April 19, 2024 • 16 mins
In this captivating continuation of the Fast 15 podcast, we delve deeper into the world of special education with the remarkable Catherine Whitcher, a passionate advocate with over two decades of experience. Catherine sheds light on the transformative concept of Master IEP Coach®, a groundbreaking program designed to facilitate collaboration among parents, teachers, administrators, and therapists in crafting effective Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). Through engaging discussion, Catherine underscores the vital role of teamwork in special education and unveils the wealth of mentorship opportunities available through the Master IEP Coach® program, including a comprehensive online course, monthly group coaching sessions, and personalized guidance directly from Catherine herself.
Key Takeaways:
- Deep Dive into Master IEP Coach Mentorship: Discover the comprehensive mentorship program designed to empower educators, parents, and therapists in creating impactful IEPs.
- Interactive Learning and Personalized Support: Explore the dynamic learning experiences and individualized support offered through the Master IEP Coach program.
- The IEP Development Assessment Wheel: A Game-Changer: Learn about Catherine's innovative tool for streamlining the IEP process and maximizing effectiveness.
In addition to our enlightening discussion with Catherine, we also take a moment to acknowledge the invaluable support of Specially Designed Education Services (SDES) and their forthcoming Functional Academics program, poised to revolutionize special education classrooms.
Episode Highlights:
- Welcome & Introduction to Catherine Whitcher's Journey
- Deep Dive into Master IEP Coach Mentorship
- Interactive Learning and Personalized Support
- The IEP Development Assessment Wheel: A Game-Changer
- Sponsor Break: SDES's Functional Academics Program
- The Power of Knowledge: Avoiding Common IEP Mistakes
- Empowering Educators and Parents in the IEP Process
- Final Thoughts and Advice for First-Year Teachers
- Closing Remarks and Sponsor Acknowledgment
Barbara Beck is the host of the FAST 15 Podcast. She is a highly dedicated Disability Advocate and Special Education Consultant specializing in IEP Transition Services. Barbara has an extensive background as a special education teacher spanning nearly 30 years. She has dedicated her career to empowering transition-age youth and fostering positive post-school outcomes.
Barbara's expertise lies in providing comprehensive support and guidance to students with disabilities, ensuring their successful transition from school to adult life. She possesses a deep understanding of secondary services and possesses the skills to develop tailored strategies that maximize individual potential.
For more information and resources on special education school-to-adulthood transition planning and independent living, visit www.mykeyplans.com. Join us on social media for updates, behind-the-scenes content, and discussions about special education, inclusion, and disability advocacy. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and use #IEPLaunchpadPodcast to join the conversation. Thank you for tuning in to the IEP Launchpad Podcast! 🎧🎙️#IDD #teaching #specialed #specialneeds #InclusionMatters #DisabilityAdvocacy #EmpowerVoices #edtech, #education #edtech, #teachers
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Barb Beck (00:02):
Welcome to the Fast 15.
Today we're continuing ourconversation with Catherine
Whitcher.
For over 20 years Catherine hasbeen sitting at IEP tables
helping parents, teachers andteams, walking them through
courses and mentoring championin the field of special
(00:24):
education.
If you missed part one lastweek, be sure to catch up on
that first episode.
But today you're in for a treat.
Let's pick up where we left offand continue our enlightening
discussion with Catherine.
I really wanted our listenersto know about in the first
episode if you didn't catch it,make sure you do listen to the
(00:44):
kind of the background, thestory and some of the really
impactful situations that,Catherine, you've been involved
with with families through manyyears and just helping them
through the Master IEP Coach.
But I wanted a chance for ourlisteners to know more specifics
about your team, how youapproach, maybe from start, all
(01:07):
the way through.
What's the format?
and some of the key componentsof what you're doing.
Catherine Whitcher (01:12):
Yeah, yeah, I think I'll answer some of the
quick questions that I know I'mgoing to get.
So, just like people don't haveto say, wait, I wonder if okay.
So first thing is people askcan I call myself a master IP
coach?
Like, do you have a program,Catherine?
We're like yes, that's exactlywhat this is.
This is where you get to becomea master IEP coach.
Now some become a master IEPcoach because they want to help
(01:33):
themselves at the IEP table.
Remember, I said in the firstepisode that master IEP coach is
all about parents, teachers,admins and therapists working
together.
