Reaching Struggling Learners

Obviously I talk a lot about intervention plans, how important they are and how effective they can be…but I didn’t always have a good intervention plan, or quite frankly an intervention plan at all! 

My first year teaching, I was a special education teacher for elementary and it was quite an adventure. I wasn’t given a curriculum or anything other than a scope and sequence for when different things were going to be taught and told to use that and the very random resources in my classroom to teach my students. There really was no official curriculum for that grade at that time, so the teachers were supposed to work together to plan for what they would do. Unfortunately, the climate in this school was very competitive so the teachers used their own materials, or maybe shared with their one friend, but there really was no overall plan or sharing of materials within the grade level….so I was left really in the dark on what materials or resources my students would be using in their individual classrooms. As a first year teacher, that REALLY made my life difficult. 

So, I did what new teachers do best….I found free resources wherever I could (this was before Teachers Pay Teachers to give you an idea of how long I’ve been teaching) and I made it work. 

Guys, it was so bad! I had a general idea for what the kids were supposed to be learning in their classes, and what the IEP goals were, but other than that….I really didn’t know where to start or what to do! I was constantly trying new resources out to see if they worked on this goal or that one, but there really wasn’t a cohesive plan behind what I was trying to do….other than I wanted my students to succeed. And I absolutely wrecked myself trying to make it all work…. 

It wasn’t until my second year teacher, changing schools and seeing a more cohesive plan or mindset for how interventions could be managed that I was able to pull my poor little ducks in a row and start figuring out my own cohesive plan to provide quality interventions for my students. But man, making that shift changed my entire teaching career, and honestly if I hadn’t made that change I don’t think I would have stayed in teaching past that second year….yeah….having an intervention plan that worked really was and still is THAT important. 

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here for iTunes. 

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Click here to leave a review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com 

5 Steps to Getting Started with Progress Monitoring

Summer is the perfect time to get ahead of setting up your progress monitoring interventions! This week, we talk about how to get things all set up to save yourself some headache when the school year starts! 

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here for iTunes. 

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Click here to leave a review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com 

5 Steps to Getting Started with Progress Monitoring

Last week, I was talking to a friend of mine who teaches high school and she is one of the most caring teachers I have ever met. The amount of time that this woman spends worrying about her students and finding ways to meet them where they are is, well it’s almost obsessive. She is an extrovert like I have never known before and she really is one of those teachers that somehow always finds a way to make a real connection or relationship with all of her students. Except, when I was talking to her last week, she was so down on herself and when she finally got down to why it was because she just can’t seem to find a way to connect with her students this year. It has been harder since the pandemic closed schools, but this year has been especially difficult for her. She and I talked about how she tries to engage her students in conversations and the best she gets is 1 word answers, and usually it’s grunts. She is losing that spark for teaching because she wants those connections with her students to really enjoy the teaching process, but with how hard she’s working, she just isn’t seeing any results…. 

We know that students are most disconnected with school and teachers. We also know that this has a negative impact on classroom community, reduces teacher motivation, makes it harder to motivate kids, and obviously impacts academics. 

The fact is teaching is the art of connection, but how do we do this when the to do lists pile up, we have too many kids, and too little time? 

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here for iTunes. 

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Click here to leave a review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com 

Trauma Freebie for Anyone Needing Help Working With Students Who Have Experienced Trauma

SEL in all Classrooms
Relationships Determine Progress
Building Relationships in the classroom
Supporting Students With a Trauma History

Special education teachers know that managing a caseload is a lot more than just tracking dates. It includes writing and teaching goals. Then, don’t forget to collect data on those goals! Special education teachers need to progress monitor the goals weekly. They also need to report the results to school personnel and parents. Side note-graphs make it easier to report, but that is often an additional step to take. 

There is so much to managing a caseload! Today, I’m going to share my complete guide to managing a caseload including progress monitoring.

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here for iTunes. 

