Autism

12 Basic Social Skills Kids Need

May 1, 2019 by pathway2success 1 Comment

Social skills are a critical element to helping kids succeed socially, emotionally, personally, and even academically. These are the skills are the behaviors that help kids join in conversations, collaborate with peers, develop lasting friendships, self-advocate when they need help, and so much more. It would be ideal if all learners walked into classrooms equipped with strong social skills ready for success. The truth is, though, that kids are kids; they are still developing, learning, growing, and trying to make sense of the social world around them. As adults, the biggest impact we can have to help kids learn social skills is to teach them.

Quite often, I get asked, “But doesn’t everyone need social skills? Why do you target kids specifically?” To me, the answer is obvious. If we teach kids and young adults these social skills from an early age, they will have the foundations they need as adults. So, when kids need social skills, let’s teach them!

To help highlight how important these social skill are, I created a complete set of Social Skills Visuals. You can use them as a bulletin board, post them as reminders all around, or use the pages to highlight a few skills each week. And if you’re looking for even more ways to teach social skills, feel free to check out my social skills activities for elementary and social skills lessons for older kids.

Here are 12 basic social skills and strategies for teaching them:

Following Directions. This is having the ability to listen, understand expectations, and follow through in a timely manner. Learners need to learn how to follow directions to help them complete tasks, whether it is an assignment in class or instructions from a future boss.

Strategies to teach:

Play games for following directions, like Simon Says and Freeze.
Practice giving both verbal and visual directions.
Teach and practice how to read directions BEFORE starting an assignment.
Have learners highlight or underline directions on assignments before starting.
Have learners make a checklist for following directions for any task (like making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich) to help them see why directions should be clear and followed well.

Using Manners. Our manners are the courteous behaviors to we to show we are kind and respectful. All kids need to understand manners so they can be socially appropriate in a variety of settings, such as a restaurant, at the library, or even answering the phone.

Strategies to teach:

Post visuals of “manner words,” such as please, thank you, and you’re welcome as reminders.
Make it a habit to model and say these words with students and colleagues.
Explicitly teach about manners and discuss what manners we use in different settings.

Having a Positive Attitude. A positive attitude is the first step to having a growth mindset. By having a positive attitude, kids can learn to be more optimistic and see the bright side of things.

Strategies to teach:

Model having a positive attitude, even when things don’t go as planned (ex: “I was really looking forward to outdoor recess today, but now I am excited to play some chess instead!”).
Practice and discuss positive self-talk.
Read picture books about a positive attitude: Ish by Peter H. Reynolds and Because Amelia Smiled by David Ezra Stein.

Working with Others. All learners need skills to positively work with others by listening, collaborating, helping, and doing their fair share.

Strategies to teach:

Explicitly teach skills for working well with others.
Make a list of “group ground rules” for how to work successfully with others (listening to each other, staying with the group, staying positive, etc.).
Give lots of practice in partners and small groups.
Make sure students are frequently working with different people.
Sometimes give learners the chance to pick their partners, while assigning students at other times.
Keep a list of sentence starters kids can use in groups to collaborate such as, “I really like how you…” and “Can we try…”

Good Hygiene. Proper self-care means keeping yourself well-groomed and neat. This is an important skill because not only is it about being clean, but it helps everyone make a positive first impression.

Strategies to teach:

Talk about what good hygiene means, such as washing hands and showering/bathing daily.
Give reminders for hygiene, depending on age level.
Talk to the school counselor or social worker about coming in for a lesson on hygiene.

Using Polite Words. Using kind and polite words is just another way to spread kindness to others. Sometimes, I call this “using kind words only.”

Strategies to teach:

Teach about kindness and why it matters.
Discuss polite and kind words.
Teach about using a social filter, including thinking about how our words impact others.

Taking Turns. Learning to turn-take involves alternating between two or more people. This is an important skill to show courtesy and respect during conversations and other activities.

Strategies to teach:

Explain what it means to take turns and discuss scenarios, such as in sports, conversations, games, and more.
Practice turn-taking with board games.
Practice turn-taking with conversations (whole class and small groups).
Have students hold a special tangible (a ball or stuffed animal) when it is their turn to talk.

Greetings. Welcoming others and making them feel valued is an important social skill. By teaching kids and young adults how to properly greet others, it can help create a positive community for all. This is also an important lifelong social skill for the workplace and beyond..

Strategies to teach:

Model greetings each morning with each student as they walk in.
Teach different greeting and allow students to choose how to greet each other.
Start the day with a morning meeting and a greeting.

Waiting and Having Patience. Developing patience is a critical skill during times when we have to wait. Kid and young adults might have to wait in line at the pencil sharpener or wait for their turn to speak in a group, just to name a few. By having patience, they show that they are courteous and respectful to all.

Strategies to teach:

Teach strategies for what to do when waiting (doing something else, using positive self-talk, etc.).
Discuss scenarios when kids have to wait and discuss how they can handle it.
Read picture books about patience: Waiting by Kevin Henkes and Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat.
Use social scripts to help teach skills for how to wait in social situations.

Being a Good Sport. Learning to be a good sport can help kids and young adults be respectful when they engage in games and activities. It can also help them positively cope with losing by focusing on having fun instead of winning.

Strategies to teach:

Teach and discuss expectations for being a good sport.
Focus on having fun, playing, and learning rather than winning.
Give reminders about being a good sport before activities.
Use social scripts to remind about being a good sport before activities.
Practice being a good sport during games (anything from board games to outdoor sports during recess).
Practice and discuss having a growth mindset to help when students lose.

Listening to Others. Skills for listening are critical to building positive relationships with others. Kids and young adults should learn how to focus their attention to others, put away distractions, and really think about what someone else is saying.

