Note to self

These are few things I have found myself saying lately...

-"Don't forget to download YOUTUBE videos using YTD Video Downloader"---internet at school is frustrating sometimes.I have so many songs for circle time from YOUTUBE that the kids get frustrated and so do I!

-"Don't forget to get a TARP!!!"---finding sensory play can get out of hand sometimes! Took a while to clean up the spaghetti noodles off the floor that the kiddos had so much fun with!!

 

"Don't forget to give my para-pro the lesson plans for the week" I have forgotten the past couple of weeks!

Don't forget to get paperwork together and send it to Central Office! I sure do wish I had a decent planning time or even one workday a month to get all the paperwork and planning I need to do! Hehe

"Keep 1st things 1st!" I tend to get sidetracked very easily...working hard to stay on top of things and not get behind with lesson plans, materials, IEP paperwork and parent communication.

IEP DATA

One of the most important part of a special education teacher's job is collecting data. I have worked doing Discrete Trials and love DATA!! But getting it within the classroom setting is difficult. I prefer to work one on one with the children, but some days that isn't possible. I do my best to do class projects and lessons that work for many IEP goals. Using Read It Once Again has given me many tools to make that happen.
 
 But once I do the activities I have to take data that it was done. I have kept many types of data sheets and they have worked okay, but once I was given an iPad by my district, I started researching apps that may help. 

I have found IEP PAL!! I have been using it for a couple of weeks, and have fallen in love with this!! The cost was $95 that I used from my classroom account. (I AM NOT BEING PAID TO WRITE THIS :)I played with it some over the summer, but finally took the plunge and put all my students goals, etc. in the system a few weeks ago. It took some time, but since our student's IEPs are computer based I was able to cut and past from one program to another. If you do purchase this, I highly recommend printing the manual and taking the free online training. Since vocabulary across districts for IEPs can be different some of the things were a bit confusing, but everyone within the company is AMAZING!! They take feedback and use that to make improvements to the program. 

Things it does that are WONDERFUL!
-you can collect prompt data and within that you can keep data on what type of prompts you are using
-Voice recording-you can make audio notes, or even record a child's response to use as data
-note taking-you can type up notes about progress and information about the session
-reports to show growth that are more understandable to parents 
-make notes on behavior/attention for the sessions
-have several students at a time within a session
-it is very customizable that you can make it work any way you wish! Use prompts or not, use benchmarks or not, 
-you can put data in after a session if that is needed. (once I left my iPad at home and was panicking trying to take data the old way.)
 

I am looking forward to writing my first IEP based on the data collected with IEP PAL.