January 19, 2024 • 15 mins
Welcome to another episode of The FAST 15 podcast, where we deliver transformative tips and motivation for special educators in just 15 minutes. Sponsored by Specially Designed Education Services, publishers of The Functional Academics Program, this episode features Suzanne Fitzgerald, President and CEO of Specially Designed Education Services and author of the Functional Academics Program.
Key Points:
- Suzanne brings 30 years of diverse experience in special education to the conversation.
- The discussion is split into two parts, focusing on writing meaningful IEP goals in this episode and progressing to the benefits and challenges of progress monitoring in the next.
Guest Introduction:
- Suzanne's journey began as a peer tutor, evolving into a camp counselor for children with disabilities, eventually leading to roles in recreational, residential, and vocational settings.
- Her decision to teach was confirmed during a year as a paraeducator in the Seattle School District. She later earned her teaching certification and master's in special education from the University of Washington.
Four Pillars of Meaningful Goals:
- Social Connections: Suzanne emphasizes the need to prepare students for active social lives beyond school.
- Service Opportunities: Advocating for purpose, Suzanne questions the impact of a lifetime where everything is done for a person. She stresses the importance of preparing students for jobs or customized volunteer opportunities.
- Independence: Suzanne reflects on the significance of independence and autonomy in students' lives, irrespective of ability level.
- Collaboration: Drawing from her experiences, Suzanne underscores the importance of a support network and collaboration, especially for families with fewer resources.
Goal-Setting Process:
- Suzanne's process involves developing a lesson or activity related to critical aspects of life and formulating a goal based on that. She follows personal teaching guidelines, ensuring goals are functional, meaningful, age-appropriate, and designed to improve students' quality of life.
- The guidelines include asking critical questions such as "Why am I doing this?" and ensuring goals are SMART.
Family Involvement:
- Suzanne collaborates with families to ensure goals align with their perspectives and are reinforced across
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 #EmpowerVoic
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Today for the FAST 15 , we're excited to welcome the
President and CEO of speciallydesigned education services here
to talk about writingmeaningful goals with progress
monitoring Suzanne Fitzgerald's,author of the Functional
Academics Program and a formerspecial education teacher.
We had so much to discuss thatwe decided to break this into
(00:23):
two episodes.
Today, we'll talk about how andwhy we should write meaningful
IEP goals, and in part two,which will air next week, we
will discuss why we should takedata to support our IEP goals,
including the benefits and thechallenges of progress
monitoring.
So let's enjoy this FAST 15,diving into our conversation
(00:43):
with Suzanne.
Welcome, suzanne.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be here today.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Really happy to have you here, and so I wanted to
just talk about your 30 years ofexperience in special education
.
Throughout those 30 years,working with children and adults
with disabilities in a varietyof settings, you have a unique
perspective that you bring tospecial education.
Can you tell us a little bitabout this?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Absolutely.
I actually started out as apeer tutor in my high school
special education classroom andat that time, one of my
brother's best friend's mom wasthe director of Seattle Parks
and Recreation SpecializedPrograms.
She heard about what I wasdoing as a peer tutor and asked
if I would be interested inbecoming a camp counselor over
(01:31):
the summer.
I jumped at the opportunity andstarted what would be my
actually my first summer of nineas a camp counselor for
children with disabilities.
At that time, this was the onlycamp around that was known for
accepting any child, regardlessof their disability.
This meant that we had campersfrom literally all across the
state who had come to us forcamp.
(01:52):
We had four weeks of day campand four weeks of overnight camp
, so it was a wonderful respitefor parents and, in some cases,
really the only respite thatthey got Right.
Yeah, at that time I was theyoungest camp counselor and the
only one who was still in highschool, so I was worried.
I was way in over my head.
However, that opportunity endedup being the most challenging,
(02:16):
rewarding and definingexperience I have probably ever
had.
Okay, wow.