Strategies to teach:

Start the day with a morning meeting and give time to share thoughts.
Teach the basics for listening: making eye contact, putting distractions away, thinking about what someone is saying.
Give discussion time in your content area subjects.
Practice listening with discussion times.
Teach students how to summarize what they heard: “So what I heard you say is that…”.

Understanding Personal Space. Having a good understanding of personal space helps everyone feel more comfortable in social situations. It also gives way to teaching that consent is needed to be in someone else’s personal space.

Strategies to teach:

Teach students that they have an invisible bubble around them called their personal space. Explain why having personal space is important.
Teach and discuss expected behaviors with personal space such as standing an arm’s length away while talking and keeping hands to self.
Act out what personal space looks like in different scenarios.
Teach students how to ask permission if they would like to give a friend a hug.
Read picture books about personal space: Personal Space Camp by Julia Cook.

If you have more suggestions or ideas for teaching these skills, feel free to share! I would love to add to the list. Be sure to also check out all of my social skills resources to get started teaching these important skills right away!

15+ Strategies to Help Build Self-Regulation Skills

November 5, 2018 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

Self-regulation is a critical skill for people of all ages. It is the ability that helps us to control our behaviors to make good decisions for the long-term, rather than just doing what we want in the moment. It’s also the skill that allows us to manage our emotions when we’re feeling angry, disappointed, or worried. These can be difficult for adults, but are significantly more challenging for children and young adults, whose brains are still growing and developing.

There are huge benefits to helping kids and young adults improve their skills for self-regulation. These skills can help kids and young adults to complete their work and chores (even if they don’t want to), maintain lasting friendships, make safe choices when out with friends, stop themselves from breaking a rule, work through challenges when they feel like giving up, and so much more. Simply put, kids and young adults are more likely to lead happier and healthier lives when self-regulation skills are strengthened. Of course, working on self-regulation skills doesn’t just happen overnight. Especially for those who struggle with them, these abilities must be working on and improved over time. The good news is that kids and young adults can learn strategies and skills to improve their self-regulation.

Here are 15+ strategies and ideas to use with your learners:

Practice self-control with games. There are many different games that help students work on their self-control skills! Jenga, Freeze, and Simon Says are just a few of them. One of my favorites is Blurt, but you could really play with any trivia questions or content from your curriculum. You can play with a small group of full class. Just have two students stand together at a desk. Ask them a question (from Blurt or your own), and only those two students can shout out the answer to the question. Everyone else must use self-control and remain silent, even if they know the answer. The person who says the correct answer will move on to the next desk, while the other student will sit down at that desk. As the game continues, the goal is to try and make it all the way around the room. Another one of my favorites is Guard Duty. This one is fun because students actually pretend they are guards at a palace and have be serious, even when someone might try to distract them. Of course, this is a perfect game when walking in the hallway on the way to another class. Try this set of Executive Functioning Games & Play Activities if you want more!

Create a share journal. If your student likes to share a lot of extra information throughout a class lesson, give them a special journal. They can write down all of their questions, thoughts, and connections in the journal. Once or twice a day, make sure to sit down with the student to review the journal and hear what they wanted to tell you.

Explicitly teach self-regulation skills. Some learners who struggle significantly with self-regulation skills can most likely benefit from a small group that targets these skills head on! Put together a group of your own during morning meeting, lunch time, or any other time that works to teach these skills. If you do not have flexibility in your schedule for such a group, consider talking with the school counselor, school psychologist, special education teacher, or social worker to create a group with the student or students you have in mind. More than likely, many other students can benefit from these skills, too! I have created a Self-Control Bootcamp for older students, as well as a Self-Regulation Station (with a train theme!) for younger learners. Use these group times to highlight what self-regulation and self-control are, why they matter, and specific strategies for how students can make improvements.

Use literature. Picture books are a great way to introduce and discuss self-regulation skills at all levels. Even my middle schoolers loved when I got the picture books out for a read-aloud! Some great options to target self-regulation skills include: My Mouth is a Volcano by Julia Cook, I’m in Charge of Me! by David Parker, and What Were You Thinking? by Brian Smith. One of my absolute favorites is Super George and the Invisible Shield by Laurie Mendoza. In this story, George has to learn some strategies to help him stay in control and out of trouble. With whatever books you choose, make sure to highlight the self-regulation skills, discuss how each character uses the skills, and how it relates to your students’ lives.

Use visuals as reminders. Visual supports can be extremely helpful reminders to students about routines and activities in the classroom. You can tailor your visuals for individual students. For example, if a student struggles with calling out during class lessons, add a visual on his or her desk that reminders about raising our hand first. If a student is having difficulty waiting in line, keep a visual showing reminders near the door.

Create a social scripts binder. Social scripts are short narratives about any situation. Create an individualized binder for your student with stories specific to their needs. For example, if a student struggles to self-regulate behaviors during transition times, add a story about transitions to their binder. If they continue having issues getting settled in the morning to start morning work, add a story about the morning routine. To start, have the student read through the social script prior to the activity to remind them what they should be doing before the task. Eventually, the goal is that the student will need the stories less and less, as they become more independent.

Give movement breaks. Kids and young adults who struggle with self-regulation often need extra physical activity built into their day. One simple strategy is to incorporate movement and break brains in between your instruction time. One year, I used our morning homeroom periods to play basketball in the gym. In another instance, I was able to schedule a student with an extra gym class throughout the week. It’s important to be creative because a little extra physical activity can often make a huge difference for these learners!

