Uniting & Empowering Special Educators CARS+ Conference 2012

1. New Teacher Collaboration Uniting & Empowering Special Educators CARS+ Conference 2012 Billy K. Hanna

2. Learning Outcomes 1. Meet other Special Educators who are new to the field to build professional relationships. 2. Small group Special Education teacher scenarios to problem solve hurdles. 3. New Special Education Teacher Survival : Tools of the trade. 4. Interactive Q & A to prepare for CARS+ session that directly follows.

3. Teacher Introductions • Number off and meet with partner • Tell your partner the following… 1. Name 2. School / service delivery style 3. How long you have been teaching 4. Share a humorous anecdote or classroom experience • Share out with group

4. Billy the Boogieboarding Buffalo • Circle up as a group • Think of an animal and a hobby that starts with the first initial of your name. • Get to know everyone in the room!

5. Teacher Scenarios • Match new teachers with 1st and 2nd year teachers for collaborative approach. • General Ed Scenario …. Share out as a group. • Parent Scenario…. Share out as group.

6. Teacher Scenario(cont) • Looking at the job of a special educator from a different perspective allows for a better team centered approach. • Don’t let your emotions stand in your way. Find a way to sell your solution to the rest of the team, as the most positive outcome for the all parties.

7. Survival Guide: The SPED Teacher Tool Kit • Together we will prepare a tool kit for …. 1. Preparation for the school year 2. The first day of school 3. The halfway point • The “updated” tool kit will be provided to you via email and will be shared with other new teachers who are CARS+ members.

8. The Special Education Teacher Tool Kit: Preparation For The School Year 1. Check out your classroom as soon as you can! View the materials that are there, if you don’t have what you need, talk to someone else in the district. 2. Look through the SPED files to check out your kiddos, also check for upcoming IEPs! 3. Order enough supplies for the entire year. You don’t want to have to spend time on this later. 4. Make your copies before school starts! Don’t rely on a para, or aide, once school begins. 5. Have two legitimate behavior management systems ready to use in the classroom. If one isnt working when school is in full swing … go to plan B. 6. Buddy up with your principal. Either via email or phone. Check in and see how things are going. Show your enthusiasm for the job. 7. Take your aide(s) out to dinner to discuss the program, invite other SPED staff members if possible. Find out what they like to do for fun..etc. A little welcome gift for your aides also starts the year off right. 8. Prepare a short note or introduction for teachers about yourself and the program (again with a nice photo). Also outline what your program will look like at the beginning of the school year and later.

9. The Special Education Teacher Tool Kit: The First Week of the School Year 1. Do not begin seeing kids if you are a resource teacher. Take the first two weeks to set up your program. Observe in GE, collect data, meet students. Give your students a chance to show what they can do in general ed. Special Day Class … get ready to get your hands dirty! 2. Establish trust early and often. Individually pull your students out to give them a “What I like” survey and get to know what your students need as reinforcement. Get to know them but also establish expectations for your classroom. 3. Give all IEP students a few informal reading and informal math measures. This will help you schedule your students instructional groups. Don’t rely on last year’s groups, or the grade levels. Things change over summer. 4. Pop in on as many GE teachers as possible. Eat lunch in the staff room. Meet your GE counterparts and try to befriend them (even if you are stressed!). They have a lot of knowledge and you want them working with you, not against you. 5. Retrieve all of the General Ed teachers schedules asap, you cant see kiddos until they have given you have their schedules in hand. 6. Plan your schedule so that you do not see students on Fridays! If you do, keep it minimal. Many teachers do not take a free period and then have the Friday to do paperwork.

10. The Special Education Teacher Tool Kit: The First Week of the School Year Cont. 7. Call every one of your students parents to let them know you met their child and are excited to be there. Leaving a message is always best. 8. Throw a BBQ or a meet and greet for your students and their parents. No speech needed, just invite them out and provide them a forum for early questions. 9. Prepare a introduction letter to send home to parents (with a nice photo). 10. Come up with a very detailed schedule for your aides to follow so that they know exactly what to do. Build time into the schedule for copies, errands around the school, trips to the office …etc (Typically morning recess for errands and afternoon .recess for their break). 11. Make sure you have copies of all of the state adopted curriculum materials being used in the general classrooms. Don’t forget the teachers edition! 12. Make sure that the new teachers have copies of their students IEP goals. Good task for your aide (s). 13. Make soft files for all of your IEP students. Have their IEP goals accessible and be ready to face them. 14. Meet with the Principal and other special education staff to schedule all of your IEPs for the year. Very important! Save yourself from the scheduling blues. 15. Be the first to arrive and the last to leave. Make sure your principal knows, they will love you for it!

11. The Special Education Teacher Tool Kit: The Halfway Point 1. Make sure you have pre-ordered state testing materials (CMA and CAPA). 2. Continue to check progress on IEP goals and mail out to parents. 3. Now that your program is in full swing, focus on instruction! 4. Find time for professional development opportunities (you most likely didn’t have time to attend earlier in the year). 5. Clean up those special education cumulative files! 6. Plan ahead for transition IEPs, you can hold these in March and April. 7. Don’t get down on yourself for out of compliance IEPs, it’s a team snafu. 8. Get your paras and aides gifts for the little holidays. They need some love too. 9. Go the extra mile to connect with the “detached parent” (or student). 10. You will have downtime, get ahead on paperwork, don’t forget to relax, and be ready to power forward!

12. Towards the End 1. Progress Reports: Depending on the child’s IEP you must report on annual and short term objectives. These need to be updated in the “Summary of Progress” section on the goal page. 2. Make sure you know what students are taking CMA, CAPA, or CST. 3. Good time to start getting all your paper in order before your school gears up for state testing. 4. If you are involved in transitioning 5th graders, 8th graders, high school students start a communication line between you and the other case manager. 5. Depending on your school district parent conferences will be coming up. A good idea is to contact your parents to establish communication.

13. Interactive Q & A • 10 minutes to brainstorm and develop question(s) to present to group. • 10 minutes for discussion and answers. • 5 minutes at the end of this session to prepare questions for the CARS+ Q & A session that directly follows.

14. Thanks for Coming! • Wrap up • Inspirational video… all presentations need one, right?