or how do you know how to get where you are going if you don't know where you are?
The schedule looks like this
Sept/October - Meet the teacher/get to know the student and IPP meetings with parents
December - IPP updates and Learning Conversation with parents
January - Report card
end of March/April - IPP update and Learning Conversation with parents
June - IPP update/transition meetings and final report cards.
As I was a new teacher with 3 new students in a new school, it took some time to assess the students and write this year's IPPs.
CBE (Calgary Board of Education) encourages teachers in the CSSI program to use the ABLLS-R and AFLS as an assessment tool. I have been using the ABLLS since 2007 when I first met its author, Dr. J. Partington at a workshop in Vancouver.
The ABLLS-R allows me to pinpoint where a learner is and then serves as a curriculum guide to master the language, classroom-readiness, social, academic and self-help skills that most children have when they enter kindergarten. The skills are arranged into areas and simpler to more complex tasks. The ABLLS-R provides both the information that we need to develop our IPP goals and tracks the learner's progress. Although providing a comprehensive ABLLS-R assessment takes more individual time than is possible in a typical classroom setting, we can focus on the areas which are deemed most important by the parents, teacher and school district.
We take data throughout every day in our classroom. This means that we have a responsive classroom where we can make decisions to continue or change our own actions depending on student outcomes. Right now I am in the process of updating IPPs. April 1 and 2nd I will meet with parents to discuss their child's progress and plan for the third term. The year is moving very quickly!