Batch Planning Your Lessons

Posted on January 30, 2021January 30, 2021 by adventuresinbehavior

Back at the beginning of January, I shared a time lapsed Reel on instagram of me batch planning and the feedback was enormous! I had so many questions on what is batch planning, how do I do it, and what can people do to get started. I promised everyone a blog post and then life happened. Y’all know how that goes. Batch planning has been a life saver for me and I want to share it with you. It can transform and streamline your processes so that you can find that better work/life balance.

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The What and Why of Staff Training in a Special Ed Class

Posted on January 18, 2021January 30, 2021 by adventuresinbehavior

Today’s blog post is a guest post written by Kaylan Long of Caffeinated Behavior Change. She is a school district behavior specialist and BCBA who supports classroom teachers and students in special education. She shares all about the what and why of staff training in a Special Ed Class.

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Top 10 Tips to Transitioning Back to School after Distance Learning

Posted on January 18, 2021January 30, 2021 by adventuresinbehavior

Transitioning back to school can bring up so many emotions, thoughts, feelings, doubts, and on, and on. And add transitioning back to school amidst COVID and all those feelings are heightened. especially uncertainty and doubt which is why we wanted to bring you today’s post.

Today’s blog post is a collaboration between Cassie, Adventures in Behavior, and Kaylan, Caffeinated Behavior Change. Our friendship began on instagram almost 2 years ago when we were both new to the world. We instantly bonded over a love of Harry Potter, coffee, and all things behavior. Cassie is a middle school special education teacher and Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA). Kaylan is a school division behavior specialist, certified special education teacher and BCBA. This back to school season is unlike any other. We wanted to collaborate and provide you with all the knowledge we’ve gained over the years so that you can have the smoothest, easiest return to school possible amidst the chaos of COVID-19.

Like we said, back to school is an emotionally charged time of year every year— but especially now. So many emotions running through our brains and hearts. Excited. Stressed. Happy. Scared. Confused. Anxious. Irritated. Sad. Bewildered. Just to name a few. So how do we start to consider going back to school after so long at home? Especially when many in society have the thought of “Oh there’s a national crisis and pandemic– teacher’s can fix it…” but again we ask “where do we even start”? What does and should a COVID classroom look like?

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ABA in the Classroom: Chaining

Posted on January 18, 2021January 30, 2021 by adventuresinbehavior

Welcome to the first post in a new series I have dubbed, ABA in the classroom. My goal is to share some ABA concepts and knowledge with you as well as how you can implement these strategies in your classroom. I hear so often from teachers that they aren’t allowed to use ABA and that blows my mind! We use so many ABA concepts every day without even realizing it. There are many many districts and staff that think discrete trials at the table are the only way to use ABA and that simply isn’t true. So here is your first post on ABA in the Classroom: Chaining.

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Creating an Effective Behavior Support Plan

Posted on January 11, 2021January 30, 2021 by adventuresinbehavior

Mrs. Smith has a student that has started displaying behaviors that disrupt the classroom. She has tried a myriad of different strategies and nothing seems to help! Sound familiar? I think we’ve all been there before. I get contacted fairly regularly on my Instagram account by teachers just like this. Unfortunately, I can’t give specific suggestions or strategies to try because I’m not a provider for their student and I don’t have data to guide decision making. It’s often hard for me to help in these situations even though I want to so badly! I always attempt to share guidance on what they can do to create an effective plan for their students. A blog post that any teacher struggling with behavior can reference back to seemed a great way to help share this information. So where do we start when creating an effective behavior support plan?

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Virtual Extended School Year Resources

Posted on January 11, 2021January 30, 2021 by adventuresinbehavior

Summer means warm weather, pools, beaches, time off, oh yah…. and Extended School Year. This year, I decided to work Extended School Year and at the time of this blog post, we are in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. My district decided to take a cautious approach and we engaged in virtual learning. I truly believe that virtual learning is here to stay for awhile so we might as well make the most of it! I’ll share what ESY looks like for our district and then share some resources that I plan to use. Most are still FREE at the time of this post but a few will be paid resources. I won’t be updating this when those free resources become paid again so do your research.

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4 Tips for Restructuring a Special Education Program

Posted on January 11, 2021January 11, 2021 by adventuresinbehavior

Tips for Restructuring a Special Education Program

2019-2020 was a year of many firsts for me. It was my first year in middle school, my first year sharing students with a co-teacher, first year only teaching 2 content areas, first year back in an alternative curriculum program, and so many more. I was given a unique opportunity in that both my partner teacher and I were new to the program. We had the opportunity to build our program from the ground up eliminating all sense of “it’s always been done this way”. I wanted to share with you 5 tips that I have learned from going through this process. Continue reading “4 Tips for Restructuring a Special Education Program” →

Creating a Collaborative Atmosphere with Gen Ed Teachers

Posted on January 10, 2021January 10, 2021 by adventuresinbehavior

Collaboration… that’s a pretty tricky topic that can be difficult for so many teachers (special education and general education teachers alike). While they are few and far between, there are some teachers out there that think they know it all, and you best not be telling them what to do (and they typically do NOT know all). That can be so so hard. As a behavior teacher, I was not only responsible for my self-contained students, but I also served as a resource teacher, social skills teacher, and case manager for students with behavior plans in general education. It was a fairly unique role, but it allowed me the opportunity to collaborate with so many teachers, aides, administrators, and related service providers. So here are my top tips for collaborating with general education teachers and related service providers.

As a general note, I refer to teachers throughout these tips but it really applies to any staff member you might need to collaborate with.

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My Journey to Board Certified Behavior Analyst

Posted on January 10, 2021January 10, 2021 by adventuresinbehavior

A friend of mine suggested that I share my story of how I got my BCBA certification. I’ve shared bits and pieces over the past year and a half on my instagram account, but word limits always seem to get in the way. I had the opportunity to be a guest on a podcast and share another little piece of the story and so it just feels like it is the right time to share it all… every nitty gritty detail. It’s not a fairy tale story by any means. It’s real, raw, and relatable (I hope) for others out there. So buckle up y’all…. this is a long one.

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Creating an Effective Classroom Management Plan

Posted on January 4, 2021January 10, 2021 by adventuresinbehavior

We’ve all heard the horror stories of teachers being driven out of their classrooms and out of the education field because of student behavior! It seems like these stories are popping up across social media more and more these days and it can be so scary as a new teacher. While I don’t have a perfect solution or a one size fits all approach, I have found that a systematic and structured approach to classroom management can make sure that you avoid a classroom that looks like this…. Yikes right?!?!

A group of people sitting at a table

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