How to Teach Special Needs Students

Teaching special needs students can be challenging and rewarding. The most important part of teaching special needs students is to make sure that you are familiar with their Individualized Education Programs, or IEPs. Each special needs student should have an IEP that lists objectives, goals and progress. Besides following the IEP, teachers must help special needs students succeed in their classroom and make yearly progress.

Instructions

1. Read your students' IEPs carefully and take note of the goals that your students with special needs should work on throughout the quarter. Many students with special needs have several different goals they are working on in multiple areas, so you will probably have to check IEPs often or have a certain system for referring to what each student is working on.

2. Develop lesson plans based on your students' IEPs. If you are a special education teacher with a resource room, then you may have individual lesson plans for each of your students. For example, if you have 10 students on your case load, then you may have 10 different math plans or 10 different reading lessons. This can be complicated and hard to organize. Make sure to use your paraprofessionals to help you teach your students and follow their IEPs. If you are a regular classroom teacher with a special needs student in your class, then your lesson plan for that student may look more like a modification of a lesson or assignment. For example, if one of the IEP goals is for the student to stay in his seat for 10 minutes without getting up, then you will work on this goal when you assign a math worksheet or during writing workshop. It helps to make notes in your plan book when you are working on a certain IEP goal.

3. Observe students carefully and keep detailed notes. Your note system may look different than other teachers' systems, but you have to find one that works for you, and that you can keep up with. You may use note cards, labeled with each student's name, or you may use one note card for each subject and record notes about all students on the same card during math or reading class. Some teachers prefer to use sticky labels. They write one note per label about a child. When class is over, they transfer their labels to the students' folders and have detailed notes with the date of each observance. It is extremely important to keep notes about students with special needs, so you can update their IEPs with correct information.

4. Make parent communication a weekly goal for positive and constructive messages. Parents of special needs students often are tired of hearing negative things about their children. It is important to communicate with parents about all aspects of their children's progress and behavior. Create a weekly progress note to send home when you teach special needs students. These progress notes can be very simple with a blank for an accomplishment the student made, a goal to continue working on, and any special comment or news about the student. Parents will also appreciate quick phone calls when students achieve a goal that they have been struggling with.

5. Consult other teachers and administrators when you have difficulty, or do not know how to work on a certain skill or goal. You do not constantly have to reinvent the wheel when you teach students with IEPs. If you have a special education coordinator at your school, ask this person to help you. This coordinator most likely has a lot of experience teaching special needs students. Ask her to observe in your classroom and give you tips for organizing notes and completing paperwork on time. Teaching students with special needs can be overwhelming, but with help from other staff members and a positive attitude, it can be one of the most rewarding jobs in education.