Instruction for Children with Special Needs

I am a Learning Support Teacher, and when I observe my kids in the general education class, they don’t seem to participate at all. While other kids raise their hands often, my students tend to just sit there doodling or daydreaming. How can I get the regular education teachers to engage them more?

I teach a Life Skills class and was just told that I am getting a new student who reportedly is very difficult to teach. He has bitten and hit his teacher and destroyed his work area at his last school. I am nervous and want to know what activities would be best to have him complete his first day in my classroom.

I am a Learning Support teacher and I am looking for some ideas to share with a Regular Education Science teacher to check if our shared students with disabilities are grasping the key concepts in his class. Sometimes when I review with them they have no idea of what was discussed!

We have many double periods of math throughout the week. It makes it very difficult for some of my students to continue attending. What can I do to help them (and me) get through these times?

I have a student who tends to avoid starting independent work and will put it off even with several prompts. If the student doesn’t finish in the time provided, I ask them to stay in for recess to finish in hopes that this will spur on some productivity. Are there any alternatives to missing recess to help students focus and get to work?

I’m a primary school special educator in a large school district where students transition to several different upper elementary schools when they leave second grade.  Due to the size of our district, it’s nearly impossible to meet with all of the receiving teachers for my students at the end of the school year.  I’d like these teachers to know more about my kids before they start in the fall.  I know they’ll get the IEPs, but I wondered if you had any suggestions on how I can help the new teachers learn about my students?

My child is in kindergarten and doesn’t like to cut. She just becomes frustrated. What can we do at home to help her become more skilled and to like cutting. Everything is cutting in kindergarten!

I have a student who sits in class and never seems to be paying attention. He doesn’t take notes during the lesson and when test time rolls around; he seems unprepared and ends up doing poorly on the exam. How can I help him follow along with the lesson in class?

I have some students who have a difficult time attending during longer teacher/student discussions. They are playing with items in their desks, talking to other students, doodling, or looking around. What can I do to help them focus longer on the topic at hand?

I have a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder. He has difficulty with his math facts but refuses to ‘be taught’. He likes to be ‘in charge’. He gets frustrated with his math and wants to know the answers but refuses to sit in a math group or even individually when I am teaching methods for learning the facts. He also loves creating power points in Language Arts. He will insert his favorite character in each one as an image. But what can I do for this student in math?