Another thing they don;t tell you about in teacher’s college is the meetings. I’m in the thick of it right now. Aside from the regularly scheduled staff, team, learning team and committee meetings, there are the IEP and parent meetings.
To misquote T. S. Eliot, “April is the cruelest month” breeding meetings out of a wet land. In March and April all the end of the year IEP meetings occur.I have 4 students on IEPs and a student in a self-contained class that pushes into my class for more than 50% of her day. Three of my students have three-year reviews this year. That means that there is a meeting before the re-evaluation and another after. Six meetings. The student who pushes in is doing so well that she will be fully integrated into the regular class next year. I attended the meeting where we shared that good news with Dad. Seven.
A few months ago, the 4th grade did the COGAT screener. The parents got the results last week. One of my really bright students is a poor tester and we are meeting next week to talk about how we can help her perform better. Eight.
Another of my students has anxiety issues. He seemed fine when we started the SBAC last week, but mom got in touch with me and she says he’s really stressed at home, so I touched base with colleagues after school. We have a plan for the performance and Math tests and today I need to call mom to see what she thinks about it. Nine.
I’m sure this sounds like a complaint, and it isn’t meant to be. It is just the way things work. I bet you could ask any teacher and they will tell a similar story. We are all just doing what we can to be better teachers and to help our kids.
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