It's all about them learningtogether, working together,
developing IEPs together, whichmeans that the Master IEP Coach
Mentorship, which is our coreplace where you want to be is
(01:53):
inside the mentorship.
That's where parents, teachers,admins and therapists become a
Master IEP Coach for themselves.
And they're like I just want tolevel up my leadership at the
IEP table for my own child orfor my own students, or for my
own team.
Or you want to do this not justfor your own family or your own
students, but you want to helpothers too.
(02:15):
And, yes, teachers, if you'relistening to this and you're
like can I really be a master IPcoach and keep my job?
Yes, absolutely.
We've schools that enroll theirteachers to become a master, I
think, because they want this intheir school and they're not
sad about you going out andhelping families do things
collaboratively.
The more collaborative voiceswe have, the better, and so we
have parents, teachers, admintherapists for yourself or to go
(02:38):
and help other people theformat of it Now.
I'm a teacher by nature, right,and I grew up in the disability
community, which means thatthis is built for the busiest
people.
I know who needs information,but you need to have it in the
way that works best for you.
Barb Beck (02:53):
A hundred percent.
Catherine Whitcher (02:54):
Yes, right, like you just have to have it.
It has to fit into your life.
This shouldn't be somethingextra.
This should be something thatyou do that actually gives you
more space in your life, a valueadd.
Yes, yes, absolutely so.
There's an online course that'sall self-paced.
I actually give you 25 years ofall of my tools, strategies,
methods, all of those things andI put them into an online
(03:16):
course.
I'll share a few of the kind ofhighlights in there in a minute
, but it's just know like I canlog in and I can just start
learning.
Awesome.
I also have for you monthlygroup live coaching, so I'm
always updating.
So those replays then go intothe course of you know, let's do
a collaborative writing sessionon how you can write effective
(03:38):
letters and emails between theIEP team, because written
communication, that's where it'sat right.
All the time we got to get itright.
Barb Beck (03:44):
Well, we have to.
I mean, we need to get it rightfor sure on paper, any written
communication that can be usedto support the work that you're
doing, and also, if there arequestions and legalities, that
has to stand in a really solidway and in positive light.
Catherine Whitcher (04:02):
Absolutely so.
That's, for example, one of thelive sessions that I'll run is
this you know, kind of likewe're co-writing together and
I'm sharing with you how to doall of these things as a teacher
, as a parent, and put all ofthis together so you get this
live group coaching.
You can ask me questions whilewe're live group coaching.
But my favorite part I'm goingto be honest about my favorite,
favorite favorite part Do itno-transcript where I want to
(04:51):
make sure that you are gettingexactly what you need from this
mentorship.
I have a real struggle withgeneric IEP trainings.
If you can Google it, that'sokay.
Right, Like I don't need morethan Google.
So this is the mentorship andall the master IP coach things,
and this is where I'm going toshare one of my favorite pieces.
(05:12):
That's inside of the course.
I developed a tool that'scalled the IEP development
assessment wheel.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Okay, let's hear about that for a while.
Catherine Whitcher (05:20):
You're like give me a tool, right, give me a
tool that I can use.
So what happens is teachers aregiven IEP software right, like
here, like check the boxes, fillin the things.
This is what you need to do.
Parents are given legal books,google, facebook groups that
give out not so great advice.
(05:41):
They're given this kind ofeclectic material, kind of
thrown at them of this is howyou develop an IEP.
So what I did is I took theentire IEP process and I broke
it down into eight sections.
It's in the shape of a wheel,okay, and I've given you five
checkpoints in each session,each section, which means that
(06:03):
you get to go look at, forexample, iep goals and look at
five key parts of IEP goals andsay does this meet the standard
of?
This?
Is a good IEP?
Because we don't know asteachers, especially when we're
beginning our careers, we haveno idea what a good IEP is.
Barb Beck (06:23):
Well, listeners, if you're like me, when I started
teaching, I knew next to nothingabout IEPs how to gather the
right data around goals and doestablished reports to help my
IEP team have a clear vision andeffectively engage in progress
monitoring.
We're going to take a quickbreak to hear from our sponsor,
sdes.
(06:43):
They are coming out with anincredibly valuable data
collection tool to support us inthe IEP process.
Have you heard of FunctionalAcademics by SDES?