Practice mindfulness. So often, in our busy world, kids and young adults do not know how to “just be.” Mindfulness can be a perfect solution for that. While it’s not an instant fix, learning to be more mindful can help kids and young adult stay present in the moment, feel calmer, improve focus, and better manage emotions in the moment. There are many different strategies for practicing mindfulness. You can start with simple breathing exercising with these free mindfulness breathe boards. Another great activity is to practice mindful coloring, which involves just coloring and not talking to anyone else. I’ve developed a whole set of Mindfulness Activities to help learners improve these skills over time.

Develop routines for success. While many of these strategies are directed at the student, educators can also play a huge role in creating routines for success. Consider the specific areas where your student is struggling and identify routines and strategies you can implement. If a student seems to never remember to bring back their homework, set them up with a specialized homework binder to go home. If a student continually calls out during lessons, make a plan that you will call on them at least once during a lesson when their hand is up.

Discuss scenarios. Talk about real-life situations that encourage learners to stop and think about managing their behaviors. You might say, “Someone is kicking the back of your chair during a test and it’s really annoying you. What do you do?” Have students talk in small groups or partners and share about how they might handle those situations. While you can’t plan for every situation, using scenarios can help students train their brains for how to think through problems as they happen.

Use role-play. Using any of the topics you discuss as scenarios, act the situations out in small groups or partners. Not only is role-play a lot of fun for kids, but it makes it memorable. Note that it’s always most helpful to act out the socially appropriate way to handle situations. For this reason, it’s extremely helpful to partner students up with peer role models who can help kids brainstorm solutions for handling challenges.

Use guided meditation videos. A guided meditation is just a script that guides people through the practice of relaxing. Youtube is a great free resource for many guided meditation videos for kids and young adults. Another way to practice mindfulness and just being still, guided meditation helps kids learn to be in control of their bodies, thoughts, and emotions in the moment. Again, these would be a great activity to do before a test, after a transition, or just first thing in the morning.

Create a calm down space. Design an area in the room for students to go who need a few minutes to themselves. Not all students will need to use this area, but the ones who do, will benefit greatly. It’s important to teach that the calm down area is a space to self-regulate and get in control of emotions so we can return back to our normal days. Most of all, it’s critical to show all learners that it’s normal and healthy to need a break once in a while. Taking five minutes in the calm down area to gather your emotions is a much better choice than pushing someone or saying mean words you will probably later regret.

Develop SMART goals. A huge component to improving self-regulation skills is being able to get past the “right now”. Students need to be able to see the future and what’s in it for them. Take time with your learner to develop individualized SMART goals on areas that are important for them. Perhaps your student needs to improve the number of class assignments they complete, raising their hand when they have a comment to share, or using appropriate language in the classroom. Any of those could be written out as a smart goal, with specific strategies for the student to work on over time.

Teach how to gauge emotions. I love to use an emotions scale that helps students gauge the level of their emotions. So often, kids who struggle with self-regulation skills are missing this internal meter that lets us know how intense our emotions are at the moment. This helps students learn to be more self-aware about their emotions and body, and once students are more self-aware, they can be more open to finding solutions for their struggles.

Incorporate self-reflection times. All kids and young adults can benefit from becoming more self-reflective. That involves assessing past behaviors and choices, as well as identifying next steps for improvement. This can be a tough skill for kids to learn at first, especially because it can be so personal to admit where you went wrong. I suggest creating a reflection binder that holds information about student SMART goals and areas that the student needs to improve. Each reflection binder really should be individualized because every student needs to work on different things. Some students of mine had data on grades, while others focused more on behavior or attendance. Meet weekly with the student as an intervention. Discuss the goals, progress made, challenges, and next steps for the future. Most of all, try to let the student take the lead! This can slowly help him or her develop the ability to self-reflect and self-regulate in the future.

Encourage positive habits. Having a healthy diet and sleep pattern can contribute to how self-regulated someone is. Talk with the student and family about making sure he or she is well-rested at night to achieve success the next day. If this is an area you are not comfortable addressing yourself, consider consulting with the school social worker or school counselor for extra support.

15 Tips for Leading a Social Skills Group

March 5, 2018 by pathway2success 2 Comments

As a middle school special educator, social skills have been one of my favorite areas to teach. These skills are so important but often get left behind, especially in the upper grades. These are a number of roadblocks to teaching social skills to kids and young adults, including now having enough time, difficulty scheduling a group, or just not having the right resources to get started. That’s why as a curriculum specialist now, I feel it’s so important to help educators find a way to teach these important skills. So many kids struggle with understanding others’ perspective, engaging in peer conversations, making friends, managing their emotions, dealing with conflicts, and much more. These are all critical skills that help kids have success in school, with friends, and for the rest of their lives.

Sometimes it might feel like there is not enough time in the day for social skills instruction due to scheduling, academics, and other needs throughout the day. Still, there are ways to fit it in. If a middle or high school student still needs social instruction, it’s critical they get it right away! Consider pulling a group out of study hall once a week for instruction, having a lunch group every day for a week, or structuring time for a morning meeting. It’s important to think outside the box to find a time that works. Once you figure out the timing, here are some tips and strategies for making social skills groups work for you and your students:

Identify social needs ahead of time. Consider the students you are thinking of and what specific social skills they need the most. Start with the most important skills first and work your way through. For example, if a young adult is getting into trouble for acting out in aggressive ways, focus on managing emotions first. If you have a student who is constantly arguing with peers because they only see things one way, focus on perspective-taking. The term “social skills” is really a huge umbrella, so work to be purposeful about what specific skills you are teaching.

