Team Meeting Agenda-free download

With a handful of students who require additional support and who have many team members who need to be on the same page for progress and success, I have found this team meeting agenda to be a great tool! (Free download HERE)

A quick "How To" ...

• Gather information from team members about possible agenda items and areas needing problem solving
• Fill in the agenda items
• Provide copies of the agenda to team members (night before or earlier is most helpful!) 
• I try to put a copy in each team member's mailbox and I scan/email the agenda to out-of-the-building team members
• Assign roles, if not done before 
• Team members can take notes on the form, on their own paper, or a note-taker can be assigned and others can receive copies after the meeting  

Teams have included all or some of these team members: 

• classroom teacher
• special education teacher
• speech-language pathologist
• physical therapist
• occupational therapist
• autism specialist
• para-educators 
• student parents 
• audiologist
• deaf educator

 

Documentation! Teacher Initial forms

This form helps me document that all necessary staff members have received a copy of the IEP at a Glance form (and/or a full copy of the IEP if I mark it that way). 

I staple this 1/4 page to the top of the IEP at a Glance, the teacher initials and dates it, then put the 1/4 page in my mailbox (they keep the Glance for their files). 

I staple the initialed 1/4 pages to the IEP in the file so when file review comes around all documentation is present! 

Our entire sped team uses this method, so it is consistent for the teachers. Free download HERE. 

Schedules!

Scheduling! 

One of the more grueling tasks for the beginning of the school year is (dun dun DUN!) creating a speech therapy schedule! 

Anyone else use the post-it note strategy? I put each of my students/groups onto a sticky note...and make as many sticky notes as I need to match the speech sessions they will have per week. (Example: 2nd grade speedy speech students I see 4 days/week, so there are 4 sticky notes that say "2nd Speedy Speech." Each sticky has a # 1-4 so I can keep track.) 

sticky notes!

Now for the "fun" part! Puzzling together each teacher's schedule and fitting my therapy times into the week! 

whiteboard...drafting the weekly schedule! 

From craziness on the whiteboard....to a decent, typed draft! 

I tried a new system for getting feedback from the classroom teachers about the speech schedule. I attached a short note (on sped specific teal paper!) to a copy of the speech schedule and asked the teacher to check one box: 

• This will work for my students...let's try it! 
• This will not work for my students...let's reschedule! 
• Let's visit!

left: original         right: what I've received back

I've received positive feedback so far!


...and this is a schedule from last year...all marked up with a crazy school-wide testing week! [Won't be long before my 'draft' turns into a marked up souvenir from a great week of therapy! :) ]

attendance, meetings, etc. all marked here!

Happy scheduling! 

IEP at a glance!

It's almost the beginning of the school year, and I've been working on my IEP at a Glance! This is downloaded as a free printable HERE. 

My teachers have often commented that they like the fact that this is a one-page form. Special education paperwork can be intimidating, and the IEP is no exception! I have gotten great feedback from teachers on this form.

The areas included are:

• Student Information (name, diagnosis/verification, IEP/MDT dates) 
• Current services (X the box)
• Current Goal areas (X the box)
• Testing/Classroom Accommodations (yes/no) 
• Equipment Required (list any special equipment...picture schedules, etc)

I make photocopies of this form on our sped-designated teal paper (see TIP), then fill it in by hand. I try to hand deliver these to my teachers, not just put them in their mailboxes, so they 'see my face' and recognize that these students have something 'extra' for them to think about. 

 (TIP:  Our special education team uses the color teal to tell teachers: SPED paper!! Confidential!! Don't leave this sitting out and about!! no one else in the building uses our designated teal. Click "Read More" to see an example reminder paper we put in teacher mailboxes at the beginning of the school year.)