Their collaborative effortswith educators and families are
paving the way for a moreinclusive and supportive
learning environment.
Stay tuned for more details.
(07:04):
In this brief word from oursponsors.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Functional Academics by SDES's collaborative work
with educators and families,just like you, provides an
in-depth understanding of yourneeds in the community we serve.
You've asked, we listen, it'scoming.
Stay tuned with more to come atSDESWorkscom.
Barb Beck (07:28):
Thank you, SDES, for your continued commitment to
innovative approaches tobuilding functional academics in
our special educationclassrooms and for your support
of our FAST-15 champions.
Now let's get back to thisepisode and our conversation.
Catherine Whitcher (07:45):
Parents don't know what a good IEP is,
but I've been doing this for 25years and there's been
definitely kind of I'm going tocall them almost like repeat
offenders right Up, like you'relike this is still missing and
this is still missing again andwe still need to do this.
And I'm like yeah, yeah, I'mlike it's still happening, it's
still happening.
So if we can just take theserepeat mistakes and say let's
(08:07):
just break them all down into asystem that says if you have
this, you're doing good, if not,this is a mistake we can fix,
right, right.
And that's where, all of asudden, teachers are like oh my
gosh, I didn't even realize,like how much more I could have
done.
And it's done in a way wherethey're like this is exciting,
because I knew I was secondguessing myself, I knew I was
(08:27):
missing something, but this ishow it's always been done and
that's what I call the repeat,because that's what we do in
special ed.
We just keep doing things theway they've been done and we
need to switch that up.
Barb Beck (08:37):
Exactly.
It mirrors the speciallydesigned aspect of what we're
doing with students.
Let's specially design that.
Whatever you're, you know theway that you're coaching up and
mentoring teachers is speciallydesigned to fit them.
And then also, what I loveabout that is that it takes away
the shame of it right?
I've been in the same space too, where I've sat there with an
(08:59):
administrator and they're takingme to task on what has been
written in the IEP.
When you don't have the timeand you are so overwhelmed and
you're just trying to do likeyou said, check the boxes, If
there's a tool that you cananchor to and go.
Oh, I just, I was too busy, Ididn't think of the thing.
But here it is.
(09:20):
It's helpful, it's supportive,it's a scaffold for the teacher.
Catherine Whitcher (09:25):
Right, that's exactly what it is.
And, like I said, there's allof these things that keep on
happening and I knew that I wasmaking those mistakes back when
I was a teacher.
Actually, I didn't know when Iwas making them, but I didn't
look back and say I made thosemistakes right, and coach
teachers and I'm like listen,you don't know what, you don't
know.
Like I totally get that.
(09:45):
This is how it's always beendone.
For example, esy is not just forregression.
That's a big thing, right.
So we say and people are likewhat do you mean?
My district has said ESY is forregression only.
Or parents have said I was toldthis and I'm like we're missing
a piece.
Let me show you exactly whereto look.
Like I didn't make this up.
(10:07):
I'm not a lawyer.
I can't give you legal advice,but I absolutely can show you
what the law says about ESY.
And all of a sudden thatmistake does not get made again
because now the parents and theteachers have the knowledge to
have that neutral conversationof the fact is like here's the
(10:27):
thing.
I don't want to argue overregression.
What I want to look at is ESYappropriate to support faith
inside this IEP and have all thecriteria have been considered.
Sounds real like oh, this issystematic.
Yeah, this is not an opinion,this is something that just
needs to get done.
Barb Beck (10:45):
Right, right.
And I think, too, you mentionedthe power for administrators as
well, helping to take thatpressure off.
Let's not just focus oncompliance, right, let's focus
on are we approaching theserelationships through the IEP
process in the mostcomprehensive, thorough and
(11:07):
dynamic way possible?
Yeah, right, where?
Where everybody's winning, butespecially the student.
Catherine Whitcher (11:13):
Yes, and that's where admins get really
excited when parents don't havecomplaints.
If you follow this processinside the Math for IB Coach
Mentorship, the very firstsection talks all about parent
input, and I designed parentinput in a way that it becomes
the guiding piece inside theIEPs.
(11:34):
Teachers can be in compliance,they can meet state standards,
they can do everything thattheir district is making them do
and they can meet the needs ofwhat is the priority of the
family.
And that goes way back to myroots that we talked about in
the first episode.
I called up the parents and Iwas like, hey, how do we need to
(11:56):
make this happen?
And to this day, 25 years later, I'm still teaching people to
do that.
Because what you see is thejust the anxiety, the stress,
the tension.
You see it start to melt away,and that doesn't mean that
everybody gets exactly what theywant at the table.
It's not sunshine, unicorns andrainbows, right Like.
(12:16):
That's not what we're talkingabout.
Barb Beck (12:18):
It's not going to be.
Catherine Whitcher (12:19):
About this process that makes it possible
to make decisions based on factsversus feelings, because
parents have a lot of feelings,teachers have a lot of feelings,
and it's time for us to, at onepoint, to say okay, I feel this
way, do you feel that way?
What do the facts say and howdo we move forward from here?
Barb Beck (12:43):
Oh, wow, you just said that so well and it makes
me want to.
I want to take your course, Iwant to be coached in that way
as well, and and then also to bemet a mentor for some of the
teachers that I get to work withand, yeah, so amazing.
I love just highlighting themaster IEP coach.
(13:04):
We're going to make sure thatall of the links to what people
would need to learn more are inthe show notes.
So if you're listening, makesure you do take a look at the
show notes to learn more.
But I want to come to the lastquestion that I have for you,
and we could continue to talk onand on, because you really are
so inspiring to me and I lovewhat you're doing with your
(13:26):
consulting and your coaching andmentoring.
Last question if you can goback to the very start, when
you've had the experience withyour family and the upbringing
and you're just getting into thefield right, and you're just
getting into the field right,what would you tell yourself or
(13:46):
first year teachers that arejust getting started?
Is there any word of advice oryour words of wisdom that you
would tell yourself and a firstyear teacher?
Catherine Whitcher (13:53):
Yeah, especially for the first year
teachers, and I can think backto all of the feelings that I
had walking in as a first yearteacher and kind of the
rollercoaster of emotions that Ihad during those first couple
of years just in specialeducation as a professional.
Um, don't let the system stealyour joy.
(14:15):
Oh yeah, you know what.
You became a teacher becauseyour heart wanted to do
something to make things better.
And the system is broken.
You are not broken as a teacher.
Parents, you are not broken.
Children are not broken.
Our school system is broken.
(14:37):
Yes, master, iep coach, we don'tfocus on fixing the system.
We work together on helpingeverybody function in this
broken system, because I don'thave time to fix the system, but
I have time to help people.
And I wish if, again, if thesystem tried to steal my joy and
(14:57):
I had this, I don't even knowif I can be in education.
I don't even know if I can dothis.
You know what?
Find your role that lets youkeep your joy so you can make
the difference that you want to.
Barb Beck (15:11):
Wow, yes, I love that .
Thank you so much for your timetoday, both this episode and
our first episode, and we justreally appreciate the time that
you gave up here with us and wejust wish you all the best.
I want to stay connected forsure in our work that we're
doing outside of just thispodcast, so we'll stay connected
(15:34):
and I hope to connect with youagain soon.
No, thank you so much forhaving me.
Thank you ensue.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
No, thank you so much for having me.
Thank you, a heartfelt thankyou to our generous sponsors,
specially Designed EducationServices, publishers of the
Functional Academics Program,please take a moment to learn
more about the only truecomprehensive functional
academics program that enablesstudents with moderate to severe
disabilities to improve theirability to live independently
and show meaningful growth bothacademically and personally,
(16:07):
while creating accountabilitywith data-driven, evidence-based
results.
Visit wwwsdesworkscom to learnmore.
Welcome to the Fast 15.
Today we're continuing ourconversation with Catherine
Whitcher.
For over 20 years Catherine hasbeen sitting at IEP tables
helping parents, teachers andteams, walking them through
courses and mentoring championin the field of special
(00:24):
education.
If you missed part one lastweek, be sure to catch up on
that first episode.
But today you're in for a treat.
Let's pick up where we left offand continue our enlightening
discussion with Catherine.
I really wanted our listenersto know about in the first
episode if you didn't catch it,make sure you do listen to the
(00:44):
kind of the background, thestory and some of the really
impactful situations that,Catherine, you've been involved
with with families through manyyears and just helping them
through the Master IEP Coach.
