Pathway 2 Success is a website with lots of information for teachers (and parents) to help them work with students who have deficits in social-emotional learning (SEL) and/or executive functioning (EF). Kristina, the site’s author, is a former classroom special education teacher with a Master’s Degree in special education focusing on autism.

“I chose coursework in a variety of topics: social skills, modifications/accommodations, counseling, reading instruction, assessments, and more. I have a particular interest and strength with social emotional learning, executive functioning, behavior management, coping strategies, mindfulness, social skills, and study skills.”

The website covers the following topics:

• Executive functioning skills
• Social-emotional learning
• Mindfulness
• Positive self-talk
• Managing challenging behaviors
• Social skills
• Morning meeting
• Coping strategies

The education of students young or teenagers relies largely upon their teachers being in control. When a teacher loses control, education suffers. Managing Classroom Behavior to Maximize Student Learning (Trophy Central) addresses various issues of classroom management such as
Activities to start and end a class or lesson
How to set up and reinforce classroom behavior
How to use rewards to encourage good behavior
How to deal with negative behavior
How to develop good relationships with students

Additionally, the site also lists some classroom management apps for teachers such as Class Dojo, Class Charts, Skaffl, and Stick Pick.

According to Classroom Management: The Most Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them (Insights to Behavior), nearly as many as 50% of all teachers are unprepared when it comes to managing their classrooms. This blog discusses the importance of classroom management, what a well-managed classroom looks like, with whom does the responsibility for creating a well-managed classroom lies, and common pitfalls and their avoidance.

“Do your students follow directions flawlessly? Are they highly motivated, effective collaborators? If so, you don’t need to worry about the challenges of online classroom management.” These are the provocative first lines of the blog, Online Classroom Management: Five Tips for Making the Shift (room to discover). It is true that most schools are back to in-person attendance, but there is still the possibility of running some programs online.

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Here are five recommendations to make online teaching easier:

1. 1. 1. 1. It’s important to test the technology beforehand;
         2. It is advisable to involve the students in establishing norms;
         3. There should be major emphasis on engagement;
         4. It is advisable to create small-group sessions;
         5. Online learning should be started slowly.

Actually, if you think about it, each of these recommendations can be applied to in-person education as well.

The NEA (National Education Association) has a helpful guide on its site entitled,  Teaching Students with Autism: A Guide for Educators (nea.org) The guide is offered in PDF format for download.

Many teachers are apprehensive and feel overwhelmed when informed that they will have students on the Autism Spectrum in their classroom. It is for this reason that the NEA developed this guide  that “presents a new perspective of students with autism—one that acknowledges their strengths, unique interests, and commonalities with other students.”

In this guide, we cover areas key to building an inclusive education that sets educators and students up for success from day 1. The guide include sections on:

• collaborating with families and caregivers
• collaborating with education support professionals, specialized instruction support personnel, and others part of the IEP team
• understanding student learning styles and needs
• adapting lessons and units, particularly through universal design for learning principles.

6 Tips for Teaching Students With Autism (teachforamerica.org) — This is a blog entry from a member of Teach for America. As the title suggests, it lists six tips with reasons and descriptions to make it easier for educators to teach students on the Austism Spectrum. The following is a list of the tips.

Avoid sensory overload.
Use visuals.
Be predictable.
Keep language concrete.
Teach social skills directly.
Treat students as individuals.