Text Box: Something is wrong with the goal when there is no progress.  Be specific in stating the desire results of the objectives, the guidelines for achievement, how accountability will be determined, and when to decide if the goal and/or objective is not appropriate.   5. Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood “Seek First to Understand’ involves a very deep shift in paradigm.  We typically seek first to be understood.  Most people do not listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply.  They’re either speaking or preparing to speak.  They’re filtering everything through their own paradigms, reading their autobiography into other people’s lives.”   In a truly collaborative IEP process educators will listen to and understand parents; parents will listen to and understand educators.  All team members will realize the importance of listening to and understanding the Text Box: student.  The desired outcome is not for everyone to always agree but to understand each team members view point.  The power of this type of listening is that it gives the team accurate data with which to work.  In order for this to happen, language at meetings must be jargon free.  The final product (the IEP document) must be written in language that everyone working with the student can understand.   6. Synergize “Synergy works; it’s a correct principle.  It is the crowning achievement of all the previous habits.  It is effectiveness in an interdependent reality-it is teamwork, team building, the development of unity and creativity with other human beings.”   Effective IEPs are those that have been developed collaboratively by a transdisciplinary team.  There is “creative cooperation” occurring at each step of the development process.  All participants strive to work together, realizing it takes Text Box: both parents and educators to educate students.  It is unlikely that this will occur at one IEP event.  The quality of the preplanning for an IEP is of equal value to the official meeting.  The time devoted to the preplanning process will differ depending  on each individual student.   7.  Sharpening the Saw “ This is the habit of renewal...It circles and embodies all the other habits.  It is the habit of continuous improvement...that lifts you to new levels of understanding and living each of the habits.”   Celebrations of success are one of the keys to effective IEP teams.  These celebrations recognize the achievements we have made.  They also energize us to keep on this collaborative journey with a student toward a life of his or her choosing. · Take time to snack! · Share stories-funny and serious · Offer words of appreciation     Article from www.Idoline.org. NOTE:  *Quotes in bold and seven basic concepts are directly from 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey. Text Box: parents to help their children avoid medical errors. The fact sheet is broken into categories such as medicines, hospital stays, and surgery.  Tips prompt parents to ask more questions and to become more involved in the diagnosis of their children.  Text Box:      The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released a fact sheet for patients titled “20 Tips to Help Prevent Medical Errors in Children.”  The sheet is intended to inform Text Box: These fact sheets are available in Spanish and English, as a brief version and as an easy reader version. http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/pathpack.htm Text Box: 7 Habits of Highly Effective IEP Teams (cont.) Text Box: Family Fact Sheet on Preventing Medical Errors Text Box: Page 2 Text Box: Making Connections

Text Box: “Celebrations of success are one of the keys to effective IEP teams.” Test Tube Fireworks

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