How often do you get a report from teacher?

[MB]

For years the teachers made up a form to be filled out by the paras each day. Some years it went by schedule:

His daily schedule was on the form with space for the paras/therapists to fill in.

Here's an example:

8:00-8:35 Reading ________________________

8:35-9:10 Music____________________________

9:10-9:20 Playground_______________________

If there was something significant, it was filled in. If not, it was left blank. We all trusted that the form would be filled in each day, if possible. We agreed, as a team, that there were going to be days that no one, because of illness, fire drills etc.... could get to the form.
That was o.k.. As long as a blank day was the exception rather than the norm. We rarely had a blank day and my response was always positive. The next day always had an explanation for the blank page.

Other teachers liked boxes on the form for therapists to write. They listed which days he was scheduled for therapy. Therapists new that my concern was that he was receiving therapy. Their initials on a hectic day would suffice.

The back of the page was for me to communicate. We often shared praise for his accomplishments and talked about milestones made at home. We would also give the teacher a head's up if an unusual behavior or anticipation popped up.

If my son was going somewher special after school, we would let the teacher know so she and the speech therapist could talk about it with him. They liked knowing so they could understand him more easily. When you let the teacher know he is going "Gaga's" after school, then they know what he's talking about.
I would write down what they could say to calm him down. "Go to school. Mom will pick you up at 3:20 like usual. Mom will drive you to Gaga's."

If he was feeling a little sick, we gave them a head's up and my schedule for the day in case he really was sick.

We really had a partnership and wrote what we would have said to each other had we all been standing in the same room.

Paras should not comment on behavior. It is the teacher's job to discipline. Paras are not certified to teach so they should not be doing discipline as they have not had the required hours in spec. ed.

They should report mundane things like wear pajamas for the read-in or bring an orange for science. Reminders about assemblies or personal equipment failures (lost buttons, broken zippers) are in the realm of the para.

The communication notebook belongs on the IEP under the special accommodations section. This is warranted because Aidan is considered exceptional under the speech category.

Hope this helps.

MB

[laurasnowbird]

Staci,

I understand what you mean about feeling like they think you are a pain in the a**. Remind yourself that you are not there to make friends, and this is not a popularity contest. They are giving you grief because they have gotten comfortable doing things "their way", and they don't like having the status quo questioned. HOWEVER, "their way" violates one of the most important principles of IDEA, that your child is entitled to an education that meets his individual needs.

I get communication from Ethan's school every day. It comes in the form of a little sheet entitled "What I did today"

It has:

Class Activities __ Circle Time __ Story Time __ Music Time

__ Snack Time: I ate (some/all/none) I drank some/all/none
__ Table Time (art, library, manipulatives, discovery writing)
__ Teacher Directed Activity:____________________________
__ Child Directed Play (blocks, dramatic play, toys and games

Therapy (per IEP)

__ Speech ____________________________________________
__ OT _________________________________________________
__ PT ________________________________________________
__ Other _______________________________________________

Specials:

__ Gym _________________________________________
__ Motor Group: ________________________________________
__ Sensory Group _________________________________
__ Field Trip/Assembly/School Event _____________________

Bathroom Needs:

Arrival at school: I was __ wet __ dry __ had BM __ used potty __ tried potty

Behavior:

Today I had a __ Great Day __ Good Day __ Okay Day __ Rough Day __ Other
Comments: ___________________________________

Teacher Note: ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You have the right to call an IEP at any time, and I would do so without delay. My grandmother used to tell me all the time that you "catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar". Get your honey out and give it your best shot. I tried it that way for three years, attempting to get changes made to the programs for birth to three. Even chaired our federally mandated Local Interagency Coordinating Council for the last two years. I always got what I needed for Ethan with honey, but even with buckets of honey, I was able to make little impact on the provision of service or to improve compliance with the federal regs in our district. Hence, the complaint. Unfortunately, some people only listen when you get out a big stick. I hope you aren't in that position.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

[momofrussell]

This is what Russell's teacher uses. Nothing fancy, but it works! The far right, writtings and the black bold stuff, i.e. NAME, CIRCLE, PHONICS, is all already written and copied like that. The far right writtings are what they are working on for the month I think... or something to that effect. It is non-specific to an extent. Then, the far left corner is always blank and she will write what they specifically did for that day. She also has things that she circles depending on the day... like LIBRARY, ART, ect.. because those things he only does once a week.
Then on the back bottom side she will always handwrite a note daily to something specific about Russell's day.

This sheet is used for all the kids in her class. She makes copies according to her needs and what she is working on, then she personalizes it.

This teacher this year, Debbie and our teacher last year, do/did not use communication books. But I still got daily type reports. But the schools prior to this one and the last we always used a comm book.

I also want to add that in the beginning of the year Debbie gave out a schedule to all parents, based on the times their child did things. So we already had the times and when/what Russell did in class things, therapies (pull outs) and group therapies. She also makes a little folder type booklet on what her class is about and what she works on with the kids. She HAS to follow our school districts guidelines and subjects but she tailors them to each child and to each grade, since she is a k-2 class. She is VERY creative with what works with OUR kids but is the subject of what the rest of the school is working on... I really like it.

I agree with Laura that this teacher is sounding very sendintary in her ways and thinks what has worked for 20 yrs still works. Which is does NOT work for individulized instruction.. which is something our kids GET! Spec Ed teachers need to be constantly challenging theirselves and knowing when to change or implement things that will work for the kid/s. What works for one child or group one year, doesn't always work for the rest. Heck, if I had a teacher that ONLY worked on PECS (in the traditional way) with Russell and never tried or asked anything new for working with Russell, we'd be getting NO WHERE! LOL... All the kids use PECS in his class and Russell uses REAL objects... That works for him!

Staci, I will email or IM you later on your email.. but you are going in the right direction and are being a good mommy doing what is best for Aidan! Don't forget that!

A.

A.

[Staci]

THanks everyone!

Well, I printed off the check-list that Donna (I think) had posted and said I could use. I gave it to the teacher this morning, telling her I know she wasn't comfortable using a notebook, could we do this check-list every day, or even every other day, to inform me what's going on...and she had done EXACTLY the same thing! She made her own check list type thing and made tons of copies...at least we were on the same page about something finally! We had a nice conversation, everything seems good now. Thanks for all of your help and advice and suggestions! You don't know how MUCH I appreciate it all!! You all are wonderful! (((HUGS))

Staci

[Alice]

I am very impressed by all great ideas, guys!

Now lets hope that THE TEACHER will want to use that!
Oh my...

I am crossing my fingers for you, Staci!