Priorities

I remember what it was like to be a first year teacher.  I was worried about many, many important things.  Take for example, the ambience created by the fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling of my first classroom.  The presence or absence of a horseshoe table to lead guided reading could lead to my students' success or failure.  The fact that the classroom rug looked like it was original to the building's dedication.  

Now, looking back at that idealistic, literal thinker, I realize that my knowledge of what to make a priority when looking to start off a successful school year has changed drastically.  

If I could share any hack for beginning of the school year it would include these lists.  I would offer this disclaimer, I'm currently teaching a 3rd grade inclusion/cotaught classroom.  I used to teach an instructional (self-contained) classroom in a public school  I would say I use the same, if not similar list of priorities for both settings.  However, some modifications which pertain to both settings naturally occur.

Priorities for Student Success

•   Find a good screener(s) for Literacy and Numeracy skills/ Sight word/ Fluency. (Sometimes, if all else fails, your school's assessment program can work well. I've used AIMSWEB across multiple settings and it has some screeners that will allow you a good couple of data points.) Sight Word and Reading or Math Fluency are also two skills that you may find you need to track.

•   Find a one-stop shop organizational system for tracking student data. I tend to look for these on Teachers-Pay-Teachers.com .

•  Create Student Data binders/folders - This step comes into play after you've given some tests to your students.  You can decide which skills need tracking and include those in your data binders.  For instance, one student will need Fluency and Comprehension, while another may just need Sight Words and Fluency.

•   Find a spot for these binders/folders to be stored. Students should be learning your routines and procedures within the first weeks of school and will need to store these binders in a safe place because they will be the ones keeping track of their data during their goal conferences with the teacher. These binders/folders give the student ownership and a visual to help them see that they're working towards achieving a goal.

I realize that I just mentioned goal setting and conferences.  That's another part of my priorities when thinking through longer term goals that I have for my student success plans. 

My first priority though, as a special education service provider is to understand where each of my students are currently functioning across multiple domains (academic, social, emotional, etc.) and then to develop a plan to help them achieve their current objectives as well as challenge them to meet more appropriate, proximally developed and rigorous goals that enable them to aim as high as the sky!

Cheers! Courage! 
Francine