This fall many of us are diving into virtual learning. While some schools are planning for in person instruction, I imagine that at some point virtual learning will be a need for all schools. Below I have included what I found to be the most important aspects of teaching virtually to our students that generally require the most hands-on instruction, including tools for teaching daily living skills. 

While I find these to be successful for my students, I fully understand that all of our students are different and I know that most of my students are more independent than many others in moderate to severe settings or on a modified curriculum in general. 

Family Communication 

Parental involvement is the key to successful remote learning. For students with moderate to severe needs, parents tend to be more involved because, well, they have to be. Now every parent needs to be involved. Right now, parents are at home with their children and can be easier to reach, but that also means they are busier than ever. One of the best things we can do as teachers is to provide helpful and meaningful communication to families, including tips on the best ways to support their children during remote learning.

Just like our students, parents will need to be familiar with the technology platforms, forms of communication and the academic expectations of their children. Create screencasts so that parents and students can watch you explain the directions multiple times. Provide parents with the necessary information so they can log in and check weekly assignments, usernames and passwords, and any class messages.

Having parent video conferences to touch base and coordinate for certain life-skills activities is extremely beneficial. Check in with families for: scheduling the number and timing of Zoom calls and connections, the resources that students have at home, pros and cons of their virtual learning experiences in the spring, opportunities for parent or family support for life skills activities (ie: cooking in the kitchen, cleaning, going for walks or exercising). I did this using Zoom calls and one-on-one parent emails and phone calls. 

Strong communication and opportunities for involvement will be the key foundation for continuing to teach and support our students with the highest needs. The lift of teaching families how to get access to the materials makes the long-term access for students so much more effective. 

Continue Using Visual Supports 

As moderate to severe special education teachers, we know the immense value and importance of visual supports. Visual supports are used in our everyday lives, from the new 6-feet distance markings in the parks and grocery stores to the picture directions for furniture building. Google Classroom, in my opinion, is not super user friendly for higher need students. Instead of using Classroom as a resource dump for students, creating a Google Site that is very intentionally outlined is a great way to create a strong visual that they can easily navigate through. My school uses G-Suite, so Google Sites is the easiest option for me, but there are others. Here is a reviewed list of the options, if needed.

VISUAL SUPPORTS FOR SOCIAL STORIES 

Right on the homepage of the site - a visual social story that kids can see that reminds them of how and where school will take place, and why. Here are some other scenarios that I have included social story visuals for on the website: 

• wearing a mask at the store

• expectations for Zoom calls

• eating meals with family

• taking turns during a virtual game 

VISUAL SUPPORTS FOR LIFE SKILLS 

During our school day we spend a lot of time teaching life skills. With virtual learning, the weekly cafe, community based instruction field trips, volunteering, and so on are not possible.  Instead of dropping this teaching completely, take those wonderful Boardmaker visuals - or whichever style you use - and update the site daily (or every few days) with a new life skills visual for them to follow at home. Examples I have included on our Google Site are: 

• Doing laundry

• Cleaning dishes

• Folding & putting away clothes

• Brushing teeth

• Making cereal

• Making a bed

Video Modeling 

One of the greatest ways to teach students (again, and again) is to use a video model. Many emails and posts are being shared about all the great virtual tours, rides, and museums to use with kids, but that does not mean students can access it independently. Using Zoom to record a meeting to share directions and have students follow along with your screen is super easy. There are several other ways to do this as well, including Google Meets, Quicktime, and likely several others that I am not yet aware of.  Using a site to share video modeling for life skills tasks is another way to create access for students to learning and practicing at home what teachers would normally support with at school. 

Keeping as many Schedules & Routines as Possible

Schedules and routines are an important part of a student’s day, especially when students have Autism or other learning disabilities that make their world more confusing and chaotic. Without the regular routine of going TO school, we try to make their school day at home as similar to their schedule at school. Here are a few things that I have kept consistent throughout virtual learning: 

• ‘Clocking in and out’ (on a Google Form): With high school students, I created this routine to start to build the idea of clocking in and out of a job. It addresses life and vocational needs that they will need in the next few years. 

