Student Mail Delivery Job

After years of trying to find meaningful jobs for my students that actually worked on their IEP goals and objectives I think I have found the answer. This however, is not my original idea. So thanks to the person who gave me this idea through a Facebook post, it has truly changed my life.....or at least my afternoon M-F :).

Here is what I did to get started.
1) I contacted my administration team for approval. I explained the job and the purpose behind it.

2) Contacted teachers who were on planning during the time we would be delivering the mail. We currently have 7/26 teachers who participate (more would me more than willing to allow this but, this is enough for us right now). I chose teachers who were on planning to prevent minimal class disruptions and allow time for my students to practice their communication skills. I sent out this email:
       
Hello 1:30 Planning Team :),

      We have a few students who are starting a mail delivery job. This job is going to help build  organization, transition and communication skills. We would love if you would be willing to participate. If you choose to participate we just ask that you leave your mail in your mailbox and interact with the students during delivery. A simple wave or high-five would be appropriate. Your mail will be delivered daily between 1:30-2:15. If you are interested please let me know.

Thanks,
Mrs. Boysal

Within minutes everyone I sent it to replied with a YES!, Sounds like fun!, Can't wait to meet the kids! Thank so much!

2) I found something to organize and deliver the mail. Thankfully our office has a mail cart so I just snag that when we need it. For the organization part I just use one of the cheap plastic file folder crates. I think I got mine at Wal-Mart or Target. I plopped some hanging file folders in it (7 to match the number of teachers we were delivering to) and put teacher names on labels. I just attached a large Avery label to the hanging folder tab (to make it bigger). (I grabbed this picture from Google...the color hanging folders would work even better!!!!)

3) I then decided which students would do the job. I currently have 3 students participate. Two of them (alternate days) stock/organize the mail cart and 1 of them does the deliveries.

4) Stocking/Organizing the cart: The student pushes the cart (with the file crate already inside) to the mail room and takes the mail out of the teachers box and puts it in the corresponding folder. I have an adult help with every step of this. At this time my students are working on "putting in" so the para currently gets it out of the box and tells them where to put it. But, this is a great way to incorporate matching skills if your students are working on those. Simply put a colored sticker (I'm thinking those garage sale dots) on the mailbox and a matching sticker to their hanging file folder in the crate. The student can take it out of the "green dot" mailbox and put it in the "green dot" folder. I know some districts require every task to match the curriculum so here are a few more ideas to help make this educational.
-you could have uppercase letters on the mailbox and lowercase on the folder
-states on the mailbox and their capitals on the folder
-vocabulary word on the mailbox and a definition on the folder
-math problem on the mailbox and the answer on the folder
There are so many "matching" activities that you could incorporate into this job.

5) Delivering Mail: The student I have deliver the mail needs "heavy work" incorporated into their day so I add a backpack to the bottom of the cart before he leaves. The backpack is filled with reams of papers to weigh it down. This student pushes the cart through the halls and stops at the appropriate class. During this time he is working on, walking in the hall appropriately, looking where he is going, knocking on the door, getting the mail, walking it to the teacher, saying Hi! and coming back out to the cart. Following directions is the BIG goal here!!

6) Clean Up: The cart is brought back to the classroom, the backpack and file crate are taken out and the cart is returned to the office.

I will admit having snack following the job is VERY motivating for my students. I do not use food as a reinforcer during the day/other tasks so making sure snack time was right after this not so preferred activity helps.....SHH!!! They will never know I am that sneaky :) (Grab this First/Then chart here)

I absolutely love this job and am so glad that endlessly scrolling through Facebook at 2am finally paid off!! This job allows my students to build real life job skills, work on IEP goals and objectives and get some sensory input as well.

Do you do a mail delivery job in your classroom? What has been your favorite classroom job that you have implemented?


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Classroom Food Cart

Have you heard of classrooms having food carts or coffee businesses but don't know how to get one started? Here is how we run the food cart at our school.

