Organization for IEP Season - Part Three

Welcome back to Part 3 of this IEP series.  Today we are talking all about those reports and preparing for your CSE meetings.

As I stressed in both the first and second part of this series, it is super important to develop a strong organizational system from the beginning...and maintain it throughout the year.

By doing so, you will eliminate a tremendous amount of stress from your routine.

One of the ways I stay the most organized is giving myself frequent reminders about the deadlines I have coming up.  For this, I use plain ol' Google Calendar.

There really isn't much fanciness, but it is super user-friendly.  I love that I really didn't need to spend a ton of time figuring out how to make my new schedule. I was able to zip through learning how to use it.

I won't bore you with the details on how to fill out the calendar...as I am sure you are all very well-equipped to handle that on your own.  I will, however, let you in on a few of my favorite little features the calendar has that make a difference in my scheduling. :)

1. I love that I can share my calendar with colleagues.  This keeps all of those involved with a student on the same page...especially as dates get moved around throughout the year.

2. I am a huge fan of color-coding to stay organized...and I love that this calendar allows that option.

3.  There is an embed link feature for teachers who have class websites.

4. Syncing the calendar with my mobile device was a huge help this year.  

When scheduling reminders I allow myself a lot of wiggle room to make sure I am prepared and not falling behind.  Here is how I break down reminders:

• IEP Reports - Reminder set 1 week prior, 2 weeks prior, and day of report.
• Call Parents - Reminder set 1 day prior to gather notes/student observations for phone call.
• CSE Meeting - Reminder set 2 days prior so I can read through the completed IEP and gather speaking points.  Also, a reminder is set for the day of the meeting. 

Okay, great.

You're reminders are set in place.

DING DING!  Your first report is coming up...and you need to get writing!

You grab all of your trusty notes...and...well...now what??

With the implementation of the CCSS...Special Education teachers are expected to write what are known as standard-based goals.

When I first had to do this, I was completely lost.  I had no idea how I would write goals to a 5th or 6th grade standard...when my students were barely reading at a 3rd grade level.

However, after reading this awesome post from Allison over at Speech Peeps, I started to see the light.  Allison does such a FABULOUS job breaking down how to write effective standard-based goals.  I strongly urge for you to visit her post to learn how.  

Finally, be sure to check out my last post which talks about Gabrielle from Teaching Special Thinkers.  She does a great breakdown of how Google Docs can be used for data tracking.  In addition to the data tracking, I use Google Docs to write my reports because...

• Multiple people can edit a report at one time
• You can write comments to other members right on the report...then, as the comments get resolved, simply delete them.
• I can access my reports anywhere at any time.

So, that's it for today's series.  What are some ways you set reminders and stay on track throughout the school year? I'd love to hear!  Leave your comments below.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to click through the pictures below to be taken to other topics featured in this series.