Living the Speducator Dream

 A Love Letter to DonorsChoose (Unsponsored!) I have created 9 projects through DonorsChoose, and ALL 9 were fully funded! The truth is that students with disabilities require special tools. Though my principal allots $200 per year for instructional supplies and resources, this money goes quickly. When I started in my current position 4 years ago, I had big visions for what I wanted students to have access to, including sensory and academic tools. Those 9 projects were funded between September 2022 and September 2023. (Not long after the final project was funded, I learned that my district does not approve of teachers submitting projects through DonorsChoose, so I stopped creating projects.) However, I'd like to share some of what I learned from the process. If your district allows use of DonorsChoose, PLEASE take advantage. What a fantastic resource! *One quick note is that all supplies  must stay at the school, even after the teacher leaves. But in my mind, this is ok! Stude...

  Behavioral Incidents Happen! It doesn't matter if you have the best staff/team, FBA, BIP, updated reinforcement inventory, or relationship with a student - behavioral incidents happen! What's important is how you handle the incident and how you make changes following the incident. One of my favorite tools to use following a behavioral incident is the Staff Debrief Form. That way, there is documentation of the conversation, and also - if I have action steps following the chat, I can remember what I need to do! Of course, finding TIME to debrief is always the biggest issue, but IMO, the debrief is a step that cannot be skipped.  This is also a good time to plug A-B-C (Antecedent - Behavior - Consequence) data. If you aren't already collecting this data, now is a good time to start! Link to a sample/editable ABC data sheet on TPT here . This is the debrief form my team uses (linked below): ...and here's how we use it. Date, team members, date of incident, time of inciden...