Kinder Update
The law, and not the desire of the parent, the recommendation of the teacher, or the best interest of the child has prevailed. K- is going to remain one of my students.
Supposedly, he will be pulled out (along with his brother, who is in another first grade class) for approximately 3 hours per day. This is of course, pending the adjustment of the special ed teachers' schedules. So who knows when it will happen and how long it will last. Or even if it will happen.
Last year, I had 6 special ed students, 3 of whom had pretty severe obstacles to learning. Unspecifically diagnosed, of course. I got a special ed teacher who took them out an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon about 70% of the time during the first nine weeks. Then inclusion really kicked in with upped supervision from the state department, and I got a special ed teacher in my room for an hour in the afternoon 3 times per week. I used him for centers. Then the state really came in, and changed the focus to only 2nd and 3rd grade, tested subjects, and I never saw my special ed teacher again.
Side note -- inclusion is fine if the staff is properly trained on how it should work and everyone tries to make it worka dnthe student is not too far behind. None of those things are true at my school. Pull the kids out, make your own lesson plans, and work at their actual level.
If K- is ever going to make progress, he needs to be taught one-on-one or in a very small group, at his level. Actual teaching. Like kindergarten. I hope that will happen in special ed. But I know for a fact that the teacher I worked with didn't make lesson plans, he just worked on "whatever he thought they needed." Which was good to some extent, because I'm sure he can tell, but also not good because when you don't plan your lessons they are poorly taught.
And he will still be in my room for 3 hours a day. Which means him arriving and departing at inconvenient times (because the sped teachers aren't strict about what times they arrive) and so even if I disciplined myself about my schedule, even a 2-minute discrepancy is too long. In 2 minutes you miss the most important parts of a first grade lesson or you don't have time to finish your work.
Supposedly, he will be pulled out (along with his brother, who is in another first grade class) for approximately 3 hours per day. This is of course, pending the adjustment of the special ed teachers' schedules. So who knows when it will happen and how long it will last. Or even if it will happen.
Last year, I had 6 special ed students, 3 of whom had pretty severe obstacles to learning. Unspecifically diagnosed, of course. I got a special ed teacher who took them out an hour in the morning and an hour in the afternoon about 70% of the time during the first nine weeks. Then inclusion really kicked in with upped supervision from the state department, and I got a special ed teacher in my room for an hour in the afternoon 3 times per week. I used him for centers. Then the state really came in, and changed the focus to only 2nd and 3rd grade, tested subjects, and I never saw my special ed teacher again.
Side note -- inclusion is fine if the staff is properly trained on how it should work and everyone tries to make it worka dnthe student is not too far behind. None of those things are true at my school. Pull the kids out, make your own lesson plans, and work at their actual level.
If K- is ever going to make progress, he needs to be taught one-on-one or in a very small group, at his level. Actual teaching. Like kindergarten. I hope that will happen in special ed. But I know for a fact that the teacher I worked with didn't make lesson plans, he just worked on "whatever he thought they needed." Which was good to some extent, because I'm sure he can tell, but also not good because when you don't plan your lessons they are poorly taught.
And he will still be in my room for 3 hours a day. Which means him arriving and departing at inconvenient times (because the sped teachers aren't strict about what times they arrive) and so even if I disciplined myself about my schedule, even a 2-minute discrepancy is too long. In 2 minutes you miss the most important parts of a first grade lesson or you don't have time to finish your work.
posted by Jessica at 11:49 PM
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