Involve peer role models. This can’t be stressed enough! Inviting peer role models into a group can help kids feel more excited for the activities. Of course, it’s no secret that kids learn best from other kids. Peer role models are perfect supports to help give appropriate social responses throughout activities. You really need these learners around to help support the other students who need the social skills the most.

Communicate with other educators and professionals. Let the students’ teachers and other professionals know what skills the students will be working on. Encourage them to reinforce certain behaviors to help kids generalize the skills they are learning. I always found this extremely helpful because if I wanted to work on conversations with a group, the speech language pathologist could use strategies to help highlight the same skills. Communication and collaboration is key.

Give time to get to know each other. If students in your group aren’t already friends, it’s important to give time for them to develop relationships. Some students might feel nervous to meet in a small group with other kids they don’t know well. Use your first session to give kids time to just get to know each other and start to feel more comfortable. Let students share important facts about themselves through activities or games. My favorite is “Two Truths and a Dream”. In this activity, kids write down 3 things about themselves: two that are true and one that isn’t true yet but is a dream for the future. Have students read their three statements and see if others in the group can guess what is true and what is a dream. Whatever icebreaker activities you choose, it’s important to give that time so that all students can feel comfortable and open in the group.

Incorporate interests. Find out some interests for each student in your group. Work to incorporate those interests into your lessons. For example, if a few students love basketball, you can use references of playing on a team to teach about friendship skills and sportsmanship. If students are into art, you can teach acceptance by painting a picture and discussing how each of ours are different and unique. Adding those interests into the group will help kids feel more invested in the group, which of course leads to increased learning over time.

Teach social skills explicitly. Once you know exactly what skills you want to target, spend the time to explicitly teach those skills. Note that it’s most helpful to really define your group to focus on the skills your students need. “Social skills” is a huge umbrella, so it helps to narrow down what social skills really need to be targeted explicitly. Some of my favorite social skills units to teach include perspective-taking, communication skills, and managing emotions. If you are struggling with where to start, consider this complete set of social skills lessons with activities and more. Let students know what skill you are working on, why it matters, and give practice with each skill in action. Kids and young adults need to know exactly what skills they need to improve and how to get there.

Use role-play. One of the most fun and effective way to learn some of these social skills is acting them out! Students can work in partners or small groups to act out a variety of situations. Have students role-play having a group conversation at lunch. Encourage kids to act out how to solve a disagreement with a friend. Those are just a few small examples! The options are really endless. Best of all, with the added practice, this strategy can really help the skills stick over time.

Encourage real-life connections. Give time for kids to relate their new skills to what is going on in their real lives. You can ask questions to prompt these connections, such as, “When have you seen someone use this skill in your life?” or “When do you think you might need this?”

Incorporate hands-on activities. Middle and high school kids need something active to keep them focused and engaged in social skills groups! Have students create interactive crafts, color, act out situations, and just get up and move. Kids will always remember more when they are doing something!

Add incentives (and make them learning activities, too). Let your students know that they will get 10 minutes of activity time at the end of the group if you get through what you need to. Then, of course, plan that activity to be centered around critical skills! Give time to play basketball, but discuss and encourage turn-taking as kids play. Watch a funny (but appropriate) YouTube video and see if kids can use their self-control to not laugh right away. In the small amount of time educators get to support kids with social skills, we really need to make every minute count.

Discuss real-life scenarios. Real-life situations can help kids understand social skills in a meaningful way. My favorite way to do that is to give a scenario and pose a question. For example, “You notice your partner in math has their head down. How might they feel? What can you do?” In this situation, kids can work on learning social cues, building empathy, and developing social problem-solving skills all from one scenario. You can make your own or use sets already created for you.

Give encouragement. I can’t stress enough that learning new social skills will often take lots of practice, discussion, encourage, and repetition. Learning these skills is often challenging, especially for the kids who struggle socially. Know that it will take time, so provide lots of encouragement and positive reinforcement along the way.

Play games. Social skill learning can be tough for kids who struggle in this area. Sometimes kids even avoid participating because they are embarrassed or nervous to work on the skills head on. A perfect strategy for this is to play games. Blurt is one of my favorites to practice self control, while games like Pictionary can help encourage teamwork. I’ve even developed some games to specifically target skills like building empathy, improving social communication skills, or working on social problem-solving.

Provide follow-up. A few weeks after the group, check in with the students to see how they feel about what they’ve learned. Learning social skills is often an on-going and evolving process.

Get in the classroom. If possible, spend time in the students’ classrooms to see those social skills in action! This is the best place to provide extra encouragement and reinforcement to make sure our learners are following through with what we’ve taught them. This can also be a great way to provide support to the classroom teacher, too.

Teaching social skills can be lots of fun and extremely rewarding when you see kids making social gains. If you are teaching older kids, give this complete set of Social Skills Lessons and Activities for Older Kids a try! It includes units and activities teach about basic interactions, managing emotions, conversations, empathy, and perspective-taking. Just some of the lessons and activities target being respectful, following directions, accepting criticism, working with others, understanding emotions, dealing with anger, understanding perspectives, accepting different perspectives, flexible thinking, understanding social cues, developing empathy, using perspectives to resolve conflicts, and more.

If you’re needing resources for younger kids, try this set of Social Skills Activities for Younger Kids. It includes social skills task cards, lessons, worksheets, and social stories for teaching positive social behaviors. Skills targeted include basic interactions, conversations, empathy, friendships, dealing with conflicts, and more.

10 Mindfulness Activities You Can Try Today

January 4, 2018 by pathway2success 3 Comments

All kids benefit from practicing mindfulness. Who wouldn’t love the kids and young adults we work with to become more focused, calm, in control, and self-aware? Mindfulness is a technique that can help teach and strengthen those abilities over time. By practicing mindfulness, people can learn to become more aware of their own thoughts, feeling, sensations, and the environment around us. It helps us to refocus and recenter on the present, rather than the past or the future.

