As a teacher of Middle School Self-Contained Life Skills, each of my students has an individualized plan for their education. As a Sped teacher, you are probably (definitely) in the same boat. Keeping all your information and data for each student can feel tricky, but it doesn’t have to be hard to stay organized when it comes time to attend ARD meetings. Pro tip: the IEP Binder!
I keep a binder that is a lot of things rolled into one. It is like an Emergency Binder, a Sub Binder, and an IEP Binder 3-in-1.
Here are the things I keep in my Middle School Special Education IEP Binder!
School and Emergency Information
In front of my IEP Binder is information about our school. If an emergency sub needed information about our class and how it runs, this can be found in the front. I have the following:
- School Calendar
- List of important phone numbers
- Ways we conduct emergency drills
- Daily classroom schedule
This section of an IEP Binder is not completely necessary, but I’ve included it as an “emergency” section in the off chance that new personnel come in and need all the school information. I’ve also included extra work and resources like the First 10 Days resource. It will come in handy when I go on maternity leave this year! You could always create a separate sub binder for this purpose, too.
(Need some strategies to navigate maternity leave as a Special Education teacher? Check out this blog for some tips!)
Basic Student Information
You will need the basics about your students in your binder. Some examples include:
- List of current students and their grade levels
- When students’ annual ARDs are due (you can prep your calendar early!)
- Student Profile Sheet
- Student ID #s for lunch or computer logins
- Important health information for students with Health Plans
Planning and Goal Development
Possibly the most important section of my IEP Binder is where I keep information for upcoming ARD meetings and writing IEPs! This section would have resources for writing Present Levels, where you include student strengths and weaknesses and input from other service providers who work with your student. These are important documents you bring as the teacher; a student’s Individualized Education Plan should be written based on their specific needs.
- Student profiles
- Areas of Strength
- Areas of Need
- IEP at a glance
- Goal planning sheets
All of these resources are available in the Simple IEP Planner resource from the shop!
Communication and Collaboration Tools
Collaboration among the ARD Committee is essential. I include resources to gather information from other service providers and parents on my students’ current levels, so that I can compare them with what we see in the classroom. Remember, parents are a vital part of the team as well!
- Parent surveys
- Team input surveys
- Parent contact log
- IEP team contact sheet
- IEP team contact information
Meeting Prep and Documentation
Preparing to invite the ARD committee may or may not be a part of what you do as the teacher. If you need to remind others, track who is in the meeting, or just take notes that you can refer to after the meeting has concluded, use some of these resources for prep and documentation.
- IEP reminder sheets
- IEP meeting things to remember
- IEP sign-in sheet
- Meeting notes
You get to decide what is important for you to keep in your IEP Binder! Middle school or not, keeping a binder like this is a smart and practical way to stay organized and proactive throughout the IEP process! It can also help you collaborate with others, prepare you for meetings, and just reduce your stress! We all know that is a win for us educators!
