This is the final episode of our summer series titled Coming to the Table ESY. Special education classrooms cannot function without the support from others, in particular paraeducators. Paras are an extension of the teacher and provide support in all areas - academic, functional, emotional, etc. We are both former paraeducators in sped classrooms and know the hard work they put in and now as teachers know the difficulties that can arise when managing paraeducators. Let’s talk about how to start off the school year right to aid in creating a great classroom team.

This is a continuation of our summer series titled Coming to the Table ESY.  In July's  episode we are going to discuss things that educators can do (without working all summer) to be more prepared for the new school year. 

This summer we will be putting out one episode per month as part of our summer series titled Coming to the Table ESY. We will be taking you to summer school to review those skills we need to prepare for the next school year. There are things we can do to start off the year off prepared and ready to go! June’s episode will focus on how parents can prepare themselves and their students for the new year.

In our past several episodes we’ve been talking a lot about your first IEP, what a successful IEP looks like, how to create relationships at these IEPs, etc.  All of these subjects are looked at from both the teacher's and parent's perspectives.  Today, we’re going to throw a wildcard into the mix: the special education advocate.  This person brings to the table a lot of experience and passion for special education (usually), but whether their presence is positive or negative depends wholly on who you pick and how you let them represent you.  We’re going to talk a little about that and also how you can decide if you even need an advocate!  

As part of our first-time IEP series of conversations, we wanted to get the parent’s perspective by interviewing a parent of a special education student.  We were interested in finding out what she knew going into the IEP, how she felt during the meeting, and some tips from her point-of-view of how we as educators could do better.  I hope you enjoy our interview with Val, a long-time special education mom.  Know, too, that because she’s a “long-time special education mom” some of the terminology she references are now outdated, thank goodness, so just a heads up!  

Last show, we opened up our two-part episode on preparing for your first IEP as a new teacher by talking about all of the pre-meeting things you can do to prepare.  In this episode, we touch on the practices in the meeting and after the meeting that will make for a great IEP.  All of these suggestions are not just for your first IEP, but for all IEPs.  We hope you find this helpful!

In the previous episode, Establishing Good Relationships with Families, we alluded to good IEP practices frequently as a well-run IEP and creating positive family relationships go hand in hand.  Today, we will dive deeper into what those best practices are and ensure that your first IEP as a teacher goes better than ours did!

Last show, we focused on establishing good relationships with your IEP team from the parent perspective.  Today, we want to look at it from the teacher’s perspective. It often all comes down to establishing trust. Parents want their children to make progress and they want to be kept in the loop. Communication is vital.

When we were coming up with this podcast, our primary goal was improving relationships that are made at the IEP table.  This issue is at our core and why we’ve chosen this topic for our first two shows: one for the parents, and one for the educators.  In this episode, we will talk first about parents and what you can do to establish good relationships with your child’s IEP team.