So hopefully it made me realizethat I wanted to work as an
advocate for people withdisabilities and their families
for a living, so I startedresearching what jobs and
degrees are out there for thiskind of work.
I ended up finding a program atWestern Washington University
(02:36):
that offered a bachelor's degreein human services.
This degree would allow me towork with people with
disabilities in a variety ofdifferent settings.
While I was getting my degree, Icontinued to work for Seattle
Parks during the summer.
During the school year, Iworked with adults with
disabilities in residential andvocational settings.
This continued after Igraduated from college, but
(02:58):
evolved into working more andmore with adults.
All of these experiencesallowed me to see what was
happening as children leave theschool system and what wasn't
happening, and I worked with somany different people in so many
different capacities that I wasspread very thin.
I really wanted to find a jobthat would allow me to make more
(03:19):
of a difference.
I wanted to get in on anotherlevel.
I decided I wanted to teach.
However, before I went back toschool to get my teaching
certification, I wanted to makeabsolutely certain that this is
what I wanted to do, so I becamea paraeducator for a year in
the Seattle School District.
That experience confirmed mydecision, so I applied to the
(03:39):
University of Washington, whereI received my teaching
certification and my master's inspecial ed, which has led me to
where I am today.
Okay, and then I've been luckyenough to spend all of my career
serving the disabilitycommunity, half in recreational,
residential and vocationalsettings and half in education.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
What a rich experience that you've had over
many years and fun to hear howall those different events led
to the next thing.
And what is it about your pastexperiences that really led to
you being firm in how youapproach writing meaningful
goals and good progressmonitoring?
(04:21):
Can you tell us a little bitabout that and why that has come
about?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Great question.
So getting to work with so manyindividuals in adult settings
and having hours upon hours ofconversations with family
members and service providersreally highlighted what was
critical for young adults withdisabilities when they exit the
school system.
These experiences are reallywhat drives the why we need
(04:49):
meaningful IEP goals.
I'll get to the how we writethem next, but first, why I want
every IEP goal that I write tobe functional and meaningful for
the individual child is toensure that I'm doing my part to
help my students live a lifethat includes social connections
, service opportunities.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, it's so important.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Service opportunities , independence and collaboration
OK, yeah, let me break thatdown a little bit.
That sounds good.
Connections so much of a personwith a disability's social life
is dependent on therelationships they have while in
school.
What happens when they graduateand go their separate ways?
Yeah, how do I increase mystudents' ability to make
(05:31):
connections so they have anactive social life after school?
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Yeah, that's huge.
Those are critical questionsthat I know parents ask.
The parents that I'm workingwith just always wonder what
does that connection look likeafter high school?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, Keep going.
So.
Service opportunities, whetherwork related or volunteer,
everyone needs a purpose.
This is especially true forpeople with the most complex
disabilities.
Right, what happens whenabsolutely everything is done to
and for a person their entirelife?
What if they are never giventhe chance to experience what
(06:08):
it's like to do something foranother person?
How can I, as a teacher, ensurethat my students are
contributing members of theircommunity after graduation?
How do I prepare my studentsfor a job?
Or how can I customizeemployment or volunteer
opportunities for my studentswith more unique needs, giving
back to their communities thatthey're in, exactly, and having
(06:29):
the opportunity to serve andhave a purpose and do it on
their own Exactly, or as much aspossible.
It can look different for everychild.
Independence, so I think aboutthat.
The actual meaning ofindependence is the state of
wanting or being able to dothings for yourself and make
your own decisions, without helpor influence from other people.
Okay, yeah, what would life belike without independence?
(06:52):
So, constantly I thinking abouthow am I making sure that my
students, regardless of abilitylevel, are being encouraged to
be as independent as possible inevery way possible?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Okay, yeah, and I think having the autonomy to do
those things and everybody wantsto make their own decisions,
exactly their own agency yes,absolutely Love that.
What else?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And then, finally, collaboration.
