may not work for everyone. So I created more subdued boho watercolor-themed role sheets and I AM IN LOVE! π They are so pretty. And although we obviously want to role sheets we post to be easily noticed by staff, a subtler design could be beneficial if you have kids who are easily visually distracted. π«£ Which ones are your favorite?
These role sheets are actually one of my best-selling, highest-rated resources! Check out these lovely reviews from my wonderful customers! Another fabulous paraprofessional support that I used in my classroom were my Paraprofessional Survival Kits. They were a perfect back-to-school gift that was budget-friendly, but also super cute with the free gift tag I have included in today's freebie below! If you want to learn more about what I included in my kit check out my blog post which will also provide Amazon links to each of the items I included (however most items can be found in your school's supply closet if you are blessed enough to have one!).
Ok and now the freebie! βPara Survival Kit MissAllisonsSpEdSpot FINAL.pdfβ β Until next time! β |
βHi! I am Allison. I am an Intervention Specialist and Certified Autism Specialist with nearly 20 years of experience working with students with autism and low-incidence disabilities.
I taught in an elementary special education classroom where I created countless individualized supports, organizational tools, and differentiated activities for my students before transitioning to my current position on an autism and low-incidence coaching team where I have had the pleasure of meeting and helping teachers in hundreds of classrooms in the Dayton, Ohio area. I am passionate about special education and helping teachers!
Hi Reader! I always found it easy to find opportunities for the daily practice of literacy skills in my classroom. Name sequencing, sight words, vocabulary, read-alouds... we regularly did it all! π But math was a different story. I found that I often compartmentalized math instruction to single bands (money, time, numeration, etc.) and it was usually during IEP or intervention time. So students were primarily working on skills at their level or related to their goals and did not get the same...
Hi Reader! For several years, I gathered all of my students on the carpet and had them help dictate while I wrote out our morning message during morning meeting. But, I finally realized that this was a waste of time for my classroom of mostly non-readers. Once I was finished with each daily message none of my kids could re-read what I had written and it really was not meaningful at all! Plus, many of them lost focus because they did not understand what I was writing or even what I was asking....
Hi Reader! Can you believe the back to school season is upon us? This was the fastest summer EVER! But I am excited for another year ahead. Some of my favorite activities this time of year include: reading No, David! by David Shannon with my students (they giggle the whole time!) π creating a classroom mission statement with my students π teaching essential school vocabulary with games such as scavenger hunts, vocabulary fishing, BINGO, and board games π To learn more about what Back to...