If you’ve heard of mindfulness but aren’t sure exactly how to implement it with your learners, I’ve put together a few simple strategies you can try. Whether you are a regular education teacher, special education teacher, counselor, or parent, know that you have the power to teach mindfulness practices. You don’t need to be an expert. In fact, no one ever really “masters” mindfulness. Instead, we are all improving our practice the more we do it. Give the techniques a try and see what works for you! If you want to get started right away, consider these Mindfulness Activities or Mindfulness Activities for Little Learners.

Here are some simple strategies for practicing mindfulness with kids and young adults:

1. Mindful Coloring. You can use any coloring pages for this activity. I love to gather assorted coloring books with different themes and levels. Let kids choose their own coloring page, whether it is a page with dragons, cats, or just patterns. Give access to the coloring materials that best suit your needs. Colored pencils, flair pens, and gel pens are some of my favorites. Encourage kids to quietly color on their own. Tell them that if they’ve made a mistake, just to breathe and move on. Mindfulness is about just letting the experiences pass us by without making judgements about them.

2. Connect with Nature. Take a ten minute nature walk to help kids breathe in fresh air and experience the outdoors for a change. While you are out there, encourage kids to look around and take in the environment with their senses.

3. Dragon Breathing. A huge component of mindfulness is learning how to control our own breathing. A way to get younger kids to buy in to this is making it fun. With dragon breathing, kids will sit up straight, breathe in, stick their tongue out, and breathe out like a dragon. It might feel super silly at first, but it helps to bring the idea of deep breathing down to their level! This is a great activity to do before tests or after recess.

4. Smell the Flowers Breathing Activity. This activity combines mindful coloring and deep breathing. Introduce scented markers and explain that this is a special activity you can only do with those markers. This is an important point so that students don’t smell other markers that aren’t safe. Have students color and breathe in through their noses to smell as they go.

5. Practice Yoga. Spend ten minutes practicing some simple yoga postures, like tree, warrior, and half moon pose. If you’re not sure about how to teach the postures, you can always search for a video and play it while you practice together. I always love to end yoga practice with a relaxing pose of laying on our backs. It’s a great way to incorporate meditation, too!

6. Mindfulness 5-4-3-2-1. Use this technique to ground kids and young adults. This is an especially great activity to help kids manage anxiety or anger. Have students look around their current surroundings and find five things they can see, four things they can tough, three things they can hear, two things they can smell, and one thing they can taste. By the time they get through listing all of those, they will be more present and calm.

7. Recite Positive Affirmations. I’m a huge advocate for teaching kids and young adults positive self-talk. Not only is it uplifting, but it provides a sense of calm when students read their positive affirmations to themselves. You can use this free list of positive affirmations to have students read from.

8. Practice Guided Meditations. Have kids find a spot on a rug or yoga mat and lie down. Have them close they eyes and just breathe in and out. Read a guided meditation to help kids visualize a soothing beach or a calm walk through the forest. You can find one online or make up your own! Within a few minutes, kids will find themselves more calm and relaxed.

9. Use Breathing Visuals. Some kids and young adults need a more concrete and visual method for practicing breathing. A “breathe board” is just a set of shapes or lines that kids can follow with their fingers as they breathe in and out. Different shapes will work differently for different kids, so it’s helpful to try a few!

10. Listen to music. Play your choice of nature sounds, classical, or any acoustic music. You can play the music while kids are doing something independently or allow kids to just sit down and relax while mindfully listening to the music.

11. Use crafts. I know this is more than 10, but I had to add this one in! Crafts can be a very mindful and calming activity for kids and young adults. Weaving and beading are two of my favorites. They are simple and repetitive, so it’s easy for all learners to give them a try. You can also pick up materials at the local dollar store to get started. As a bonus, kids are often left with a tangible reminder of their mindful practice after finishing the craft.

I hope you are as excited about practicing mindfulness with kids and young adults as I am! It’s a quick and simple activity you can add to your routine to help kids improve focus, develop self-control, become more self-aware, and just feel better about themselves. I have developed these activities and several more to practice mindfulness with kids and young adults. If you are interested, consider checking out my Mindfulness and Coping Strategies Mega Bundle filled with mindfulness and coping strategies resources for all ages. Feel free to share what other ways you practice mindfulness with your learners!

How to Create a Coping Strategies Notebook

June 1, 2017 by pathway2success 6 Comments

A coping strategies binder is a resource to help calm kids and young adults who are feeling angry, anxious, sad, or stressed. Within the binder, kids add coping strategies that work best for them, such as listening to music, drawing, practicing yoga, or using positive self-talk. Those really are just a few out of many coping strategies that can work for kids. The pages in the binder can include pictures, drawings, or steps to help remind them about the strategy. Best of all, the binder can be housed at a calm down center. Kids can also create duplicate binders to keep in specific classes, the office, the counseling area, or even at home.

If you already love this idea and want an easy way to get started right away, check out my Coping Strategies Notebook. It includes pre-made coping strategies notebook pages for over 20 strategies, such as listening to music, chewing gum, taking deep breaths, writing in a journal, and so much more. If you are working with older students, consider the Coping Strategies Notebook for Middle & High School.

Whether you choose to purchase a pre-made notebook or make your own, coping strategies notebooks can be a great tool for teachers, counselors, administrators, and even parents.

Here is how to make a coping strategies notebook:

1. Gather 1 binder for each student who will be making a coping strategies notebook. While it is possible to have one classroom coping strategies notebook, it’s best for each child to have their own. The reason for this is so that each child or young adult can select their own individualized coping strategies to add into the binder.