Okay, so the people that Iworked with, who attended our
recreational outings, or wholived in an apartment and
received support from me, or whoI coached at a job, all had one
major thing in common A hugenetwork of support and families
who had resources and knew howto advocate for their young
(07:40):
adult.
Okay, what happens with adultswith disabilities whose families
don't have the capacity toadvocate or weren't provided the
same opportunities or given thesame resources as those who I
worked with?
How do I, again, as a teacher,build relationships with
families so we can work togetherto support their child?
How can I help educate familiesabout resources that are
(08:02):
available once their childgraduates?
That's huge, yeah.
And how do I help my familiesmanage the here and now but also
prepare them for the changesthat are coming down the road
and having it?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
just you having a vision for those things.
Yes, yes.
And answering those questionsJust a really powerful component
to your teaching experience.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yes, it's there's, it's so holistic, yeah, and to
make sure I'm maximizing mystudents education so that they
can live a fulfilled life.
That's always the foundation ofwhy we need functional and
meaningful goals.
Really, armed with theseexperiences and questions, I
felt I feel like I have a prettygood handle on the why.
(08:44):
Okay, I should write meaningfulIEP goals.
So next, when I first startedteaching was figuring out how do
I do that Exactly?
Yeah, when I think about myjourney as a teacher would start
by coming up with a lesson oran activity related to one of
these critical aspects of life,and then from there I would
write a goal based from thatactivity.
(09:06):
So it'd be a goal thatincreases my students' ability
to make connections, or a goalthat teaches my students
valuable vocational skills, agoal that enhances or teaches
independence.
Then I would make sure thatgoal passed my personal teaching
guidelines.
So those teachers out there whohave been in one of my
(09:28):
trainings or if you've satthrough one of my demos, you've
heard me talk about theguidelines that the Functional
Academics Program was based on.
Those are the guidelines that Iused as a teacher in my own
classroom, not just for my IEPgoals, but really I tried to
live by those guidelines foreverything I was doing in my
classroom, gotcha.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And I think, like when you looked at every student
or every situation where youwant to take the student to or
see them progress towardwhatever that goal is.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
just having that filter in your mind all the time
, that mental checklist or aphysical checklist, I love that,
and one of the first and mostsimple questions that I would
ask myself is why am I doingthis?
Good question, but then if Ican't answer that, there's a
problem.
But often I can say why I'mdoing it, but then I need to go
further, because it's not justabout me, okay, and I love that
(10:20):
about you.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
That's how you come across to me.
All the time is, it's not aboutme and what I'm doing.
It's about other people and inthis instance, when you're
talking about your students,it's about them.
What's meaningful to their life, what is going to be functional
for them?
100%.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
But besides the obvious, when talking about IEP
goals, asking myself is this asmart goal?
Is the goal specific,measurable, attainable results
oriented and time bound?
I would ask myself thefollowing Is this goal
functional and meaningful forthe individual child?
What's functional for one kidmay look totally different for
another.
Is this something that thestudent will encounter on a
(10:59):
regular basis so they canpractice it and generalize it
beyond just the classroom andschool walls?
What's the point if you can'tExactly?
Is this skill age appropriate?
As Barb being a secondaryteacher, it can be so difficult
at times for us to find contentthat reaches our students at
their ability level, that isn'tchildish or babyish.
(11:19):
But there is stuff out thereand it's so important that we
are focusing on age appropriatecontent with our secondary level
students.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
They deserve that, as that gap widens from skill
level to age appropriate content.
Finding that is reallyimportant.
It has a lot to do with theirself-awareness, just how they
see themselves.
They're not kids anymore,Exactly yes.
So as they're becoming youngadults have things that are
(11:47):
matching or mirroring wherethey're at developmentally or
with age appropriate connections.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yes, and you said the word connections.
That's what's going to helpthem relate to their peers and
make those important connections, both socially and vocationally
, and everything else.
