It's nose-to-the-grindstone time here! I'm sporting a very unglamorous ponytail & my glasses M-F this week because we (the SpEd team) are wrapping up the end-of-year paperwork with an internal audit on Friday!
I've known about this for awhile and have been trying to chip away at the MASSIVE amount of paperwork sitting on my desk & in the back of my mind.
I made a spreadsheet in cheery orange:
(don't be jealous!)
I've set up all sorts of incentive plans for myself...for every 45 minutes of paperwork, I allow myself a 15 minute break to check FB, read blogs, pinterest, etc. Then it's back to business for another 45. I picked up Fifty Shades of Grey and my favorite fitness mags to read after I finish ALL of it.
I'm also thinking about how I can make this bane of my existence task both easier and more meaningful for next school year. I've started putting together organizational binders & collaborating with my teammates to create useful templates, checklists, etc. I just know there's a better way & we will find it!
If you're a master of school paperwork, or a TPT seller with a great organizational kit,
please leave a comment & share!
please leave a comment & share!
My 15 minutes are already up...C'MON FRIDAY (5 pm) !
UPDATED 6/6/12 - check out this progress!!!
Please notice all the new check marks :)
Here's what I've done to handle paperwork in the past. I use Google Calendar to schedule all of this... I find it easy to move things/change/delete when necessary.
ReplyDelete-At the beginning of the year, put ALL due dates for IEP stuff on my calendar. Even if that ER is due at the end of the year, it's on there.
-Next, I make a checklist of all the related tasks I need to do to make sure that I meet those deadlines. If I'm holding an IEP, for example, I'll put copying the IEP for the meeting, contacting parents to verify times, and scheduling a room, etc., all on that list.
-I take all the related stuff on my checklist and put all of that on my calendar, as well. So now I don't only have Bobby's IEP due date on my calendar, I also have dates for when I need to send out the invite, when I need to track down his data from his last school, etc.
-Finally, I schedule times that I will actually write/track all of this documentation. I will block out a week or so on my calendar to write IEPs, what day of the week I will progress monitor Bobby, etc.
-One last trick I do that works for me is that I really overschedule. I know I'm not going to take two weeks to write an IEP, but I schedule two weeks anyway. This gives me some leeway if I'm sick or out unexpectedly. I often move my due dates to complete each task up a few days... same reason, I have that leeway... if Bobby's mom is AWOL and I can't get in touch with her to set up the IEP meeting, I'm not going to be in violation of any IEP timeline laws. :-)
Hope this helps!
Wow - thanks for all the great ideas!
ReplyDeleteOur school uses Outlook, so I will definitely be putting in all the dates before the new school year begins.
I LOVE the idea of overscheduling - I haven't done it yet, but I know that strategy really works well.
Another thing I've been starting to put together is banks of IEP goals & objectives based on C.C. standards, as well as verbiage for our quarterly progress reports. I know I won't be using them "as is" for any future students, but this will certainly help me as I'm writing report #42!
I really appreciate your response - thanks again!
What exactly is on the checklist? I made a checklist for annual reviews. I have an accordian file for all my annual review paperwork with students name on tabs. I give teachers incentive to turn in CBA's quick. But my biggest thing is starting early! I use a calendar too to plan my year. The main thing I do is when I start an IEP I like to finish it in the same day. I usually come in on Sunday's with a coworker and we work through them together bouncing questions off each other. Great ideas!
ReplyDeleteAlana
Special Teaching in the Middle
This checklist is mostly for the housekeeping of our files. We wrapped up the majority of our IEP mtgs by May 1st, so luckily that's all done!!
ReplyDeleteWe also do indirect consults to the general educators, communication logs, third party billing, daily teaching logs, getting teachers' IEP binders ready for next year, etc. These are the tasks that seem to stack up & feel like they could benefit from being streamlined. Lots of initials, copies. hole-punching...not difficult by any means.
Thanks again for the responses - I love hearing the tips!
Okay! I will never complain about my caseload anymore! You have so much more to do than I do. I have 11 kids on my caseload and during annual reviews it is a lot to do, but your's seems so much more than mine. Bless your heart!
ReplyDelete