First day of conferences

Today was the first day of conferences and they went well!!! I had spent the last week staying late in the classroom (until nearly 7pm on most nights) preparing IEPs, METs, ERPs, PLAAFPs, and all other associated acronyms.  It has been an exhausting week, but it was almost more exhausting just anticipating my first IEP as a special education teacher. 

It was at 3:30pm today and it was over the phone.  As the clock got closer and closer to 3:30pm I got more and more nervous.  How was I supposed to start discussing it?  What was I supposed to say?  What was I supposed to read, not read, check, not check, tell, not tell???? I felt so prepared but so unprepared at the same time!  What?! How was that possible!  I dialed the phone before I let myself get even more nervous.  Ring........Ring......Ring.......Ring.........Ring..... OH MY GOSH!!! .....Ring....beepbeepbeepbeepbeep... The call didn't go through.  WHEW! I wiped the sweat from my brow and relaxed.  I was ready to mark this one off my list.  "NEXT!"  I called, which just resulted in laughter from my staff and prompting to dial again and leave a voicemail.  I dialed, got the voicemail, and left my message.  NOW I could officially check this one off my list.  As I was breathing my sigh of relief by barely escaping this first IEP, I got a phone call from the parent I had just left a message for.  Looks like I couldn't pass this one by after all.  After numerous dropped calls, we completed the first IEP.  The parent expressed to me that it was a good IEP and she was happy about that.  What a wonderful end to my first officially unofficial IEP as a teacher! 

We had 2 more IEPs tonight that went just as well, and I was out the door at exactly 7pm.  Thursday will be another evening of conferences and IEPs/METs and then.... HELLO WEEKEND!  Luckily, this weekend is payday and hopefully I'll get an added bonus of getting my ordered iPhone 4S in the mail (!!!).  Overall, I am pleased with tonight and look forward to completing the rest of the week.


My advice for conferences:

• Begin conferences with a greeting.
•  "How are you today?"
• Articulate what you're meeting for.
• "We're here to discuss STUDENT'S progress on his current IEP objectives."
• List some strengths of the student.
• "STUDENT is a very active adult who enjoys participating in gym class and classroom exercise activities.  STUDENT enjoys talking with peers, especially about current events in the news and sports."
• Read the objectives followed by your comment on the student's progress.
• "STUDENT'S current IEP objectives state that.... I noted that STUDENT has progressed as expected and has done a wonderful job participating in class.  STUDENT should be very proud of him/herself.  I look forward to seeing continued progress in this area from STUDENT."
• Ask parent if he/she has any questions, comments, or concerns he/she would like to discuss.
• "Do you have any questions, comments, or concerns that you would like to discuss?"
• Add anything else you'd like to comment about the student's progress in school.
• Wrap-up by reminding parent that if anything comes up, he/she can feel free to contact you by phone/e-mail/etc.
• "Have a great evening!"

Easy peasy lemon squeezy.