I.E.P. Meetings Fall Semester 2013

Individual Education Planning or I.E.P Meetings: Fall Semester

When

Week One

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Week Two

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Who attends: usually

parent/guardian

student: opportunity to learn to advocate for themselves and be part of the process

5 classroom teachers per semester: math, English, science, social studies and physical education as well as complementary classes like art and metals.

resource teacher 

sometimes other important people in a student's life such as,

counsellors

social workers

What: The Agenda

A) Progress: how things are going with the course so far

B)Student strengths: those qualities a student displays that is leading to successfully obtaining the credit, such as using class time well, arriving to class on time, good attendance,participating in discussions etc.

The student, parent and teacher share information about what they each feel is a strength

C) Student Challenges: this depends upon each individual student

sometimes student choices that make it harder for the student to obtain the credit such as arriving late to class, not attending classes, time management of class time etc.

sometimes the course moves quickly so the student requires extra time to complete identified tasks, tests etc. 

sometimes the course notes need to be provided to the student as they may not write quickly enough or well enough to use their own notes to study for a test

sometimes the student requires a reminder to record homework or pass in homework 

C) What can we do to better face these challenges, what does the student need to succeed?

Based upon the challenges above and input from the student as well as the teachers the following things help the student.  We call them adaptations. These are only a couple of the many adaptations that can be chosen and agreed upon for use in the classroom during the IEP meeting.

extra time,     copy of the notes,  reminders to hand in homework,  watch set to beep when it is time to go to class,

D) These solutions to facing challenges lead to goals the student can work towards each semester in each course.

Ex. If a student struggles with arriving late then we could write a goal.  Johnny will set his watch to beep when it is time to go to class and arrive to class no later than 5 minutes after the bell for the first 2 weeks, than arrive no later than 3 minutes after the bell for the next 2 weeks, than no later than 1 minute late with the final goal to arrive on time for the rest of the semester of fall 2013.

The goal of course is to get to class on time as soon as possible.

E)The meeting ends with the IEP signed by everyone present and the next meeting date set for the winter semester.

Welcome Back M.B.C.I. Students & Parents: The first week, Days 1,2,3

September 5, 2013

SA. Meetings usually the Wednesday of the first week of September each fall.

Grade 9-12 students arrive their first day and spend an hour with their SA/Homeroom teacher.

Student fees are collected from students.
Locker numbers and lock codes handed out to students.
Computer sheet with password and maplewood access is given to students.
Parents can access maplewood to see student attendance and marks.

Hand out M.B.C.I. Booklet of school rules and the dates of important events.
Review M.B.C.I. Attendance Policy
Review M.B.C.I. Late Policy
Review dress code
Review student responsibilities for their own learning as a high school student.
Review teacher's role to deliver content and guide students.
Review semester timelines 4 months versus 10 to obtain a credit as compared to middle school.
Review importance of students asking for assistance when a situation or assignment finds a student stalled and unable to proceed; pretending the problem is not there or delaying seeking help won't solve the problem or get the assignment completed and can actually cause a student to lose a credit.


Fall Schedules are handed out to students and forms are provided for students who need to change their schedule.  

Students have two days to make all changes to their schedule.  After this deadline administrative permission is required to make schedule changes to timetables.

Currently the deadline to change timetables is Friday, September 6, 2013.

Credit Tracking sheet that: Once the students look at their history of credit sheet, they can record the credits they have obtained and track their progress.  They can better see what they need to obtain their high school diploma.

Provincial High School Diploma: 30 credits
M.B.C.I.  High School Diploma: 33 credits

At 10:00 a.m. grade 10-12 students are released and classes start the following day.

Grade 9 students and students new to M.B.C.I.  stay for orientation to high school. Students are dismissed after orientation and start class the next day.

Day 2: Classes Start 

Day 2: The first day of classes usually the first Thursday of the first week in September.

Course syllabus handed out: this describes how the course will be broken down with regards to daily work, assignments, quizzes, tests and exams.  Often each section is assigned a percentage of how much it is worth to the course overall.

Course Expectations for students to obtain the credit
textbooks handed out

Be prepared: bring supplies this day as lessons can start right away.

Day 3: The 2nd day of classes usually the Friday of the first week of September.

It is not uncommon for class lessons to start immediately on the first day and the world of homework and assignments starts right away.  High school students will have homework.

An important note...
There is no such thing as "No Homework" for high school students, they simply have too much text to read such as the chapters they are working on in science and social studies and content the teacher provides with the textbooks. There are novels, short stories etc as well not to mention many new words to define. After all a credit is completed in 4 months not 10 months!

Study Habits and Memory
Students need to review daily what they learned in class and study on a regular basis so that they can remember and use the information for quizzes, tests, final exams and more importantly to learn new things in school.

 Studying a day or two before the test leads to high levels of stress and anxiety.  Our brains do not learn or remember this way.  A student may be able to cram and get a good grade but the information is only stored in the brain's short term memory. When a student needs to use that information again to learn the next level or next thing they tend to struggle even more.

Students, therefore, need to study on a regular basis so that their brains can put that information into the long term memory where it will stay and where it is available to them to use again in the future. A student learns new content and learns to use that content much more easily when they can draw on the information from their long term memory.  Students who review what they learn daily and study regularly experience less stress and very little to no anxiety in quiz, test, and exam situations. This is a scientifically proven fact... .