About the store
Hi, I’m Devon — special educator, instructional leader, and founder of Deserving Dignity 💛
I teach high school in a Cognitive Mild Support program in New Jersey, serving students in grades 9–12 with diverse learning and behavioral needs. My work centers on building structured, dignified classrooms that prioritize real‑world readiness and student independence 🧩✨
Deserving Dignity was created after years of developing and refining classroom‑tested resources designed specifically for special education settings. Every resource in this store is built from lived classroom experience — practical, intentional, and designed to support both students and the educators who serve them 📚🤝
What you’ll find here:
✔ Designed by me
✔ Used in my classroom
✔ Tested with real students
In addition to teaching, I coach field hockey and lacrosse 🏑🥍 and hold a Supervisor Endorsement, which informs my systems‑based, standards‑aligned approach to instructional design.
If you’re building classrooms rooted in structure, dignity, and real impact — you’re in the right place 🌿💫
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NJSLA Grade 9 ELA Test Prep Packet | Adapted - Special Education Friendly
Prepare students for success on the NJSLA ELA assessment with this comprehensive Grade 9 ELA & Writing Practice Packet! This student-friendly resource combines reading comprehension strategies, argumentative writing practice, and scaffolded supports to help students build confidence and improve test-taking skills. Designed with differentiation and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principles in mind, this packet is perfect for classroom instruction, intervention groups, tutoring, test prep, ho
3rd - 12th
ELA Test Prep, Reading Strategies, Writing
What’s Inside an Egg? 3-Day Life Skills Mini Unit!
Looking for an engaging, real-world life skills activity your students will actually enjoy—especially during those high-energy weeks before a break? 🐣 This 3-day life skills mini unit turns a simple topic (eggs!) into meaningful, hands-on learning your students will remember. Perfect for the week before Easter break or anytime you want to connect functional skills to real-life experiences. Students will explore what’s inside an egg, practice following a recipe, learn kitchen safety, and finish
Not Specific
General Science, Health, Measurement
Space Week Unit | ISS, Neil Armstrong, Sally Ride | Life Skills & Adapted Tasks
Make Space Week meaningful, accessible, and engaging with this 3-day unit designed to introduce students to the International Space Station, Neil Armstrong, and Sally Ride through adapted reading passages, comprehension activities, vocabulary supports, hands-on worksheets, and an easy-to-use unit assessment. Students will build background knowledge about important people and concepts in space exploration while practicing reading comprehension, vocabulary, goal setting, reflection, and real-wo
Not Specific
Astronomy, Earth Sciences, Informational Text
Rock Your Socks Day Life Skills Activity | World Down Syndrome Day
Help your students celebrate differences, build empathy, and practice real-life inclusion skills with this meaningful and engaging Rock Your Socks Day resource! This low-prep life skills + SEL lesson is designed specifically for middle and high school students, including special education, self-contained, and transition classrooms. Students will learn about World Down Syndrome Day, reflect on their own strengths, and take action through kindness and inclusion. 💙 WHY TEACHERS LOVE THIS RES
Not Specific
Character Education, Classroom Community, School Counseling
FREE St. Patrick’s Day Budget Worksheet | Functional Math Life Skills (PRINT&GO)
Bring a little luck to your classroom this St. Patrick’s Day! 🍀 This FREE Lucky Leprechaun Budget Challenge sample is a fun and engaging way for students to practice real-world budgeting and money skills through a St. Patrick’s Day themed activity. Students use their “gold coins” to make spending decisions and practice calculating totals while staying within a budget. This activity is perfect for special education, life skills, and functional math classrooms. 🍀 What’s Included in This Freeb
Not Specific
Financial Literacy, Money Math
St. Patrick’s Day Budget Challenge | Functional Math Life Skills
*Make budgeting fun this St. Patrick’s Day! 🍀 The Lucky Leprechaun Budget Challenge is an engaging functional math activity where students plan a St. Patrick’s Day celebration while staying within a set budget. Students must choose items, calculate totals, and manage their money wisely. This activity helps students practice real-world budgeting and money management skills in a fun and seasonal way. ✨ It ALSO includes differentiated versions, task cards, and a fun award certificate to celebra
Not Specific
Financial Literacy, Money Math
Realistic American Money Unit | Life Skills Math | Coins & Bills
