BE SAFE is a program authored by Emily Illand that teaches important skills for safely and effectively interacting with first responders such as EMTs and police officers.
BE SAFE can be accessed by teachers, administrators, and students through a web browser on a desktop, laptop, or Chromebook or via an iPad app.
To log in on a desktop, laptop, or Chromebook, go to www.teachtown.com/login and enter your username and password.
To use an iPad app, download the TeachTown BE SAFE app from the Apple App Store and log in using your username and password.
Adolescents and young adults who have difficulties with communication, social interactions, self-management, problem-solving and emotional awareness. The BE SAFE lesson plans are easy-to-implement and can be used by various professionals. Special education teachers, related service professionals, school counselors, and school safety/resource officers are some of the individuals who might implement the BE SAFE curriculum.
BE SAFE is designed using evidence-based practices and delivers the message of safety, boundaries, and the importance of following instructions from law enforcement officials and other first responders. This program is relevant and potentially lifesaving for adolescents and young adults as they gain independence, access community services, and transition into the workplace.
Yes! All lessons can be individualized to meet the needs of diverse learners. All the lesson plans include suggestions for differentiation, and the materials within the program are differentiated for a range of learners. The teacher-delivered lesson plans and materials are available in both Spanish and English.
Yes! All required materials are included in the BE SAFE curriculum. Supplemental materials include worksheets, self-disclosure cards, vocabulary lists, visual sorting, and computer-based interactive activities. Materials provide real-world examples of scenarios and visual representations of people and objects found in the community.
Students should have a way to disclose their disability and key information about their needs in an emergency to help ensure their care and safety. Often, these situations are high-stress, overwhelming, and critical in nature. Self-disclosure cards allow students to easily share this information nonverbally. Using the BE SAFE Self-Disclosure Cards, teachers can teach students when and how to disclose important information to first responders safely. BE SAFE includes Self-Disclosure Cards that include a variety of disabilities and mental health conditions. The cards can be printed, laminated, and carried by students.
BE SAFE includes seven video-modeling episodes that use live actors demonstrating positive ways to respond to police and other first responders. Each video modeling episode is approximately 5-11 minutes in length and includes a narrator who provides additional instruction and dialogue throughout the episode. The BE SAFE video differs in that the learner is viewing the situation from a comprehensive real-life learning perspective. The videos in social skills are short cartoon narratives that provide resolutions to simple situations that practice lesser complex social scenarios.
Yes! Students will be able to access BE SAFE using their TeachTown username and password. When students log in to BE SAFE, they will only have access to the video models and interactive activities a facilitator enables.
On an iPad, you can set up guided access. Guided Access will lock your student into the app until you turn off guided access with a password.