Mastering the Special Education Schedule (One Tetris Piece at a Time)

Mastering the Special Education Schedule (One Tetris Piece at a Time)

Introduction

Whether you teach in a resource room, a self-contained class, or juggle inclusion minutes across multiple grade levels, scheduling can feel like a giant game of Tetris. You don’t always get all the right pieces and the game never really ends.

And because it's back-to-school season, sped teachers everywhere can be found working on their bright, colorful Tetris board style schedule...mapping out blocks of time, trying to fit every service, support, and subject into the day. And just like in the game, some pieces slide in perfectly… and others make you want to flip the whole board upside down and cuss from frustration.

My hope is to give you a realistic starting point (and hopefully a little peace of mind) as you plan your days around IEP services, general education schedules, therapist times, paraprofessional availability, and oh yeah… your own sanity.

Let’s Talk About the Reality of Special Ed Schedules

I want you to know that there is no perfect schedule. There’s only the best-fit schedule for your students, your staffing, and your building. There will most likely be times in your day when you are overlapped and doubled-up. There may be times when a para is covering two students in different classrooms and has to pull a student into a different room. 

There could be times when a therapy session pulls a student right out of your lesson, or your schedule has you running from one end of the building to the other to make sure everyone’s needs are met.

And spoiler alert if you are a newbie: even your best-fit plan is probably going to change five times in the first month. New students will enroll or be placed, some will move away, paraprofessionals will quit and therapists will switch availability.

So give yourself permission to create a draft, not a masterpiece. This is a living document. You’ll adjust. You’ll refine. And it will get easier.

Scheduling in Any Special Education Setting

There are 3 main types of special education schedules.

1. Scheduling for a resource room—including how to balance inclusion minutes and serve students with significant service needs.
   
   
2. Scheduling in a self-contained program—where you’re planning for the same group of students all day while still coordinating with therapists and specials.
   
   
3. Scheduling for a full inclusion program—when your students are in general education for the entirety of the day and your role is to provide push-in and consultative support.
   
   

I hope to give you practical strategies that you can adapt no matter which type of program you’re in.

Part 1: Scheduling for a Resource Room

If you’re in a resource room, your schedule is probably the most like a puzzle where the pieces keep changing shape. You’re serving students from multiple grade levels, with different IEP minutes, different service delivery models, and different times they’re available to actually be in your room. And on top of that, you’re working around general education schedules for core subjects, specials schedules, lunches, and recesses. And if your program is anything like mine, you may also have some students on your caseload need inclusion minutes in addition to their pull-out minutes and some who are with you a significant part of the day but because they do go to general education settings part of the day, they are not technically considered self-contained.

Before you start building your schedule, you need to gather the right tools and information. At minimum, have these in front of you:

• Your master building schedule with all grade-level core subject times, specials, lunch, and recess.You need to have a discussion with your administration about when you are expected to pull students. Some schools don’t have an opinion on this but I would imagine most of them do. Do they want you to pull out of whole group or small group? Is there an intervention block they want you to pull from, etc. Make sure you know this before you start your schedule so you don’t have to reinvent the wheel if you do it wrong.
  
  
• Every student’s IEP service minutes, so you know exactly how many minutes they receive and in what setting.I like to write these on colored sticky notes and then as I add them to the schedule, I put them aside. This ensures I don’t miss anyone’s minutes.
  
  
• Therapist schedules (OT, PT, SLP) so you know when those services pull students. My therapists would always wait for my schedule before creating theirs but it may be different for you…so have those conversations before hand.
  
  
• Any paraprofessional schedules or availability windows. I would often have paras who needed to either come in late or leave early for whatever reason, so make sure you know this information ahead of time.
  
  
• Non-negotiable meeting or collaboration times your administrator expects you to attend.
  
  

If you’re running a resource room, one of the most efficient ways to build your schedule is by using Google Sheets. I love this method because it’s flexible, easy to share, and quick to adjust when those inevitable changes pop up in the first few weeks (and beyond).

Here’s the step-by-step process I recommend:

1. Start with student IEP service minutes using the sticky note method
   Before you even open Google Sheets, grab a stack of colored sticky notes. Assign each student their own color, then write their required IEP minutes for each subject/service on separate sticky notes.
   