We start off every school year with free samples...this is how we get everyone hooked. We set up a station in the front office and send out an email letting everyone know. We also put out a food donation sign up sheet in case anyone wants to donate store bought or homemade goodies.

This is what our food cart looks like today but this is not where we started :). When we first started we had our local grocery store donate coffee, teachers donated snacks and we had a tiny cart. After a few years, grants and donations I can say we have a pretty awesome little business.

The purpose of the food cart is for our students to develop and practice skills in the following areas: social norms, communication, money and team building.

We take the cart out every Wednesday and Friday. I work in a pretty large school (800 students) so we have 6 special education teachers in my building. Out of that, 4 of us manage the food cart. We have a group of students who price and stock it, we have a group that works with a teacher on ordering, I make the coffee (which is funny because I am the only one who doesn't drink it) and another teacher handles all of the money.

We are so fortunate to have had this awesome coffee maker and carafes donated. It's super easy. I my amazing paras plug it in and wait for it to heat up. Once it's ready we pop the coffee in, put the carafe under and pour in the pitcher of water. In about 3 minutes we have perfectly brewed coffee.

I store all of the coffee next to the maker on my counter. They are usually large bags so I make sure to secure them with binder clips so the coffee doesn't taste stale.....had that complaint once 😁. We also got a HUGE thing of coffee filters 2 years ago and we haven't purchased any since. I honestly think we will be set for 3-4 more years lol.

I change out the labels for the carafes when needed. We don't do anything fancy here, just computer paper, marker and masking tape. I am sure you could get a little more creative here if you wanted to :)

We also have all of these yummy snacks and drinks on the cart. We price everything for $1.00 (coffee is $0.75) to make the change making process easier. If you have students with higher level math skills play around with the prices to make it more challenging for your kids.

This cash register is a new addition this year. It has been great to store money in it (we used to put it in a coffee cup) and use the calculator portion.

Now that the coffee is made and the cart is stocked we are ready to take it out. I have a few students who need walkers to get around. The cart is PERFECT for them to push :) The students take the cart from classroom to classroom. This is where the magic happens!!! 

All of my students who take the cart out are non-verbal. They have gained so many skills through this process. They knock on the door and use the pre-made communication device. Check it out here. 

            

We used GoTalk Lite to create these. That is why we have a British accent for our boys...if you pay for it there are many voice options. 

The teachers then come out and tell the kids what they would like. Depending on what the kids are working on they will take over the order (getting coffee, making change, finding the items, talking with the staff member etc.).

The coffee cart has been AWESOME!!! for the students and staff at my school. Here are a few testimonials from staff members at my school. 

"I love having the food cart come by, not because of the food ( though it's  good) the best part is seeing students learn how to work with money and help others. The staff that works with these students are so patient."

"I love the food cart for various reasons. Not only do we get a nice little surprise visit for a delicious snack, but it's so nice to see our students leading within this initiative. Whether asking if we are interested or handling money and selling items, students are in charge of the sales and exhibit leadership qualities and handle the responsibilities wonderfully. My students also enjoy having them stop by. It gives us a brief moment to stop, visit, extend our hellos, and share in a brief, yet kind moment of interaction that we normally don't get to share within the hectic school day. It's a moment where students get to see how we can support one another and help each other's causes just by purchasing a small item. I love it."

"I love the food cart because I like seeing my former students and interacting with them. It's fun to see their social progress."

"I love the interactions and real-life application these students receive when working/learning with the food cart."

"It is a very positive learning tool for everyone!"

We use the money that we earn from the coffee cart to purchase more items. It is all self funded. If we have money at the end of the year we put enough aside to place the first order for the next year and then all of the left over money we use to put into other projects at our school (kids needing coats, Christmas gifts, toiletries for students etc.). 

I have found that running the cart the way we do is super simple. There isn't much that goes into it (once you have it up and running). At the end of the year we also have a MONSTER SALE to get ride of everything. The teachers LOVE this.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin