In retrospect...

It would have been nice to know a few things before teaching in the county.

1. Everything is a teacher problem/The kids are not accountable for anything.

Let Billy's mom show up and accuse you of failing Billy. Even if you plan interventions and give extra opportunities for Billy to bring his grade up, it is not my responsibility to convince Billy that he should try to get above a 65 in my class. But don't worry, it's the teacher's fault that Billy didn't feel like doing group work, independent work, art activities, lab work, learning through song, etc. As a result, Billy's mom is in the right. It's the teacher's fault. Shame on the teacher for not doing cartwheels and back flips to get Billy excited about learning.  

2. Too many kids "need" accommodations.

Billy's dad wants Billy to sit in the front row, but I can't do that since I have more than 10 other students with a behavior plan that requires him/her to sit at the front of the room. I'm no magician, so there is no way to make more than 10 front row seats even if I have the room split in half with the kids facing each other. Well, sorry Billy's dad, request declined.

3. Alternative school is an ineffective rehab facility

Billy and Suzie are notorious for disrupting the classroom environment, and both have already received several days of in school suspension and out of school suspension. At this point both students now have a behavior plan which essentially allows them to misbehave without getting written up unless the teacher follows steps 1-10 on their "positive" behavior plan. Nevertheless, Billy and Suzie continue to disrupt class and are therefore sent to alternative school.

Problem solved? Not quite. Low and behold Billy and Suzie are on a 10 day plan at alternative school, so 10 short days later they're back in my classroom doing the same nonsense they were doing before they left. To sweeten the deal they are both now 10 days behind on classroom material.

4. Everybody knows somebody, so nobody gets in trouble

Before coming to the county I was told that we rarely ever have fights, because if a fight breaks out, the students are taken to the police station.

Since I've been here we've had at least 8 fights, so that means at least 16 students involved in violent activities on school grounds.

How many of these students have actually been handcuffed and/or escorted to the police station? Zero.

Why? Well Suzie's mom knows officer B., so he can't bring himself to handcuff her. And If he doesn't handcuff Suzie, then he can't handcuff Brenda either. Or, one of the students involved belongs to an influential family in the community, so we can't handcuff him or take him to the police station.

When there are no real consequences for bad behavior, the kids will do whatever they want to do.

Still riding the struggle bus...

seizures, strokes, what's the difference?

Say it ain't so. I wish it was a joke, but here in "the county" our esteemed psychologist, Dr. Z, just got through explaining that recurring absence seizures, which have gone undiagnosed, are akin to having mini strokes. Dr. Z, with his boundless beneficence, kindly explained to Billy's mother and grandmother that Billy is incapable of learning at the same level as his peers because of his recurring seizures. Let's clear up a few things first. 1. Billy has never seen a specialist ie. no neurologist 2. Billy has never had any neuroimaging studies 3. Billy suffers from absence seizures (drifting off/losing focus for a few seconds) not the dramatic tonic-clonic seizures which cause full body seizing 4. Billy has received seizure medication from the village general physician.

According to Dr. Z, since Billy "can't learn" he needs to be on the SpEd (Special Education) track (check out the post "SpEd is the new black"). True to form, Billy is now in SpEd and he now has an IEP (individualized education plan). Seizure problem solved...

Where do I come into this picture? I was on my planning period planning lessons and grading assignments when I got called to go to the "parent coordinator's" conference room. I'm thinking, "okay I must have a parent conference". Nope, the secretary tells me that my presence is required in an IEP meeting. At this point i'm extremely confused, so I ask what student this is for, and she tells me its for Billy. I'm thinking i'm in deep trouble for not following Billy's IEP even though I was never given an IEP for this boy, so I take his file and head down to the conference room. Dr. Z greets me warmly, as only Dr. Z can, and he tells me that my job is to sit there and listen. 

But I digress. So we arrive back at Dr. Z's analogy. If seizures are the same thing as strokes, then hunger pangs are the same thing as ulcers. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he tells a student that migraines are a symptom of permanent memory loss, or better yet, a fever means certain death.

                                                              seizures <-----> strokes 

                       (over excitability of our circuitry) <-----> (embolic or hemorrhagic)

I'm no neurologist nor am i a synaptic physiologist, but I happen to know a bit more than a thing or two about physiology and neurobiology. 

Well, when it comes to school psychologists I suppose the worst is better than none. 

The struggle is real

SpEd is the new black...

Say what? Not really, but SpEd (special education) is definitely in vogue in "The County". From developmentally delayed students to students who never learned to read, the school psychologist and his minions brand these students with an IEP (individualized education plan) and group them all into SpEd.

Who gets put in SpEd? The girl with orthopedic problems, the developmentally delayed girl, the epileptic boy who suffers from absence seizures, kids with anger/behavior issues, and hundreds of kids who are in high school but cant read or read at a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th grade reading level.

To make the task of educating "diverse learners" even more interesting, this God fearing state took hold of the gospel of "no child left behind" and went forth to make disciples with the doctrine of "inclusion". What is inclusion? It means that all of the gifted SpEd students, yes even the ones who cant read, take all of their classes with the "regular" students. Since the diversity of my classroom contains so much variety, I had to alter the complexion of my interventions. For example, with collaborative learning groups I make sure that a student who can actually read is the group reader, and a student who can listen, understand, and communicate effectively is the group presenter. Let's not forget about Billy or Suzie, that guy or gal who "struggles" with reading. His or her job is the group questioner. When Group A is stumped Billy can raise his hand for assistance from the teacher, and nobody needs to find out that Billy is in the 9th grade and reads at a 3rd grade level. Inclusion success? The jury is still out on this one.

To include or not to include, that is the question. If inclusion does not help SpEd students improve both socially and academically, then the doctrine of inclusion should be revisited. As it is, inclusion means more planning on the front end for teachers and ultimately more paperwork. This takes time, a precious commodity that teachers lack.

The struggle is real.