Tag: progress

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IEP Team Players

My youngest three kids are currently receiving speech services at their school, and subsequently all have Individualized Education Plans. Part of having an IEP means there are annual meetings with the IEP team to determine if the child is still eligible for services. As luck would have it, all three of my kiddos’ IEPs were up for their annual meeting today, which meant that I got to start my morning at the school, talking with the group of teachers, administrators, and speech therapists who make up the IEP team. 

As we reviewed each of my kids’ progress and struggles, I felt so incredibly thankful for an IEP team that is supportive, kind, and has my kids’ best interests in mind. What a difference it makes to have everyone on the same page with the same goals! Throughout the years I was teaching, I had the chance to attend many IEP meetings for my students. I knew the why behind the meetings, and I always did my part to contribute, but it wasn’t until I became a parent with children who have IEPs that I truly understood just how valuable these meetings can be. 

Being a part of the IEP team for each of my children is more than being a warm body in the room to sign the paperwork. It gives me a chance to get a report of their progress, show support for the teachers and therapists that help my children, and, most importantly, it gives me a chance to advocate for my children. It is such an honor and privilege to be able to do that. As a parent, I am the one who knows my children best. Because I know my children and am with them more than the speech therapist and technician are, I am able to see what is and isn’t working and can get a good idea of their progress in “real life” rather than from assessments or 15 minute speech sessions each week. I can then take those observations to the other members of the IEP team and can let them know if there is anything we need to change. 

On the other hand, since I am not a trained speech therapist or technician, I only know so much. They are crucial members of the IEP team because they have the proper tools and knowledge to measure speech progress. They have been taught and trained how to best help kids learn to properly form their speech sounds. They can offer solutions and suggestions to help my children in ways that I cannot. 

Sure, my children don’t have to receive speech services. I could probably find some resources online and could try to help them at home. Their progress wouldn’t be as productive, but I’m sure I could make some leeway. I also don’t have to be an active participant of the IEP team. I’m sure the speech therapists would continue helping my kids with minimal input from me. 

BUT… when I do my part in conjunction with the speech therapists, so much more progress happens. My children feel much more supported and encouraged. They know that they have a safe group of adults who are on their side, trying to give them all the help they can to be able to make the progress they need to. 

If you have a child receiving special education services, I’m sure you know just how important every member of the IEP team is. If you aren’t yet an active participant in your child’s IEP team, I encourage you to become one! It will make a world of a difference to your child, to you, and to the people at the school who are working with your child. And as we all know, any effort expended on behalf of our children helping them improve is effort well worth it! 

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The Great Debate: Is End of Year Testing Worth It?

End of year testing. State testing. End of level assessments. Whatever you call them, students dread them, and most teachers do too. Across the nation, most schools administer some kind of end of year assessment to measure progress in core subjects, usually English/Language Arts, Math, and Science. 

There’s always been debate surrounding these kinds of assessments. Many believe they do not offer a truly accurate picture of progress and growth, while others see them as an effective tool for measuring progress. If you’ve been a teacher in any of the core subjects and have had to administer end of year tests, you can probably see evidence for both sides of the argument. For some students, the tests really do show the progress that has been made and do offer a pretty good picture of the knowledge that has been learned. For other students, test results are not an accurate picture of what has been learned— many students deal with test anxiety, simply don’t care and therefore give little effort into the test (were you one of the students who would use your Scantron sheet to make a picture rather than trying to find the right answers?), or perhaps are just having an “off” day for whatever reason. 

From a teacher’s perspective, I had a love/hate relationship with test days. By the end of the year, I was always physically and mentally exhausted, and test days provided me with a few very low-key days where I didn’t have to plan any structured lessons. I was able to catch up on grading, plan out the rest of the year, and take a minute to breathe. On the other hand, test days often proved to be a struggle, as many students would finish their test the first day of testing, then would proceed to cause problems or distractions for the students who had not yet finished. It became a game of “how do I keep these kids entertained” while also keeping the test-takers focused. 

And while I am all for seeing the improvement and growth that my students made over the course of the year, state tests didn’t provide an full picture of that growth. As their teacher, I was able to see their progress from month to month, and could truly see how far they had come. Since I was not the one who wrote the test, nor did I know what questions they would encounter on the test, I could only do so much to prepare them for the test. I would obviously teach the core standards that I was expected to teach, but as far as how the test was worded or the kinds of questions that were asked, that was out of my control. 

In order to decrease test anxiety as much as I could, I would always do my best to review core concepts in the weeks leading up to the test. I would assure students that their test score had absolutely no impact on their grade for my class. As long as they tried and put in effort (and didn’t bother other students during testing), they would get a participation grade. I would remind them that this was a test that they were required to take, and that they should do their best, but that their results didn’t indicate their worth. I would also usually offer some kind of “reward” day after testing to give them a chance to unwind. 

Though I’m not currently teaching, I am now seeing testing from a parent’s view. I’m always sure to let my kids know that they are smart and capable, and that as long as they do their best, that’s what matters most. My husband and I do our part to get them to bed at a good time so they are well rested, and make sure to feed them a good breakfast before they go to school. We don’t make a big deal out of it because we don’t want them to feel any extra pressure or stress about taking the tests. 

I don’t know that there are any easy answers to the testing debate. Will there ever be a day when state tests are not given? Maybe. There will always be need to measure progress, but what that looks like and how it is measured may change. Until then, we will continue to do our best and encourage our students and kids the best we can!

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“Mistakes Are For Learning” #TeacherMom

On Monday, my first grader came home from school and announced, “Mistakes are for learning.” Throughout the rest of the day, she repeated the mantra in various contexts–including sharing it with a restaurant manager helping us out when we found wax paper in a burger.

Pleased though I am that she seems to finally be grasping this essential element of the growth mindset, I can’t help but marvel at how long it took for this concept to sink in.  After all, having studied Carol Dweck’s growth mindset, I’ve made it a point over the years to try to help her celebrate failures and recognize opportunities for growth.

But it wasn’t until a first grade teacher shared it in such simple terms as “Mistakes are for learning” that things clicked. And I couldn’t be more grateful for the timing. First grade is packed with pivotal moments for learning, failing, and growing. With a fresh school year, she’s still dazzled by every aspect: practicing spelling lists, listening to audiobooks, participating in a computer math program that advances users as they demonstrate mastery.

But I know that it won’t be long before the novelty will wear off. The tasks will become more challenging. The routine will become less enchanting. Mistakes will always be for learning, but that will not make them frustration-proof.

The key will be to help her maintain her understanding of the positive outcomes even amid the discomfort. To recall previous moments of victory as a result of repeated effort and failure. (Like when she recently wrote a book title, and when she asked me to read it, and I read aloud phonetically, “The Kumfee Kav,” she dashed off saying, “OH! I forgot ‘cave’s’ silent ‘e’ to make the ‘a’ say its own name! I can fix that!”). To remember that though progress may be slow, as Khan Academy’s video below emphasizes, “[She] can learn anything.” Most of all, to celebrate the journey along the way.

So to all the teachers currently in the classroom, thank you. Thank you for stepping in, shedding light, and reaching our kids in ways we parents can’t always do.

featured image: DeathToTheStockPhoto

Come back next Wednesday for another “#TeacherMom” post. Read here for the rest of my weekly blogging topic schedule/background.