Teaching students to identify, count, and use money in real life is an essential life skill. This complete American Money Unit helps students build confidence with coins and bills through visual supports, structured practice, and real-world scenarios. This resource is perfect for life skills classrooms, special education programs, functional math instruction, and intervention groups. Students will learn how to identify coins and bills, count money accurately, and apply their skills in every
1st - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Financial Literacy
Free Cursive Writing Sample Pages | Alphabet Practice + Real-Life Writing Skills
Help your students build confidence in cursive writing with this free sample pack from a comprehensive cursive workbook designed with real-life skills in mind. This free download gives you a sneak peek into a larger resource that blends handwriting development with functional life skills — perfect for upper elementary, middle school, special education, and life skills classrooms. Whether you're introducing cursive or reinforcing handwriting for older students, these pages are designed to be c
Not Specific
Handwriting, Writing
Cursive for Real Life: A Modern Handwriting Workbook | Life Skills Cursive
✍️ Cursive for Real Life A thoughtfully designed cursive handwriting workbook created specifically for teens and young adults. While many handwriting resources are designed for early learners, older students are often left without age-appropriate support — despite still needing cursive for real-world tasks like signing documents, writing cards, completing forms, and building personal confidence. This workbook was created to meet that need. Blending structured handwriting instruction with real-li
3rd - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Handwriting, Vocabulary, Writing
Design My Wedding Dress! — A Heartfelt, Creative Classroom Activity
💍 Design My Wedding Dress! — A Heartfelt, Creative Classroom Activity High School SPED • Life Skills • Community‑Building • Writing & Art Integration Celebrate connection, creativity, and real‑life moments in your classroom with this sweet, engaging activity your students will love. Whether you’re preparing for your own wedding or simply sharing a joyful life update with your class, this resource invites students to design what they imagine your wedding dress will look like — and reflect on t
Not Specific
Coloring Pages, Creative Writing, Visual Arts
Spread the Word Day Inclusion Bundle | Activities, Posters, Lesson Plans
💛 Spread the Word Day Inclusion Bundle High School SPED Activities • Lesson Plans • Posters • Worksheets Create a meaningful, school‑wide Spread the Word Day with this complete inclusion bundle designed specifically for high school special education and older learners. These ready‑to-use activities help students understand kindness, respect, and belonging in a way that feels mature, authentic, and accessible — without adding extra prep to your workload. Perfect for SPED classrooms, inclusion
3rd - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Classroom Community, Not Subject Specific, Social Emotional Learning
FREE Spread the Word Day Activity | Inclusion Reflection & Pledge
Looking for a simple, meaningful way to recognize Spread the Word Day in your classroom? This low-prep, high-impact freebie helps students reflect on inclusion, kindness, and respectful language in an age-respectful way — perfect for middle and high school learners. Created by a high school special educator, this resource is designed to spark real conversations without adding extra planning to your day! 💛 What’s Included: ✔ Student-friendly explanation of Spread the Word Day ✔ Guided refl
4th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Classroom Community, For All Subjects, Social Emotional Learning
CNN10 Current Events YEAR-LONG Bundle | Differentiated Worksheets | Exit Tickets
Stop creating new CNN10 News worksheets every single week! This comprehensive, reusable bundle works for ANY CNN10 episode — just print and go, all year long. With differentiated questions for grades 3-12 and SPED-friendly formatting, every learner in your classroom can participate current events. ⭐ BUY ONCE → USE ALL YEAR! ⭐ ✨ Generic templates with blank date fields — students fill in the date themselves ✨ No more weekly prep — print a class set and you're done for the year ✨ Works for e
1st - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Civics, U.S. History, World History
Budget Simulation Mini Lab BUNDLE | Financial Literacy Activity | Life Skills |
🎯 Bring financial literacy to LIFE with this engaging Budget Simulation Mini Lab!Students experience real-world money management by drawing profession cards, creating budgets using the 30-15-15-10-30 rule, and navigating unexpected life events. Perfect for life skills, math, economics, FACS, or advisory classes!This COMPLETE resource bundle includes everything you need for a hands-on budgeting simulation that students will LOVE and actually REMEMBER! ⭐ WHAT'S INCLUDED:📚 TEACHER RESOURCES
6th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Financial Literacy
Real-Life Budget Simulation | Money Management Life Skills Activity (DIGITAL)
A hands-on budget simulation that helps teens build real-world money confidence through meaningful, practical learning.
