Procedures and routines are the muscles that move things around in an orderly manner in a classroom.
Children love structure, clear limits, and firm boundaries. They love to know (and have to be told!) how to act in specific situations or in regard to people, places, and things at school. Procedures are a must at the beginning of the year, and they need to be constantly reinforced throughout the year.
Without pretending to have come up with an exhaustive list of procedures, I am recommending this as a checklist to guide your planning in the future. These are some of the most important procedures that a student in the special education setting needs to be taught because they refer to the most important aspects of a student’s school life. By explicitly teaching procedures, teachers help alleviate some of students’ stress and anxiety of not knowing the routines which could lead to not being able to function properly during class time or transitions, which could further lead to behavior problems. Download your free copy here.
The majority of the behavior issues that occur in special education are task related. Students either (1) don’t understand a task, (2) don’t know how to tackle it, or just (3) don’t want to do it. Having visuals in place for all these situations can save a lot of instructional time and power struggles. Get a copy here.
Students can also struggle with controlling their voice level or their emotions. Using a 5-point scale approach helps them visualize their actions, and regulate their behavior. Five point scale visuals are great classroom management resources and can be applied to a large variety of purposes. Read more here.
Some other times students struggle with transitions, either because (1) they are confused, (2) can’t remember what to do, or (3) are not ready to end an activity. Transitions are even harder when students have communication delays, limited social and emotional skills, or cognitive disabilities. Visuals offer information that can help create smooth transitions thereby decreasing the likelihood of challenging behaviors occurring.