Setting up stations in your special education classroom can feel very overwhelming. As teachers we have so many things to think about. I’ve broken these steps down for you to be able to successfully set up stations in special education!
There are a few things to consider when deciding what types of stations you should have in your classroom. You first should consider what you want the content to be. When you want to have the stations, the amount of students that you have, the amount of paraprofessionals you have. All of these factors will determine the types and number of stations you have.
Make sure you take some time to look at your schedule to see what academic or non-academic time you want stations to happen. What is the function of it? I have previously ran leisure exploration stations where students could try out new toys and games. I also use stations to teach core academic content. Determine what is best for your learners.
We all know that our students are in and out of the classroom all day. Between related service times, bathrooming, self-care, behaviors and so many other reasons. Take a look at your schedule to determine when you will have the majority of your students available to do stations. It’s hard to do stations with 2 students.
You also need to consider when your assistant(s) will be available to help run the stations. Our aides need breaks and lunch too. Try to work around these times. If you do stations while a paraprofessional is on lunch, you may need to get creative. You can use one assistant to monitor the independent working stations, while you teach another station or visa versa.
This question is one that I get a lot. I typically teach my paraprofessionals about how I expect stations to be run, my students follow.
Start stations early in the school year as you are gaining the trust in my assistants and students and the honeymoon period is still fresh. We all know the honeymoon period with our students doesn’t last long so we have to jump on the opportunity so we can troubleshoot situations as they arise.
If you haven’t already, make sure you read why I don’t teach academics until Halloween – I briefly talk about why I use stations there!
The first opportunity I use to introduce stations is independent work stations. I give my students tasks that I know they can independently do. My assistants watch and take this time to teach my assistants how much support a student needs and the prompting hierarchy. I explicitly show students and staff where to get the materials, the set up, how to complete the task, and how to put it away. If there are other steps, such as, raising your hand to check your work, I make sure my classroom knows that as well.
After a week of students understanding how to use independent work stations, I start letting students rotate to different tasks, I set a timer for 5-10 minutes and when the timer goes off, they move to the next activity. It helps if there is a rewarding activity at one of the stations such as play doh, fidgets, iPad. This helps students understand the basics of rotating to one activity to another when the timer goes off.
During this time, teachers and assistants are working on overseeing all the different groups of students and troubleshooting any issues. If students need 1:1 support, let the assistant be with that student, but make sure they aren’t supporting too much.
Finally, use visuals. Make sure if students are rotating, they know what color, number, table, etc they are going to. Try not to mix up the rotation too much and put them in a logical order. You don’t want students crossing paths too much or behaviors may occur. Use a circle rotation or square type of rotation so students have a clear understanding where they go. You can give students a transition card to show where they go, display their sequence on the board, or use a paraprofessional to direct traffic. As students get more comfortable, remove some supports.
Once your students have a firm understanding of how to rotate, you can use this time to teach your assistants how to run a fluency or IEP goal station while your students work. Yes, while students are doing their own independent work, you will train your assistants. I promise those pockets of time will go far!
I have the majority of my students doing independent work and I pull 2-3 students (the ones that need the most support) to help train my assistants. At a table, I show how I want each IEP goal to be targeted and I show them how to collect data on the goals. After a week or so of doing this as a station, I let my assistant take over and run the station. I oversee and answer any questions they have.
Once my paraprofessionals feel more comfortable running this station, I start including it in the rotation. Students will rotate from independent work, to a paraprofessional. If I have 2 paraprofessionals, I may have 2 stations that go over similar tasks.
At this time, I am still overseeing the entire class, answering any questions and correcting my staff as they track IEP goals and prompt students on their independent work. This allows for a thorough training early in the school year.
I spend up to a month working through all of the kinks and supporting my assistants and students as much as possible.
At this point, you should be about a month and half or two months into the school year. Your students and staff should have a clear understanding of how to rotate and participate in stations.
I use one assistant to continue with the assistant led station, and my other students do independent work stations. If I have another assistant, I will pull them to teach them how to set up iPads, computers or hands on activities depending on the type of station I have. We go through any troubleshooting errors and questions they have. At this time, I also include 1-2 students in the process so my assistants can see how to support these students in these activities.
Each day, I would rotate which assistant is running the paraprofessional station or technology/hands on station. This allows me to train multiple assistants in a variety of ways. I also use this time to find my staff’s comfortability with technology use or data collection. I may have assistants that are intimidated by technology and hate navigating the devices. This might not be the station I put them in charge of.
If you do not have an extra paraprofessional, you can take 10-15 minutes before or after school for a few days to show them your expectations for this station.
Finally, you should have 2-3 options for a variety in stations. You are well into the school year and should have a clear understanding of what your students know. This also allows the beginning of you to explore the curriculum while students learn the process. This is when your teacher led station comes into play.
You can use this time for direct instruction, repetition of instruction, explicit teaching of a skill or social emotional check ins with each student. The possibilities are endless!
You can also use any of these stations as a related service member to take over and get their minutes. Previously, I had my Speech Pathologist coming from 1pm-2pm every Wednesday, so I included them in the rotations for the students they needed to see. I may remove the technology/hands on learning station that day and include the SLP in the rotation instead.
Here may be what your centers look like:
Teacher – Paraprofessional – Independent Work – Technology
You can also separate the teaching:
Teacher – Independent Work – Paraprofessional – Technology
You know what works best for your students, so make adjustments as you see fit. Let me know if you have any questions about how to successfully set up and run stations in special education! Don’t forget to grab this growing bundle to use stations in your classroom!
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