But I wanted a chance for ourlisteners to know more specifics
about your team, how youapproach, maybe from start, all
(01:07):
the way through.
What's the format?
and some of the key componentsof what you're doing.
Catherine Whitcher (01:12):
Yeah, yeah, I think I'll answer some of the
quick questions that I know I'mgoing to get.
So, just like people don't haveto say, wait, I wonder if okay.
So first thing is people askcan I call myself a master IP
coach?
Like, do you have a program,Catherine?
We're like yes, that's exactlywhat this is.
This is where you get to becomea master IEP coach.
Now some become a master IEPcoach because they want to help
(01:33):
themselves at the IEP table.
Remember, I said in the firstepisode that master IEP coach is
all about parents, teachers,admins and therapists working
together.
It's all about them learningtogether, working together,
developing IEPs together, whichmeans that the Master IEP Coach
Mentorship, which is our coreplace where you want to be is
(01:53):
inside the mentorship.
That's where parents, teachers,admins and therapists become a
Master IEP Coach for themselves.
And they're like I just want tolevel up my leadership at the
IEP table for my own child orfor my own students, or for my
own team.
Or you want to do this not justfor your own family or your own
students, but you want to helpothers too.
(02:15):
And, yes, teachers, if you'relistening to this and you're
like can I really be a master IPcoach and keep my job?
Yes, absolutely.
We've schools that enroll theirteachers to become a master, I
think, because they want this intheir school and they're not
sad about you going out andhelping families do things
collaboratively.
The more collaborative voiceswe have, the better, and so we
have parents, teachers, admintherapists for yourself or to go
(02:38):
and help other people theformat of it Now.
I'm a teacher by nature, right,and I grew up in the disability
community, which means thatthis is built for the busiest
people.
I know who needs information,but you need to have it in the
way that works best for you.
Barb Beck (02:53):
A hundred percent.
Catherine Whitcher (02:54):
Yes, right, like you just have to have it.
It has to fit into your life.
This shouldn't be somethingextra.
This should be something thatyou do that actually gives you
more space in your life, a valueadd.
Yes, yes, absolutely so.
There's an online course that'sall self-paced.
I actually give you 25 years ofall of my tools, strategies,
methods, all of those things andI put them into an online
(03:16):
course.
I'll share a few of the kind ofhighlights in there in a minute
, but it's just know like I canlog in and I can just start
learning.
Awesome.
I also have for you monthlygroup live coaching, so I'm
always updating.
So those replays then go intothe course of you know, let's do
a collaborative writing sessionon how you can write effective
(03:38):
letters and emails between theIEP team, because written
communication, that's where it'sat right.
All the time we got to get itright.
Barb Beck (03:44):
Well, we have to.
I mean, we need to get it rightfor sure on paper, any written
communication that can be usedto support the work that you're
doing, and also, if there arequestions and legalities, that
has to stand in a really solidway and in positive light.
Catherine Whitcher (04:02):
Absolutely so.
That's, for example, one of thelive sessions that I'll run is
this you know, kind of likewe're co-writing together and
I'm sharing with you how to doall of these things as a teacher
, as a parent, and put all ofthis together so you get this
live group coaching.
You can ask me questions whilewe're live group coaching.
But my favorite part I'm goingto be honest about my favorite,
favorite favorite part Do itno-transcript where I want to
(04:51):
make sure that you are gettingexactly what you need from this
mentorship.
I have a real struggle withgeneric IEP trainings.
If you can Google it, that'sokay.
Right, Like I don't need morethan Google.
So this is the mentorship andall the master IP coach things,
and this is where I'm going toshare one of my favorite pieces.
(05:12):
That's inside of the course.
I developed a tool that'scalled the IEP development
assessment wheel.
Speaker 3 (05:17):
Okay, let's hear about that for a while.
Catherine Whitcher (05:20):
You're like give me a tool, right, give me a
tool that I can use.
So what happens is teachers aregiven IEP software right, like
here, like check the boxes, fillin the things.
This is what you need to do.
Parents are given legal books,google, facebook groups that
give out not so great advice.
(05:41):
They're given this kind ofeclectic material, kind of
thrown at them of this is howyou develop an IEP.
So what I did is I took theentire IEP process and I broke
it down into eight sections.
