IEP Meeting

I have learned so much in SPED 310 this week! I am continually impressed at all of the things that go on behind the scenes. There are so many things that teachers do to help their students! I have gained a lot of respect for my teachers that I have had. I always knew that teaching would be hard work, there was no question about that in my mind. This week helped me to realize why teaching is such hard work. There is so much to know! And in addition to teaching in the classroom, preparing lessons, and grading papers, teachers attend so many meetings on behalf of their students. At these meetings, they make plans to help particular students to improve. When you meet, you have to gather a panel of people with different areas of expertise. You need tests and data in order to determine which route would be the most helpful for your student. And one of the most important things that you need is to be able to communicate and collaborate with the parents of the student you are trying to help. This is essential! The skill of communicating with parents is critical to my success as a teacher.

We participated in a mock IEP meeting on Friday. It was really interesting to see how it all works. I got the role of a third grade general education teacher. I want to be a general education teacher, so it was really cool to see how that role functions in an IEP meeting. The principal was in charge, and we each went around and took turns talking about our student based on information that we got on slips of paper. Each person had something different and valuable to contribute to the conversation about our student. I loved that different people brought up things that I hadn't even thought about before. It taught me a lot about the importance of effective collaboration. Everyone has something to bring to the table and I learned about how important it is to listen to them with an open mind. Parents also have a huge impact on their child's education plan. (As they should!) They know their child and can therefore make very valuable contributions.

There is still so much that I have to learn! But I felt that this week was an eye opener for me. I loved getting some hands on experience and learning for myself what it is like to be in an IEP meeting.