Today I sat in an IEP meeting of one my students. He happens also to be my advisor. I had already been discussing his case with his case manager and working on some things with him. In the meeting his sisters advocated so deeply for him. They cared so much about what happens to him and his education, they felt let down by the public school system and that Mitchell hadn't really learned much since elementary school because his teachers didn't give him the extra help he needed.
Then came Rosie, our Learning Specialist. Caring, understanding and with so many good ideas to help. Then came the Impact model, that we help any students no matter what they are up against, and we mean it. We have supports in place to differentiate and help give structures. We also hold students to high standards and keep them accountable--Mitchell was the timekeeper at the meeting and had to tell us what he felt he was good at, what he felt he needed to work on.
It's is this caring, this high expectation and accountability that makes Impact so very different from Whites Creek. Not just in how we handle kids with IEPs, but how we approach learning, how we hold kids accountable on so many levels. Kids can fail, but they are given chances not to. Students are urged to think, and to think about thinking. They are urged to create and apply.
Thank you Impact for letting me teach. I hope it keeps going as well as it has for the first 4 weeks!