The next guideline is how willthis goal increase my students'
quality of life?
And is there a way for me toevaluate and adjust my
(12:14):
programming to make sure mystudent is making progress
toward their goal?
And then, after I go through mylittle checklist of guidelines,
if the goal meets all of thatcriteria, then the most
important question I ask myself,or make sure to confirm, is
does the family agree that thisis something we should spend our
(12:36):
time on at school, somethingthat we can all get behind?
So we're reinforcing it as muchas possible and in every
environment, because when we allwork together, that's when we
really start to see progress.
So powerful?
Yeah, absolutely so, and if so,then I feel pretty good and
pretty confident that I havewritten a meaningful IEP goal.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
So good to hear you say all of that process that you
go through and I have to tellyou that you are really in 30
years of teaching.
You're the only teacher friendthat I have that has been able
to articulate in that way yourfilter, your guidelines that you
go through when you're writinggoals.
I think it's such a greatmessage for any special
(13:19):
education teacher listening justto encourage you that yes, it
is possible to follow that kindof guideline to know that you're
writing meaningful, functionalgoals for your students.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Maybe sounds a little bit much or a little
overwhelming, but once you gettrained or in the routine of
kind of going through what is mypurpose and what, why?
What is it that my studentsneed and how do I support them?
And are we all on the same page, all of this stuff becomes just
natural and it becomes so mucheasier to go through that
(13:52):
checklist quickly.
So it's not something that youhave to sit there and spend
hours upon hours pondering.
It's a pretty quick process.
Just look at your checkpoints.
Does it meet those criteria?
If so, great.
This is something we shouldfocus our time and energy on.
Wonderful, love it.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
And I hope you loved hearing from Suzanne today on
our Fast 15.
That's it for now, but realquick.
Suzanne reminds us that IEPgoals should be functional and
relevant to the individual child, focusing on social connections
, service opportunities,independence and collaboration.
Our hope is that you areencouraged and that the goals
(14:27):
that you write, following thisformat, will help your students
live a fulfilled life andtransition successfully into
adulthood.
Don't forget to subscribe tothe Fast 15 and check back into
your podcast platform for parttwo of Writing Meaningful Goals,
where we will pick up theconversation and here Suzanne
discuss the critically importantaspect of writing goals
(14:50):
progress monitoring.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
A heartfelt thank you to our generous sponsors.
Specially designed educationservices.
Publishers of the FunctionalAcademics Program, please take a
moment to learn more about theonly true, comprehensive
Functional Academics Programthat enables students with
moderate to severe disabilitiesto improve their ability to live
independently and showmeaningful growth both
academically and personally,while creating accountability
(15:15):
with data-driven, evidence-basedresults.
Visit wwwsdesworkscom to learnmore.
Today for the FAST 15 , we're excited to welcome the
President and CEO of speciallydesigned education services here
to talk about writingmeaningful goals with progress
monitoring Suzanne Fitzgerald's,author of the Functional
Academics Program and a formerspecial education teacher.
We had so much to discuss thatwe decided to break this into
(00:23):
two episodes.
Today, we'll talk about how andwhy we should write meaningful
IEP goals, and in part two,which will air next week, we
will discuss why we should takedata to support our IEP goals,
including the benefits and thechallenges of progress
monitoring.
So let's enjoy this FAST 15,diving into our conversation
(00:43):
with Suzanne.
Welcome, suzanne.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Thank you so much.
I'm so excited to be here today.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
Really happy to have you here, and so I wanted to
just talk about your 30 years ofexperience in special education
.
Throughout those 30 years,working with children and adults
with disabilities in a varietyof settings, you have a unique
perspective that you bring tospecial education.
Can you tell us a little bitabout this?
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Absolutely.
I actually started out as apeer tutor in my high school
special education classroom andat that time, one of my
brother's best friend's mom wasthe director of Seattle Parks
and Recreation SpecializedPrograms.
