High-Leverage Practice 2: Collaborate

I am going to discuss High-Leverage Practices as mentioned on the CEC website organized around four aspects of practice. I hope you will join in the conversation!

“HLP2- Organize and facilitate effective meetings with professionals and families.”

One of the scariest things I had to do as a new teacher was to set up and facilitate a meeting with other professionals and families. Luckily, I had an interim principal (filling in for my principal who was on medical leave) who was a great role model and ran my first meeting for me. I took lots of notes on the procedure and who she handled the meeting. Many years later, when I began teaching preservice teachers, I tried to do the same thing. We had mock meetings so they could feel comfortable when the real situation occurred. Then I started coming up with a “recipe” of sorts on how to facilitate the meeting.

Of course, the district has specific procedures on the invitation paperwork, who to invite, and deadlines to follow. Once everyone is invited, the date and time set, it is time to figure out what to do next.

I also ask someone to take minutes of the meeting while I run the meeting. These minutes are official notes about our meeting, and I ask everyone to sign them at the end of the meeting.

Agenda: Before we meet, I like to come up with an agenda to follow during the meeting. This helps keep everyone on track during the meeting and helps it go smoothly. I usually make contact with the parents before the meeting to see if there are any issues, they would like to address during the meeting so I can add it to the agenda.

Greeting and Introductions – After everyone is seated, I like to introduce myself if necessary and then ask everyone around the room to introduce themselves and state their positions.

Meeting Agenda – I review the agenda and then ask everyone if they have anything to add to the agenda. I also make it clear that we will not meet more than 1 hour and if it goes longer, we will need to reconvene so that we can cover all the items on the agenda.

Review IEP goals – I always like to review the goals and tell how the student is progressing.

Other professionals – I ask that the other professionals if they have anything they would like to add.

Issues – If there are any issues, we go over each one of them. I like to address the issues from the parents first in case we run out of time. I want them to feel that their issues are important to us and that we will address them.

Closing – I like to review what we covered during the meeting and will ask the person taking notes to read aloud the minutes. I ask if anyone has anything they would like to add to the minutes. If everyone is agreed with what was read or added, everyone signs the minutes.

Thank you – I thank everyone for attending the meeting.

Do you facilitate meetings? What would you add to the list? Please share.

Photo by Tim Gouw on Unsplash

Virtual vs. Face to Face

In Is Face to Face Better than Virtual? from On an e-Journey with Generation Y, murcha asks,

“What do you think? If money, effort, cost, availability were of no consequence, and the presenter was highly engaging, would you choose face to face or virtual linkups? Why is one preferable over the other? How successful have your video linkups been? What makes them successful, what makes for unsuccessful connections?”

I believe that if money, effort, cost, and availability were no object, I would choose face to face linkups for my classroom.

Keep in mind that I love all my virtual linkups as well as face to face meetups but I believe that virtually linkups are just 2 dimensional where face to face is 3 dimensional. The more “real” it can be for my students, the more meaningful it will be for them.

Years ago, my class read the novel Four Perfect Pebbles by Marion Blumenthal Lazan. Through various connections, I was able to share expenses with 2 other schools and invite the author to come to our schools. I didn’t just have my whole class there to meet her, but I invited the whole school and even the community. It was amazing how exciting this whole event was! Students from other classes who I knew had some behavior issues were even well behaved! There was something about seeing this author in person that made her story more real. When she talked about differences in people and how all people had value, this message really resonated with my students. By being able to go up to her and even hug her, was a moment that many of my students would never forget. Even years later, I see former students who talk about this.

Now, this author was elderly and probably could have visited my class virtually but I don’t believe it would have been as meaningful. She would have been able to interact with the students and answer questions but there is something special and personal about seeing someone face to face. I don’t believe that I would have been able to engage the whole school or even the community in such a positive way as seeing the author in real life.

As I mentioned, I love meeting my online friends virtually. I feel connected with them and enjoy our friendships. But I love when I have a chance to meet them in person. I feel a deeper connection with them.

Yet, due to the economy, money, effort, cost, and availability are issues in real life. Having the opportunity to connect with others virtually is the next best thing. I would highly recommend it. Being able to interact with people around the world brings a new dimension to learning in the classroom. If face to face meetings are not possible, by all means, look for ways to connect virtually.

