It’s the same feeling every year – I put on my Halloween top to go to work, come home, go to bed, and wake up the next day realizing it’s MAY. OK – A slight exaggeration, but I know my fellow teachers get what I’m saying. No matter how long the school year feels, the end is here before we even know it.
It never fails. Around mid-May I find myself scrambling to collect data on my students to share with their upcoming case managers. I also find myself receiving information, on students who will be joining my roster next year, and then having to remember where I placed it come August.
At the beginning of this current school year I decided I was going to end this year differently than I have been for the past 9 years. I created IEP Flip Books at the beginning of this current school year, that’s coming quickly to an end, so I knew what information I wanted and needed to know for my new roster students next year. Yes – I can just look at their IEPs, but I like to have a physical copy of information about my students kept at my finger tips, for whenever I am planning over my summer months.
These “flip books” aren’t like the “at a glance” sheets I keep at my desk, or IEP information sheets I send to the regular education teachers. These are detailed flip books filled out by special education teachers, to then be used by special education teachers. It’s an easy to use resource that allows the previous case manager a chance to introduce special education students that were previously on their rosters, to you! I’d like to think of these as a way to eliminate hundreds of email and phone calls asking about a particular student. Please Note: I said hundreds of emails and phone calls – not ALL of them, haha!
Before I get started, there are two different flip book options: upper grades flip book and lower grades flip book…. but I’ll get more into detail about the two as I go on. Each flip book comes in color or in black & white. Print in black & white on color paper or on plain white paper. When printed in color on white paper, the tabs really pop out! The lower grades flip book comes with two cover options – 1 boy cover and 1 girl cover.
This flip book is made up of 7 pages (tabs)…
Student Info
For this page I fill in student information I find to be incredibly important to know about the student within a school year. The page is made up of information found in the student’s IEP that’s important, as well as information I feel should be passed along to the next case manager – based on the past year(s) of experience I’ve had with the student.
IEP Notes
When receiving this page from a previous case manager, I know it will be full of ALL important IEP information I can keep with me as a planning guide for the next school year. Case Managers are able to fill out the most current IEP meeting date, the student’s diagnosis, special considerations to be aware of, present levels of academic achievement, present levels of functional performance, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Nearly all pages in the flip book include an “Additional Notes” box, in the chance I have left something out.
Inside the Classroom
This page is probably my favorite, only because it eliminates SO MUCH stress for myself for next year. I can read a student’s IEP until I’m blue in the face. I can even take notes about what I read. But sometimes I still ask myself after just finishing reading an IEP, “is this student pull-out or fully included?” SO much information to take in. However, now I have all of this information at my finger tips before the start of the next school year. This page informs me of a student’s educational placement, grades for the year, classroom accommodations & modifications, and any related services they might have received. I have also created this page to include two options for use – by quarters and by trimesters.
14 Years and Older/Tracking Academic Levels
This is where the slight difference between the upper grades flip book and the lower grades flip book happens. I consider upper grades 6th – 12th, due to students turning 14. The upper grades flip book comes with transition information. If a student will be turing 14 years old sometime during the duration of the current IEP, the new case manager will be well aware. The new case manager will also be aware of transition goals and services that have been going on, or have just started.
Those students 13 years old and younger fall in to the lower grades flip book. This page is designed to track the students most current academic levels, to help with planning and preparing for the upcoming year. Academic levels that are tracking include letters, sight words, numbers, math facts, etc. There is also a place to record ability levels and grade equivalencies for certain academic areas.
Goals
I like knowing my students goals a decent amount of time before the school year begins. I like being able to prepare for how I plan on measuring and collecting data, well before I actually begin doing it. There are two different options for goal pages included. The first option lets you write the goal, take notes on progress toward the goal, describe how progress was previously measured, as well as when progress was reported to the parent(s)/guardian(s). The second option allows you to so all of that again, but you can also write and record objectives to go with each goal.
Student Survey
I really wanted to personalize each students’ flip book so their next year’s case manager would really get to know them. I created these student surveys to do just that. Upper grades flip book has a different survey than the lower grades flip book. This is only because of the different ages/grade levels. Some of the information is the same, while other information is geared more towards their levels.
Extra Info
This is it – the last page! And guess what, it’s TOTALLY blank. This is where I can add any additional notes I want the case manager next year to know, that might have been missed in the pages before. I have also included this page as an editable Powerpoint slide, for if you decide you want to customize a page in your flip book to better fit your own personal needs.
For ONCE it’s nearing mid-May and I’m not stressed at all. I have my flip books nearly all filled out and ready to give to next year’s case managers. I hope my newest method of tackling the end of the school year provides you with some help for tackling yours as well! You can find both flip books in my TpT shop – Charley’s Classroom. I hope everyone who is coming to the end of their school year, like I am, has a street free one! Or as stress free ending as one can get!
