Next Wednesday, both Elijah and Nick have their "graduation" ceremonies. Nick is graduating from 5th grade, EJ from Kindergarten. At the exact same time. I realize that some people consider a kindergarten graduation to be a bit over the top, but EJ really struggled this year and made some huge gains. I also know his teacher very well, and I know the amount of effort she has put into making it a very special day for both kids and parents. Fifth grade is more of a milestone, and the ceremony will be more formal, less sentimental, I assume. Like Elijah, Nicholas also overcame much this year. It was his first and only year at this school, so there aren't the years-long friendship bonds other kids have. He has grown so much and pushed himself in ways he never has before. This was a huge year for him, and I want to celebrate him.
Unfortunately, I can't be at both, so Robert and I will tag team, and video. I am struggling with who gets to go to which event, so I thought I would include the boys in the discussion. If I got lucky, one would have a preference for Mom and the other a preference for Dad, and I would therefore be absolved of the mom-guilt. Silly mom. When is it ever that easy? We explained the situation and asked for their thoughts. Elijah immediately squealed "I want Mommy!" and Nick responded to that with "Heeeeyyyyyyyy! I want Mom!" Here is where I have to give Elijah credit. That kids KNOWS his emotional manipulation and he wields it mercilessly. Without so much as a pause, he immediately began to sing to me a song I can only assume is on the program for next week's ceremony. "I think you're wonderful! As wonderful can be. I think you're wonderful!" Wait. It gets better. He paused, looked at me with that "how-can-you-possibly-say-no-to-me" smile and said "Why aren't you crying? You're supposed to cry." Nick's response? "Ok, FINE! You can have mom." He didn't say it graciously. Robert was right there for the whole conversation, by the way. Poor Daddy. I tried working the whole "you don't want to hurt Daddy's feelings, do you?" angle. Apparently, they have no problem with that. Must be a guy thing. Maybe if Robert let them see him cry . . .
So I guess it's settled. Kind of. I still feel the mom-guilt. So now the question is "can I trust Robert to video it? And who can I ask to take pictures for me since the only good camera will be with me? Now taking volunteers.
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Education. Show all posts
Friday, June 1, 2012
Sunday, June 1, 2008
How Education is Failing our Kids
We now know more about what happened in the classroom of Alex, the Kindergarten student who was voted out of class (see my post below). Having a better understanding of the thought process the teacher went through, I still support her removal from the classroom, and I think her return should be contingent upon receiving some training in dealing with children with special needs, but I no longer feel as outraged as I did. The incident that happened in Florida is indicative of a much bigger problem within our school system.
Anyone who knows me can tell you there isn't a bigger or louder cheerleader for public schools. I am the public schools. I am a first grade teacher at heart. It is my passion. It was my career before children and I had never intended to take a break from doing what I loved, but I was forced to put my career on hold by the demands of having a child with Down syndrome. This year I returned to teaching part time by working as a sub. As much as I would love to work full time, it's just not an option yet, so working as a substitute is the compromise. When I pull together my experiences as a substitute teacher and combine them with my experiences as a special needs mother, I can see a clear picture of one of the biggest challenges facing our teachers, and one of the principle failings of our system. Five year old Alex wasn't a victim of a mean-hearted teacher. He was a victim of a system that has failed to prepare that teacher to meet his needs.
Let me say, the vast majority of teachers I have had the pleasure of working with, are incredibly talented, hard-working, passionate people. Teachers do the hardest work, and bear the brunt of criticism for failures that are not theirs. This is not a criticism of the teachers in our system. It is a criticism of a system that fails to give them the tools and training they need to meet the needs of children who are not neurotypical. One might counter that with "That's why we have Special Education teachers" and that, to an extent, is true. But the shortage of skilled SpEd teachers practically guarantees that no teacher with a SpEd credential will teach in a mainstream classroom. Teachers who have gone though the extra training to earn Master's degrees in SpEd will almost always end up teaching Special Day Class, rather than a mainstream class with special needs kids fully included. For the children, like my son Gabriel, who are placed in a SDC with a trained teacher, this is exactly what they need. I have no concerns at all about my son's education because he has a highly trained and very experienced teacher. He understands my son's unique learning needs, his unique behavior patterns, his triggers and his motivators, he knows how to individualize my son's education, and how to manage the individualized plans of all his very diverse group of students. My son is in extremely good hands.
