Comments on: Try This Tuesday #29: Communicating with Teachers and Paraprofessionals

By: JoyMama

JoyMama — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 16:51:05 +0000

We’re not in school yet, but what we’re doing with the daycare and school-district therapists is writing short reports and sending them to a private Yahoo! group. We’ve used the same group for a couple of years now. The daycare lady writes up notes on her day, the school-district SLP and OT and special-educator write reports on their sessions, and I write reports for the days that my daughter is at home. And, I’ve invited everyone to read my blog as well if they want still more information about what’s going on. (We also have staff with an intensive-autism-therapy program who are required to write their reports on particular paper forms, but most of them at least read the Yahoo group and blog too.)

The nice thing about the Yahoo group is that we’ve been doing it for a while, and it keeps all the reports archived in one (searchable!) place, even though we’ve had a variety of different staffers who’ve come and gone.

Don’t know whether/how this would apply once we get to school, but it’s been a great tool so far.

Thanks for the post, and it’s good to see what works for commenters too…

By: Trish

Trish — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 15:55:33 +0000

Jenny – Sorry for using acronyms, I try to avoid it. MA stands for Medical Assistance, or Medicaid, which children with autism qualify for in PA regardless of family income.

Amazing Grace – Our school district has HAC for high school now – sounds like a great thing!

Chrissi – I loved the preschool forms with all the icons and they definitely help to communicate with your child about their day!

Cale – I have to admit I was an expert at forging my parents’ signatures on notes for all three of us kids.

Maddy – I’m still laughing, rereading your comment. Maybe I should add a line for % of day spent on floor…

Thanks for all the great comments and participation!!!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 19:37:24 +0000

Thanks for these tips, Trish. I don’t have anything to offer on this subject as Jackson is not in school yet, but I enjoy reading things like this to help me prepare! Also, I’m probably the only one who doesn’t know, but what does MA stand for?

By: Amazing_Grace

Amazing_Grace — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 15:03:34 +0000

When my son was in middle school the teachers would at the end of class check each and every student’s agenda book to see if they had written correctly their assignment(s). The teacher would initial it (or use a stamp) to confirm that it was correct. I thought this was a fantastic idea and it also made sure that the students had their assignments written down correctly and they would know when to turn them in on time. Parents also had to sign the agenda book daily to verify that they had read the above and understood what their child was supposed to do.

Parents knew this had to be done and if they wanted their child to succeed in school they had to follow through with signing the agenda book and making sure their child did their homework. I made sure I read my son’s agenda book as soon as he came home and signed it.

If the parents did not follow through with this easy task, it was their own fault that their child did not succeed in school. Parents must do their part to insure that their child is doing what they are supposed to do. They are the parent and they must act like a parent as well.

By: Amazing_Grace

Amazing_Grace — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 14:51:20 +0000

We have in our son’s IEP (he’s in high school and is a high functioning AS student):

Provide parents a Progress Report on his grades every 2 weeks.

This is now done online and ALL parents can see what assignments their child has done and their grade. They call it HAC (Home Access Center). There is also an easy email access to contact all teachers at his school as well.

When problems do arise we use email to set up conferences with the teachers.

By: Chrissi

Chrissi — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 06:16:10 +0000

As a special ed. pre-k teacher, I find that using a communication tool is SO vital.

I use what I think works just great, it tracks staying on(or off) tasks, transitions, and input from the teacher/staff.

I use TONS of visuals in my class – this tool also has visuals on it as well. That way the parent can show the kiddo – “look, Mrs J has said you sat during morning circle”..

I have parents who love it and parents who NEVER read them. That’s okay, I use them anyhow. It helps me track daily and I can use them as an anecdotal as well.

By: Another Piece of the Puzzle » Home-School Communication

Another Piece of the Puzzle » Home-School Communication — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 05:07:14 +0000

[...] always curious about what system or arrangement other parents have worked out, and that’s why Communicating with Teachers and Paraprofessionals is the subject of this week’s Try This Tuesday over at 5 Minutes for Special [...]

By: Cale

Cale — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:27:21 +0000

I think once the individual reaches the teen years, it becomes more complicated. My friend’s school sends a letter home with the students each day listing behavioral transgressions and assignments to be completed. This must be signed by a parent and turned in each day (he’s in a special school for teens with psych issues). This has never been successful because he can easily forge his parent’s signature/pay off a sibling to sign it for him.

By: Maddy

Maddy — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 04:16:32 +0000

I like the idea of e-mailing all the team members to stay on track.

Mine both get a daily report from the school to me which tracks their behaviour [not there academics - who care about that!] It’s a tick box with a scale of one to 5 about how they performed e.g. managed to remain in seat most of the time / some of the time / flat on the floor as much as possible wailing…….well, you know what I mean.

Often they’ll write a note at the bottom about something special that happened [not always 'bad'] that may affect their after school / home behaviour e.g. bonked head when fell out of chair……
Cheers