Now Teach! Organizing for Instruction

Happy Day 3 of Teacher Week!

Sponsored by the incredible teacher-bloggers @ Blog Hoppin'.

 

I feel like I have shared so much recently (here, here, and also here) about my organization recently, so I'm going to take some liberties with this topic to explain my lesson planning instead. I'm going to share what I do and if you have ANY suggestions for improvement, please PLEASE leave a comment. Thanks!

 

Step One

 

I keep my students' IEP goals and objectives first and foremost in my mind. I refer to the IEP snapshot, as well as the actual IEP itself, plus I make a data sheet to help me track goals monthly:

 

 One of the above forms is filled out for each student for each academic area. I keep the page(s) in the front of an individual folder for each student. I collect several work samples every week and place them in the folder. Although I feel like I have a good handle on how my students how progressing, this cover sheet keeps me accountable to sort through the work samples and assess the % towards mastery on a monthly basis. This is also a good form to help guide conversations with families and general educators.

 

Step Two

 

At my school, the general educators submit their lesson plans 1.5 weeks in advance. I get copied on them and base my daily lesson plans off them, as well as the IEP goals and objectives, using this form:

 

 

Of course, there's A LOT more teaching going on than what I able to fit on the single page. It's more of a "skeleton" I use along with the general educators' lessons.

 

Step Three

 

I don't have access to a smartboard, so I will print off the general educators' flipcharts and either write on them as I work with small groups, or I will differentiate them using visuals, chart paper, dry erase boards, etc. It really depends on my students' needs, which are always changing. The ultimate goal is to have all students access the general education curriculum with appropriate supports. Last year, we got REALLY close to accomplishing this. Many of my teaching materials were designed to provide additional support and check for understanding.  This year, I have a few students who will receive more intensive instruction, so I will be busy, busy, busy researching ways to meet their needs and push them to grade level (and beyond!).

 

There is NEVER a dull moment & my job will never be "done!"

 

Today was our third day of school and I started sneaking in some pre-assessments from my Time for School pack:

 

 It's a great time for relationship building with students (who doesn't love to show off what they know?) and the completed assessments provide a baseline. I will go ahead and do all of the students in both classrooms I push into because 1) it only takes about 3 minutes per student and 2) I can keep a close eye on struggling students and provide a little extra TLC (i.e.: pull them with my small groups) to get them on track. At my school, students REALLY like to be pulled for small groups to play "games" (and I am NOT going to recorrect their thinking).

 

I can't wait to read how other teachers and special educators organize for instruction. Be sure to link back to read more! I'll see you tomorrow for Classroom Management (& some freebies!).