Using I Can Statements in Special Education

How can special education teachers use I Can statements in the special education resource room setting?

You may be familiar with using grade level I Can statements in the general education content areas, such as English Language Arts and math. These I Can statements are unique because they focus on social emotional learning, rather than academic skills. These statements offer a student-friendly way to support students in the areas of executive function, growth mindset, mindfulness calming strategies, and self-advocacy.

I Can Statements are a powerful tool for helping students take ownership of their own learning.

They provide clear, concise statements of the learning targets and success criteria for a particular lesson or unit. The statement should be are written so all students can understand what is expected of them, regardless of their unique needs.

Let's take a closer look at how I Can statements can be used to support students in each of these areas:

• Executive Function: I Can statements for executive function include statements such as “I can make big jobs easier by doing one small part at a time.” Additionally, these same statements can serve as a checklist that can help support students who struggle with executive function. With a checklist featuring support statements, students can track their own progress.

• Growth Mindset: I Can statements for growth mindset include statements such as “I can learn from my mistakes” or “I can keep trying, even when things are hard.” By encouraging a growth mindset in our students, we help them develop the resilience they need to succeed in school and beyond.

• Mindfulness Calming Strategies: I Can statements for mindfulness calming strategies include statements such as “I can pay attention to my breath to help me feel calm and stay in the moment.” These series of statements could be displayed in a calming corner area or set up on a book ring to support individual students.

• Self-Advocacy: I Can statements for self-advocacy include statements such as “I can ask for help when I need it” or “I can ask questions when I don’t understand.” By helping students develop the skills they need to advocate for themselves, we empower them to take an active role in their own education. This would be a great resource to present at an IEP meeting as part of an educational plan.

Incorporating I Can Statements in the special education classroom can serve as a powerful tool to support the social-emotional growth of all of our students and encourage them to take ownership of their learning. By breaking down each learning goal and success criteria into specific statements, we can help our students understand exactly what they need to do to be successful.

There are different ways to add these I Can statements – choose the format that works for your students:

Incorporating I Can statements that target executive function, growth mindset, mindfulness calming strategies, and self-advocacy is an effective approach to empower students and cultivate a sense of ownership over their learning. Collaborating with support staff, team members, and the child's teacher, enables us to create personalized I Can statements that cater to the unique needs of each student.

Let's help all of our students succeed!