Comments on: Special Ed teacher advice: Parent management

By: Dan Callahan

Dan Callahan — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 22:56:45 +0000

Oh, absolutely, if there’s even a hint that a meeting won’t go smoothly from start to finish, I make sure to schedule an administrator of some sort to be the LEA Representative. Again, this is where building that trust pays off, though. At the end of the year, I had a meeting with a “difficult” parent but we had talked so much during the year and she was so pleased with her child’s progress that I knew I wouldn’t need my Special Ed coordinator there. The Coordinator was pleasantly surprised when I told her we’d already had the meeting, and everything was fine.

Fortunately, I have a pretty good track record with productive IEP meetings, so that’s one of the things I think I’ll write a post about later in the year.
Dan Callahan´s last blog ..Special Ed teacher advice: Parent management

By: Karen Chichester

Karen Chichester — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 20:27:32 +0000

This is wonderful. I wish someone had given this to me when I transferred to HS Special Ed from HS English. I would have understood the importance of the parent perspective much sooner. I especially agree with your point about not taking parents anger personally. However, you will occasionally get a parent who will agree with you and then turn right around and complain to the administration. I would caution any new Special Ed teacher to make sure that they are doing everything exactly as stated in the IEP. This will allow the administrator to support you as you deal with this parent. I also suggest that if you have a parent like this, make sure that your administrator actually attends any meeting with that parent. This will save a lot of grief later. (In my area it is uncommon for HS administrators to actually attend IEPs – they are “too busy.”)

Speaking as a Special Ed parent, I would have been thrilled to have one of my son’s approach me personally before I approached them. I was fortunate that all of his special ed teachers were receptive to my input. You are right that most issues I had were with the school administration or the district. I only had to play the “remember what I do for a living card” a couple of times and they were both with a principal when she was trying to explain away an issue with a general ed teacher.
Karen Chichester´s last blog ..Not So Mysterious Voices – Thing 5

By: Paul Bogush

Paul Bogush — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:09:00 +0000

This is a little more formal than the phone call and story Q, but with larger # of kids this is what I use:
http://collaborationnation.wikispaces.com/Million+Words
Paul Bogush´s last blog ..Never question your power…

By: Nancy Stewart

Nancy Stewart — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 21:06:54 +0000

Pearls of wisdom here. So much of what you are saying is about building relationships – which is so essential to what we do. Good relationships with the parents and the child (and your administration, too) may be the most important ingredient for success in special ed. No parent chooses special education for their child and no child wants it. But there they find themselves with us, their teachers, as their guides. They need to know they can trust us.

We don’t have a before school ice-breaker at my school, but I also call every parent before school starts. It is so important that the first contact be positive, and it gives parents a chance to tell you their hopes for and worries about their child. I love Deven’s “tell me a favorite story” idea. I’ll join you in stealing that one.

And finally, hooray for you for saying, “Respect the parent’s perspective.” The parents are the child’s most important teachers. My three children have had some phenomenal teachers, but none of them knew my children better than I do. As a teacher, it’s easy to forget that.

Have a great school year, Dan.
Nancy Stewart´s last blog ..To Be Transparent or Not To Be

By: Dan Callahan

Dan Callahan — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 12:51:48 +0000

I love the “tell me your favorite story” idea. I’m totally going to steal that.
Dan Callahan´s last blog ..Special Ed teacher advice: Parent management

By: Deven Black

Deven Black — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 04:20:47 +0000

You are giving excellent advice, Dan. Establishing a good relationship with parents is an essential part of my practice.

I usually don’t get a class list until the day before the first day of school, so contacting parents before school starts is not an option, but I make a point of calling all parents during that first week.

When I call parents I introduce myself and ask them to tell me their favorite story about their child. The question always surprises the parent, but all parents love telling stories about their children. The stories are always funny and the parent and I laugh together. This establishes a positive relationship. I then give the parent my email address and cell-phone number, telling them I want to hear from them whenever they want to ask or tell me something, or when they have another story to share.

Once I establish that relationship, I work to maintain it. I call with good news whenever I can, send personal invitations to parent-teacher conferences, etc.

Teaching special education is a difficult job. It is much easier when you have the parents working with you instead of against you.
.
Deven Black´s last blog ..Incidental Learning