Ringing in the New Year with Effective Classroom Strategies

Happy New Year, Everyone! 

As I support and help others, I find myself referring to these posts time and time again, so I figured what better way to start a new year, then to share them in one collaborative post to support effective learning and teaching in 2015!

First up, A VIRTUAL TOUR OF MY CLASSROOM:  

Physical structure is the foundation of an effective classroom.  A functional learning environment lends itself to smooth transitions, independence and efficient traffic patterns in turn creating optimal learning and teaching time for students and teachers.  

But physical structure does not stand alone, in the world of Early Childhood Education and Special Education we have a lot of stuff.  Stuff that needs to be organized in a systematic manner that provides easy access to teachers and staff but limited access to students, so with that I give you organizational tips from one of my favorite posts: THE NIGHTMARE THAT IS CLASSROOM ORGANIZATION

Next up,  positive and specific CLASSROOM RULES:

Classroom rules help staff be specific and consistent about teaching appropriate classroom behaviors.  But along with them we must develop classroom expectations.  I like to think of classroom expectations as a way for us to systematically teach our students how the classroom rules apply to a variety of centers, activities, routines and situations.  Click CLASSROOM EXPECTATIONS for more details. 

Which leads me to the next stop on our tour of effective classroom strategies, a systematic classroom schedule.  As stated by Kathleen Lane, "The best behavior plan is a good lesson plan." The more planned our routines and schedule are, the more learning we can embedded throughout the day, in turn limiting wait time and increasing quality teach time.  It is definitely a involved process so below you will find links to a series of six posts related to classroom schedules and routines. . .

PART ONE- ARRIVAL AND CLASSROOM JOBS

PART TWO- CENTERS

PART THREE- OPENING LARGE GROUP

PART FOUR- SNACK TIME

PART FIVE- OUTDOOR TIME

PART SIX- CLOSING LARGE GROUP

And finally before I sign off I must, hop on my soapbox, no significant learning can happen without the ability to communicate.  All students must have a means to communicate what they know, as well as their opinion and what they want and need.  In the world of special education and early childhood education this can be a challenging feat as children come to us with the inability to communicate verbally.  It is our responsibility to find them a way to express themselves in whatever means possible.  Visual communication boards are often just the ticket for this, so without further ado I give you, IMPROVING COMMUNICATION THROUGH AIDED LANGUAGE BOARDS and one final favorite, to remind you of all the possibilities:  PERSONALIZING COMMUNICATION FOR INDIVIDUAL SUCCESS.

Best wishes in 2015, as always let me know if you have questions or if I can help in anyway.  The world of Early Childhood Special Education can be a lonely one but together we can make a big difference for our littlest learners!

Happy New Year, Lindy