She heard about what I wasdoing as a peer tutor and asked
if I would be interested inbecoming a camp counselor over
(01:31):
the summer.
I jumped at the opportunity andstarted what would be my
actually my first summer of nineas a camp counselor for
children with disabilities.
At that time, this was the onlycamp around that was known for
accepting any child, regardlessof their disability.
This meant that we had campersfrom literally all across the
state who had come to us forcamp.
(01:52):
We had four weeks of day campand four weeks of overnight camp
, so it was a wonderful respitefor parents and, in some cases,
really the only respite thatthey got Right.
Yeah, at that time I was theyoungest camp counselor and the
only one who was still in highschool, so I was worried.
I was way in over my head.
However, that opportunity endedup being the most challenging,
(02:16):
rewarding and definingexperience I have probably ever
had.
Okay, wow.
So hopefully it made me realizethat I wanted to work as an
advocate for people withdisabilities and their families
for a living, so I startedresearching what jobs and
degrees are out there for thiskind of work.
I ended up finding a program atWestern Washington University
(02:36):
that offered a bachelor's degreein human services.
This degree would allow me towork with people with
disabilities in a variety ofdifferent settings.
While I was getting my degree, Icontinued to work for Seattle
Parks during the summer.
During the school year, Iworked with adults with
disabilities in residential andvocational settings.
This continued after Igraduated from college, but
(02:58):
evolved into working more andmore with adults.
All of these experiencesallowed me to see what was
happening as children leave theschool system and what wasn't
happening, and I worked with somany different people in so many
different capacities that I wasspread very thin.
I really wanted to find a jobthat would allow me to make more
(03:19):
of a difference.
I wanted to get in on anotherlevel.
I decided I wanted to teach.
However, before I went back toschool to get my teaching
certification, I wanted to makeabsolutely certain that this is
what I wanted to do, so I becamea paraeducator for a year in
the Seattle School District.
That experience confirmed mydecision, so I applied to the
(03:39):
University of Washington, whereI received my teaching
certification and my master's inspecial ed, which has led me to
where I am today.
Okay, and then I've been luckyenough to spend all of my career
serving the disabilitycommunity, half in recreational,
residential and vocationalsettings and half in education.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
What a rich experience that you've had over
many years and fun to hear howall those different events led
to the next thing.
And what is it about your pastexperiences that really led to
you being firm in how youapproach writing meaningful
goals and good progressmonitoring?
(04:21):
Can you tell us a little bitabout that and why that has come
about?
Speaker 2 (04:25):
Great question.
So getting to work with so manyindividuals in adult settings
and having hours upon hours ofconversations with family
members and service providersreally highlighted what was
critical for young adults withdisabilities when they exit the
school system.
These experiences are reallywhat drives the why we need
(04:49):
meaningful IEP goals.
I'll get to the how we writethem next, but first, why I want
every IEP goal that I write tobe functional and meaningful for
the individual child is toensure that I'm doing my part to
help my students live a lifethat includes social connections
, service opportunities.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
Yeah, it's so important.
Speaker 2 (05:10):
Service opportunities , independence and collaboration
OK, yeah, let me break thatdown a little bit.
That sounds good.
Connections so much of a personwith a disability's social life
is dependent on therelationships they have while in
school.
What happens when they graduateand go their separate ways?
Yeah, how do I increase mystudents' ability to make
(05:31):
connections so they have anactive social life after school?
Speaker 1 (05:35):
Yeah, that's huge.
Those are critical questionsthat I know parents ask.
The parents that I'm workingwith just always wonder what
does that connection look likeafter high school?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, Keep going.
So.
Service opportunities, whetherwork related or volunteer,
everyone needs a purpose.
This is especially true forpeople with the most complex
disabilities.
Right, what happens whenabsolutely everything is done to
and for a person their entirelife?
What if they are never giventhe chance to experience what
(06:08):
it's like to do something foranother person?
