Students can include their preferred activities of self-regulation such as going for a walk, deep breathing, referring to a picture schedule, reading a book or social story, listening to calming music, or writing about their feelings in a journal. Buncee is a great digital tool for creating a choice board.
Teaching and Using Visual Schedules. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJvBqR6B0VI
Self Regulation Choice Board created in Buncee app.
VISUAL SCHEDULES A visual schedule communicates the sequence of upcoming activities or events through the use of objects, photographs, icons or words. (Hume, 2024), When students feel anxious or upset, providing visual schedules gives them predictable schedules and structure during their school day. Visuals are effective in helping students regulate their emotions and engage successfully in learning activities. LessonPix is a website that provides an easy tool to create and print visuals in the classroom for student schedules, classroom games, choice boards and more. For examples of how to incorporate visual schedules in the classroom and at home, watch the video Teaching and Using Visual Schedules. Visual schedules can be used for school day schedules, following steps of a task, as well as morning and evening routines at home. Visual schedules are especially effective for students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). SOCIAL STORIES Students often have difficulty when routines change at home or school. They may need to relearn expectations, become familiar with a new sequence of events or get to know a new staff person. Using social stories is a great way to prepare students for successfully navigating these changes. This video describes and illustrates how to create social stories for new routines. Using Social Stories for New Routines.
Using Social Stories for New Routines. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7CdjxrQSD6w
Social stories can be created digitally and then be presented to students either digitally on a tablet/computer or printed out in paper books. One tool that is very useful for creating social stories on an iPad is Pictello App. Students who need alternative access can use 1 or 2 switches to turn the pages and listen to the story read back to them independently. Likewise, students can use their fingers to tap and swipe through the pages of the story. MOVEMENT Movement plays a critical role in preparing our brains for attention and learning. Educators should consider starting a lesson with a short movement activity before moving on to more focused work that requires intense attention, cognition or writing skills. The article and podcast To Boost Learning, Just Add Movement explains more about the connection of movement and learning. Showing videos can be an easy way to provide fun and
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