So often I speak with special education team members, including parents and staff, that simply feel that nothing is getting done. The teachers know they go to work everyday and come home exhausted, but they just can’t focus on what exactly happened that day to move the students forward. Parents know their child has spent 6 hours at school and must have been exposed to learning, they’re just not sure what. Now this is a problem.
Without prioritizing a child’s IEP, the child learns a little bit of everything which equals nothing. Now, when you take the time to prioritize, milestones are conquered like never before. Here are some suggestions:
Teachers: You have a schedule in your room, but who is it benefiting? If you’re going to make a child follow a schedule, be sure it has their own learning priorities within the schedule. Also, it is o.k. to rethink how you are using a calendar/organization timeline in your room. Most calendars in special education rooms look the same, but all children are different. Do you really think this is effective in setting priorities for your individual students?
Parents: You need to pull out your child’s IEP and pick at maximum 5 learning priorities for your child to work on for the remainder of the year. Express your focus to the teacher/therapist who is responsible for each the goals you would like your child to concentrate on. Can you imagine the satisfaction you will have when you can clearly state 5 accomplishments by the end of the school year?
See how well this pulls the team together? Parents choose 5 priorities, teachers assure the priorities are set within the school day/week. This process gives you one goal to work on per day per student in the classroom. Parents are satisfied because they have had input on their child’s school day and goals. Teachers become more satisfied in their overall day, knowing that when they go home they have done their job exceedingly well.
Setting priorities can make all the difference in creating a successful special education classroom.