• Morning Meeting: While the meeting is over Zoom now, the structure of the meeting remains the same. We have a ‘virtual’ Do Now (on a Google Doc), we rotate around the ‘room’ asking each other questions, and we review our service providers, homework, and announcements for the day. 

• Individual TEACCH Schedules: this Autism-focused method has different leveled systems for creating student schedules, based on need. I have three levels of students, on three styles of schedules - some with icons and pictures, others with words. They now have a virtual version of their schedules that they update each day.

• Computer-Based Programs: CNN10 and Raz-Kids (Reading A-Z) use were structures that my students had in their day. Since most of my students were independent with this, it is an easy structure for them to complete while they’re home - including the Google Form for comprehension checks. 

• Hands-On Activities: In the spring we scrambled to get packets, binders, and sensory kits together for our students before we left on the last day and we used Amazon to get kids extra supplies, as needed. This fall, we are creating a more structured system of getting materials to our students each week that they can do without a computer. This will look different for each student across subjects.

• Life Skills Activities: Each Monday at school we hopped in our school van and picked up supplies for our Tuesday cafe and Friday cooking lessons. Instead of going together to the store, I use Zoom on my phone to ‘take’ the students with me to the story, asking guiding and follow up questions so they can ‘instruct me’ on how to navigate the shopping experience. We continued our Friday routine but are now ‘at home, cooking together’ via Zoom, and use our parent communication to ensure we all have the right materials and supports in place. 

• Daily Agenda and Parent Signature: The physical agenda check is not possible in virtual learning environments, so I created a ‘Daily Checklist’ on Google Forms that is a homework assignment each day for the students. They check off boxes for activities they have completed and their parents ‘sign’ at the bottom before submitting it, including and comments or questions they arise.

Use Something New or Often Forgotten

An evidence-based practice that usually falls off my radar at school is exercise. Students can have Adaptive PE and walking breaks, but daily exercise is not generally a part of our schedule at school. Take this time to dive into the plethora of online platforms and videos geared towards kids. I update my site with a daily one, but you know your kids best!

This year, given that we have a bit more planning and structure, I have also reached out to our administrators and staff to coordinate some reverse mainstreaming or peer-mediated instruction and intervention. Many schools have ‘buddy’ programs for their high needs special day classes. With virtual learning those programs, and many general education push in classes, have fallen to the wayside. Peer intervention is an evidence-based practice, and giving our students these neurotypical peers as models and supports is something that can be continued in virtual classrooms -- it just takes logistical coordination. Plus, exposure and interaction with our kids with differences is great for the general education population, too! 

In my classroom, reverse mainstreaming will include general education students (no more than 3 at a time) joining our afternoon group activities that focus on social and life skills building: Zoom calls for cooking, games, show & tell, science experiments, virtual field trips, and more. 

Shifting ‘Coffee Carts’ and More to Virtual Opportunities

Brainstorming how my students can shift their life skills activity in their weekly cafe has been a creative task for me. Here are a few things I have come up with that might be good for your classroom setting: 

• Volunteering: There are many food banks that have shifted their work from one central location to others. Working with my paras and leadership team, I am coordinating logistics for students to be sent materials to make brown bag lunches and hygiene packages that we will pick up and deliver to organizations around our school. 

• Cafe for Families: Most of my students have several family members living with them. Instead of making coffees and cookies for teachers, I will be asking family members to make ‘orders’ with their students that we can make at home, together. 

• Food for Staff: Even though teachers and families are at home, I am asking teachers and staff to request food delivery through a Google Form. This will allow students to practice reading an order and use certain delivery sites (Yelp, Doordash, Instacart, etc) to order food on their own. 

As distance/online/virtual learning continues during this weird, chaotic, at-home time, I am sure that we special education teachers will continue to rise to the occasion and use our creative minds to reach our students. We always do, no matter the obstacles; we are superheros in that way! 

If you have any other ideas, suggestions, or questions, please do not hesitate to comment below or reach out to us! It would be great to hear about all the amazing things happening.