What do you think? How would you answer the question? Please share.

Image: 'Flat Classroom Skype'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8107002@N03/3122642792
Found on flickrcc.net

Mock IEPs

Recently I asked some special education teachers in my Ravelry group (special ed teachers who knit and/or crochet) to help me prepare for the summer grad classes that I will be teaching. I asked them to give me input on specific topics that they would like me to address in class. They have an assigned textbook and we will review the topics from the book but there are many that are not covered in the textbook that I think are important. So, I will throw out a topic and see if you can give me your perspective on the topic so that I can cover this in the best possible way.

Today’s topic is about Mock IEPs.

When I thought about this topic, I realized that I don’t do this enough in my grad class so I will be doing more of this.

I also thought that this should be done in front of the whole faculty at a school at the beginning of the school year. It can be done in an auditorium on stage for the entire faculty to see as well as videotaped for those who miss this. I found out that each school and each district holds IEP meetings a little differently so this may be helpful for everyone. The whole special ed department can put on a mock IEP meeting for all the teachers so everyone will know what to expect. There may be new teachers who have never been to a meeting before so this will help calm their anxiety level. There may be some experienced teachers that were never told what their responsibilities are in a meeting and this would be helpful. I’ve had many general ed teachers tell me that they’ve never been to an IEP meeting before and plan to sit there and not say anything. Some others say too much (in an unprofessional manner) and I wish they would shut their mouths.

I could also do a “do/don’t do” skit to make it more enjoyable. Teachers love that as much as students. I used to do that when I taught about appropriate dress for the workplace. It was funny but it made a lasting impression.

As I said in a previous post, I think having a written agenda is very important as well as minutes from the meeting for all participants to sign. This would be a great way for the faculty to see that they will have a place on the agenda and that it is important to give their input in these meetings. It is also important for everyone to understand that the IEP is a legal document as well as the minutes of the meeting. When parent, students, and the school see that the whole team is being transparent and willing to meet the needs of the student as much as possible, everyone comes out a winner.

Do you do them? If so, how to you do it? What kind of setting is this done in? Do you give people a script? Please share your ideas!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'sarasota county fair'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/66127945@N00/118865542 by: pat padua

Length of IEP Meetings

Recently I asked some special education teachers in my Ravelry group (special ed teachers who knit and/or crochet) to help me prepare for the summer grad classes that I will be teaching. I asked them to give me input on specific topics that they would like me to address in class. They have an assigned textbook and we will review the topics from the book but there are many that are not covered in the textbook that I think are important. So, I will throw out a topic and see if you can give me your perspective on the topic so that I can cover this in the best possible way.

I was asked:

One: I had to leave a meeting yesterday that had already lasted 3 hours. What is protocol for IEP meetings? How do you keep them running smoothly and not being so lengthy without jeopardizing what needs to be discussed for the student? We understand that some are just longer than others, but are some too long?

I usually contact the parents before the IEP meeting (either by phone or email) to see if there are any issues they would like to have put on the agenda for the meeting. I also check with the other members of the IEP team to include any issues they may have. Then I write up an agenda for the meeting but I do list at the end an “additional issues” in case anything else comes up. When the meeting starts, I give everyone a written agenda and we try to stick to it. If an issue comes up before it’s time, I try to ask that it is held until we come to it. This really helps to keep everyone on track and the meeting goes so smoothly. Everyone seems to like know what to expect. I also think emotions can be high during this time so by having a “roadmap” of the meeting really helps keep people calmer. Parents can see that their concerns will be addressed and won’t focus on them during other discussions. Also at the beginning, I announce that if the meeting lasts longer than 90 minutes, we will need to reconvene at another time because I want everyone able to deal with the needs of the student with fresh minds.

Many times the IEP meeting is pretty routine and I state at the very beginning how I usually hold the meeting. I will go over each section of the IEP with the parent by giving a short summary of the section and then asking the parent if there are any questions for that section. Then I ask the rest of the group if they have any questions or input for that section. Each section is also listed on a written agenda for people to follow. Usually these meetings can last from 30-45 minutes.

Do you have any suggestions, tips, and tricks for holding an IEP meeting? Please share!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original image: 'Meeting Table'
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22965089@N00/32325828 by: Mo Elnadi