So where does that leave the students who have special needs but are not in a classroom with a SpEd teacher? That depends. There are mainstream teachers who have the right personality and teaching style to adapt to a wider array of learning needs, and there are mainstream teachers who, of their own accord, have sought out learning opportunities to better understand children with special needs. But training in addressing special needs, and managing IEPs (Individualized Education Plans - all SpEd students have one) is not mandatory beyond the cursory one semester course of the credentials process. So chances are, if you have a child with Asperger's like Alex or Nick, or a child with ADHD, or any one of a number of special needs, at one point or another you will be faced with a teacher who, though skilled and successful at teaching neurotypical kids, is not a good fit for your child. An unfortunate consequence to that is that the rest of the students also suffer when a mainstream educator is asked to make special accommodations they are not trained to make.
So what can be done? It isn't reasonable to expect that all teachers should go out and get degrees in SpEd, but they should have access to some training. What I would like to see is the creation of a special education liaison/advocate to work with and train teachers as they need it. It would be the job of the liaison to manage the IEPs of kids in mainstream classrooms, and provide training and support for the teachers. Students are typically assigned their classrooms at the end of the previous year. The advocate, at the start of the new year, would meet with the teachers who will be receiving students with IEPs, and provide some "basic" training; what behaviors they are likely to see, what kind of classroom set up will best support that students' needs, what kind of discipline works and what doesn't, what kind of coping mechanisms will help the student stay on task, what kind of teaching style does the student best respond to, and what does not. For Nicholas, his teachers need to know he is easily overstimulated by sights and sounds, so the classroom should be neat and not over-decorated. He should be seated near the front and desks should be facing forward. Nick requires routine and structure, so he needs to be warned in advance of any change in schedule, and subs should be given information to help him adjust to a change in teacher. For children with ADHD, or Sensory Integration Disorder, the needs are different. A liaison would be able to support the teachers and give them the information and tools they need to meet all the different needs. Once the school year is under way, the liaison would be responsible for monitoring the progress, by observing the classrooms, and meeting regularly with the teachers to find out what they need, and meeting with the students and parents to find out what they need, and working with the teacher and the family to make sure the learning environment supports them all.
Perhaps, the next generation of educational reforms will pull back the focus on testing and start putting the focus where it needs to be: supporting the interaction between students and teacher, and providing the tools necessary to make that interaction the best it can be every single day. One can hope.
Tangential to the topic, I hope more parents will start to see the Special Education classes for what they are - a service provided by highly qualified, specially trained professionals who are passionate and hard-working and have our children's best interests at heart. I have always had a difficult time hearing from parents within the Down syndrome community who fight for full mainstreaming of their very special needs child and then scream and shout because of all the difficulties with the teacher - the teacher who does not have the training or background to meet those special needs. The problem isn't with the teachers. It is with the misplaced expectation and the misunderstanding of what SpEd is for.
I've got my flamesuit on and I fully expect to catch hell for that view, but there it is.
Anyone who knows me can tell you there isn't a bigger or louder cheerleader for public schools. I am the public schools. I am a first grade teacher at heart. It is my passion. It was my career before children and I had never intended to take a break from doing what I loved, but I was forced to put my career on hold by the demands of having a child with Down syndrome. This year I returned to teaching part time by working as a sub. As much as I would love to work full time, it's just not an option yet, so working as a substitute is the compromise. When I pull together my experiences as a substitute teacher and combine them with my experiences as a special needs mother, I can see a clear picture of one of the biggest challenges facing our teachers, and one of the principle failings of our system. Five year old Alex wasn't a victim of a mean-hearted teacher. He was a victim of a system that has failed to prepare that teacher to meet his needs.
Let me say, the vast majority of teachers I have had the pleasure of working with, are incredibly talented, hard-working, passionate people. Teachers do the hardest work, and bear the brunt of criticism for failures that are not theirs. This is not a criticism of the teachers in our system. It is a criticism of a system that fails to give them the tools and training they need to meet the needs of children who are not neurotypical. One might counter that with "That's why we have Special Education teachers" and that, to an extent, is true. But the shortage of skilled SpEd teachers practically guarantees that no teacher with a SpEd credential will teach in a mainstream classroom. Teachers who have gone though the extra training to earn Master's degrees in SpEd will almost always end up teaching Special Day Class, rather than a mainstream class with special needs kids fully included. For the children, like my son Gabriel, who are placed in a SDC with a trained teacher, this is exactly what they need. I have no concerns at all about my son's education because he has a highly trained and very experienced teacher. He understands my son's unique learning needs, his unique behavior patterns, his triggers and his motivators, he knows how to individualize my son's education, and how to manage the individualized plans of all his very diverse group of students. My son is in extremely good hands.
