Tool of the Week – Council for Exceptional Children CEC's special education resource destination

We all seek closure in important aspects of our lives—why not algebra? Student learning will benefit if you take a few minutes at the end of each algebra lesson to close the deal. Do students understand the purpose of the lesson? Do they have a sense of how it will lead to the next lesson? Have you given them constructive ...

We all want to give our students their best chance at attending college, and one way to do that is to write letters of recommendation for their college applications. How do you tackle this important task for students with disabilities? This week’s FREE tool is a set of questions to help guide you in the process of writing informed, positive, ...

What triggered the behavior and, in turn, what did the behavior trigger? If only there was one answer! Figuring out underlying causes and anticipating the occurrence of negative behaviors are both central aspects to classroom management. That’s why this week’s FREE tool is a simple figure to remind teachers that the things that happen before a behavior (antecedents) and the ...

For this week’s FREE tool, we’re reaching out to charter school teachers and administrators with a quick review of FAPE written especially for the charter school community. What is a free appropriate public education and how does it apply to charters? If you work in a traditional public school this review will be useful to you too so take a ...

Looking for ways to help your students spice up their writing? The five senses can help. This week’s FREE tool is an exercise that asks students to incorporate what they see, hear, feel, taste, and smell into their compositions. What a great way to help students discover the details needed to make their writing interesting! The tool comes from “Recipe ...

It’s only March now, but blink and the school year will wind down and high school seniors with disabilities will venture out into the world. If it’s your job to be sure they’re ready for the journey, this week’s FREE tool can help. It’s a table listing the many transition team members (and their roles) you can call upon to ...

Progress monitoring is essential for teachers who want to ensure their lessons respond to student needs and achievement. To make sure you cover your data collection and progress-monitoring bases without taking valuable time away from teaching, this week’s FREE tool is a set of steps to help co-teachers divide and conquer the data collection monster. What are you monitoring? How ...

Writing is a multifaceted process that requires multifaceted supports. To help you support student writing, this week’s FREE tool is a table full of tips for teaching the writing process. What are your students’ barriers to writing? How can you help to circumvent those barriers? Can technology help? The table addresses these questions and more. It comes from “What Really ...

Some children need extra support learning and practicing positive behavior, but that doesn’t mean all students can’t benefit from behavior-centered lessons. This week’s FREE tool is a sample classroom matrix intended to help you build behavior-centered lesson plans for your entire class. Use the sample as a guide to fill in your own routines and rules, then build a lesson ...

Weather this time of year can be unpredictable―will it be hot, cold, sunny, snowing?  What a great time to introduce a science and literacy lesson centered around the weather! This week’s FREE tool is a lesson plan about weather forecasting for students K–3 that will get your students thinking for themselves about the day’s precipitation. The lesson comes from CEC’s ...