Fall is my favorite time of year. From the weather to the fashion, to new school supplies, all of my favorite things happen in the fall! But back-to-school stress can really put a damper on the season.
I’ve always been a person who plans ahead, which really comes in handy with preparing for a new school year, and as a special education teacher, there’s always so much to do to get ready for the new year!
Aside from setting up my classroom and shopping for new clothes, here are the five things I focus on as I prepare for a new school year as a special education case manager and interventionist!
1. IEP Snapshots
The first thing I do, after I get my caseload list, is to prepare digital IEP snapshots for each of my students. I send these out before school starts because I want general education teachers to follow my students’ accommodations from day one! For my returning caseload kiddos, I just update their preexisting snapshots and share them out with teachers. For students that are new to me or our school, I take the time to look through their IEPs to get helpful information, such as student interests, strengths, and needs. I use digital snapshots because they are easy to update and email out! Grab the free template for my digital IEP Snapshots here and for more information on how exactly I use IEP snapshots, visit my blog post here!
2. Planner Set Up
For the last few years, I’ve been using paper planners. I’ve used Erin Condren, but lately, I’ve been loving Rad and Happy’s teacher planner. In fact, it’s the only teaching planner I’ve used for an entire school year! I normally give up halfway through. I like Rad and Happy’s planner because it’s undated and pretty customizable, which works for my needs. To set up my planner, I first fill out all of the monthly calendars with important dates, such as conferences, school breaks, and professional development or staff meetings. Then, I create a list of IEP due dates for my caseload students. I find that the section called “Year at a Glance” works well for this, since I can write each of my students and their IEP due dates in the corresponding months, allowing me to plan ahead. This helps me so much since I can visually see the busy times of my year and plan accordingly. Lastly, I draw my first week out according to the schedule I’m given. Since I am a middle school teacher, my daily classes are given to me and show up on my students’ schedules, so I don’t have to create my own push-in or pull-out schedules like I did when I taught elementary resource! The Rad and Happy planner doesn’t have separate boxes for a certain number of classes. Instead, it has 36 lines in each day, allowing me to draw thicker lines to create boxes of different sizes. I actually prefer this, since I can make smaller boxes for homeroom and larger boxes for our block classes. Over the course of the year, these boxes may shift, so I only do a few weeks at a time! Pro Tip: Use erasable pens in your planner, because you never know what will pop up and change your whole plan!
3. Caseload Notebook
Another thing I’ve started doing at the start of the year is creating a caseload notebook. I use page flags or dividers with student initials to give each student on my caseload a page in the notebook. I have this notebook with me during conferences, IEPs, any parent phone call or meeting, and any individual conference I have with a student. I take notes and can refer back to them as needed. This has helped me so much! Before I would always jot something on a sticky note and misplace it, or just assume I’d remember information (spoiler alert: I didn’t!). I use just a normal notebook for this and have used the same one for multiple years. I’ve tried to do this digitally, and it just hasn’t worked for me!
4. Meet with Co-teachers
I try to meet with my co-teachers before school starts to plan activities for our first week. I want to know exactly what they are planning, and offer ideas of my own. I also want to talk with them about our students and their needs, as well as look at any seating charts they may have drawn up. I email them as soon as our schedules go out, and ask when they will be in the building and have time to chat. Discussing things like shared responsibilities, introduction activities, and special education students can help set you up for success. Luckily, I know my co-teachers already and often work with the same ones, so we have a strong working relationship. However, all relationships have to start somewhere, so if you have a new teaching partner, it’s even more important that you meet before school starts! If you have an open house or introduction letter to send home to parents, using a shared template can help show a united front. Check out this template freebie!
5. IEP Goal Lists
Once I receive class lists for my intervention and co-taught classes, I create a list of my students’ IEP goals. For example, in my first-hour math class list, I’ll have all of the math goals for every student in my first-hour class. I look back at these lists often to help drive instruction, determine intervention or review needs, and help me know what assignments to keep for progress reports! I keep these digital so I can copy and paste goals, and easily replace them as IEPs are held.
Having these five things in place makes me feel more confident and less stressed at the start of the school year! What’s something you love to prep before the school year starts? Let me know in the comments!
