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Quick reference

In the moment

Single-screen action steps for the moments the longer briefs are too long for. Find the card that matches what's in front of you. Use the steps. Read the full brief later if you want the framework.

These cards don't replace your district's training, your student's plan, or your supervising teacher's guidance. They're a recall aid for content you already know — not how to learn it.12 situations covered.

Right now

Something is happening and you need a fast frame for the next 60 seconds.

Your student is escalating right now

Behavioral escalation — agitation, acceleration, or peak. (For medical, suicide, or disclosure: see the triage box first.)

First check

First check — this card is for behavioral escalation. If it's actually one of these, the move is different:

  • Medical (seizure, severe allergic reaction, sudden change in breathing or consciousness) — treat as medical first. Call the nurse, call 911 if severe. Open brief 16.03 §1.2 + briefs 09.06 / 09.08.
  • Student is talking about suicide or actively self-harming — stay, listen, ask directly, don't promise confidentiality, get the counselor or supervising teacher to you fast. Open brief 16.03 §4 + brief 05.17.
  • Student just disclosed abuse — open the disclosure card below.

Do

  1. Stay with the student. Don't leave them alone — even briefly.
  2. Call for help with a planned signal (radio, hand sign, send a peer to the office). Don't yell across the room.
  3. Clear the area — move others away from the danger, not the student. Move dangerous objects.
  4. Use few words: “I’m here. You’re safe. Help is coming.” Keep physical distance unless your authorized crisis training says otherwise — closing distance often escalates.

Don't

  • Don’t restrain or seclude unless ALL of these are true: you’re currently certified in your district’s authorized program AND the situation meets the imminent-danger threshold AND you can perform the technique within the program’s protocol.
  • Don’t lecture, threaten, bargain, or shame.
  • Don’t film. Don’t let other students film. Don’t take what’s said personally.

After

Once they’re coming down: quiet co-regulation. Don’t debrief yet — the nervous system is still flooded. Document time of onset, peak, end, and what happened, same day.

Read the full brief →

A student just disclosed something serious

A student just told you about abuse, neglect, or being unsafe — directly or in fragments / sideways.

Do

  1. Stay calm. Your face and voice need to convey that they’re safe and being heard.
  2. Listen. Don’t interrupt. Use their language — if they call the abuser “my mom’s boyfriend,” you say “your mom’s boyfriend.” Believe them.
  3. Validate: “Thank you for telling me. What you said is important.”
  4. As they finish, be honest about what comes next — this is the *closing* line, not a step that interrupts: “I’m someone whose job is to make sure kids are safe. I have to talk to people whose job is to help. I won’t talk to anyone who doesn’t need to know.”

Don't

  • Don’t promise confidentiality. “I won’t tell anyone” is a promise you can’t keep.
  • Don’t interrogate. No leading questions, no asking them to repeat the story, no asking for details to verify.
  • Don’t react with horror or anger — they often love the person they’re describing and are watching your face.
  • Don’t contact the family or confront the alleged abuser. Investigators handle that.

After

As soon as they leave you, write down exactly what they said — in their words, with quotation marks. Make the call to your state’s child abuse hotline (or the national line: Childhelp 1-800-422-4453) — your individual obligation, cannot be delegated to your supervisor. If your district insists you tell admin first, do both: comply with policy AND make your own hotline call; the hotline call is the legal compliance.

Read the full brief →

Drill or emergency right now — and your student needs more than the standard plan

Drill or real event — fire, lockdown, lockout, shelter-in-place, severe weather, earthquake. Your student needs different support than the standard plan covers.

Do

  1. Stay with your student. Their plan lives in the emergency folder — pull it if you don’t already have the steps.
  2. Their gear goes with you: AAC, mobility equipment, sensory tools (headphones / earplugs), medications, glucose tabs, inhaler, glucagon — whatever’s part of their plan.
  3. Narrate what’s happening in their language: “This is a drill. We’re walking outside. We’re walking together.”
  4. Follow the specific procedure below for what’s happening — match it to your student’s plan, and use the team for anything the standard procedure won’t work for.

