Grade 5 IEP (staff)

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<<< OK, there will be multiple posts on the Grade 5 IEP, otherwise it will be so long, nobody would ever finish. >>>

It went well!  We were finished in four hours.  That’s pretty much unheard of for me. 

The main thing I took away from Maddie’s meeting was how important people are.  We  did a MAPS session, part of which includes listing what Maddie needs to have a successful year.   I suggested “a caring teacher, who sees her possibility, who believes in her”.  That sparked a bit of a discussion about how important having the right staff is, how the current teacher and the receiving teacher really treat their classrooms like a family, the way having a child with a disability changes the dynamics of the classroom, the benefits to other students. 

This may be wrong, but I LOVE it when the current year teacher cries.  It shows that they’ve made this personal connection with Maddie and see the value in her is, that they care about her. 

During the IEP, we had a discussion about testing, and I was surprised to find out that the tests Maddie had been taking in class were not modified at (ie the content was the same) but the format was accommodated (ie looks different).  I was disappointed in myself because I thought these A’s and B’s she was bringing home were for adapted work, not the real fourth grade curriculum.   I should have been a lot prouder of her!

At the end of the IEP, I like to say “something” to the team members.  

“Because I live a lot of the time in the world of Angelman Syndrome, and spend a lot of time talking with other parents about Angelman Syndrome, I don’t think the team really gets how amazing Maddie really is.  The things she is doing, like reading and learning about types of rocks and fractions, its pretty much unheard of.  And I don’t think she is doing this because she is particularly lucky or high functioning or because I am just all that amazing of a parent, but because she has people who believe in her, who give her the opportunity to learn, who have high expectations for her.  I appreciate everyone’s efforts with Maddie this year.  Thank you.”

 

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