Special Education Teachers!
- It’s time to streamline your systems and routines, so you can finally have a lighter, happier school year. (And focus on doing what you were called to do- TEACH!)
We stand together.
You know who understands our job the most? Other Special Education teachers. Unless you live in the world of SpEd, you honestly have no idea what it’s like
Our role is fast-paced, and always changing.
Week to week, day to day, minute to minute. (Oh, look! One of my kids just took off down the hall. Brb.)
The skills we have to tap into to do our jobs well are dynamic.
- Just this week, you’ve probably been…
- A pseudo psychologist managing behavior
- A curriculum specialist adapting resources
- A nurse practitioner documenting medical needs
- A manager working with paras
- Oh, and we’re expected to know all the lingo, terminology, laws, and best practices related to Special Education. (Not me googling yet another acronym after that meeting…)
- And beyond the paperwork, the data tracking, and the goal setting- we have to TEACH.
- That’s the reason we’re here, isn’t it? Because whether you’re a brand-new Special Education teacher, you recently switched to SpEd, or you’re a seasoned SpEd Vet, we were all put here for a reason.
There’s something in you that understands the unique needs of every student.
- You know how to help a student take pride in the tiniest wins.
- You have a talent for getting down at a child’s level and empathizing with their needs.
- You’re a fierce advocate for your students, fighting for the resources they need to meet their goals.
But most Special Education teachers aren’t spending enough time in their “Zone of Genius”.
- Have you ever stopped to think about how much WORK you’re expected to do outside of the time spent with students? (Yes, I know you have!)
- Name another career where they’re expected to complete ALL of this paperwork and additional management OUTSIDE of actual working hours. (I’ll wait…)
- You’re not wrong in thinking that all the demands of your job are near impossible to do within the hours of the school day.
- That’s why… as much as you swore you wouldn’t do it… here you are again on Sunday night sitting surrounded by piles of papers… again. (I hope you brought your wine!)
- And if I’m being honest, you may still have to do that once in a while. IEP writing season requires some serious in-depth thinking and space to do so, and I know unfortunately some of you aren’t able to secure a sub to get the time needed to think.
- But I want you to find JOY in teaching again. Because I know that like me, you’re in the Special Education space for a reason.
And it’s my MISSION to help you get back to the reason you went into SpEd in the first place.
- So I asked my community of Special Education teachers what would help them have a lighter, happier school year…
- Here’s what they said:
- More hours in the day
- More support
- The tools I need to get through the paperwork so I can actually teach
- I can’t give you more hours in the school day… or a lighter caseload. (I wish!)
What I can give you is all the support and resources you need to streamline every routine and process in your classroom, so you unlock more time to do what you love… TEACH!
YEP. I’m a Board-Certified Special Education teacher who is as passionate about her job as she is about a giant charcuterie board with dark chocolate and a bottomless mug of coffee. (You may have seen me on TikTok rockin’ my “Laminate, Advocate, Caffeinate, Differentiate” t-shirt.) I’ve mentored dozens of new teachers about how to implement solid systems into their workloads, so they can get back to the job they love.
And now it’s time to bring that same level of support to YOU!
What if I told you there was a party JUST for Special Education teachers to come together, hang out, vent, laugh, cry, AND get a bunch of training and resources ready-to-use in their classrooms?
I can’t hold this party in person, but I’ve brought you the next best thing.
Introducing…
The Exceptional Collective
A space for Special Educators to come together to get the support and resources they need to streamline their routines and systems, so they can spend more time doing what they love to do… TEACH!
Inside this space, you’ll get access to support and resources each and every month to make your school year feel easier.
- And NO, this is not just me throwing a bunch of printables at you. (Don’t get me wrong.. There will be printables. We all secretly love a good checklist, am I right?) I’ll tell you exactly how to use these resources to achieve that feeling of EASE throughout every school day.
- Even when things are changing left and right…
- When your schedule got moved around once again…
- When you have a brand new student with a whole new set of needs…
- Or when your admin tells you there’s another new system you need to learn…
- The Exceptional Collective will be here to guide you through.
- Because NO ONE understands our world like other Special Education teachers.
You’re in the right place, friend.
- Here’s what you’ll get each and every month as a part of the Exceptional Collective group:
- Monthly training on topics you care about from a Special Education teacher who gets it
- Monthly themed printables and templates to help you streamline your routines and systems
- Office Hours each month to ask me specific questions related to your role
- Resources for your major content areas
Here’s what a typical month inside Exceptional Collective looks like.
- Week One: Download your monthly resources, print them out and get them organized. Send us a picture in the group!
- Week Two: Watch the monthly training to help you systematize a key component of your routine (ie: paperwork, data tracking, grading, planning, along with other topics you request etc.)
- Week Three: Come into the community to share your wins and ask questions. Come to the Office Hours session to hang out with your fellow Special Education teachers.
- Week Four: Get organized and prepped for next month! Come into our community and share what you’re working on. We can’t wait to hear about the moments of JOY you’re able to reclaim.
