Starting the New School Year Strong

It’s back to school time! As Clarke Itinerant Teachers, we’ve already hit the ground running. Despite the lingering heat, summer is officially over and students are returning to school this week as we frantically check items off of our “to do” lists. Here are a few key people to connect with in the next few days to ensure a smooth start to the new year:

Parents: Call the parents of each student; introduce yourself and find out:

·       How summer went for the student

·       How they like to be contacted (email, phone, text, etc.)

·       Concerns for the upcoming year

·       When last audiology appointment was and any changes (if you don’t have a recent report from the audiologist)

·       Name of managing audiologist and if this person also manages FM (sometimes it’s two different people)

Schools: Identify and coordinate the following school-related information:

·       Student’s school address and main phone number

·       Classroom / main teacher; contact this person and introduce yourself, explain your role

·       Your primary contact (could be SPED teacher, SLP, counselor etc.)

·       Report dates and format. Sometimes schools request a word document, or sometimes we have access to an online IEP manager, for which you’ll need access codes and log-in information.

·       Schedule your In-Service. You may need to coordinate with the managing audiologist if they are doing an in-service at the school.

·       Make sure you have the most recent signed IEP. If not, request it.

·       Request copy of the student’s daily schedule. For elementary students the teacher will have it. For junior and high school students, guidance department will likely be the place to get you a schedule.

Audiologists:

·       Contact the audiologist (HA/CI and FM audiologists if different) to introduce yourself.

·       Request reports if they are not already in the student’s file. *Parents may be required to sign a release and this takes time, so ask early!

·       Find out what each student uses for amplification including make and model of each device.  

·       Identify concerns the audiologist may have for the upcoming year?

·       Discuss how the managing audiologist wants to handle general troubleshooting and how she wants to be contacted when there is a problem with equipment.

Your students! Set up a file/binder for each student that includes:

·       IEP/relevant testing

·       Audiological information including the most recent report and audiogram

·       School information including calendar, contact people (names, email, phone)

·       Family information (names, email, phone)