Example of One of My Social Studies Blog Posts: What You Can Learn at an IEP Meeting

Being a Gen Ed teacher at an IEP meeting can be a valuable learning experience...

In my old district, we were most often selected to attend the IEP meetings for Special Education students who were in our own classes. This was obviously a valuable experience because, in a way, these meetings acted as an extra parent/teacher conference.

In my current district, general education teachers are randomly selected to attend IEP meetings to fulfill the state requirement. Many general educators are confused about their role at IEP meetings -- they don't know the student or the family and they do not have any personal input to provide. 

Recently, I was invited to attend an Annual Review meeting like this for a student I didn't know. And, as with *every single IEP meeting I have ever attended*, I learned a few things:

• By listening to the student's case manager, I learned more about the role of Special Ed facilitators in our building and how they help students
• I learned all about the role of Illinois Student Assistance Commission and how they work with our students to help them fill out their FAFSAs and understand the process of getting financial aid
• I learned a lot more about the process and rules for Triton College admissions
• I found out that it is to students' advantage to apply for aid early, as grant money is first-come, first-served
• Triton has a variety of financial incentives for students with high GPAs from their incoming high schools and for their own students who maintain high GPAs
• With the other professionals at the table, we advised the senior SPED student and her mother about how many hours she could expect to have free to work her job while in school
• I learned about a cool website that can help students get information about a ton of colleges 

But most of all.... I learned about a beautiful success story. This annual review was for a young lady who had faced many challenges throughout her four years in terms of learning issues and language barriers. As a senior, she sat before us as a poised, confident young woman with a strong GPA and big plans for the future.

I was so happy that I got to be a part of that meeting.  While not all IEP meetings will be the same as the one I attended, they all serve as a way for general education teachers to learn about the Special Education population and many other areas of our profession.  I urge you to take the same attitude with any meetings you have coming up on your schedule:)