There is no “normal day” in my job. I teach self-contained k-2 special education. I have an average of eight students in my class with two paraprofessionals every year. I have complicated medical diagnoses and a variety of mobility issues. It makes every day different!
I arrive at school each morning about 45 minutes before students and 30 minutes before our paraprofessionals. I like to look over my day ahead and make sure I have everything I need to get the day going. I look to see what students I need to focus progress monitoring for and make sure I have everything I need for any meetings. The students all eat breakfast in my classroom because they need support with opening cartons (and sometimes feeding). We start with toileting, trips to the nurse for medicine, and responding to parent questions from their daily folders.
From 8:00 – 10:00 am we complete math and reading groups. The students are broken into three groups according to ability level. We use an adapted English Language Arts and Math curriculum that is accessible for the needs of each student and work on standards for an extended period of time. I take a group, and each of my paraprofessionals take a group.
At 10:00 we all come to the carpet and have song and story time. We work on sitting and attending in a whole group setting. After 30 minutes, we go to the sensory room for a break. After 2.5 hours of intense work, they need time to jump, spin, or just sit. At 11:00 I go to lunch with the entire class and help them work on building independence in the lunchroom. Eventually we want them to be able to eat with their general education peers, but at the moment they need help being reminded to stay in their seats, open items, and try new foods. After lunch we go to recess and run hard for 20-30 minutes.
When we return from recess we have our circle time/calendar and then the students go with our paraprofessionals to a related arts class. This is when I have my planning period, where I eat my lunch, attend meetings, and fill out daily folders. The daily folders give parents details about each student’s day so they can have conversations with them when they get home.