#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!!!

#SpedChatSaturday Back to School Edition

Today is the first #SpedChatSaturday and I'm so excited for this! I think it's a great way to get the world of Special Ed. out in the open for all to see and learn about. Thanks goes to Ashley at Lattes, Lesson Plans, and IEPs for hosting the first week's topic.

So let's get down to business...to defeat the Huns. {Mulan reference, anyone?}

Let's start with 5:

I don't go back to school until August 17th (thankfully) so I'm really not ready to tackle any of this. However, I usually go back a few weeks before and get started with at least arranging my room. At my school there are 2 deaf/hard of hearing (DHH) teachers, 1 speech/language teacher (SLP), 1 itinerant teacher, 1 family counselor, 1 occupational therapist (OT),  (1 only this year!) mainstream teachers, and 14 (I think) students. This makes for a lot of scheduling NIGHTMARES! Seriously, there was a year where we took a combined total of 25 hours to create a workable schedule that then changed 4x before the first week of school was over. It's an absolutely horrendous task that I dread every year. The OT, SLP, and family counselor, and itinerant teacher all work with other students and/or at other schools so we have limited flexibility with their schedules. Plus, our students work on so many different levels that it's hard to create good groups for academics. Most years the schedule is tolerable but never ideal. Here's hoping there's one schedule year coming up though...

The first week I go back is dedicated to teacher planning (yay!) but I'm in so many meetings that all-in-all I end up with about 2 1/2-3 actual days of prep. And on top of that, I have to have my room ready by 10am on Friday because of Kindergarten orientation... That's another reason I try to get back into my room early. If my room is at least partially set-up before August17, then that makes things that much easier.

Organization is my thing. I live for it. My room and everything in it is completely organized by the time school starts...and then the first few weeks go by and I get lazy. :( And then I get annoyed that I never seem to be organized anymore. So I work on it, and then the cycle repeats itself...

But, in all honesty, these four things are vital to making the school year run smoothly. I keep *tons* of post-it notes all over my room to make lists of things I need to do. And then I cross them off as they get down. Every teacher planning or early release day I take time to file. I have individual folders for each student to put IEP paperwork into. Then it gets filed into their individual IEP folder kept in a locked file cabinet. I have binders all over the place filled with different things- master copies, IEP at-a-glance pages, student data, etc...it makes it easier for me to find things when I need them. Seriously, get yourself some binders and get stuff organized- it'll be so much easier to stay organized- in fact those are the few things that actually STAY organized throughout the year. :)

What I wouldn't give for the three things mentioned above. Seriously. Hands-down, these are the 3 things that make me want to give up every year. I have some serious behavior issues in my room from students not labeled anything other than DHH. When I say behavior issues I mean being punched in the face, kicked, sexually assaulted, groped, plus other things. It means DAYS spent dealing with this student at the expense of the other students (to the point where they literally cower and hide when this student walks in the room). And all of this is ok with my administration because I work in a self-contained special needs class. It's perfectly ok for these students to act like this- so I'm expected to accept it. Seriously. I cannot begin to tell you how upset ANGRY I get when that's the response I get from not only my school administration but from district personnel as well. We've tried everything within our rights in the classroom (PBIP, removal, suspension, etc.) to get the behavior under control- but nothing seems to work.

I digress...anyway, if these three things were under control I could focus on my students' needs a lot better and maybe actually teach once in a while.

Use a planner. I can't stress it enough. It's a great way to keep track of all those meetings (and we all know there's a ton of them), due dates, field trips, etc. I LOVE planners. Love. Love. Love.

Have a plan- delegate the important to-dos to the top of your lists and make sure they get done first, have a short list of things that MUST be done by the end of that day and make sure it gets done, ignore social media (I'm so guilty of not doing this). Step 1 is admitting you have a problem, right? Seriously. Addicted to my phone and computer. I'm really going to try and be better about this.

I promise to teach with fidelity. I mean serious-don't-give-a-crap-about-pacing-guides-or-test-questions fidelity. I'm so tired of hearing "I need them 3rd grade ready" {3rd grade is our state-mandated retention grade if they don't pass the test}. I can't put the cart before the horse. Can't. Won't. I'm done. I teach kids that are behind in all areas- the biggest of which being communication and incidental learning. They need to have fun. Hands-on learning. And if that means taking 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, or 2 years (no, really, I'm going on 2 years of teaching some kids to count to 10 with 1:1 correspondence) to teach about nouns or counting or volcanos or whatever, then so be it.

So that's it folks. Feel free to leave comments with your thoughts. I love comments. :)