Match the procedure

Fire evacuation
Pre-identified accessible route. If no ground-floor exit is reachable, area of refuge near a stairwell with two-way communication — firefighters evacuate from there. No elevators in a fire.
Lockdown / lockout
Lock doors, lights off, out of sight, silence (including phones). For students who can’t be silent: the pre-arranged plan, or move them to a less-visible spot inside the room. For a long lockdown, the bathroom plan from the emergency folder.
Shelter in place
Move to the designated interior space. Stay until all-clear. Sensory and AAC tools come with you.
Severe weather / tornado
Designated severe-weather areas (interior, low, away from windows). Drop-crouched-arms-over-head — if your student can’t do that position, the team has a Plan B in the emergency folder; pull it.
Earthquake
Drop, cover, hold on. Protect head and neck. Stay until shaking stops.

Don't

  • Don’t improvise the route or assembly spot if a plan exists.
  • Don’t leave their AAC or medical gear behind to move faster — being in the safe place without their voice or insulin isn’t safe.

After

After all-clear: debrief with the team. What worked, what didn’t, what to change for next time. Drills are when the plan reveals its gaps — capture them.

Read the full brief →

Something feels off

You're being asked to do something — or hearing something — that doesn't sit right.

You were just asked to do something that felt wrong

Someone with authority over your work just asked you to do something that doesn’t sit right.

First check

First check — is this unfamiliar, or is it actually crossing a line?

  • Uncomfortable-but-probably-fine: a task you haven’t done before but is within your scope; a reasonable cover ask; a direction you disagree with on judgment grounds; a hard relational ask.
  • Possibly crossing a line: outside your authorized scope; violates law / policy; would harm a student; compromises mandated reporting; involves discrimination; creates dual-relationship risk; falsifies records.
  • If you’re in the second column, the actions below apply.

Do

  1. Pause. Don’t act immediately. Pausing isn’t insubordination — it’s professional caution.
  2. Ask for clarification: “Can you walk me through what you’re asking?” Sometimes the explanation resolves the concern; sometimes it sharpens it.
  3. Name your concern specifically: “I’m not trained on that medication.” “This isn’t in his behavior plan — can we check with Ms. Allen first?” “Restraining Marcus without two staff isn’t something I’m authorized to do.”
  4. If you have to decline, calm and brief: “I can’t do this without confirming with my supervising teacher.” “This is outside what I’m authorized to do.” Document the request same day — date, time, who asked, what exactly was asked, who was present, what you said.

Don't

  • Don’t comply just because the person has authority — you don’t have to follow an instruction that violates law, policy, your scope, or ethics.
  • Don’t argue at length under pressure. You don’t have to convince them.

After

Within 24 hours, expand your notes into a full account while memory is fresh. Route per district policy — principal or HR usually. If it crosses to mandated reporting or a state DOE concern, route there too. Cross-ref brief 13.05 (When You See Something Wrong) for the longer framework.

Read the full brief →

Your supervising teacher won’t communicate

Your supervising teacher isn’t communicating with you — no check-ins, no feedback, no access to plans, mixed signals — and the work is suffering.

First check

First — what kind of “won’t communicate” is this? Different patterns route differently.

  • Structural / skill gap (most common): no scheduled check-ins, no written tasks, no access to plans, no feedback. Use the actions below — install structure.
  • Hostile or compliance-relevant: hostile tone, public undermining, denying you access to plans needed for safety, retaliation, or anything that endangers a student. That’s not the same conversation — go straight to admin, HR, or union (if you have one). The full brief §6 covers the escalation paths.

Do

  1. Try direct first. Name the specific gap and a specific ask, framed around the student: “I want to make sure I’m running Marcus’s behavior plan the way you want. Can we get 15 minutes Thursday?”
  2. Put the ask in writing — email or a shared note. Written asks survive memory and create a record.
  3. If direct doesn’t work after a real try, escalate to admin. Specific and evidence-based: “I’ve requested X three times since [date]; here’s what’s not happening.”
  4. Document the pattern as you go — dates, specifics, what you tried, the response.

After

If admin doesn’t move it, the paths widen: district special-ed director, HR, union (if you have one). Keep doing the work well in the meantime — surfacing the problem is part of doing the work, not an alternative.

Read the full brief →

Today's situation

Today is unusual. Refusal, a sub, a field trip, a parent question, a newcomer.