How can I, as a teacher, ensurethat my students are
contributing members of theircommunity after graduation?
How do I prepare my studentsfor a job?
Or how can I customizeemployment or volunteer
opportunities for my studentswith more unique needs, giving
back to their communities thatthey're in, exactly, and having
(06:29):
the opportunity to serve andhave a purpose and do it on
their own Exactly, or as much aspossible.
It can look different for everychild.
Independence, so I think aboutthat.
The actual meaning ofindependence is the state of
wanting or being able to dothings for yourself and make
your own decisions, without helpor influence from other people.
Okay, yeah, what would life belike without independence?
(06:52):
So, constantly I thinking abouthow am I making sure that my
students, regardless of abilitylevel, are being encouraged to
be as independent as possible inevery way possible?
Speaker 1 (07:05):
Okay, yeah, and I think having the autonomy to do
those things and everybody wantsto make their own decisions,
exactly their own agency yes,absolutely Love that.
What else?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
And then, finally, collaboration.
Okay, so the people that Iworked with, who attended our
recreational outings, or wholived in an apartment and
received support from me, or whoI coached at a job, all had one
major thing in common A hugenetwork of support and families
who had resources and knew howto advocate for their young
(07:40):
adult.
Okay, what happens with adultswith disabilities whose families
don't have the capacity toadvocate or weren't provided the
same opportunities or given thesame resources as those who I
worked with?
How do I, again, as a teacher,build relationships with
families so we can work togetherto support their child?
How can I help educate familiesabout resources that are
(08:02):
available once their childgraduates?
That's huge, yeah.
And how do I help my familiesmanage the here and now but also
prepare them for the changesthat are coming down the road
and having it?
Speaker 1 (08:15):
just you having a vision for those things.
Yes, yes.
And answering those questionsJust a really powerful component
to your teaching experience.
Speaker 2 (08:24):
Yes, it's there's, it's so holistic, yeah, and to
make sure I'm maximizing mystudents education so that they
can live a fulfilled life.
That's always the foundation ofwhy we need functional and
meaningful goals.
Really, armed with theseexperiences and questions, I
felt I feel like I have a prettygood handle on the why.
(08:44):
Okay, I should write meaningfulIEP goals.
So next, when I first startedteaching was figuring out how do
I do that Exactly?
Yeah, when I think about myjourney as a teacher would start
by coming up with a lesson oran activity related to one of
these critical aspects of life,and then from there I would
write a goal based from thatactivity.
(09:06):
So it'd be a goal thatincreases my students' ability
to make connections, or a goalthat teaches my students
valuable vocational skills, agoal that enhances or teaches
independence.
Then I would make sure thatgoal passed my personal teaching
guidelines.
So those teachers out there whohave been in one of my
(09:28):
trainings or if you've satthrough one of my demos, you've
heard me talk about theguidelines that the Functional
Academics Program was based on.
Those are the guidelines that Iused as a teacher in my own
classroom, not just for my IEPgoals, but really I tried to
live by those guidelines foreverything I was doing in my
classroom, gotcha.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
And I think, like when you looked at every student
or every situation where youwant to take the student to or
see them progress towardwhatever that goal is.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
just having that filter in your mind all the time
, that mental checklist or aphysical checklist, I love that,
and one of the first and mostsimple questions that I would
ask myself is why am I doingthis?
Good question, but then if Ican't answer that, there's a
problem.
But often I can say why I'mdoing it, but then I need to go
further, because it's not justabout me, okay, and I love that
(10:20):
about you.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
That's how you come across to me.
All the time is, it's not aboutme and what I'm doing.
It's about other people and inthis instance, when you're
talking about your students,it's about them.
What's meaningful to their life, what is going to be functional
for them?
100%.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
But besides the obvious, when talking about IEP
goals, asking myself is this asmart goal?
Is the goal specific,measurable, attainable results
oriented and time bound?
