All the special ed teachers out there know about IEP's. This is what each kid that receives any special ed services have in order to plan that student's school year. Some special ed teachers are either doing inclusion or there may still be a few resource rooms out there somewhere. As for me, I have what is called a self-contained classroom. The difference as far as IEP's between having inclusion and self-contained classes is that self-contained classrooms cover all core areas and maybe even behavior issues. Inclusion/resource IEP's cover reading and/or math. And, I have 25 kids. The IEP's that I have to write are no less than 10 pages, most are longer. Each IEP requires a meeting with parents, students, special ed teacher, gen ed teacher, LEA, and any other person that gives the student any services. This involves scheduling around all these people's schedules.
My IEP 'season' begins next month and will last about 6 weeks. In one month, I'll be buried in more paperwork than a paper mill should ever be allowed to produce. Not only will I have to attend to these 25 IEP's, but the IEP's for the kids coming into my program. The list I received today contains seven names. Last year, I got two names and ended up with five new kids.
My real complaint is I will not get to spend much time with my kids. I love working with the kids! They are the reason I am supposed to be there! Also, I can't believe there are only about 3 1/2 months until the end of school. This year is flying by........ After IEP 'season' there will only be about four weeks left..... and then, it's over for the year.......
2 comments:
Sounds like you have a lot of work to do. I bet in the end it all rewarding.
I do inclusion/resource, Jackie, and I know what you mean about the IEP's. Fortunately, mine are spread throughout the year, between ReEVals and Annual reviews. The most exhausting time of the year is upon us. It's difficult to balance the work of doing teaching/planning with paperwork/meetings. I find teaching to be the most fun, and the paperwork the most grueling. We have 3 full time EC teachers, a speech therapist, and 1 EC assistant to share amongst our 3 EC teachers. In fact, tonight, I am putting the finishing touches on an IEP for one of my meetings for tomorrow. We use a program on the internet now, so I can actually do some of the "paperwork" at home. Do you all have such a program? It sure makes our life somewhat easier, especially regarding EC data. I wish you well. Just remember that even the meetings and IEP paperwork is serving the student to meet their needs. They really need us, Jackie, and that's why we do it. Love, Bea
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