Tennessee SPED Queen

Where do I start when teaching my child to read??

Every Child Can Fly: Including Children with Disabilities in Early Childhood Education is an excellent resource when you are teaching inclusion, pullouts, or one on one.

I want to share a website that will help all educators with their professional development hours. edWeb.net
I was so impressed about the variety of trainings for ALL staff, but especially special education specific. Enjoy!!

Wow! Tennessee teachers. This is an amazing resource! It covers the sped framework in great detail!

Link Sharing 1 file (1.6 MB)

Let's talk about having an iep meeting...

Five Things Special Ed Teachers Can Do at IEP Meetings

1 – Be on Time

Punctuality is key when it comes to IEP meetings. Not only are you asking your colleagues to give up time from their day to sit in on the meeting, but you are also asking families to spend time away from work. When you are on time, it shows that you are taking the meeting seriously, that you are invested in the student’s success, and that you are a professional.

2 – Introduce Everyone

Parents have the right to know who is in the room discussing their child. Take time before the meeting officially begins to introduce each person at the table and what their role is at the school. If there will be others coming into the meeting at various times, be sure to indicate who will be stopping by and how they know the student. Even if you think the family has met the teacher or administrator a dozen times, re-introduce him or her. Also, ask the parents to introduce themselves and their advocate if they brought one.

3 – Brush Up on Special Ed Law

While this should be done prior to the IEP meeting, it is also helpful to explain the law and how it relates to the student’s IEP as you are going through it with the family. If you are not sure about the legality of what they are requesting, explain that you will look into it. Don’t try to make up the law or guess at what it says! Not only could that damage your credibility but it could also cause legal issues for the district.

4 – Provide Examples

Families of students with IEPs know that there are differences between how their child learns and how other students may process information. When you are discussing specific things, be sure to provide examples of what you mean. Bring in samples of the student’s work in the classroom to show the family a concrete example. They might even surprise you and bring in work samples from home or indicate that they too have noticed the same behavior or concern.

5 – Listen and Ask Questions

At the end of the day, families do not want to argue with the school to get the support and services that their children need. The majority of them want to work together as a team and come up with a plan of action that will benefit their child the most. Ask questions about why they are requesting certain things and then listen to their answers. If you are not clear about something, ask follow-up questions for clarification. When you show that you are genuinely interested and care about their child, families will typically tell you more about their concerns and why they have them. Instead of a dictatorship, it becomes the collaboration that it should be.

While preparing the IEP document is important and must be done, the five simple things above can also make or break a meeting.

Let's talk about ADHD:
We have all heard, "This student is so lazy. " Most of the time, this is NOT the case.

Special Education:

Let's talk about the new school year, IEPs at a glance:
1. At the beginning of every year, print the current iep at a glances and give to ALL teachers who teach the student even PE, ART, or intervention.It is best practice to sit down and go over it with general education staff. The IEP at a glance is to be kept in a confidential place, but close enough for the teacher to refer to when considering modifications and accommodations. When an annual or an addendum IEP is created, the sped case manager generates another iep at a glance and gives it to teachers that teach the student. The general education teacher signs on the iep that they have reviewed it.

Have you wondered about how to make a great team in special education?

Being a special education teacher is hard work. We spend hours writing IEPs, progress monitoring, teaching, reteaching and reteaching again. We also deal with extreme behaviors, attend countless meetings and write umpteen different lesson plans. Another aspect of being a special educator is supervising paraprofessionals. I've learned throughout the years that this can sometimes be the hardest part of the job.

It is so important to establish boundaries and expectations for your entire team should you be the special ed dept head.

I am a 26 year veteran special education teacher. In 2019, I was named the Teacher of the Year in my school. That was such a great honor that makes me happy when I think of it. I say all of this to say communication and working as a team is essential for students in every aspect of the word. Teamwork truly does make the dream work.

Some suggestions: Assign your para to tasks like progress monitoring. This way, when she does an exceptional job, it is felt and noticed schoolwide.

Ask you para for suggestions on improving communication in the dept.

**Just a few tidbits to get you going!