School: River Falls School District, WI

Role: SPED Teacher

Students Served: K-5

Pilot: 8 SPED Teachers

Time saved: 1.5 hours/week

Background

Morgan Kennealy is a dedicated special education teacher in the River Falls School District in Wisconsin, serving K–5 students with diverse needs, including Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism, and emotional and behavioral disorders. She case-manages 12 students, provides individualized and small-group social skills instruction, and leads a team of five paraprofessionals. Morgan is deeply committed to fostering both academic achievement and social growth, creating inclusive learning environments where every student can thrive.

Challenges

Morgan faced significant challenges in her role. She was managing complex student behaviors with minimal administrative support, all while lacking access to a structured social skills curriculum. Without consistent resources, she often found herself planning lessons at the last minute, searching online for topics like “regulation strategies” or “how to maintain friendships.” The patchwork approach conflicted with her commitment to delivering high-quality, evidence-informed instruction.

“I’m very much a perfectionist and want to do as much as possible, and it just didn’t feel good to me that there’s no scope and sequence.”

Solution

Morgan discovered Everyday Speech while searching online for social skills resources. After discussing it with a co-worker, they signed up for the free pilot program with eight special education teachers. Once she started using Everyday Speech, Morgan was immediately hooked. 

“I don’t have to lesson plan. It has the scope and sequence, so I can just pop in and move through it with my students. It’s so easy to use.”

She used Everyday Speech to teach over a dozen social skills lessons each week. The platform’s ready-made, research-based curriculum became her go-to for small group instruction. Morgan loved that the content was organized, age-appropriate, and engaging for students.

Results

Time savings: Morgan estimates she saves 1.5 hours per week by no longer scrambling to plan multiple social skills lessons. Everyday Speech’s ready-to-use scope and sequence eliminates the need to search for activities, vet materials, or build lessons from scratch.

Classroom transformation: Students are more engaged and look forward to their sessions. One student even considers the social skills games his break, replacing free-choice apps like Epic with Everyday Speech. Lessons are now seamless enough that paraprofessionals can step in mid-session without disruption.

Teacher empowerment: Everyday Speech gave Morgan the structure she’d been missing and peace of mind that her instruction was aligned, consistent, and high-quality with a clear scope and sequence.

Student skill-building: Students worked on a range of skills like problem-solving, regulating emotions, and maintaining friendships. The lessons felt relevant because the videos reflected the students’ grade levels and realities, making social skills learning feel relatable and actionable.

Peer adoption: During the pilot, eight special educators across three elementary schools adopted the tool daily. The consensus was clear: teachers loved it, students responded to it, and the district made the decision to purchase licenses based on that collective enthusiasm.

“I do social skills at a minimum of four times a day and [Everyday Speech] has cut my planning time into a small, tiny fraction, and I love it.”

If you’re a SPED teacher juggling lesson planning, behavioral management, and paperwork and feeling like there’s just never enough time, Everyday Speech can help you regain control, reduce burnout, and give your students the support they need.

Learn more about our Free Pilot Program.