   
• Example: For a student needing 120 minutes of reading and 60 minutes of math per week, you’d have one sticky labeled “Reading – 120 min” and another labeled “Math – 60 min.”
  
  
• This gives you a moveable, visual way to manipulate times before committing them to the spreadsheet. You can literally shuffle them around your desk until you find a combination that works.
  
  
2. Set up your time slots in 5-minute increments in Google Sheets
   Start your first column with the start time of your day and list times in 5-minute increments all the way down.
   
   
• Why 5-minute increments? Because special education schedules are rarely “on the dot.” You might have a student who leaves at 10:35, another who starts at 10:40, and a para who transitions to lunch duty at 10:45. The extra detail keeps your schedule precise and avoids overlap or missed coverage.
  
  
3. List all staff across the top row
   Include yourself, any other special education teachers, and each paraprofessional. This gives you a quick, bird’s-eye view of who’s where at any point in the day.
   
   
4. Assign colors for quick visual reference
   
   
• Each paraprofessional gets their own color—this helps you instantly see if anyone is double-booked or underutilized.
  
  
• Each subject or service gets a separate color—reading, math, writing, social skills, etc.
  
  
• Don’t forget to include unique colors for non-academic duties that require support, such as recess supervision, lunch coverage, bus duty, or arrival/dismissal transitions.
  
  
5. Plug in your known fixed points first
   Drop in specials schedules, lunch times, recess blocks, and any non-negotiable general education classes students will attend. Then fill in the IEP service times (guided by your sticky notes), making sure you’re meeting each student’s minutes without overloading staff.
   
   
6. Share and refine
   Because it’s in Google Sheets, you can share it with your paraprofessionals, related service providers, and administrators. That way everyone can spot potential conflicts and make changes before the year starts.

A couple of tips that have saved my sanity over the years:

• Group by grade level or skill level when possible. If you can serve two or three students together for reading who have similar goals, it saves you from running ten separate reading groups every day.
  
  
• Consider your para support when grouping students. If you have a para pushing in during a certain time, you might be able to split groups or offer more targeted support.
  
  
• Don’t forget travel time. If students have to walk across the building to your room, you can’t plan for them to be with you from 10:00 to 10:30 if they don’t actually arrive until 10:05.
  
  
• Build in transition buffers. We often forget that moving between activities or locations takes time, and that’s especially true for students who need extra support for transitions.
  
  

Once you’ve got your IEP minutes in place, you can start filling in your planning time, prep for data collection, and any push-in support you provide. And remember—this is just the first draft. As students settle into routines, you might see that certain groups need to be adjusted or certain times just aren’t working. That’s okay.

Part 2: Scheduling for a Self-Contained Program

Now, let’s shift gears and talk about scheduling in a self-contained program. This is a completely different ballgame compared to a resource room. In a resource setting, you’re constantly juggling service minutes, general education schedules, and trying to plug students into the right time slots. But in a self-contained program? Your students are with you all day long. That means minutes aren’t your biggest concern—what really matters is creating a daily flow that works for both you and your students.

Anchor the Day
I always start by plugging in the non-negotiables—those set-in-stone times that happen every single day. That’s things like arrival, lunch, recess, specials, related service sessions, and dismissal. These become the anchor points for your schedule, and once they’re in place, you can build everything else around them.

Plan Core Instruction Times
Next, I think about when my students tend to be the most alert and focused. That’s when I schedule my heavy hitters—reading, math, or writing. I save more flexible, hands-on, or lower-demand activities for those natural energy dips, like right after lunch or at the end of the day.

Rotate Groups and Independent Work
In a self-contained room, you’ll often have several small groups running at the same time. While I’m teaching one group, my paras might be working with another or overseeing independent work or task boxes. I like to set up a clear rotation system so students know exactly where to go and what to do—no downtime, no confusion.

Include Sensory and Movement Breaks
Sensory and movement breaks aren’t just “nice to have”—they’re essential. I schedule them proactively, not just when students are dysregulated. Even a quick three-minute stretch or a walk to get a drink can help students refocus. These breaks are written into the schedule just like any other subject.