6th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Financial Literacy
Budget Simulation: Real-Life Money Management | Life Skills Activity
If you’ve ever wished your students truly understood money — not just math problems — this is for you! This real-life budget simulation helps students build confidence with money through meaningful, hands-on learning they’ll actually use beyond the classroom. Designed from real classroom experience, this resource makes life skills practical, engaging, and easy to implement. 💡 Why Teachers Love It ✔ Real-world and relevant ✔ Minimal prep ✔ Perfect for life skills + functional math ✔ Buil
6th - 12th, Adult Education, Higher Education
Financial Literacy
Life Skills Starter Kit FREEBIE | Kitchen Safety Checklist + Recipe Writing
Build independence, confidence, and safe habits in your Life Skills classroom with this FREE Life Skills Starter Kit! This resource is the exact set of visuals I use in my cognitive‑mild classroom to help students stay safe in the kitchen and learn how to read and write a recipe step‑by‑step. Perfect for Special Education, Functional Academics, Transition Programs, and any classroom teaching cooking skills, kitchen routines, or independent living. ✨ What’s Included 1. Kitchen Safety Checklist
Not Specific
Not Subject Specific
$100 Real-World Shopping Challenge | Life Skills Math
Make budgeting meaningful, engaging, and real for your students. The $100 Real-World Shopping Challenge is a hands-on life skills activity that helps students practice budgeting, decision-making, and real-world math in a fun, low-prep format. Students are given a realistic store catalog and challenged to choose items while staying within a $100 budget. Along the way, they build independence, practice functional math, and reflect on their choices. Designed with transition classrooms in mind, this
Not Specific
Financial Literacy, Money Math
Life Skills Starter Pack for Special Education - Functional Life Skills Bundle
🌟 Life Skills Starter Pack for Special Education Looking to build real-world independence in your classroom without spending hours creating materials? This Life Skills Starter Pack is designed specifically for middle and high school special education classrooms, self-contained programs, and transition-based learning environments. Created and tested in a Cognitive Mild Support classroom, these activities help students build confidence in real-life skills like communication, responsibility, d
Not Specific
Not Subject Specific
Student Budget Reflection | Life Skills Financial Literacy
Help students reflect on their financial choices in a meaningful, real-world way. This student-friendly budget reflection presentation is designed to build financial awareness, self-reflection, and real-world money skills in an accessible format for middle and high school learners. Perfect for: ✔ Life skills classrooms ✔ Special education programs ✔ Transition classrooms ✔ Financial literacy units ✔ School stores / classroom economy reflections Students reflect on their spending decisions
Not Specific
Financial Literacy, Not Subject Specific
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About the store
Experience
Hi, I’m Devon — special educator, instructional leader, and founder of Deserving Dignity 💛
I teach high school in a Cognitive Mild Support program in New Jersey, serving students in grades 9–12 with diverse learning and behavioral needs. My work centers on building structured, dignified classrooms that prioritize real‑world readiness and student independence 🧩✨
Deserving Dignity was created after years of developing and refining classroom‑tested resources designed specifically for special education settings. Every resource in this store is built from lived classroom experience — practical, intentional, and designed to support both students and the educators who serve them 📚🤝
What you’ll find here:
✔ Designed by me
✔ Used in my classroom
✔ Tested with real students
In addition to teaching, I coach field hockey and lacrosse 🏑🥍 and hold a Supervisor Endorsement, which informs my systems‑based, standards‑aligned approach to instructional design.
If you’re building classrooms rooted in structure, dignity, and real impact — you’re in the right place 🌿💫
Teaching style
My teaching style is structured, supportive, and intentionally high‑expectations. I believe high school students — including those with IEPs — deserve instruction that is:
Clear and explicit ✏️
Engaging and age‑appropriate 🎧
Supportive without being watered down 💪
🌟 In My Classroom, I Focus On:
✔️ Breaking complex skills into manageable steps
✔️ Modeling expectations and thinking aloud
✔️ Using visuals and scaffolds to reduce overwhelm
✔️ Building independence and confidence over time
📘 How This Shows Up in My Resources:
Supports executive functioning (organization, focus, task completion) 🧠
Keeps students engaged with teen‑appropriate topics and clean, modern visuals 🎒
Provides structure while still allowing student choice and discussion
Maintains a true secondary‑level feel — never elementary or “babyish”
I teach with the belief that support should never equal lowered expectations. My goal is to help students access grade‑level content in ways that feel achievable, respectful, and motivating.
💛 If your students need structure, clarity, and dignity — this teaching style (and these resources) will work beautifully for your classroom.
My own education history
BA in Elementary & Special Education | MEd | Reading Specialist
Wilson-Trained | Science of Reading | Supervisor Endorsement
Additional biographical information
📚 What You’ll Find in My Store
✔️ High school–appropriate special education resources
✔️ Self‑contained & inclusion‑friendly materials 🤝
✔️ Engaging ELA & life skills content for grades 9–12
✔️ Scaffolded assignments that respect student age
✔️ Visual supports that are clean, modern, and teen‑friendly 🎒
✔️ Modified readings without childish graphics or themes
✔️ Google Slides™ + printable formats for flexible use 💻🖨️
✔️ Clear directions + low‑prep implementation for busy teachers
Perfect for:
Self‑Contained / Cognitive Mild programs
Resource rooms
Inclusion settings
Small groups & intervention
Students who need support without stigma 💛
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