It's in the shape of a wheel,okay, and I've given you five
checkpoints in each session,each section, which means that
(06:03):
you get to go look at, forexample, iep goals and look at
five key parts of IEP goals andsay does this meet the standard
of?
This?
Is a good IEP?
Because we don't know asteachers, especially when we're
beginning our careers, we haveno idea what a good IEP is.
Barb Beck (06:23):
Well, listeners, if you're like me, when I started
teaching, I knew next to nothingabout IEPs how to gather the
right data around goals and doestablished reports to help my
IEP team have a clear vision andeffectively engage in progress
monitoring.
We're going to take a quickbreak to hear from our sponsor,
sdes.
(06:43):
They are coming out with anincredibly valuable data
collection tool to support us inthe IEP process.
Have you heard of FunctionalAcademics by SDES?
Their collaborative effortswith educators and families are
paving the way for a moreinclusive and supportive
learning environment.
Stay tuned for more details.
(07:04):
In this brief word from oursponsors.
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Functional Academics by SDES's collaborative work
with educators and families,just like you, provides an
in-depth understanding of yourneeds in the community we serve.
You've asked, we listen, it'scoming.
Stay tuned with more to come atSDESWorkscom.
Barb Beck (07:28):
Thank you, SDES, for your continued commitment to
innovative approaches tobuilding functional academics in
our special educationclassrooms and for your support
of our FAST-15 champions.
Now let's get back to thisepisode and our conversation.
Catherine Whitcher (07:45):
Parents don't know what a good IEP is,
but I've been doing this for 25years and there's been
definitely kind of I'm going tocall them almost like repeat
offenders right Up, like you'relike this is still missing and
this is still missing again andwe still need to do this.
And I'm like yeah, yeah, I'mlike it's still happening, it's
still happening.
So if we can just take theserepeat mistakes and say let's
(08:07):
just break them all down into asystem that says if you have
this, you're doing good, if not,this is a mistake we can fix,
right, right.
And that's where, all of asudden, teachers are like oh my
gosh, I didn't even realize,like how much more I could have
done.
And it's done in a way wherethey're like this is exciting,
because I knew I was secondguessing myself, I knew I was
(08:27):
missing something, but this ishow it's always been done and
that's what I call the repeat,because that's what we do in
special ed.
We just keep doing things theway they've been done and we
need to switch that up.
Barb Beck (08:37):
Exactly.
It mirrors the speciallydesigned aspect of what we're
doing with students.
Let's specially design that.
Whatever you're, you know theway that you're coaching up and
mentoring teachers is speciallydesigned to fit them.
And then also, what I loveabout that is that it takes away
the shame of it right?
I've been in the same space too, where I've sat there with an
(08:59):
administrator and they're takingme to task on what has been
written in the IEP.
When you don't have the timeand you are so overwhelmed and
you're just trying to do likeyou said, check the boxes, If
there's a tool that you cananchor to and go.
Oh, I just, I was too busy, Ididn't think of the thing.
But here it is.
(09:20):
It's helpful, it's supportive,it's a scaffold for the teacher.
Catherine Whitcher (09:25):
Right, that's exactly what it is.
And, like I said, there's allof these things that keep on
happening and I knew that I wasmaking those mistakes back when
I was a teacher.
Actually, I didn't know when Iwas making them, but I didn't
look back and say I made thosemistakes right, and coach
teachers and I'm like listen,you don't know what, you don't
know.
Like I totally get that.
(09:45):
This is how it's always beendone.
For example, esy is not just forregression.
That's a big thing, right.
So we say and people are likewhat do you mean?
My district has said ESY is forregression only.
Or parents have said I was toldthis and I'm like we're missing
a piece.
Let me show you exactly whereto look.
Like I didn't make this up.
(10:07):
I'm not a lawyer.
I can't give you legal advice,but I absolutely can show you
what the law says about ESY.
And all of a sudden thatmistake does not get made again
because now the parents and theteachers have the knowledge to
have that neutral conversationof the fact is like here's the
(10:27):
thing.
I don't want to argue overregression.
What I want to look at is ESYappropriate to support faith
inside this IEP and have all thecriteria have been considered.
Sounds real like oh, this issystematic.
Yeah, this is not an opinion,this is something that just
needs to get done.
Barb Beck (10:45):
Right, right.
And I think, too, you mentionedthe power for administrators as
well, helping to take thatpressure off.
