One thing Special Education is filled with is paperwork (general education teachers have a similar complaint).
You will be handling:
- Doctors’ reports
- Parents’ Rights
- Notification of Meetings
- Any reports the specialists have written
- The Individual Education Plan itself
- Approval of the Individual Education Act Plan
- The update to goals every quarter, tri-quarter, or semester (depends on school)
- General Notes
- Perhaps monthly notes on child’s progress for each session (depends on type of service)
- Perhaps some of your child’s work or pictures of
- Parent interaction documentation
- General school newsletters
- District school newsletters
- HR paperwork
- Papers to Grade
- Assessments for students in General Ed
- Assessments for Special Ed
- Low Incident Paperwork
- Paperwork requests for materials
- Paperwork for mileage
- Calendars for different students
- Schedules for different students
- Braille work (interlining)
- Braille work (creating)
- Materials that need to be put in braille
I am sure I am forgetting many other categories, but the point is there.
- A binder is a good way to keep many things organized. Use tabs and set the system up so it makes sense to you, but be sure to bring it with you whenever you go to meetings, even if it is just back to school night. Teachers have a lot to keep track of and your having it at your fingertips can save a lot of time as they may have to go searching for it on their desk where they accidentally left it. It can also support what you believe the child needs or doesn’t need. It can help get everyone on the same page. Best of all because it is always with you, you can make decisions much faster than waiting to get back to your desk.
- Use color coding. How you do it needs to be what works best for you, but, for example, I would use yellow for tri’s coming up, pink for IEP’s, and different colors for different schools.
- Don’t use just a calendar on your PC/Apple/phone. Try a desk calendar too that will show you at a glance just the IEP’s and Tri’s. This way not only does it encourage you to keep your desk somewhat organized, it also gives you a picture of how busy you will be with assessments and IEP’s. Sometimes they get drowned out in the other calendars.
- If you have aides, give them a copy of your base schedule and be sure to let them know if there are any changes. Ask them to handle some of the non-confidential paperwork if they have time and are willing (depending on job description).
- File the paperwork that has to go the district office and HR separately. The last group of people that should become upset with you are those that occupy the positions there.
- Be sure to keep Documents of Service with you to keep track of everything you have done with the student after each session. You can keep track of parent conversations, teacher to teacher conversations, needs for the students, and general student notes on them. Try to do it right after so you don’t forget things, which means leaving room in your schedule (which is very difficult if you have a large caseload), but it can save a lot of problems if something comes up. Then file those into their folders as soon as they are full.
Those are some of the things I have learned the last many years of teaching.