We are planning to re-vamp our SPED department next year. This year, I am teaching five English 6 classes and “watching” 160 students in our programs, preparations for SOL testing, Stanford testing, 18 SPED teachers and 9 assistants including department meetings, attending 5th grade IEP from 5 elementary schools who will attent out middle school nextyear, a caseload of my own, and all the paper work you can imagine. I would be very interested to hear how other counties setup their departments. Please share with me.
Hi, Nancy!
Well, I know from seeing the letters S-O-L, that you are teaching in VA. I am an ex ed dept chair at a VA high school. I was able to ask for and (receive!) an extra planning period this year. Maybe you can try that. I also have been helped by asking another teacher and one assistant for LOTS of assistance. I don’t know what I would do without them. Is it possible to delegate some of the workload? Are you using your assistants in the most productive way possible? Unfortunately, those are the only suggestions I have. I do have empathy, though. Tomorrow is the first day back after Spring Break and I’m already feeling nauseous and headache - y just thinking about it!