It’s no secret that being a SPED teacher involves mountains of paperwork! Through my experience, there are a few paperwork related things that I find myself referencing weekly, if not daily. Consolidating these things into forms and putting them into my sped teacher binder is key. Here are the four things that I try to keep within arms reach at all times in order to make sped teacher life easier.
IEP Dates At A Glance
At the beginning of every school year, I fill out this form to the best of my ability. I also plug into this form throughout the year so that I know my deadlines just by looking at one piece of paper. I recommend laminating it before filling it out. That way it’s easy to change an IEP date if needed.
Student Logins
I think I answer the “what’s my child’s login” question approximately 1 million times each year. So It’s essential for me to have this info at hand to be able to access it quickly. If not, I’d have to look it up separately each time I get asked! I try to keep logins saved for websites like Boom cards, Moby Max, or any other educational websites we use.
Parent Info At A Glance
This is where I keep any info that I often need to access quickly. Basically in here you can find parent phone numbers, home addresses, bus numbers, and parent emails. If I had a phone in my classroom I could just keep a digital copy to reference quickly, but I don’t. The teacher workroom is where I make all my phone calls which means that I need a traveling paper that tells me all the pertinent information per student.
Specials Times
Specials times (PE, music, art etc.) are the only time blocks IEP meetings can be scheduled. This is because general education teachers are required members of the IEP committee. Therefor this info is important to have when trying to plan and schedule IEP meeting times for students that are often in different grade levels. I reference this paper in my sped teacher binder quite often to know what grade is available at what time.
There are so many other essential pieces of information I refer to weekly but these are probably the top four things I reach for the most. Without having this info consolidated, you would be searching for it in different places daily. So make your life easier by having this information in your sped teacher binder!
If you enjoyed reading these sped teacher tips, be sure to check out my other sped teacher tips here.
Happy teaching!
Sofie
