Back to School Checklist!

Well, it’s that time of year.  Us teachers in Mass are gearing up to go back to school.  Some of you teachers down south are probably back already, but we’re all in the back to school season!

Going back to school can be stressful, especially if you are starting a new position or at a new school.  I am going to share with you my back to school priorities.

Get your caseload

In previous years I was able to get a rough draft of my caseload in the spring.  This year was different as my position was getting shuffled around through the summer.  And now, it is the eve of the first day when teachers report and I still have no idea.

Tomorrow, my first goal is going to be to get my caseload and print my IEPs.

After I print my IEPs I also print the student’s schedules to make sure that they are in the correct inclusion sections so that I can provide their services.

Familiarize yourself with the IEPs

Now that they’re schedules are all set and you have your caseload.  You need to get yourself up to speed with the needs of your students.

I go through their goals and their service delivery.  I also like to read their most recent testing reports.  So, if the most recent reports aren’t in their files, I go to the office and find a copy.

I like to first go through the history quickly, and review anything important and their disability category.  And then I go back and re-read the notes that I received from the seventh-grade teachers and compare it to what is in the IEP.

Prepare the General Education Teachers

After I am comfortable with the IEPs I make packets for my general education teachers and my paraprofessionals.  I make them copies of the IEP summary pages, and then I usually also make a spreadsheet of the accommodations that they need to be immediately aware of.  The things on my spreadsheet include students who need preferential seating, students who get frequent breaks, modified homework, and all of the other things that they would need to know right from the beginning of school.

We spend our first common planning time as a team reviewing the students with IEPs and 504s so anything that can wait I save until this meeting.