Scheduling and Such

The first thing that I do when I get into work this morning is call Florida about the student that just moved back into town.  I speak to someone in the special education department and ask questions about the IEP.  When I go over the academic program, asking about whether the student was in an inclusion or resource setting and ask what the term "direct instruction", I'm told that it means the teacher instructed him directly.  Really?  So the teacher didn't instruct him through a proxy?  How unusual.  Anyway, I found out that the student was in an inclusion program and that they would have provided a resource setting for language arts if they had had it.  Well, we have it so we'll give it.

I see my supervisor and we discuss what classes the student can go into.  I learn a new trick about our school information system which is an extra boost for me.  Once we have the student's schedule plotted out, I email the plan to the secretary at the school.

Oddly enough, my coworker and I head over to the school for an initial planning meeting.  We meet with the parent and it is fairly clear that testing is necessary.  Not only is the child's neurologist recommending it but the student's performance for the past several years also recommends testing.  So the paperwork is done and we are cleaning up the office to head on out for the day.  As we're getting ready to leave, the phone rings and it is the secretary saying that the schedule we sent just isn't possible because there is no place to put gym.  I speak to my supervisor again and after much gnashing of teeth and ringing of hands, we come up with a schedule.

This afternoon, I organize all our previous risk assessment write ups in a binder so that we have a reference to see if someone that has been recommended for a risk assessment has been seen before.  I also organize the kids that I'm scheduled to test and prepare my testing packets for them.  This takes me to the end of the day.

Brief highlights:

• A student at one of the elementary school, just having moved to the US from a foreign country, had never seen a fire alarm before so the student pulled it to see what happened.  It was not a good day for an entire school to be outside.
• A student was so upset at the prospect of being evaluated by the child study team that they cried and screamed so much that they threw up.
• An ESL teacher asked one of the child study team people why they couldn't refer a student for an evaluation.  The student has been in the US for two days.