Your student is refusing to work

Your student won’t start. Won’t engage. Won’t pick up the pencil. The room is filling with the stand-off.

Do

  1. Quick check first — are they safe and regulated? Hungry, tired, in pain, needing the bathroom? Is the task within their skill range, too hard, or wrong-modality? These take 30 seconds and shape the right response.
  2. Slow your pace. Lower your voice. Step back physically if you’ve been hovering. Acknowledge: “This is hard right now.” “I see you don’t want to do this.”
  3. Lower the threshold: “Just the first problem.” “Just write your name on top.” Or fold the worksheet so they only see 5 of the 20.
  4. Offer a real choice that doesn’t change the demand (pencil or marker, top or bottom, problem 1 or 5 first). Then wait — count to 30 internally. Many students start engaging once the pressure releases.

Don't

  • Don’t escalate the demand immediately — “You need to do this NOW” usually locks them in.
  • Don’t argue about whether the work is fair, hard, or important. Don’t make it personal (“you always / you never”).
  • Don’t remove recess as consequence — that’s when students with executive-function or trauma histories regulate.

After

If those moves don’t shift it, setting the demand down for now isn’t giving in — it’s strategic timing. Document for the team; chronic refusal is a “what is this refusal communicating?” conversation, not a behavior-chart one.

Read the full brief →

There’s a substitute teacher in your room today

There’s a substitute in your room today. Your job is the continuity that keeps your students from losing ground.

Do

  1. Pre-meet briefly if you can — 5 minutes is enough. Walk through the day; highlight key student information; identify what you’ll handle vs. what the sub handles.
  2. Pull the sub folder if it exists (the binder of schedule, roster, building map, emergency procedures, student-specific notes). Confidential plans go to the sub on a need-to-know basis only.
  3. Be the continuity for your students’ routines — they know you. Keep your established procedures running for transitions, breaks, regulation tools.
  4. Step in early on behavioral early-warning signs the sub won’t see (changes in voice, fidgeting, withdrawing, posturing). Don’t wait for escalation.

Don't

  • Don’t take over the teaching role — you’re not the certified teacher; services in the IEP must be provided by the right adult.
  • Don’t share confidential student information with anyone who doesn’t need it for the day’s work.

After

End-of-day note to the supervising teacher: what worked, what didn’t, anything that needs follow-up tomorrow. Sub days reveal what your systems handle well and where they’re fragile — capture both.

Read the full brief →

A para is out and you’re covering

A para is out today and you’re either subbing into their role or absorbing the gap alongside the supervising teacher.

Do

  1. Pull the absent para’s sub folder if one exists — schedule, key students, IEP-listed services, communication systems (AAC), medical needs, accommodations.
  2. Triage: 1:1 students and personal-care students first — their IEP-listed services and basic needs come before anything optional.
  3. Run the behavior plan at the highest fidelity you can — but only the parts you’ve been trained on. If a procedure is outside your training, ask for help; don’t wing it. “Some of it consistently” beats “all of it sporadically.”
  4. Tell the supervising teacher up front what you can cover and what you can’t. Document service minutes that didn’t happen — IEP-listed paraprofessional minutes the student didn’t receive. The team needs the data.

After

This is mostly a structural problem — sub-para coverage that actually shows up. Individual scrambling can patch a day; it doesn’t fix the gap. Surface repeated coverage failures to admin in writing.

Read the full brief →

Field trip today

Field trip today with your student. The classroom’s structure is about to go away.

Do

  1. Pack the kit: AAC (charged) + visual schedule + regulation tools + sensory items + change of clothes + medication + snacks + water + emergency contacts + the student’s plan in writing.
  2. Re-read the itinerary by hour. Where will you be, when. Bathrooms. Quiet spaces. Food. Accessible routes. Weather. Pre-identify a retreat space at the destination — don’t improvise.
  3. Stay with the class for inclusion — that’s the point. Use the retreat space when needed, then return to the group. Don’t separate by default.
  4. Brief your student in their format the morning of (visual schedule, Social Story, walk-through). Map the friction points mentally: bus loading, line-up, lunch, afternoon fatigue, return bus.

Don't

  • Don’t leave the kit on the bus or in a closed building you can’t re-enter.
  • Don’t assume the destination has accommodations because the website says so — call ahead; confirm.
  • Don’t push through dysregulation to “see one more thing.” The retreat space is part of the plan.

