Wow! I can’t believe it’s already time for back to school, but next week I will be helping teachers set up their classrooms and be there on the first day of school for one of the districts I work with. Whether you are back in school, on your way back to school or still enjoying your summer, you know you are thinking about ways to organize your classroom. To help with that, I’ve created some new products that might be helpful. And what’s better? It’s all on sale with the big TPT Back to School Sale on August 4 and 5 (Monday and Tuesday). So I’ve linked up with Speech Room News for her great What’s In Your Cart Linky to share more details about my Chevron Autism Classroom Visual Bundles that you might like and to share what I have in my cart (which usually gives you a sneak peek of what is coming your way in my store).
What’s In My Cart?
Action Action Fun With Verbs, from Erin at Creating and Teaching has been on my list for a while. I love the emphasis on verbs (we spend so much time on nouns) and I have a student who is probably just ready to use something like this.
Along the lines of verbs, I think I’m also going to get some clip art that focuses on verbs. Teacher’s Scrapbook has some that are clear and there are several sets so I will probably get at least a couple of these sets. I want to make some activities and some communication visuals with verbs.
I am certain I will find much more to buy in the coming days. I just bought out a good bit for the schedules below, particularly the secondary ones, so I’ll have to do a bit more figuring on what to buy. This type of sale only happens a few times a year and it is the biggest discount on my TPT store with their discount and mine combined, so it’s a great time to purchase bundles and any of my products as they are all at the lowest price they can be.
What’s New That You Might Like in Your Cart?
If you read this blog you know how much I love visual supports and how essential I think they are to educating children with ASD as well as students with other special needs. I’m not going to enter into the discussion of classroom decor here, but I do know that if you are educating students with any type of language or processing difficulty, you want to make sure that the surrounding environment is organized, predictable, and presents visual information in a meaningful and uncluttered way. Typically, when a teacher in a self-contained class, in particular, gets done setting up his/her classroom, the visual supports he/she needs take up all the visual space in the room, hopefully without being overwhelming. So, I got to thinking….is there a way to take the needed visual supports for the classroom and brighten them up a bit from the picture symbols we typically use with white or color coded backgrounds and use some of the patterns and colors that make a classroom look bright and fresh while not being overwhelming. So that is what I hope I’ve done.
Let me give you a quick overview of what is contained in the bundles.
Individual Schedules:
In each bundle there are individual schedules color coded in 15 shades of chevron (tone on tone so the pattern isn’t distracting). In my classrooms each student gets his / her own color. This makes it easier for them to each locate their own schedule (hint: it also makes it easier for the staff to find the right one for each student). Some of the visuals overlap, some have the same title but I changed out the picture to be age-appropriate for each group, and some are different. For instance, the preschool-elementary bundle has play and puzzles while the secondary bundle has community outing and gardening. The ones to the right are the secondary visuals but the colors are the same for both levels.
There are also 3 colors of written schedules without pictures that are designed for students who don’t need to use pictures. Typically there are fewer students who
are able to use a schedule independently with just words, so I only included 3
colors. If you need more colors, just
contact me.
Group and Check-In Schedule Visuals
In each set there are larger visuals that can be used for group schedules and for the check-in stations (parking lots) at each area. You can read more about the importance of check-in stations here and group schedules here. There is a group and check-in visual for each picture on the individual schedules. I made the border gray chevron so that students wouldn’t confuse them with their own schedules. The group schedule can be attached to the bulletin board or the whiteboard using Velcro or magnets (for the whiteboard) so that they can be changed throughout the day to show the progress through the schedule.
Classroom
Rules
I have given you several options forclassroom rules. There are 2 single-page
rules that are easily portable. I often
make multiple copies of these and place them around the room so I can pull them
up as I need them. In addition, the
visual cues from the cueing belts match the rules so the students will be
familiar with them. I also made a set with a page for each
rule. This will allow you to make a
bulletin board display with them that is
larger and to choose which rules will work best for your class.
Visual Cueing Belt:
be laminated, cut the hole out of the corner and put them on a notebook
ring. You can then put them on a lanyard, in an apron pocket, or on your
belt loop for ready access to redirect students with visuals instead of
words. For students with autism, and
many students struggling with behavior in general, redirecting with pictures
instead of words is less intrusive and prevents you from reinforcing the
negative behavior with attention. I did
not include the chevron pattern on these because when you need them, I felt
that students needed the cue to be as non-cluttered as possible. If you would like set with the chevron
pattern, email me and I will add one. The visuals are slightly different for each age group. The one above is for elementary. So you can see more about them below–I’ve put the lists of differen
School / Classroom Jobs:
For the secondary bundle, I created School Jobs for a Jobs Board. These are responsibilities that students have throughout the school as well as in the classroom that help them both learn to care for their environment and community as well as give them valuable work training within the school. These include jobs like recycling (for the classroom or collecting recycling throughout the school), collating, and laundry. There are 20 school jobs in the bundle. There are also community visuals on the schedules for off-site work and trips.
Until next time,
