Summary of My Journey with MAPS

As I looked back over the past few months of MAPS meetings, I realized that I have not experienced a negative IEP meeting yet this year. By focusing on the positive aspects of the whole child, planning for the students as individuals falls into place. The amount of time required for a MAPS meeting rather than a traditional IEP meeting is greater, but the gains received are much greater in value. I am not sure where this journey will ultimately take me, but it has helped my students and their families, so I will continue along this journey as long as it continues to help. For now, we will continue to take the road less traveled...

Still Going

December 4th and 5th both saw me in MAPS meetings. In yesterday's meeting, the student determined almost every goal and objective for his IEP! This is a student who I do not have in any classes, so I was really using MAPS to try to understand him as a person. He just took the process and ran with it. As he talked about job interests, I headed in the direction of what he needed to do to be ready for various jobs. He started saying what he wanted to work on in all areas! It was a very exciting experience to see him take over and really identify areas of need for himself.

The meeting today was for a student who has made huge gains behaviorally. The meeting was a very positive meeting, which has not always been the case in her past. She frequently does not see the positive in herself, so it was a good process to involve her in and encourage her to see the positive aspects of herself that we have all come to see.