#SpedChatSaturday Communication

Since today is Saturday that means it's time for another Sped Chat Saturday post. I really look forward to these link-ups because these topics are what matter most to me. This is what I do. :) Thanks for Kelly at A View Into My Classroom for hosting this great topic!

So anyway- this week's topic is about Communication with General Education Teachers. So let's get down to it!

In my district we are not required to find our own mainstream teachers for our students. Thankfully. But that sometimes backfires too. Some teachers have been more than willing to take on our students year after year so we know that we can always count on them. But then there are some years where there've been so many changes that the grade level you need a teacher on is completely different and none of them have ever had or students nor do we want them to have our students (I know- it sounds terrible, but we all know that there are some teachers that we know won't work out well). We don't have much say in who gets our students- so it's a toss up.

Once teachers are notified that they'll be receiving extra students (always a great conversation) for the year, I make sure to stop by their room and fill them in on the particulars of working with a deaf student. If it's a teacher that has had our students in the past and knows the routine, I'll typically send out a short email informing them of their student(s)' names and what they're being mainstreamed for (usually it's math, science, and social studies or a combination of those 3). All of our students are "mainstreamed" for specials so that doesn't count. Those veteran teachers know the deal. Typically throughout the year we communicate through email or short meetings if necessary. They are required to attend the IEP meeting and any parent/teacher conferences are attended by all of us.

This is the nightmare. There was a year that we (the SLP, other DHH teacher, and myself) spent a combined 25 hours of preplanning week creating a schedule. And it wasn't even a great schedule. And then it changed 3 more times in less than a week. Serious nightmare! Luckily, the past few years have been slightly better than that. :)

Anyway, when I first started working I had an amazing assistant principal who basically gave us the time slots we wanted for lunch and specials before creating the schedules for the rest of the school. And we had only a few mainstream kids usually in 1 grade so scheduling was relatively easy. Then she retired. And now we have an AP that doesn't really care and throws us in wherever there's an available slot. It's usually not pretty. And now we have to work around other teachers' schedules instead of them fitting us in. It's really not pretty. By far, it's the worst part of preplanning. But in the end it somehow works out to at least a decent schedule. One that's tolerable. Usually. :)

Before the school year starts I make sure every teacher that needs a copy of the student's IEP gets one. And any pertinent information, of course. Usually, our students are mainstreamed for more than 50% of the day which means they are actually placed on the mainstream teacher's roster. So most pertinent information gets to them before I get a chance. But- since I have these kids for usually 4 years, I sometimes know a lot more about them than an information sheet can provide. Strengths, weaknesses, motivators, etc. Those are things I provide to the teachers. But I really try to let them form their own opinions about the students when they finally meet. I will however tell them information about the parents (if they need an interpreter, who's the best one to get in touch with, will they show up for meetings, etc.)- I feel all of that is information that makes things a little easier for the mainstream teachers.

It's my responsibility to provide resource if a student is having trouble with a subject. So once the school year gets going, I try to send at least one email a week to see how things are going. I ask for grades and any social problems/concerns they may have. If the teacher lets me know that there is a problem I end up having to give up my reading/la time to tutor them. There literally is no other time. I have full day students that I have teach all subjects to and then the mainstream students as well. In order to ensure my own full day students are being taught I have to use my precious reading time to tutor. It sucks. There's no other word for it. In the past we've had GREAT interpreters (I'm looking at you, Michelle!) that have helped in the my room as well as the mainstream classroom. That really helped me! This year, I don't know who the interpreter is going to be, but I'm sure it won't be the same. But I do the best I can!

So, that's about it. That's everything I do to ensure my mainstream students have a great year. And the best part? There are 4th grade mainstream students but they're in the other D/HH room so-I have NO MAINSTREAM STUDENTS this year!! So I don't have to worry about it! :D YAY!!!

A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes- and a goal too. :)

It's Tuesday! That means it's time for:

Sadly, this is the last week for Tell-All Tuesday. So we're going out with a bang! This week's topic is:

A wish, a goal, and a dream for this school year...where to begin? 

Goal: To make learning fun. My goal is to forget about what the pacing guides say and focus on my students' needs. Make sure they're learning and having fun. I don't think much more needs to be said about that. :)

Wish: Ok, perhaps this one needs some explaining. I teach special needs students which means I don't have a full class size. This creates a problem for classroom materials and supplies. Why? Because the higher-ups- in their infinite wisdom- decided that they're only willing to order materials in sets of 18 (class size mandates). If you don't have 18 students they won't order you a class set. Which means no teacher materials or student materials. Nothing, nada, zero zilch, nil...you get the point. So what do I spend my planning days doing every year? Scrounging. That's right, I spend the precious little time I have to get read going from classroom to classroom begging for spare materials. And then I go searching in the back of the library for leftovers from previous years (which means I'm using OUTDATED materials)...and on the off chance that I do get a current set of anything I have to make sure I don't get attached because if there's a new teacher or student that comes in guess where they get their materials from. That's right, me. Bye-bye teacher's editions. Bye-Bye student editions. 