So where does that leave the students who have special needs but are not in a classroom with a SpEd teacher? That depends. There are mainstream teachers who have the right personality and teaching style to adapt to a wider array of learning needs, and there are mainstream teachers who, of their own accord, have sought out learning opportunities to better understand children with special needs. But training in addressing special needs, and managing IEPs (Individualized Education Plans - all SpEd students have one) is not mandatory beyond the cursory one semester course of the credentials process. So chances are, if you have a child with Asperger's like Alex or Nick, or a child with ADHD, or any one of a number of special needs, at one point or another you will be faced with a teacher who, though skilled and successful at teaching neurotypical kids, is not a good fit for your child. An unfortunate consequence to that is that the rest of the students also suffer when a mainstream educator is asked to make special accommodations they are not trained to make.
So what can be done? It isn't reasonable to expect that all teachers should go out and get degrees in SpEd, but they should have access to some training. What I would like to see is the creation of a special education liaison/advocate to work with and train teachers as they need it. It would be the job of the liaison to manage the IEPs of kids in mainstream classrooms, and provide training and support for the teachers. Students are typically assigned their classrooms at the end of the previous year. The advocate, at the start of the new year, would meet with the teachers who will be receiving students with IEPs, and provide some "basic" training; what behaviors they are likely to see, what kind of classroom set up will best support that students' needs, what kind of discipline works and what doesn't, what kind of coping mechanisms will help the student stay on task, what kind of teaching style does the student best respond to, and what does not. For Nicholas, his teachers need to know he is easily overstimulated by sights and sounds, so the classroom should be neat and not over-decorated. He should be seated near the front and desks should be facing forward. Nick requires routine and structure, so he needs to be warned in advance of any change in schedule, and subs should be given information to help him adjust to a change in teacher. For children with ADHD, or Sensory Integration Disorder, the needs are different. A liaison would be able to support the teachers and give them the information and tools they need to meet all the different needs. Once the school year is under way, the liaison would be responsible for monitoring the progress, by observing the classrooms, and meeting regularly with the teachers to find out what they need, and meeting with the students and parents to find out what they need, and working with the teacher and the family to make sure the learning environment supports them all.
Perhaps, the next generation of educational reforms will pull back the focus on testing and start putting the focus where it needs to be: supporting the interaction between students and teacher, and providing the tools necessary to make that interaction the best it can be every single day. One can hope.
Tangential to the topic, I hope more parents will start to see the Special Education classes for what they are - a service provided by highly qualified, specially trained professionals who are passionate and hard-working and have our children's best interests at heart. I have always had a difficult time hearing from parents within the Down syndrome community who fight for full mainstreaming of their very special needs child and then scream and shout because of all the difficulties with the teacher - the teacher who does not have the training or background to meet those special needs. The problem isn't with the teachers. It is with the misplaced expectation and the misunderstanding of what SpEd is for.
I've got my flamesuit on and I fully expect to catch hell for that view, but there it is.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Heartbreaking
In an elementary school in Florida last week, the unthinkable happened. A five year old boy was humiliated and demeaned in front of his class . . . by his teacher. The little boy's name is Alex, and Alex is currently being evaluated for Asperger's, an Autism Spectrum Disorder. His teacher decided the best way to deal with Alex's behavior challenges was to make him stand in front of his classmates, then call on each one in turn to tell Alex what they disliked about him, and in the end called a class vote to remove him from class. Fourteen of his classmates voted him out. Two children voted to let him stay. He was then sent to the nurse's office until his mother came to get him.
This story at once deeply saddens me and infuriates me. I am both a teacher and a mother, and I cannot comprehend what thought process led to this woman thinking that this was in any way an acceptable way to deal with children, much less a child who has special needs. How did she not see the damage she was inflicting, not only on Alex, but on the entire class? What lesson did she teach these children about how we treat each other as human beings? What lesson did she teach them about understanding those who are different than we are? Instead of teaching them about patience and compassion, she taught them that it is okay to ridicule and demean. Instead of teaching them acceptance, she taught them to exclude and ostracize. What a terrible legacy to leave her students.
And what about Alex. I cried when I read this because it does hit so close to home. People who know little about Asperger's will often look at a child and see someone who is bothersome or annoying. I know my son wants more than anything just to have friends. He longs to fit in and be accepted, but it is a growing challenge for him to connect to other kids in meaningful ways, though he tries very hard to do just that. Children with Asperger's lack the kind of social cues that come naturally to the rest of us, such as the ability to read facial expression or body language. They don't perceive subtleties in tone. They don't get sarcasm. Children with Aspergers thrive on structure and routine and often have difficulties coping with changes to routine. Alex and his family had only moved to the area this January, a huge change that can be very difficult for children like Alex.