2. Have students design a cover page for their binder. This is important to help kids take ownership of their individual binders.

3. Explain and discuss coping strategies. You can use a free list of 100 coping strategies or develop a list of your own.

4. Identify specific coping strategies that will work for the child or young adult. It’s great to let kids choose their own strategies, but an adult might need to guide kids, too. You will probably have a good idea about what will work best for the student and the setting.

5. Create one notebook page for each strategy. Use this free Coping Strategies Notebook Sampler to print a coping strategies template page, along with sample cover pages. Have students list the steps for performing the coping strategy. It’s helpful for students to take this time to think about how the strategy will help them, too.

6. Take time to practice each strategy. It’s critical to practice coping strategies when the child is calm, so that they can use the strategies in times of stress. While practicing, you can even take a picture of the child performing the coping strategy and add it into the binder. For example, if listening to music is a strategy that helps, take a photo of the child listening to music with headphones on. Print it and add it right to the notebook.

7. Continue with several coping strategies that may work for the student. It’s great to try a variety of strategies so see what works best for each individual student. It’s very important to note that what works well for one child may not work well for another.

8. Keep the binder in a calming zone or place the child can go during times of anger, anxiety, or stress. Encourage students to use the binder to remind them of their strategies when they are feeling upset or stressed.

To get started right away, try this Free Coping Strategies Notebook Sampler with sample pages you can fill out and use with your students. If you need pre-made coping strategies notebook pages and differentiated materials, consider the Coping Strategies Notebook for elementary kids, or the Coping Strategies Notebook for middle and high school kids. Both the elementary and middle/high school versions include everything a counselor, teacher, or parent needs to implement a coping strategies notebook of their own.

10 Truths Kids with Disabilities Should Know

May 1, 2017 by pathway2success Leave a Comment

As a special education teacher, I see kids with all types of disabilities and learning challenges. Sometimes, we are so busy teaching and working on critical skills that we don’t spend enough time talking to kids about their actual disabilities. By starting to talk to kids about their disabilities, we can empower young learners to understand who they are and give them confidence to achieve their greatest goals. Here are 10 Truths Kids With Disabilities Should Know:

1. You are unique. You have your own learning profile with individual strengths and weaknesses. That is true for every person, whether they have a disability or not. Learn to embrace your strengths while always working on your challenges along the way.

2. Your disability is just one piece of you. You are not a “disabled person” but “a person with a disability”. It is just one part of who you are. You have many other strengths and positives that shine through each and every day that are bigger parts of you as a person. While your disability is important, it is just a part of you and not the whole thing.

3. You are your best advocate. You know yourself best. You know what you need to do your best and what will help you to accomplish a task. With that, you’ll need to stand up for yourself at times and make sure you get those things. Sometimes it will be easy to get what you need and other times you may need to fight for it.

4. Many people around the world also have disabilities. About one-fifth of the world’s population have disabilities. That is over 100 million people. You are not alone.

5. You won’t outgrow your disability, but you will develop strategies. As you learn and grow, you will learn strategies to help you cope and compensate for the challenges you deal with. These strategies will help you become a stronger person. While you can’t “outgrow” your disability, you can most certainly get better at dealing with the challenges it brings.

6. Some people still do not recognize or understand disabilities. While many people have knowledge about disabilities, there are still many who do not. Some misconceptions about disabilities still exist. Remember not to take this personally. Instead, use it as an opportunity to educate others.

7. Not all parts of your disability are bad. Many times, a disability helps to highlight or bring forth other strengths inside of you. Kids and young adults with ADHD, for example, are often very creative and innovative. They are known to think outside the box. Those with autism can be known to have a particular attention to detail like no one else. Kids with learning disabilities may have a special drive and determination, able to overcome the biggest challenges. Others might have lots of empathy or compassion. Those are just a few small examples. Simply put, there are positives to each disability, so make sure to find yours.

8. Everyone has challenges. When you have the label of a disability, it’s easy to feel different or singled out. Keep in mind that everyone experiences difficulties and challenges in some form, whether or not they are labeled as a disability. Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean someone else isn’t struggling. We all have challenges we deal with every day.

9. It’s okay to be open about your disability. Keeping disabilities secret and hidden have created a feel that they are taboo or bad. When you are ready, it’s okay to open up to loved ones and friends about your disability. The people who care about you will understand and can be there to listen when needed. Take your time and share at your own pace, but when you do finally open up, it’s going to set you free a bit.

10. You can be anything you aspire to be and more. Hold on to your hopes, goals, and dreams. You are a unique person who is capable of anything. Believe in yourself, work hard, and you can do anything in this world.

Get the FREE printable “10 Truths Kids with Disabilities Should Know” and use it today! It includes a reflection sheet for kids and young adults to reflect upon the 10 truths. It would be a great activity in a resource class, small counseling group, or just at the beginning of the year.

I am a special education teacher who loves working with kids and young adults with disabilities. Consider checking out some of my free and paid resources for kids with special needs here at my store.

10 Best Times to Practice Mindfulness in the Classroom

April 17, 2017 by pathway2success 2 Comments

Mindfulness means being present in the moment with your thoughts and feelings without making judgements. It is being aware of what is happening but not being overwhelmed. Practicing mindfulness on a regular basis can help you feel calmer, happier, and be more in tune with yourself. People of all ages and abilities can practice mindfulness, including kids and young adults. Some people practice mindfulness for different reasons, too. If a child gets nervous before a test, it can help calm them down and regain focus. If a young adult struggles with controlling their anger, it can help them control emotions. And if someone just wants to feel a bit happier (who doesn’t?), it can help take away negative thoughts. Overall, practicing mindfulness can be helpful in so many different ways.

