Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)

Kaylie: An Attitude of Gratitude, It’s All in Your Perspective

November 30, 2012 By CEC

Thanksgiving is my
favorite holiday, hands down. Spending time with families and friends. Eating
entirely too much food. Most importantly, stopping to think about the things in
life we’re most grateful for.

This past Sunday, my
pastor began his sermon by explaining that he was very aware Thanksgiving had
already come and gone, but he’d never had the opportunity to preach a
Thanksgiving message and was not going to miss the chance, even if it did come
a few days late. Toward the end of the sermon, he read a list of things that he
was thankful for: the early morning sound of the alarm clock, sore muscles at
night, mortgage payments and income taxes. Obviously, this is a pretty strange
list, but he went on to give reasons why he was thankful for these things. The
early morning sound of the alarm clock is a reminder that he has life another
day. Sore muscles at night mean he was able to be productive. The mortgage
payment is a reminder that he’s blessed with a warm home. Income taxes are paid
because he has a job and the ability to work.

Danielle: A High School Teacher’s Worst Nightmare?

September 27, 2012 By CEC

I think it is very common for teachers to believe that it
would be impossible for them to teach any grade other than the grade they
teach. When I meet elementary school teachers, they tell me that they could
never teach teenagers, I tell them I could never teach little kids, and then we
both laugh and agree we could NEVER do middle school.

I’ve spent five years building my solid identity as a high
school teacher, and four of those were as the teacher of primarily juniors and
seniors. During my first year, I developed a firm belief that anyone under the
age of 14 was perpetually sticky.

Danielle: You Catch More Flies with Honey…

August 29, 2012 By CEC

How do you advocate effectively for your students without
making enemies?

I knew going into this school year that I was in for a
challenge. My school has never had a full time K-12 Gifted and Talented
Coordinator. As a result, the needs of gifted students have never really been
the top priority. Now that I’m here, there is someone who listens to every word
in every meeting with the thought, “How will that affect a student who is
gifted?” The answers aren’t always easy to hear, especially with a state audit
coming down on a whole bunch of metro-area districts in the fall… including
ours!

Kaylie: Establishing Strong Communication with Thy Fathers and Mothers

August 14, 2012 By CEC

Typing this post is testimony that I survived the first week of school. I’ll give a brief Sports Center rundown of the highlights:

Thrilled that my returning students quickly settled back into the classroom routine.
Met seven amazing, full-of-personality sixth graders.
Was informed that I will likely receive another student in the upcoming weeks along with an individual assistant for that student.
Discovered I have an IEP to write for a student I’ve known for approximately four days.
Had one of my students accidently activate the fire alarm in the cafeteria during lunchtime.

Needless to say, I did not set my alarm clock on Saturday! Oh, and on a personal note, I got engaged this weekend! I’ve definitely been blessed with an exciting week!

Richard: Planning for Behavior

March 27, 2012 By CEC

This past month has been a March Madness of IEPs at my school. We all try to hold IEP meetings during this month to review student progress and make schedule arrangements for next year. I found myself called to LEA several IEP meetings with students of various disabilities that were having or have had a history of behavior problems. Being the EBD teacher and Positive Behavior Support Coordinator, I have been given the role of behavior specialist. As I sat in on meetings I noticed a common theme; many teachers struggle with behaviors that appear complicated, but have a fairly simple resolution.

Jessica: Teamwork Strikes Back

March 22, 2012 By CEC

In my past two posts, I’ve written about the importance of teamwork and a common IEP team scenario wherein the parents and school district fail to reach agreement on how to address the needs of a child. In the grand spirit of Star Wars, I am going for a trilogy of teamwork-related posts.

This post focuses on when the general education teacher and specialist (you) fail to agree on accommodations and modifications. Unless you’re Darth Vader with the full backing of the Dark Side, you’re going to have to learn how to reach an accord with colleagues.

Allisence: Learning to Teach Rule Breakers

March 20, 2012 By CEC

In 1795, John Newbery published a children’s book called Goody Two-Shoes that tells the story of a poor, but virtuous orphan girl named Margery Meanwell, who went through life with only one shoe. One day, she met a rich man who gave her a pair of shoes — two shoes. The fable teaches us that being virtuous pays off.

The modern-day term “goody two-shoes” was popularized by this story. Growing up, I was pretty much a goody two-shoes. I did everything I could to avoid troublemakers at all costs. While I knew that there were kids in my school who got suspended, even expelled, I was never friends with them. And with that, I’ve never had to deal with the idea of suspensions until now.

Jessica: When Teamwork Goes Wrong, Part I

March 6, 2012 By CEC

In my previous post, I stressed the importance of teamwork and emphasized how an individual’s needs cannot truly be met without a successful team. A commenter posted the following question: what happens when the team doesn’t agree? I don’t know about you, but if I had a single, definitive answer to this question, my life would be a whole lot easier. In this post and my next one, I will address what I consider the two most common obstacles to achieving team consensus and action:

The parents do not agree with the recommended services.
The general educator does not agree with the specialist’s recommendations regarding accommodations and modifications.

Allisence: ‘Tis the Season for Testing

February 21, 2012 By CEC

Deck the desks with tears and weeping,
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
'Tis the season to be testing,
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

Don we now our blank stare faces,
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.
Troll this song my mind it chases,
Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.

What is that you ask? Those are the lyrics floating through my head all the days long as my students and I endure second trimester benchmark testing. And it really must be testing season if more than one of us are blogging about it.

Richard: The Beauty of Communication

January 12, 2012 By CEC

Communication is the foundation for many things. I have learned in my first six months of teaching that it often takes precedence over most other “must haves.” Communication is pivotal in reaching students, maximizing the impact of a strategy, and getting along with coworkers. Communication also happens to be one of the largest areas of frustration for a new teacher like me.

I came into a system with established systems and unspoken rules that I wasn’t told about in my orientation to the school. The only way to really figure it out has been trial and error. The error part got to be tough for a while, but after the break I seem to be doing much better about asking the right people the right questions and abiding by the many non-spoken rules.