Children with Aspergers often have an intense interest in a very narrow range of subjects, and have uncommon knowledge about their preferred subjects. This can cause difficulties on the playground or in group settings when the child literally cannot switch tracks to engage in another type of play, and cannot understand why others don't want to play the same way s/he does. The child will often talk a lot about the favorite subject, with one-sided conversations being common. They don't know how to give and take in conversation. For Nick, when he gets started talking about pirates he simply cannot turn it off until every last thought is out of his head and verbalized. This can take a long time! In a social situation, this can create barriers to forming friendships.
Children with Asperger's very often also have symptoms of sensory integration disfunction. They have heightened sensitivity and can easily become overstimulated by loud noises, bright lights, or textures. When Nick is overwhelmed by his environment, it affects his ability to focus and follow along. I imagine much of little Alex's behavior problems can be attributed to this.
Reading stories like Alex's makes me anxious for Nick. Thus far, we have been blessed with truly remarkable teachers who see Nick for who he is and know how to support him and guide him. But I fear that will not always be the case. It is going to be challenging enough for him to navigate the often treacherous waters of social interaction with his peers, without having to worry that a teacher might someday also be one of his tormentors.
Little Alex should never have been treated that way, no matter what behavior challenges he presented. Nor should his peers have been taught that it is okay to treat others in this fashion. I can only hope that this teacher is no longer allowed to teach, and that Alex finds the kind of teacher he deserves; one who will nurture and support him, not belittle and demean him because he is different. Isn't that what all children deserve?
If you are interested in signing a petition to have this teacher removed, you can go here, where you will also find a link to the story.
This story at once deeply saddens me and infuriates me. I am both a teacher and a mother, and I cannot comprehend what thought process led to this woman thinking that this was in any way an acceptable way to deal with children, much less a child who has special needs. How did she not see the damage she was inflicting, not only on Alex, but on the entire class? What lesson did she teach these children about how we treat each other as human beings? What lesson did she teach them about understanding those who are different than we are? Instead of teaching them about patience and compassion, she taught them that it is okay to ridicule and demean. Instead of teaching them acceptance, she taught them to exclude and ostracize. What a terrible legacy to leave her students.
And what about Alex. I cried when I read this because it does hit so close to home. People who know little about Asperger's will often look at a child and see someone who is bothersome or annoying. I know my son wants more than anything just to have friends. He longs to fit in and be accepted, but it is a growing challenge for him to connect to other kids in meaningful ways, though he tries very hard to do just that. Children with Asperger's lack the kind of social cues that come naturally to the rest of us, such as the ability to read facial expression or body language. They don't perceive subtleties in tone. They don't get sarcasm. Children with Aspergers thrive on structure and routine and often have difficulties coping with changes to routine. Alex and his family had only moved to the area this January, a huge change that can be very difficult for children like Alex.
Children with Aspergers often have an intense interest in a very narrow range of subjects, and have uncommon knowledge about their preferred subjects. This can cause difficulties on the playground or in group settings when the child literally cannot switch tracks to engage in another type of play, and cannot understand why others don't want to play the same way s/he does. The child will often talk a lot about the favorite subject, with one-sided conversations being common. They don't know how to give and take in conversation. For Nick, when he gets started talking about pirates he simply cannot turn it off until every last thought is out of his head and verbalized. This can take a long time! In a social situation, this can create barriers to forming friendships.
Children with Asperger's very often also have symptoms of sensory integration disfunction. They have heightened sensitivity and can easily become overstimulated by loud noises, bright lights, or textures. When Nick is overwhelmed by his environment, it affects his ability to focus and follow along. I imagine much of little Alex's behavior problems can be attributed to this.
Reading stories like Alex's makes me anxious for Nick. Thus far, we have been blessed with truly remarkable teachers who see Nick for who he is and know how to support him and guide him. But I fear that will not always be the case. It is going to be challenging enough for him to navigate the often treacherous waters of social interaction with his peers, without having to worry that a teacher might someday also be one of his tormentors.
Little Alex should never have been treated that way, no matter what behavior challenges he presented. Nor should his peers have been taught that it is okay to treat others in this fashion. I can only hope that this teacher is no longer allowed to teach, and that Alex finds the kind of teacher he deserves; one who will nurture and support him, not belittle and demean him because he is different. Isn't that what all children deserve?
If you are interested in signing a petition to have this teacher removed, you can go here, where you will also find a link to the story.
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