I would ask myself thefollowing Is this goal
functional and meaningful forthe individual child?
What's functional for one kidmay look totally different for
another.
Is this something that thestudent will encounter on a
(10:59):
regular basis so they canpractice it and generalize it
beyond just the classroom andschool walls?
What's the point if you can'tExactly?
Is this skill age appropriate?
As Barb being a secondaryteacher, it can be so difficult
at times for us to find contentthat reaches our students at
their ability level, that isn'tchildish or babyish.
(11:19):
But there is stuff out thereand it's so important that we
are focusing on age appropriatecontent with our secondary level
students.
Speaker 1 (11:27):
They deserve that, as that gap widens from skill
level to age appropriate content.
Finding that is reallyimportant.
It has a lot to do with theirself-awareness, just how they
see themselves.
They're not kids anymore,Exactly yes.
So as they're becoming youngadults have things that are
(11:47):
matching or mirroring wherethey're at developmentally or
with age appropriate connections.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Yes, and you said the word connections.
That's what's going to helpthem relate to their peers and
make those important connections, both socially and vocationally
, and everything else.
The next guideline is how willthis goal increase my students'
quality of life?
And is there a way for me toevaluate and adjust my
(12:14):
programming to make sure mystudent is making progress
toward their goal?
And then, after I go through mylittle checklist of guidelines,
if the goal meets all of thatcriteria, then the most
important question I ask myself,or make sure to confirm, is
does the family agree that thisis something we should spend our
(12:36):
time on at school, somethingthat we can all get behind?
So we're reinforcing it as muchas possible and in every
environment, because when we allwork together, that's when we
really start to see progress.
So powerful?
Yeah, absolutely so, and if so,then I feel pretty good and
pretty confident that I havewritten a meaningful IEP goal.
Speaker 1 (12:57):
So good to hear you say all of that process that you
go through and I have to tellyou that you are really in 30
years of teaching.
You're the only teacher friendthat I have that has been able
to articulate in that way yourfilter, your guidelines that you
go through when you're writinggoals.
I think it's such a greatmessage for any special
(13:19):
education teacher listening justto encourage you that yes, it
is possible to follow that kindof guideline to know that you're
writing meaningful, functionalgoals for your students.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
Maybe sounds a little bit much or a little
overwhelming, but once you gettrained or in the routine of
kind of going through what is mypurpose and what, why?
What is it that my studentsneed and how do I support them?
And are we all on the same page, all of this stuff becomes just
natural and it becomes so mucheasier to go through that
(13:52):
checklist quickly.
So it's not something that youhave to sit there and spend
hours upon hours pondering.
It's a pretty quick process.
Just look at your checkpoints.
Does it meet those criteria?
If so, great.
This is something we shouldfocus our time and energy on.
Wonderful, love it.
Speaker 1 (14:06):
And I hope you loved hearing from Suzanne today on
our Fast 15.
That's it for now, but realquick.
Suzanne reminds us that IEPgoals should be functional and
relevant to the individual child, focusing on social connections
, service opportunities,independence and collaboration.
Our hope is that you areencouraged and that the goals
(14:27):
that you write, following thisformat, will help your students
live a fulfilled life andtransition successfully into
adulthood.
Don't forget to subscribe tothe Fast 15 and check back into
your podcast platform for parttwo of Writing Meaningful Goals,
where we will pick up theconversation and here Suzanne
discuss the critically importantaspect of writing goals
(14:50):
progress monitoring.
Speaker 3 (14:53):
A heartfelt thank you to our generous sponsors.
Specially designed educationservices.
Publishers of the FunctionalAcademics Program, please take a
moment to learn more about theonly true, comprehensive
Functional Academics Programthat enables students with
moderate to severe disabilitiesto improve their ability to live
independently and showmeaningful growth both
academically and personally,while creating accountability
(15:15):
with data-driven, evidence-basedresults.
Visit wwwsdesworkscom to learnmore.
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