I think the question I get asked the most is how to multi-task so many leaners. Yes we all agree that some of our students require one on one instruction but what do you do with the other kids during that time? It’s a delicate juggling act for sure. One of my lifesavers is my independent morning routine. We call it A.M. Routine. It saves my butt every morning and lets me do my job.
I love a good rotation. I explain this more in my post about my schedules. If you have paraprofessionals – have them run stations! Then your students can move through the stations and have a solid chunk of dedicated instructional time. Amazing! The first thing we do in the morning is rotations with my students who are lower functioning. Each of my aides and myself each run a station. We get to hit most of my students’ IEP goals in a one on one setup. It’s great. But… what about all the other students? I’m sure they would be just pleased as punch if I let them loiter on the iPads and computers, but oh no. I’m a mean teacher. We need academic engagement all the time. Enter – A.M. Routine.
This whole routine takes about an hour and was relatively easy to teach my kids and is easy to maintain. Six of my higher functioning student participate in this each morning.
Here are the basics – they turn in their homework, do a binder page, have quiet reading time, and play a game.
The binder page has a daily sentence to correct, daily questions to answer, a journal to write, and a word sort. Get this binder page for free in this post!
The binder page is kept in their schedule binder:
I write a sentence on the board with spelling and grammar mistakes and they write correctly. We grade this together during morning group.
There are a bunch of visuals related to this running super smoothly! My students have daily jobs such as writing the date on the board and looking up the temperature. This helps the whole group fill out the daily binder page. Then they also have weekly jobs that they only do on Fridays. These are jobs that don’t need to be done too often such as washing dishes and vacuuming. These visuals are all laminated and velcroed so I can switch them up every week!
Students are ‘in charge’ of the game. This helps it stay organized with one student picking them games and setting it up. It is laminated and I write the initials of the student with a dry erase marker. A student is also picked each day to type the journal. There are step by step instructions that are velcroed so students can grab the instructions the day they are in charge. This serves as a nice social script.
and introducing my Video Tutorial where I explain this in even more detail than you ever wanted to know!
- Planning for the Fall: Part 4 and 5 – Visually Structured Tasks and Routines - January 30, 2026
- Using TAH Curriculum for Homeschooling from a Homeschooling Parent - September 10, 2022
- Using The Autism Helper Curriculum for Homeschool - August 8, 2022
11 Responses
Hi Sasha!
I LOVE your website. I recently accepted a position teaching 7th and 8th grade autistic support and I’m super excited. Except, most of my experience is in earlychildhood and elementary aged students with autism. So, I was little baffled at first how I was going to run things to fit an older group of students. THANK GOODNESS I found your blog. It has been so insightful and helpful you have no idea.
I did have questions about your jobs. What does the binder helper and the morning group helper do? THANKS!
Hi Jenn! The binder helper gets everyone their binders and then puts them away when we are done with them. The morning group is kind of a catch all for any thing I need help on during that time – passing out pencils, erasing the board, passing out papers etc. This is also helpful in case someone comes in talk to me and I need to step away from the table for a moment – the morning group helper is “in charge.” Good luck in your new position!! So happy my website has been helpful to you!
Do you sell a morning routine set up packet in your store? I love your visuals that you have made to post on the bulletin board. I am going to do this next year for sure! I did look in your store and did not see it so I wanted to double check .
I don’t have something specific for this but can definitely make one!
Hi Sasha, did you ever make this resource for sale? Thanks!
I didn’t 🙁 but I will work on it!!
Can you post the step by step direction visuals? I love these! They are fantastic!
Hi Nora! This resource may have some of what you are looking for! https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Visuals-for-Common-Classroom-Routines-1196483?aref=k5zhnqkt.
Hi Sasha,
I am a mom of a 4 year old old who has been diagnosed with mild autism and speech delay. She has been receiving ABA therapy five times a week. She is almost verbal but cannot strike a conversation with her peers as yet. I NEED your valuable advice for a question:
Sehej(my daughter) got admission in a district school in the month of May. She had been there for about a month in a special education class followed by summer vacations. To encourage her speech, do you think its better to put her in a general classroom environmemt of some private school, if they accept her…She would receive speech therapy only once a week in the district school…
Hi Poonam, That is a tricky question! I would suggest observing and touring the private school and get the advice of her ABA therapists. It’s hard to tell without knowing your child or the two school options. I would ask a lot of questions as the private school about how they will support her needs and individualize for her as needed. Hope this helps! Good luck! Your daughter is lucky to have such a dedicated mom!
Thank you for all of the free resources. It is very helpful to me.