Structured Special Ed

Last day of school ✨

Peace out year 7 of teaching ✌🏻I can’t wait to come back next year and only be part time and get to stay home with baby Larson part time 😍

Speaking of baby Larson.. 37 weeks pregnant today and so excited to spend these last 2-3 weeks before baby comes relaxing on summer break

A coworkers told me about the CUTEST children’s book on personal space and I just had to share 😍

So we are reviewing personal space this week with many of my younger grades because my younger students love to come running up to touch my belly or talk to the baby or listen to the baby or hug the baby and do all of that without asking

So we are working with them on not only asking but being ok with it when the answer is no or not this time

This book has been the absolute best and cutest book I found to help drive this lesson home

So if you are looking for a children’s book on personal space from the perspective of teaching students to advocate for their own personal space or how to accept when someone says no to getting into their personal space this is a great book!

Obsessing over these two new books I added to my collection 😍

My small group K-2 students love all the Jory John and books and were so excited when I showed them these that just came in

We started with The Good Egg and The Talent Show for our mini SEL lesson on self awareness and how everyone has strengths and talents

Definitely worth checking out!

Big changes for next school year ✨

One of the hardest yet easiest decisions I have made in a long time is to give up my full time SEL specialist job next school year to go part time so I can stay home part time with baby Larson

I absolutely love my job and my students at both of my schools but I jumped at the opportunity to only stay at one school and only work 2.5 days a week next school year

I feel like this is the best of both worlds and I’m so thankful I even get this option in my role.. I couldn’t be happier to still get the chance to work my job but also get to be a part time stay at home mama

Now the not so fun job of packing and moving everything in this office to my other school or back home but excited for these big life changes 😍

So I recently asked y’all for your top favorite SEL book recommendations for primary grades and with an overwhelming number of votes were these books by Dr. Daniela Owen

So of course I bought them

And feel in love with them 😍

So I just figured I would share and that they deserved a shout out 📣

Ok Target, take my money

I feel like this is 100% for kids but I can never have too many fidgets for my calm down corner bins right?

I swear gets me every time

Today we threw out the lesson plans and played UNO

And it was the absolute best

Due to field day, we only had 12 kids in one of my 6th grade classes, so I told the teacher instead of putting them on a computer let’s make them actually play together, talk and engage and play with them so we can build those relationships and have that quality time

So we split the class, she took a group and I took a group and we played UNO for 30+ minutes for SEL time

And the kids loved it

And we loved it

And the kids needed it

It’s crazy how many of my students don’t know how to play card/board games anymore or know how to interact in these situations or have the appropriate social skills that come with these types of activities and games

I really wish we could have more days like today

Kids of all ages and grade levels need play

I got this friendly reminder today from a friend which I truly needed because to be honest I have been struggling a lot lately and I have been really hard on myself because of it

Reminding myself that my best looks different every day and that’s ok. My best each day is enough.

Not sure who needs to hear this but your best everyday is also enough.

Life update ✨

I am so excited to announce that I am heading back to college.. but this time as an instructor

I am so excited to be returning to my Alma Mater, Arizona State University, to work with and teach students who are going to school to be teachers

This has truly been a dream come true and something I have been working towards and dreaming of for so long that I can’t believe it’s finally happening

I will still be working during the day for both of my elementary schools as a specialist because I truly love my job and my students and I don’t want to leave public education but I am so excited to enter the world of higher education as faculty and see what comes from this new adventure

When my students ask for pop it breathing cards to add to their other breathing tracing cards.. I gotta give the people what they want 🤷🏻‍♀️

But real talk, student buy in is so important and I will gladly add pop its or any other high student interest thing to any visual I can if that makes them more interested in using their coping skills when they need it

Lunch with Mrs. Larson ✨

During our fall carnival, we did an auction where students could bid to win teacher time and an activity of the teachers choice so of course I did my favorite thing: eating and for lunch

I even let my winner pick a friend to join and today I got all of us lunch and cookies and it truly was the best time with these students

It was exactly what I needed to fill my cup this last week before break

I get asked all the time: “how did you build up your game cabinet on a teacher budget?”

Super easy answer:
- Goodwill
- Offer Up
- Facebook Marketplace
- Garage sales
- Teachers leaving/retiring

Literally nothing in this closet was bought brand new by me (other than my emotion question dice from target.. must have).. some was gifted but not much

I always am popping into Goodwill for games and books and they even have a day where it’s discounted for teachers

I set alarms to notify me on Offer Up and Facebook Marketplace for board games, toys, puzzles, Lakeshore items, etc and honestly anytime I tell them I’m a teacher and it’s for my classroom.. they always give me things at such a great rate. People love and feel for teachers especially since so much comes out of our own

Tip: it’s always best to buy stuff like this at the end of the school year when people are leaving the classroom or after holidays like Christmas when people are getting rid of older toys to make room for new toys.. you might even find some great Black Friday deals

It took 3 years to build this collection because I was cheap, on a teachers budget and picky about quality but it was all worth the wait

Lauren