After

End-of-day handoff to family: what went well, what was hard, anything to watch for tonight. Note what worked and what didn’t for next trip; the lessons compound.

Read the full brief →

A newcomer student just arrived

A newly-arrived student from another country just joined your room. They speak little or no English.

Do

  1. Greet warmly. Smile. Get the name pronunciation right — ask the family or student. Use home language if you can; if not, get a peer translator or interpreter for entry.
  2. Hand them a survival kit: schedule, name tag, school map, key-vocabulary cards. Pair with a peer buddy if possible. Walk the day physically with them.
  3. Permit silence. Many newcomers are silent observers for days or weeks; the silent period is normal and is not a sign of a learning disability.
  4. Loop the office, custodian, cafeteria, and after-school staff so the student isn’t a surprise everywhere they go.

Don't

  • Don’t push the team toward a special-ed evaluation on Day 1 — most newcomer “struggles” are language and transition, not disability. (Some are both; patient observation is the work.)
  • Don’t test their English in front of peers.
  • Don’t assume cognitive level based on a no-English Day 1.

After

First-week priorities: build relationship; be a steady, safe, predictable adult; provide comprehensible input without pushing English production. If a prior diagnosis from another country is on the records, acknowledge it but don’t apply it as-is — diagnostic frameworks differ; the team evaluates within U.S. categories for IEP services to apply.

Read the full brief →

A parent just asked you a question you can’t answer

A parent at pickup, drop-off, or in the hallway just asked you a question you can’t or shouldn’t answer.

Do

  1. Take a breath. The script is: warmth + redirect + documentation.
  2. Acknowledge — the question is a good one; their care is appreciated.
  3. Specify who handles it and how: “Ms. Allen has the bigger picture — I’ll have her reach out today. Want her to call or email?” Don’t leave it as a vague “someone will get back to you.”
  4. Document the contact same day — who, when, what they asked, what you said, who you routed it to.

Don't

  • Don’t say “I don’t know” or “I can’t tell you” — both stop the conversation without offering a path forward.
  • Don’t improvise an answer to relieve the pressure. Wrong answers compound.
  • Don’t talk about other students or specific details that touch student-privacy law.

After

Hand the routing off to the named person before you leave for the day. If the question revealed a bigger concern (mental-health emergency, abuse, urgent medical, bullying), it’s no longer a redirect — it’s a report or a same-day team conversation.

Read the full brief →

After the incident

The moment has passed. Documentation, reporting, and the next-day work that matters.

A restraint or seclusion happened that concerned you

You witnessed (or were part of) a restraint or seclusion that concerned you — procedure, force, duration, contraindications, tone — and now the moment has passed.

First check

First — trust your read. Some incidents are clearly violations; many sit in gray areas. “Something felt wrong” is a reasonable starting point.

  • You don’t need a clear case before raising it. The reporting process is designed to evaluate concerns; that’s the system’s job, not yours.
  • If you were part of the restraint (not just a witness): you have additional protections. Before any substantive interview about the incident, you can request union representation if you have a union (Weingarten rights). Brief 16.14 §9 covers this.

Do

  1. Document today, while it’s fresh. Times (incident start, restraint start, restraint end). Setting. Adults present (names + roles). Other witnesses.
  2. Capture: what preceded the incident (1-2 minutes before). Whether less restrictive alternatives were tried. Specifically what the student was doing when restraint began.
  3. Capture: technique used (describe what you saw, in your own words). Who performed it, who assisted. Signs of distress — color, breathing, voice. Injuries to anyone. Direct quotes of what staff said.
  4. Keep a copy for yourself in district-approved storage (not personal devices). Submit per district policy — usually principal, special-ed director, or district investigator.

Don't

  • Don’t speculate about intent or motive in the document — stick to what you observed and heard.
  • Don’t wait — “I’ll do it tomorrow” is the wrong call. Details that seem clear now will blur within 24-48 hours.

After

Several reporting paths exist and can be used in combination: internal incident report, special-ed director, district investigator, state DOE complaint, OCR complaint, union, mandated child-abuse report (if abuse threshold reached). The full brief walks through each.

Read the full brief →