“What did you do over the weekend?”

It sounds like such an easy question. As adults, we can probably come up with an answer pretty quickly. If you asked me this weekend, I could tell you that I worked on a few updates for CreativeCOTA, visited my father-in-law, and watched some football.

But ask some students that same question and you may get:

“I don’t know.”

Or a blank piece of paper.

Or a student who spends ten minutes trying to decide what to write about and never actually gets started.

Sometimes we look at that blank paper and think the student is struggling with writing. But the actual difficulty may have started long before the pencil ever touched the paper.

Getting an autistic student ready for college goes beyond the typical dorm packing list. These 25+ college dorm must-haves and practical tips cover sensory-friendly essentials, easy dorm meals, daily living routines, college accommodations, and simple ways to make dorm life more comfortable and manageable.

Sometimes school days just don’t go according to plan. Whether you’re facing an unexpected substitute, students finishing early, a schedule change, or a Wi-Fi or technology outage, having a few no prep emergency sub plan activities ready can make the day much easier. These simple, screen-free activities use basic supplies already found in most elementary classrooms, with no printing or special materials needed. And they aren’t just for substitute teachers. Many of these literacy, math, movement, listening, and following directions activities work well for early finishers, no-technology days, and even school-based occupational therapy sessions.

If you’re looking for practical ideas, this post shares simple ways to set up a writing center along with more than 15 inexpensive tools that can make a big difference. And if you’d like to dive deeper, my on-demand course, Alternative Pencils for Literacy: Helping Every Child Become a Writer, walks you through creating an alternative pencil writing center from start to finish with classroom setups, real student examples, “generate text” IEP goals, printable planning guides, and strategies you can begin using right away.