middleschoolinthemitten -

A Guide to IEP Goal Progress Monitoring: What Special Education Teachers Need to Know!

I have to be honest - the concept of IEP progress monitoring was something I was very unprepared for as a first-year resource room teacher. Creating ways to gather data, organizing systems to track data, writing progress monitoring reports, sharing progress with parents - on top of everything else I was already buried with? I was drowning! Maybe you feel the same way and are desperately Googling 'how you monitor progress in IEP' or 'what is the easiest way to progress monitor IEP goals'? Luckily, over the years, I've become a lot more comfortable with the process of monitoring student…

Building a Strong Team: Tips for Setting Your Teacher Assistants Up for Success

As a special education teacher, having a teacher assistant can be a lifesaver! Maybe your school calls them paraprofessionals, teacher aides, instructional assistants, or something else! At my current school, every teacher has a designated teacher assistant - I know, I am SO lucky! My previous school only had a few Instructional Assistants who were designated support for tough students, so the support I had in my classroom wasn’t consistent. I’m so incredibly thankful for my teacher assistants every day and I’ve worked hard to create a positive relationship with them. Here are my tips for setting your teacher assistants…

Engaging Resources & Strategies to Make Fractions Stick in Your Classroom

In my opinion, fractions are the hardest concept for elementary and middle school students to truly understand - and many students agree with me! Each year, I have middle schoolers who can’t tell me what a numerator really means or try to add or subtract denominators within a problem, so fraction review is something I am very familiar with! Here are my favorite ways to review and practice fraction skills throughout the year! Multi-Strategy Packets Solving abstract fraction problems requires a deep conceptual understanding that many students aren’t prepared for. I love using multiple strategies to solve each problem to…

Resuming the Classroom Routine: Essential Activities for an Easy Return After Winter Break

Returning from Winter Break can feel almost more difficult than the beginning of the school year. In August, you feel rested from the summer off and excited to meet your new students. In January, after the holidays, this excitement may have dwindled and to be honest, you are probably in need of another week off! When returning to school starts to creep up on me, I feel such intense “Sunday Scaries” - and I know I’m not alone. Here’s what I do start the second semester strong! Reteach & Review Class Expectations & Procedures. After any break, it’s so important…

Add a Dash of Holiday Spirit to Your Math Class: Easy Tips & Effortless Ideas

As soon as the first snowflake falls here in Michigan, my students are thinking about winter break. This makes it really hard to hold their concentration and motivate them to do their best on school work for weeks in December! I’m sure my class is not the only one that feels like we are hanging on by a thread! Here are my favorite ways to engage students with popular math topics with a fun holiday twist! A quick note: In order to include all of my students, I try to focus on general winter themes in my classroom, like snowmen…

5 Quick Tips for Setting Up Your Classroom

Setting up a classroom, especially the first classroom that is all your own, is overwhelming! It’s tough to know where to start, and many teachers feel the need to create a Pinterest-worthy classroom before the first day of school - but that’s just not true! Your focus should be on making your classroom functional and comfortable, for both your students and yourself! Here are some tips to get you headed in the right direction! Setting up your classroom is actually not the first thing you should do to prepare for the school year! Your classroom should be set up around…

An Attitude of Gratitude: 3 Quick & Easy Classroom Activities for Thankfulness

Thanksgiving is a great time of year to focus on class routines around thankfulness, but that doesn’t mean it is the only time to practice showing appreciation! Incorporating academic activities that focus on thankfulness throughout the year can help students develop a sense of gratitude and encourage positive attitudes and appreciation. Plus, they can be a fun change of pace! Here are a few of my favorite low-prep and quick academic activities around gratitude and thankfulness! Thank You Cards I am an avid thrift shopper. When I find thank you cards on sale, I snag them! I keep these cards…

IEP Goal Writing Made Easy: Tips & Tricks for Educators

A quick little disclaimer: The following information is what I have personally learned through 8 years of teaching special education in Michigan. It should be used for inspirational and entertainment purposes only. Check with the special education department leaders in your school district with specific questions regarding your students’ IEPs and special education needs. Over the years, I have inherited many IEPs that have goals that make absolutely no sense. It’s frustrating since they are difficult to understand, implement, and make progress towards! Poorly written goals are especially tough - hard to work towards and are even more difficult to…

Resource Round-Up: Must-Haves for Mastering Integer Operations

Let’s face it, integer operations are an essential math skill. However, they can be incredibly difficult to truly cement into the brains of middle school and high school students. Think about it: students spend 6 or more years learning that 3 + 5 is always 8, no matter what. This fact, and other math facts like it, become engrained and automatic. But suddenly, near the start of seventh grade, we start to tell them that -3 + 5 isn’t 8. It can be frustrating and confusing! It takes a lot of time to unlearn the very math facts that elementary…

Unlocking the Joy of Reading: Proven Strategies for Teachers & Parents to Cultivate a Reading Habit in Reluctant Readers

Reluctant readers, unmotivated readers, whatever you call them, parents and teachers alike are running out of ideas to help increase reading scores around the country for students that just will not pick up a book to read. Students have so many other preferred activities, like video games or scrolling TikTok, that reading falls by the wayside and feels more like a chore than anything else. However, reading for extended periods of time is a predictor of student achievement and one of the best ways to improve standardized test scores. So what are teachers and parents to do? My middle school…