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We all have it, those moments during the day where are classrooms are still. The students are attending to a task, the adults are quiet and for that one small moment, maybe 15 seconds, we can take a breath. What would you do if you could block out 15-25 minutes everyday just for that? Time to take a step back and just breathe. Think about all of the things you could get done. Think about the skills you would be instilling in your students. Keep reading to see how I am able to achieve 15 minutes of peace in my classroom each day.  **Disclaimer: I love my students and staff, the rest of the day is amazing.  There is just something about this 15 minutes that calms me down. A few years ago I attended a training about Emergent Literacy for students with significant needs (you can read more about that here ). During part of the training the presenter spoke about self selected reading. At that time I thought to myself, actually I stated it to those around me, how the heck am I s...

Writing can often be over looked in classrooms of students with significant disabilities. It's no fault to you or your staff, there are just so many things to focus on; behaviors, speech, following directions, toileting, eating etc. If you had to give up something, I am sure writing would be the #1 thing as it may not seem like a very functional thing for our students, especially those who struggle to hold standard pencils. That is... until you introduce an alternative pencil. I started using alternative pencils when I went to a conference last year on emergent literacy, read more about that here . It honestly changed the way I taught. Usually you go to conferences, they get you super excited about the new teaching method, you come back, implement it into your classroom and a month later you give up on it or find something else. Well folks, I have to say, I have never gone back to the way I didn't teach  😁  taught writing! Alternative pencils allow our non-verbal students a w...

This is a long post but it is so worth reading if you are struggling or want to improve the way you teach literacy to your students with significant disabilities. In the short time I have been doing this I can already see the benefits and wish I would have started this sooner. Teaching reading and writing to our students with significant disabilities can be tricky. You may often think, do they get this? Is this worth my time? How do I get them to interact if they are non verbal? No worries, I have had these same thoughts until recently. I attended a training at my local ISD and left feeling so inspired. Before diving into this I want you to know I have 11 students on my caseload. I have 3 students who I use this method with and it takes about 45-60 minutes a day. All 3 students are non verbal. One has a communication device, can spell and will hold a writing utensil for 5 minutes or longer. The other 2 students do not have a communication device, cannot yet identify letters and before ...