When you join Exceptional Collective, you will get:
- Monthly training video
- Monthly theme printables for ELA, Math, Science, Social Studies & More
- Done for you special education templates
- A Members only facebook group
- Along with lifetime udpates
- More IEP sentence starters for the rest of the IEP.. annual goals, plaff, goals, benchmarks, services sub cats
- Sticker code (free sticker with any purchase)
- Classroom Organizational tools (labels, signs & more)
- Year long calendar with monthly goals for IEP paperwork
- Data Collection Training
- Input rubrics
- and more to come as members request items
- Please Note: This community and resource vault was created specifically for Special Education teachers. If you’re a Special Education teacher, you’re about to unlock joy for your career again. You’ll be the envy of every teacher in the school because you’ll have a system for everything.
- You’ll be organized, focused, and getting work done when YOU want to get work done. You’ll be spending the majority of your time doing what you love… actually hanging out in your Zone of Genius with students.
- But if you join and decide this isn’t the space for you, you can send me an email at any time to cancel. I won’t ask you questions, and I won’t even ask you to give back all the knowledge you gained from your time in the Exceptional Collective.
You may know me as the girl with the fabulous SpEd swag from the cultivateexceptionalminds social media accounts or as the host of the “Be the Exception” podcast.
Hi, I’m Dawn! I create a focused curriculum, podcast episodes and IEP resources for special education teachers who struggle to create individualized material for their student’s needs.
My goal is to take the frustration out of this job, so you can get back to the parts of this job you love.
Someone once told me that I must be on a mission to get every certificate I can possibly get… and they’re not wrong!
I have 13 years of Special Education experience, an educational specialist degree, I’m a National Board Certified teacher, a published author of articles about data collection in Special Education, and I’ve also been selected for district and state awards as a distinguished educator, elementary teacher of the year. If you couldn’t tell, I LOVE learning and helping others.
I want to be the FLAIR to your FLAIR PENS.
The CAFFEINE to your COFFEE. (Served at the right temperature!)
… I could go ON!
The question is… can you afford to NOT do this? How much longer can you stay late at school filling out paperwork? How many more weekends can you lug your schoolbag home? How much longer can you stand not having the time and space to actually do your job the way you want to?
In the beginning of the school year, you probably go over routines and procedures with your students 100 times before they finally catch on and things begin to run *a little* more smoothly, right? Think of this… like that. You’ll put more time in up front to set up systems for paperwork, data collection, behavior management, lesson planning, and more. But it will pay off every single day after that when you actually begin to use these systems and live into the EASE they bring to your school days.
In summary: Yes, it takes time. AND it’s worth it.
I don’t mean to be rude here… but YES! Our job as Special Educators has unique requirements. And this space is built specifically to meet the needs of those working in such a dynamic position.
If you add up all the minutes you spend looking for things, searching online for resources, responding to emails, collaborating with colleagues, tracking data, reporting to admin, making copies, and on and on… that’s a LOT of minutes. Possibly more minutes than you have in a day.
I’m going to teach you how to put routines and systems into place to cut down on ALL of your wasted time. (You’d be surprised at where precious minutes get lost and how easily we can get them back!)
The result is actually more minutes in the day… which I’m guessing you’ll want to spend with students. Or maybe you’ll sit back and take a few deep breaths while you watch the systems work in your classroom. In that moment… you’ll understand why getting “systematized” is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself as a Special Educator.
While self-contained teachers in preschool to middle school teacher may get the most out of the resources, many resource teachers have to use the materials and training with their learners too!
Each month will have special education theme resources, printables, and trainings designed to help you in the classroom and lead IEP meetings better!
With in two hours monthly, you can watch the trainings, download the resources, attend office hours and implement the templates with your caseload!
Investment
THE EXCEPTIONAL COLLECTIVE
MONTHLY PAYMENT-
Done For You Themed Monthly downloads for special education including worksheets and activities for math, science, social studies, reading, social-emotional and more, task cards, circle time digital slides
-
Printable special ed case manager downloads
-
Training video of theme topics
-
Facebook group to ask questions and collaborate with like-minded educators
THE EXCEPTIONAL COLLECTIVE
YEARLY PAYMENT-
Done For You Themed Monthly downloads for special education including worksheets and activities for math, science, social studies, reading, social-emotional and more, task cards, circle time digital slides
-
Printable special ed case manager downloads
-
Training video of theme topics
-
Facebook group to ask questions and collaborate with like-minded educators
-
Bonus training
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Exclusive downloads of task cards, special ed digital stickers
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Sticker code
Imagine...
You could walk into school each day, prepped and ready to meet the ever-changing demands of the day. You have just enough planned out to help your students meet their goals, but not so much that everyone (including YOU) feels overwhelmed.
You have your paperwork organized into a system you understand and use, making data collection and behavior tracking a very small part of your day.
Your students and paras know exactly where everything goes in your classroom, and they understand the routine of the day, bringing structure, predictability, and simplicity to everything you do.
You have templates and checklists for relationship management. Whether it’s communicating with parents, updating admin, or collaborating with another teacher, you have intentional time, space, and workflows carved out for each scenario.
You spend most of your day doing the parts of your job that unlock the most joy for you. Laughing with your kids, celebrating wins, advocating for resources with confidence, and using your flair pens on your printables. (It brings us satisfaction, ok??)
At the end of the school day, you bring home a very light school bag (or nothing at all!) because you’ve gotten the majority of your work, planning, and tracking done… all thanks to your streamlined and rock-solid SYSTEMS specifically designed for our unique position as Special Educators.