There are many different ways mindfulness can be practiced. Some strategies include practicing slow breathing, mindful observance, mindful listening, walking meditation, yoga, or even mindful coloring. If you need specific materials to start teaching mindfulness, consider this ready-to-go mindfulness activities guide. The mindfulness activities include listening to music, coloring, making crafts, and much more. Best of all, activities are specifically tailored to kids and young adults.

Here are the 10 best times to practice mindfulness in the classroom:

1. At the beginning of a morning meeting. Start the day together with a positive intention. This helps kids to get centered for the day ahead while leaving any emotional challenges they have at the door. It’s a great way to begin a fresh start.

2. After lunch or recess to help bring the class back together. It’s easy to say that lunch and recess are two of the biggest sensory-overloads kids experience all day. Rather than trying to fight that, turn the day around by meditating for a few minutes. It can become a signal that “we are back in the classroom now”.

3. Before high-stakes testing to help focus and calm the mind. So many kids and young adults get extremely stressed over high-stakes testing. Even the ones who don’t say anything may be experiencing a high level of anxiety and worry. Spending a few minutes mindfully relaxing can help kids de-stress and do their best on the test.

4. In small group counseling sessions to promote relaxation. Many kids and young adults just do not know HOW to relax. Much of their time is spent at school, playing sports, playing games, being online, and checking their phone. Unfortunately, none of those activities promote relaxation. Arrange a small group of kids that meets on a regular basis to practice mindfulness strategies. Anyone can do this, including a special education teacher, counselor, psychologist, social worker, or even regular education teacher. By setting up this small group to practice mindfulness, you can explicitly teach these relaxation skills that so many kids desperately need to cope with stressors in their lives.

5. In between class transitions to provide a mental break. Transitioning from one task to another can throw an entire class off. Transitions provide the perfect natural break to practice mindfulness and relaxations.

6. At the beginning of a resource class or independent work session. One of the greatest elements to mindfulness is that it can help clear the mind. Dedicate five minutes or so to practicing mindfulness just before an independent working session and the benefits will last.

7. Small group counseling sessions to teach strategies for anxiety. Kids and young adults with anxiety need to learn coping strategies to help them through their challenges. Mindfulness and meditation are some of the best ways to deal with anxiety. Remember to try several different techniques to help find ones that work best for individual students. Also, note that many kids struggle with “invisible anxiety” and may benefit from these strategies without ever having the actual anxiety label documented.

8. Let partners or small groups practice before a test or quiz. Any type of assessment can be overwhelming for a number of students. Practicing mindfulness techniques just before a test or quiz can help kids get their thoughts together and feel more confident before they take on an assessment.

9. Just before an assembly or guest speaker. Big assemblies can be extra-challenging for many kids. Some students may feel anxious about the change in schedule, while others may have an extreme difficulty in keeping their thoughts to themselves for that whole time. Try practicing some mindfulness and relaxation strategies before such an effort to reduce challenges.

10. Anytime (just for no reason) to show that mindfulness can be done anytime and anywhere. While there are many times that are ideal to practice mindfulness strategies, it’s important to recognize that you can practice it anywhere and anytime! Use it when the class is getting a bit loud, a group of students are having trouble focusing, or you just need to set a calm tone. Sometimes just taking a mindfulness break can do the trick. And best of all, you don’t really need a reason to do it.

Use this Mindfulness Activities resource to teach and practice mindfulness with kids and young adults right away!

Using Task Cards to Teach Social Problem Solving

February 9, 2017 by pathway2success 3 Comments

Social problem solving is the process of figuring out how to deal with social situations and challenges. It involves understanding the situation, identifying a problem, considering solutions, and choosing the best way to handle that specific situation. While many kids and young adults figure out how to maneuver through these social challenges on their own, others often needs lots of help. These are the kids who get into arguments with others, can’t deal with disappointments, become upset easily, or have difficulty making (or keeping) friends. The good news is that social problem solving skills can be learned and developed over time.

The best way to learn social problem solving skills is to practice over and over through multiple situations. This allows kids and young adults to go through the process and develop their social thinking skills. Task cards are a great way to practice a variety of scenarios for social problem solving.

Here are some strategies for using task cards for teaching social problem solving:

1. Put together a variety of social situations on task cards. You can make your own with index cards or use a pre-made set, like the Social Scenario Problem Solving Task Cards. Remember to include lots of different situations, such as times with friends, at recess, in the classroom, with family, at lunch, and any other scenarios that may be important for that child. They key is having many different social scenarios that involve dilemmas or challenges, so that kids can think through each problem in a new way.

2. Put the cards on a ring. You can choose to just keep one set for yourself or give sets to partners and groups. Flip through them in a small group, during morning meetings, or during partners and group practice.

3. Give time for group discussions. Kids learn best from other kids! Allow time for lots of talk on each task card. Discuss things like “What would you do?”, “Why would you do that?”, and “What are some other options you could consider?”. Kids and young adults will disagree sometimes, and that’s okay. Allow for kids to explain their thoughts and really think through their social reasoning. This gives opportunity for social and emotional growth while learning from others.

4. Set up cards at centers. Have a center for each different type of scenario. Have kids work through each center in small groups. Then, after a certain amount of time (10 minutes or so), have each group move to the next center. It’s a fun way to practice social problem solving while allowing some movement, too.