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Click here to leave a review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com 

5 Steps to Getting Started with Progress Monitoring

Caseload Manager in Excel

Special Education Mega Growing Bundle

They say that special education teachers are a “different breed” and maybe they are right, whoever “they” is. The fact is that special education teachers juggle so much every day…every hour in reality, that it is an absolute miracle that any of them make it through a week, let alone a school year. Between planning and teaching highly individualized lessons, preparing all of the materials, providing modifications or accommodations throughout the day, corresponding with other teachers, parents, specialists, and administrators, and planning for, scheduling, and writing IEPs….special education teachers are constantly buried under all the things they have to do…  Something has to give, something is going to get forgotten, unless they can get a little bit of help. 

Today, let’s talk about how a caseload manager can make a huge difference in keeping special education teachers both sane and on top of all of their responsibilities.

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here for iTunes. 

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Click here to leave a review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com 

5 Steps to Getting Started with Progress Monitoring

Set Up a Caseload Management System

So, you have MTSS in your school, and there are several students in your class who are struggling in reading, and they are receiving the interventions that they need to make progress. But you have noticed that several of your students are also struggling in math. Yes, you know that you should provide support in math, but the thought of progress monitoring math seems daunting….even though you are already doing this for several of your students in reading. 

How do you get started with and easily maintain (or at least try to) progress monitoring math goals? That’s what we will talk about today! 

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here for iTunes. 

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Click here to leave a review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com 

5 Steps to Getting Started with Progress Monitoring

The last few weeks, we’ve been talking about phonological awareness, and how important it is to drill down to the most basic skill deficit to make real progress in reading for our struggling students. 

Welcome to the Reaching Struggling Learners podcast. Today we are going to talk about how to incorporate phonics skills throughout the school day and how to improve your phonics small group time to be the best that it can be! 

Phonics small group time tends to be either the best or worst part of many teachers day. 

When small group time is run well, the transitions are seamless, and the students really get a lot of important intervention time. When it isn’t run well, the frustration is REAL.

So, what can we do to make sure that phonics small group time is effective and doesn’t make us rip our hair out?

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here for iTunes. 

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Click here to leave a review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com 

5 Steps to Getting Started with Progress Monitoring

Last week we talked about the difference between phonological awareness and phonics. 

This week, we are going to extend that conversation into talking about how to set up and manage phonological awareness small groups. You may be thinking that those skills are such baby skills, why would anyone dedicate an entire small group time to them? That’s a good question, which we definitely will talk about today!

Phonological awareness skills are the foundation to reading skills. They lay the groundwork for phonics. So yes, phonological awareness is important to teach and for students to master. 

But, dedicating an entire small group time block daily to it? That seems a little excessive doesn’t it?

I will say, unless you are teaching really young students or students who are very far below grade level in reading, I don’t think that having a dedicated 30 minute daily phonological awareness small group just for phonological awareness is needed or necessary. Actually, if you are teaching really young students, I hope you aren’t having a dedicated 30 minute small group ever….I’d hate to try to keep really young kids attention for more than 15 minutes on anything academic…..

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here for iTunes. 

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Click here to leave a review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com 

5 Steps to Getting Started with Progress Monitoring

We all know that if we don't start the year with it, we aren't going to do it. 

So this year, let's start with progress monitoring so that we can be confident in what we do all year long.

Getting our progress monitoring under control early on is important, because we know that progress monitoring closes achievement gaps. Our students have a lot of gaps in their learning right now. Filling those gaps now makes life easier later.

On this episode of the podcast, we will talk about some actionable steps you can take today to get yourself prepared to start your intervention groups and progress monitoring as soon as you're ready. 

Let's make this the smoothest year yet together!

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here for iTunes. 

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Click here to leave a review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com 

5 Steps to Getting Started with Progress Monitoring

Phonological awareness and phonics are two different things, but many teachers get confused between the 2. While the terms are not interchangeable, they do have some similarities.

Today on the Reaching Struggling Learners podcast, we are going to talk about phonological awareness and phonics. Let’s clear up any confusion there may be, so that we can figure out the most basic skills our students need to learn to succeed. 

Subscribe & Review in iTunes

Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding a bunch of bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here for iTunes. 

Now if you’re feeling extra loving, I would be really grateful if you left me a review over on iTunes, too. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Click here to leave a review, select “Ratings and Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is. Thank you!

Links Mentioned in the Show:

https://teachingstrugglinglearners.com 

5 Steps to Getting Started with Progress Monitoring