"Wait! It's all online, I can just go look it up and get whatever I need on their website!?" Why didn't I think of that- oh wait. I did. And guess what- their website doesn't work on this decrepit laptop. And they don't have the big books online so I guess I'll just make those up as I go along...Guess I'm back to square one.

So I'm sure you can see why this is a wish of mine. Just one year to actually get the materials my students and I deserve to have!

Dream: I currently have Donorschoose project in desperate need of funding! I have no student technology in my classroom. NONE. I have an IWB for me to use during lessons (and my kiddos get to interact with it) but that's it. In my school each grade level is assigned one laptop cart with 18-20 computers. The teachers on each grade level rotate the cart for their lessons as needed. But I don't teach on any one grade level...so where's my (or the sped classes in general) cart? Sure, I could "borrow" the cart from another grade...when they tell me it's ok- which mostly isn't at a time when I need them. And honestly, the laptops on the carts are even more ancient than the one I'm using everyday...there's not a lot that actually works  on them internet wise. I'm hoping to get ONE iPad in my classroom. ONE. That's it. If I can get just one I'm already way better off than I am now. I plan to rotate my students on a schedule to allow them to interact with this technology and use it to enhance their learning. If I can ever get it funded. None of my projects seems to get enough funding. :( Hence why this is a dream of mine for this school year. Fingers crossed!

Thanks goes out to Diana at My Day In K and Jayme at Teach, Talk Inspire for deciding on such great topics to talk about this summer! I look forward to the next link up topic you two decide on.  :)

Bulletin Boards!

I'm linking up with Ashley of Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Angie from Lucky Little Learners for their #2getherwearebetter link-up. This month's topic is BULLETIN BOARDS! Ahh! The dreaded (or in my case not-so-dreaded) bulletin board.

Most teachers hate them. And, to be honest, I don't particularly enjoy taking them down and putting them up, but- I mostly love them! I'm probably the only teacher in my school that refuses to do the same boring ("Poet-tree" or "Said is Dead" anyone?!) hallway bulletin boards year after year. Now, to be fair, I have the same students for up to 5 years in a row (that's special ed. for ya) so I basically CAN'T have the same bulletin board every year. But, even if I could, I wouldn't. Call me crazy, but it's kind of one the only times that we can really let loose and go a little crazy. Do something outside the box, off the pacing guides, dare I say it- FUN?!

Inside my classroom I only have 2 smallish bulletin boards and they're already allotted as a word wall and a work display board (as mandated). My classroom theme is monkeys so my word wall is titled, "Ape for Words" and my work board is titled, "Jazzy Work" (I have a kind of Mardi Gras theme going with this board including real masks and boas straight from New Orleans). Those boards stay the same year after year (though to be honest, I'm so sick of them. But the bank account tells me they have to keep plugging along).

For some background- I started this blog last school year around this time and I've tried to keep up with it. But I had some serious issues I was dealing within my class and couldn't really maintain it until around Dec/Jan. I'm hoping this year will be better. Also, I have to share the only bulletin board with another teacher so we alternated when it was time to change it. So, to make a long story short, I don't have many pictures of most of my bulletin boards. :( I do have some though. :) Oh yea, my bulletin board is painted blue (makes it easier than having to change the paper all the time) but it doesn't always color-coordinate. And I don't go back to school until August 17th, so I don't have my bulletin boards for this year up- yet...anyway, here ya go:

Thanks to Lori at Teaching With Love and Laughter for her fantastic FREEBIE for this bulletin board. In fact, the whole lesson came from her blog post, I just spruced up the display a little bit :)

Love that I was able to reuse the fence (Shh- it's in one of my cabinets so I have it for this year too, if necessary :D). This bulletin board was differentiated for my kiddos because they're all on vastly different levels. Some flowers have prefixes and suffixes, ways to make numbers, and some have color words. The kites have ten frames with teen numbers. Then I printed some clipart from Krista Wallden at Creative Clips to add some extras. :)

I did this one year for back to school. Still one of my favorites!

I found this one on Pinterest one year.

I also did this one year at the beginning of the year. Only I made crayons out of paper as I couldn't find 3-D ones, nor did I want the hassle of figuring out how to hang them.  :)

Again, from pinterest.

I did a take of this one for the beginning of this past year. Since I teach deaf kids, this made perfect sense. Since I teach the same group of kids for multiple years I changed the title to "We love having you back!" with the I love you hands. I was lucky enough to have an awesome interpreter help me with it (I'm looking at you, Michelle!).

Honestly not even sure where this came from. Probably Pinterest.

Since I don't go back to work until August 17th, I haven't figured out what I'm gonna do for the beginning of the year this year. I guess I should start looking around though, huh? And when it's up and pretty I'll be sure to do a follow-up post with more pictures :)

Thanks for stopping by! Can't wait to hop around and see everyone else's boards!