Let's not just focus oncompliance, right, let's focus
on are we approaching theserelationships through the IEP
process in the mostcomprehensive, thorough and
(11:07):
dynamic way possible?
Yeah, right, where?
Where everybody's winning, butespecially the student.
Catherine Whitcher (11:13):
Yes, and that's where admins get really
excited when parents don't havecomplaints.
If you follow this processinside the Math for IB Coach
Mentorship, the very firstsection talks all about parent
input, and I designed parentinput in a way that it becomes
the guiding piece inside theIEPs.
(11:34):
Teachers can be in compliance,they can meet state standards,
they can do everything thattheir district is making them do
and they can meet the needs ofwhat is the priority of the
family.
And that goes way back to myroots that we talked about in
the first episode.
I called up the parents and Iwas like, hey, how do we need to
(11:56):
make this happen?
And to this day, 25 years later, I'm still teaching people to
do that.
Because what you see is thejust the anxiety, the stress,
the tension.
You see it start to melt away,and that doesn't mean that
everybody gets exactly what theywant at the table.
It's not sunshine, unicorns andrainbows, right Like.
(12:16):
That's not what we're talkingabout.
Barb Beck (12:18):
It's not going to be.
Catherine Whitcher (12:19):
About this process that makes it possible
to make decisions based on factsversus feelings, because
parents have a lot of feelings,teachers have a lot of feelings,
and it's time for us to, at onepoint, to say okay, I feel this
way, do you feel that way?
What do the facts say and howdo we move forward from here?
Barb Beck (12:43):
Oh, wow, you just said that so well and it makes
me want to.
I want to take your course, Iwant to be coached in that way
as well, and and then also to bemet a mentor for some of the
teachers that I get to work withand, yeah, so amazing.
I love just highlighting themaster IEP coach.
(13:04):
We're going to make sure thatall of the links to what people
would need to learn more are inthe show notes.
So if you're listening, makesure you do take a look at the
show notes to learn more.
But I want to come to the lastquestion that I have for you,
and we could continue to talk onand on, because you really are
so inspiring to me and I lovewhat you're doing with your
(13:26):
consulting and your coaching andmentoring.
Last question if you can goback to the very start, when
you've had the experience withyour family and the upbringing
and you're just getting into thefield right, and you're just
getting into the field right,what would you tell yourself or
(13:46):
first year teachers that arejust getting started?
Is there any word of advice oryour words of wisdom that you
would tell yourself and a firstyear teacher?
Catherine Whitcher (13:53):
Yeah, especially for the first year
teachers, and I can think backto all of the feelings that I
had walking in as a first yearteacher and kind of the
rollercoaster of emotions that Ihad during those first couple
of years just in specialeducation as a professional.
Um, don't let the system stealyour joy.
(14:15):
Oh yeah, you know what.
You became a teacher becauseyour heart wanted to do
something to make things better.
And the system is broken.
You are not broken as a teacher.
Parents, you are not broken.
Children are not broken.
Our school system is broken.
(14:37):
Yes, master, iep coach, we don'tfocus on fixing the system.
We work together on helpingeverybody function in this
broken system, because I don'thave time to fix the system, but
I have time to help people.
And I wish if, again, if thesystem tried to steal my joy and
(14:57):
I had this, I don't even knowif I can be in education.
I don't even know if I can dothis.
You know what?
Find your role that lets youkeep your joy so you can make
the difference that you want to.
Barb Beck (15:11):
Wow, yes, I love that .
Thank you so much for your timetoday, both this episode and
our first episode, and we justreally appreciate the time that
you gave up here with us and wejust wish you all the best.
I want to stay connected forsure in our work that we're
doing outside of just thispodcast, so we'll stay connected
(15:34):
and I hope to connect with youagain soon.
No, thank you so much forhaving me.
Thank you ensue.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
No, thank you so much for having me.
Thank you, a heartfelt thankyou to our generous sponsors,
specially Designed EducationServices, publishers of the
Functional Academics Program,please take a moment to learn
more about the only truecomprehensive functional
academics program that enablesstudents with moderate to severe
disabilities to improve theirability to live independently
and show meaningful growth bothacademically and personally,
(16:07):
while creating accountabilitywith data-driven, evidence-based
results.
Visit wwwsdesworkscom to learnmore.
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