5. Remember to include older kids, too! Middle and high school kids can also greatly benefit from learning social problem solving skills. Make sure to tailor the situations to your age group. For older kids, it’s helpful to focus on friends, relationships, online and texting, in classes, and during less structured time like lunch and in the hallways. Older kids will have just as much fun practicing social situation task cards as long as they are age-appropriate.

Get Started!

If you want to get started practicing social problem solving skills with elementary-age kids right away, try using Social Scenario Problem Solving Task Cards for Elementary. The cards are organized into five different sets that target different situations: With friends, with family, in the classroom, at recess, and at lunch.

If you need to practice this skill with older kids, try using Social Scenario Problem Solving Task Cards for Middle and High School. The social situation cards are organized into five different sets specific for older kids. Those situations include: With friends, with family, in classes, in the hallway and cafeteria, and online and texting.

Practicing Coping Strategies (with a craft!)

January 13, 2017 by pathway2success 7 Comments

Having a “toolbox” of coping strategies is critical for a child or young adult to deal with challenging emotions. Sometimes the emotions are due to anxiety, depression, anger, stress or other strong feelings. Regardless of the reason, it’s important to teach, practice, and choose coping strategies that work for each individual child.

Using a Coping Strategies Fortune Teller can help with all of those things in a fun, interactive, and hands-on way.

It’s best to have an example fortune teller already made for students to view and play with. Show your students how it works and explain that coping strategies are listed inside.

Next, share the list of coping strategies with your students. Discuss the strategies in small groups or partners. Have students identify their top 8 coping strategies. Remind them to choose activities that they think will help them personally. It’s okay that everyone has different coping strategies!

Hand out the Coping Strategies Fortune Teller. Have students fill it in with colors and their top 8 coping strategies. It’s fun to color the entire fortune teller, too.

Students will cut out their fortune tellers and then use the directions to fold their craft together. Let students practice their coping strategies by playing with their fortune tellers in partners or groups. Encourage students to read each others’ coping strategies and even practice them, when appropriate. This can be a great activity in small groups to discuss strategies and identify what works best for each individual student.

Best of all, kids can keep their Coping Strategies Fortune Teller for times when they need extra support. They can use it to help them pick a coping strategy when they are feeling anxious, stressed, sad, or angry.

Get your Coping Strategies Fortune Teller Craft to make with your students or clients. You can decide whether you want kids to make their own with individualized strategies or you can use the template already provided. It’s fun, easy, and will have lasting effects for kids and young adults who need support with coping strategies.

How to Progress Monitor Goals and Objectives

January 7, 2017 by pathway2success 2 Comments

As a special education teacher, I work to stay on top of my progress monitoring for the kids on my caseload. Between juggling IEP meetings, parent phone calls and emails, collabing with regular education staff, prepping, and teaching my daily lessons, it gets challenging. This problem is even more difficult at the middle and high school level, when the kids need their valuable resource room time to focus on complex homework assignments and projects they genuinely need help with. So, to solve this problem, I developed a Weekly Goals Worksheet that you can download for free and use right away. The idea is really simple: I give each student one worksheet a week on Friday. I make the worksheets far ahead of time, using their individual goals and objectives from their IEPs (Individualized Education Program). That way, I keep track of data on all goals and objectives for all my students throughout the year.

Here is how I do it:

Get your free Weekly Goals Worksheet

1. I make several copies of the Weekly Goals Worksheet. Download the free Weekly Goals Worksheet if you don’t have it yet! I always keep extra copies on hand. Essentially, you’ll need at least 2 per objective, so the number will depend on your students.

2. I print out my students’ IEPs. I personally love having a paper copy to reference, but you’re welcome to just work from the online document if that works for you. Working on one student at a time, I go through their goals and objectives.

3. On the Weekly Goals Worksheet, I write the first goal and first objective on top of the page. Then, I’ll create 5 sample problems for that specific objective. For example, if the student’s math objective is to add and subtract fractions with common denominators, I would write out 5 different problems on the worksheet. I always make at least two separate Worksheets for the same objective. I make copies of them, too. That way, I can reuse the same worksheets for the student, as needed.

4. I continue this process for each goal and objective. I then place all the worksheets into a student binder and label it “Weekly Goals”. Using simple tab dividers helps you separate the different sections.

5. On any specific day (I choose Fridays), make it a routine for your students to complete a Weekly Goals Worksheet in their data binders. For most students, you can probably assign which page to complete. For students who are more work-avoidant, you can allow them to work on any page of their choice.

For some goals/objectives that are more difficult to measure this way, I’ll ask the student to turn in a piece of work to me. For example, let’s say the objective is to “Answer open-ended text response questions by turning the question around”. I will ask the student for a piece of writing that would require this, such as history textbook questions or reading response questions. I’ll choose the first 5 questions. Then, on the Weekly Goals Worksheet, I use those 5 questions to assess his or her progress on the objective. How many of those questions did the student actually turn the question around? If it was 3/5, the score would be 60%. I staple the student page to the Worksheet (or make a copy if he/she needs it back!).

I will admit this does take some time and work to prep ahead for. However, once you do the work, you are all set to take all the data you need. Best of all, it allows you to be totally prepared with data for all the IEP meetings and parent conferences. Of course, this makes it so much easier to write specific goals and objectives for the next annual review. You can start small by choosing just 2 or 3 students you know you need to collect the most data on. Then, once you get more comfortable, you can grow from there.

If you are a special education teacher needing ideas for more progress monitoring, consider my Special Education Teacher Binder. Materials focus on IEPs and team meetings, progress monitoring of academics and behavior, classroom materials, building a classroom community, planning, lessons, organization, and other forms to make the life of the special education teacher easier. For many forms, there are two different versions so that one is editable for your individual need as an educator.

How to Progress Monitor Goals and Objectives

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