I have had some really great parents this year and I have been thinking about things I wish parents of my students did all the time. Being a parent myself I think it is important that parents are active members of the IEP team. So here is my wish list....1. Make suggestions: As a parent, you are your child's first teacher. You know your child best. If you have an idea or suggestion, please share it.
2. Communicate: I love open lines of communication. Please call me, email me, write me a note, stop in and visit. I want to hear from you. Your child's life at home impacts his/her life at school.
3. At the IEP meeting (or anytime), question me or any team member: If something is not correct, if you don't understand, or you think it is a horrible idea, speak up! We all look at things differently and I want to know how you see it.
4. Be involved: Please know what is going on at school. If you can come in and eat lunch with your child, they will love it. Come on field trips, read a story to the class, send in pictures of your child's weekend activities etc.
If you are a teacher, is there something you wish your parents did/knew? If you are a parent, is there something you wish your child's teacher did/knew? I would love to hear what others think on this topic as I feel we all always have room to grow.
Caitlin, you have a typo you're
ReplyDeletequick... fix it.. no one will know
Thank you!!! I think I got it!
DeleteWhat great suggestions! I'm a K-2 SPED teacher and I feel like sometimes we just assume the parents know the gibberish we are talking about in IEP meetings. It can be so overwhelming even to a veteran teacher. Parents need to ask questions and clarify when they don't understand the jargon or have concerns with our proposed plan.
ReplyDeleteI wish parents would ask what is a feasible goal for their children within the school year. I often have parents either set the bar really low and do everything for their child, or set it too high and have unrealistic expectations of what can be accomplished in one year. I'd like to see a nice happy medium.
Lisa
The Lower Elementary Cottage
I agree with the goals. I also think sometimes as professionals we are all at different places on what we feel is a feasible goal. I feel one of the biggest keys is to remember that an IEP is a working document and if you need to make changes you can.
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