I attended a back to school picnic for new hires tonight. It was a great opportunity to get to know some of the teachers I will work alongside, but also to get to know the big wig..AKA: The Superintendent. I found myself filled with anxiety as I was introduced to him, but he was super sociable. I was relaxed in a matter of seconds! In the school district I resigned from, I was one of 3000+ employees. In the school district I am entering, I am one of 400 or so. That is a huge difference and the picnic tonight was another reminder of this.
I have a few things I want to share with you! I have created three documents that I plan on putting in my students folders. Some of my students do not have a speech and a language goal, so some folders will only have two documents, but you get my point! =) They are a parent contact log and a language and/or speech goal page. I follow many bloggers, and Kristin, at [simply speech], shared a student data sheet that I loved! I modified it a bit with my own personal twist, but she gets all the credit for the idea! Thank you Kristin! It is what I am calling my language and/or speech goal page. Here are the documents.
I wanted a contact log that I could put with each child's folder. Because we don't have an IEP facilitator, or someone who sends out prior notice forms and such for IEP meetings, I wanted a form that I could use to track all of my contacts with parents. I had a general "log" for all students previously and it took some time to figure out how many times one parent was contacted vs another.
I set up a bar graph type of system on the speech and language goal forms for two reasons. 1) The students can own how successful they are. 2) I see my students at least twice a week based on how their IEPs are (again..I'm new so I am entering in to someone else's setup). This will allow me to track percentages once a week rather than every session. If I don't get to it EVERY session, I won't lose sleep over it, but at least it's a possibility!
I have also created an "expectations" poster that I will hang in my room. I have stapled a sticker chart into each folder. I like the idea of keeping one's sticker chart out of the sight of anothers for privacy reasons, so I chose to staple. It's just a personal preference! Here is what I have for my "expectation" poster at this point. I have not printed it yet because it is ever changing, so please share your thoughts.
Because I appear to be long winded tonight, I am going to end this with a freebie I just posted on my TPT store! I wanted an activity to use with my students during our first (or second) interaction with each other. I loved the use of M & Ms in icebreakers as a kid, so I chose to create an activity based on my memory. I am entering a district where the mascot is a tiger, so a pawprint only seemed appropriate!
And...one more thing! To go alongside this pawprint activity, I plan on using what Jenn shared at Crazy Speech World in a different way. I plan on using these pawprints with my students names in the pad portion of the paw. In the outside portion, I will have them color/draw/write whatever describes them best! I will then hang these outside of my room as my first attempt at wall decor! The paws will look something like this (before the great color is added)!
Find the documents at the following links:
Parent Contact Log
Speech Goal
Language Goal
Enjoy!
Happy 4th of July! I hope you are spending your time with friends and family celebrating the independence of the fabulous US of A. =)
I am home for the day because, as of most of you, I don't have to work. My husband on the other hand is at work today. He is a physical therapist in a skilled nursing facility. Poor guy!
This only means that I have some time on my hands. I just completed the update to the daily notes pages I use. They are super quick and efficient. I discovered them somewhere along the way, so if you are the original creator, let me know and I will give you credit! I have recreated them so they fit my needs in the schools and you can too! If you want the excel document to do so, let me know. I will be happy to share it with you!
Here is how it works:
All it takes is putting the student's name, teacher, grade, ID # (I use the number associated with their IEP so it is there for quick reference), and goal. Then on the dates you see the student, put the date, circle the appropriate alpha/alphanumeric combination, and write in your bit of data. It takes a matter of seconds!
Below is a full page view of the data entry portion without the key. The more you get use to the format, the less you will need the key! I hope you can use this, or gain an idea as to how to personalize your own data entry, so that data collection can be completed in a more time-efficient way!
If you have any interest in this you can download it here! Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help this better suit your needs!
Daily documentation is tough! Let me know how you tackle it in the comments!