Add Life Skills and Social Skills
I make sure to block out time for life skills and social skills every week. These are just as important as academic skills—things like cooking, community-based instruction, cleaning routines, or social skills groups. They’re not extras; they’re part of the curriculum.

Plan for Transitions
One lesson I learned early on—plan for transitions. If the schedule is packed with back-to-back activities, you’ll constantly feel rushed. Giving yourself a few extra minutes between blocks keeps the day moving without stress.

Use a Color-Coded System
I’m a huge fan of color coding my master schedule—one color for academic blocks, another for specials, another for breaks, and so on. It’s a quick visual that helps me (and my paras) know what’s coming next at a glance.

Teach the Schedule
Finally, I post the schedule and teach it just like any other routine. Some students follow the large classroom schedule, while others have their own individual version. The key is consistency—the schedule becomes a security blanket for a lot of students.

And just like with resource rooms, I always build in buffer time. Students in self-contained settings often need longer transitions, and therapies can run over. Trying to stack activities back-to-back without breathing room is a recipe for stress for everyone.

When the schedule is complete, I step back and ask myself: Does this day make sense for my students? I’m not just filling time—I’m intentionally structuring it to maximize learning, independence, and success.

Part 3: Scheduling for a Full Inclusion Program

If you’re in a full inclusion program, your challenge is weaving your services seamlessly into the general education schedule while still meeting every student’s Individual Educational Plan (IEP) minutes.

This starts with getting your hands on every gen ed teacher’s schedule for the grades you support. You’ll want to note:

• Core instructional times (reading, math, writing).
  
  
• Specials (art, music, PE).
  
  
• Intervention blocks.
  
  
• Any grade-level events, assemblies, or testing windows.
  
  

From there, identify the priority service times based on your students’ needs. For example, if a student receives reading support, your push-in or pull-out should ideally be during their core reading block—not during science or social studies.

Here are some strategies to make it work:

• Push in whenever possible for core subjects to support students while also helping the gen ed teacher differentiate.
  
  
• Cluster service times so you can see multiple students during one block, if their goals and needs align. This keeps you from bouncing between classrooms all day.
  
  
• Plan co-teaching moments with gen ed staff—especially for whole-group lessons where your presence can make a big impact on access and engagement.
  
  
• Use “flex minutes”—those small pockets of time between classes or after specials—for quick goal check-ins, progress monitoring, or reteaching concepts.
  
  

One of the biggest challenges in inclusion is that you’re often at the mercy of someone else’s schedule. That’s why relationships with general education teachers are key. The more you collaborate, the easier it is to make adjustments when things shift—and they will shift.

And remember: Your goal is to maximize access without pulling students away from meaningful learning experiences. Sometimes this means being creative—like embedding a math goal into a science lab or supporting reading comprehension during social studies.

When your inclusion schedule is working well, students feel supported in their gen ed environment, teachers feel like they have a true partner, and you can confidently meet IEP minutes without feeling like you’re running a daily marathon.

Pro-tip:

And then one last Pro Tip before I let you go.

I learned somewhere along the way to make my plan time one of my non-negotiables. It’s important to protect your plan time like it’s sacred.

It’s tempting to give it away to cover someone else’s group, jump into an unexpected meeting, or squeeze in “just one more” IEP session—but your prep time is not extra time. It’s when you update data, plan lessons, prepare materials, write IEPs, and handle the behind-the-scenes work that makes the rest of your day run smoothly.

If you give it away too freely in August, it will set the precedent for the entire year. Guard it with clear boundaries, and use it intentionally. Your future self—especially during progress report week—will thank you.

Conclusion

So whether you're juggling 12 inclusion students across five grades or building a full-day schedule in a self-contained class, just remember…Please know that I feel for you. It’s not an easy task but it is a necessary one. Create a Tetris game (also known as a schedule) that works for your students, your staff, and you. 

Don't let the conversation end here.

Tune in to Special Education for Beginners where we dive deeper into topics that matter to you, sharing stories and insights that inspire.

Eager to expand your toolkit? Check out these episodes today:

Episode Episode 173: Effective Progress Monitoring Methods and Strategies
Episode 142: Save Time Writing IEPs with Artificial Intelligence