Nov

11

Not getting all the paperwork back is driving me crazy.

Filed Under Special Education | 7 Comments

I’ve come to terms with the volume of paperwork I have to do because of my job as special education teacher. I’ve come to terms with it, but I don’t particularly like it. Usually, I just try to suck it up and get on with it. Most of the time I’m successful. What I haven’t been very successful at is not going absolutely crazy when people don’t return the forms with information that I need so that I can do my job properly and efficiently. But, I been really thinking about it for the past week, and I think I’ve come up with a plan or at least a new way of looking at the problem that will me help come to terms with the fact that some people are not going to complete and return the forms that I need to do my job properly.

Why is this such a big issue for me? Let me explain. Some of you will already know this, but some of you won’t. Students who have been identified as having a learning disability or a behaviour problem have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) which among other things outlines the accommodations that teachers need to make in the classroom so that students can be as successful as possible. The accommodations can be instructional accommodations like students having all instructions read to them, environmental accommodations like having students sit near the front of the class away from distractions, and evaluation accommodations like having extra time for assignments, tests or exams. Student’s accommodations are determined using input from various sources such as any psychological testing and the recommendations that flow from the results of the testing, student input, parental input, the special education teacher’s input, past and present teacher input, and previous report cards.

Each student’s Individual Education Plan generates at least seven forms that I send out because I either need information from people, or I need to provide information to them. This semester, I’m giving special education support to 32 students. So that means, I have to send out 32 x 7 or 224 forms and get them back quickly so that I can complete the IEPs before the deadline-the first 30 days of school. Oh by the way, the 224 forms I mentioned earlier do not include the 32 appointment forms that I put into the homeroom teachers’ mailboxes for them to give to the students so that I can meet with the students to get the ball rolling.

This semester, I have one 75 minute period a day that is designated for special education support. (I know it sounds like a lot of time, but it doesn’t feel like it) This is the time when I am scheduled to meet with my approximately 32 students and give them whatever support they need. I say approximately 32 students because the number of students increases or decreases as the semester progresses depending on such things as whether new kids transfer into our school or transfer out of our school. Of course during each semester some student’s will have had the testing done that identifies that they have a learning or behaviour disability and are entitled to support from the spec. ed. program.

I meet with my students at the beginning of the semester to discuss their IEPs, and send a letter home explaining things and asking them to return the enclosed form with input from their parents or guardians about the accommodations they think are appropriate. Here’s where the craziness begins. Sometimes kids will not come to their appointment with me because they didn’t get their appointment slips for whatever reason, or the appointment slip got lost, or they forgot about their appointment, or they simply didn’t want to come. Of course I shouldn’t be surprised that this happens. Forgetting things, losing things, and not being organized is why some of these kids get the special education support they do. But this means that I have to follow up again and with some kids it’s again and again and again until I get the information that I need.

Once I get all the feedback I need, I complete the IEP and send a copy home with the student for a parental signature. The student is to return the signed copy to me. In the meantime, I send copies of the student’s strengths, needs and appropriate accommodations to their teachers- 32 x 4= 128 more forms that I put into mailboxes. Then at regular intervals of 4-6 weeks, I send another form to each of these teachers asking them to give me a progress report about the students. Now, I’m not complaining about the number of forms I send out. That’s how I get and give the information I need to support my students. That’s my job. That’s what I get paid to do. That’s OK. What drives me crazy is that not only are some kids not co-operating, but some teachers aren’t either. When I send out 128 progress report requests for teachers to complete and return, and I get less than half back, that’s a problem. That’s what drives me crazy, and that’s what drives other special education teachers crazy, too. I’ve tried all kinds of things in the past including asking the administration for help. But, you know what. That just solved the problem that one time. Now it’s a problem again. What to do?

Well, I’ve decided to do two things, one I’ve never done before and the other one I don’t do often enough. First, I’m going to do something that I haven’t done before. I’m going to practice collaborative problem- solving. Last week I attended a workshop by Dr. Ross Greene called The Explosive Child that was, in part, about collaborative problem-solving and wrote about it here. I like Dr. Greene’s model of collaborative problem-solving wherein each person respects the other person by being empathetic with the other person’s problems and concerns, and then each person is invited to propose solutions to the problem after the problem has been clearly articulated. Finally, the people involved agree upon a solution to the problem they both can live with. The second thing I’m going to do is to remember to live in the moment at work and not focus on the past or worry about the future. I’ve got to stop focusing on what didn’t get done and what might happen because it didn’t get done. I’ve just got to do whatever in the moment.

 
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