January 25, 2021 Community Trip Planning for Special Education Community trip planning can be nerve-wracking. Believe me, nothing scares teachers more than taking my students out of their familiar classroom. However, there are so many skills and goals that you can work on in alternative environments. Here are a couple of tips to get you started. Start small. When I started planning community trips, I planned trips that I felt comfortable enough to handle. When I started community trips, we started walking trips to the local parks, walking trail, and Mariano's. This way, it wasn't an extra cost for a bus for the school, and I was close enough to the school for any emergency, which never happened, but made me feel safer. Previously, I had done walking trips to work on crossing the street safely, community sign identification, and scavenger hunts. When all else fails, start with something you feel comfortable with and build from there. Add some spice. Once you feel that you can handle a walking trip, try taking a short trip to a fast food restaurant. The name says it all. Fast food. When all else fails, you can always order your food to go. Whether you are concerned about behaviors, medical needs, or bathrooming during community trips, fast food restaurants is the way to go. Once you truly feel you can master these community trip things, try to change it up. I try not to take students to the same place every week or every month. One month we may go bowling, the next month to the library. Add some variety so that you and your students do not get bored of McDonald's every week. Try Wendy's, Burger King, Subway, etc. Use your students' interests. Find out what places your students like. Previously, I had a student that loved the public library. Students will work harder knowing they have a favorite place that they will be going to. Plus, watching a student's face on the trip is absolutely priceless. Overall, students will have more fun when their interests are included. Before you go into the community, you can use these Word Association Boom Cards for community places. What to bring. Teachers should bring the same things they typically would for their students if they were in the school. Here is a list of a few things I recommend. Fidgets, rewards, schedules, social stories, communication devices, your SLP will thank you, laminated 1-2-3 task strips and a whiteboard marker, gloves, baby wipe snapkins, extra changes of clothes for each student, diapers, emergency phone numbers for each student, and the school number programmed in your phone, trust me, medications that may be needed in the event of an emergency. Check with your school nurse for medical needs. I promise these will be a lifesaver for you. Learn from my mistakes. I typically pack a backpack and bring it all with me or assign an aide to be responsible for it. Need a template to get you started community trip planning? Grab this resource below and another freebie here. Read more about how to run a classroom business and get tips to get started.