I think of how hard it is for some of these LD children and how some folks here insists that their teachers just don’t click with their students or understand some things or sense what’s actually going on.
I’m just wondering if we expect perfection from our teachers and if it’s really right to do so. What if they have the same impairments that our children have? That would make everything so incredible difficult. And if LDs are as common in older generations as they are in our children’s, then it would seem that a lot of teachers would have LDs and would have just as much difficulty with our children as our children are having with them. Also, even if teachers had accommodations for their LDs along the way, they still would have trouble with teaching, especially with teaching LD children and dealing with the complex emotional reactions of parents.
I’m not trying to excuse things that are fault-based problems or system-based problems, but trying to understand why things are less than perfect.
For my son, his troubles will carry on with him and will be there when he is working, regardless of his coping skills and progress. I try to imagine him and his teachers switching roles and I know that it would be a struggle on both ends.
Re: Teachers with LD
You’re right - absolutely - but the difference is we expect our children to take input from others and work toward improvment. The culture of schools and teachers in them too often is to come off as the expert on the matter. Schools and their teachers can turn a deaf ear to any suggestion that they might need to change or could better meet a child’s needs.
Parents and children simply do not have the power over teachers that teachers have over the everyday lives of children and their well-being. I don’t think parents expect schools or teachers to be perfect. But they want them to listen and to work with them - not against them - and that’s the difference.
I don’t think the problem lies with teacher, though. I think it lies in the culture of schools. Schools are too often places where children are judged and not often enough places where children are helped.
Re: Teachers with LD
You wrote:
Also, even if teachers had accommodations for their LDs along the way, they still would have trouble with teaching, especially with teaching LD children and dealing with the complex emotional reactions of parents.
This is crazy, you have a lot to learn. Wake up!
My soap box opinion
(Climbing up on the soap box…)
Every teacher, tutor, and parent has thhis/her own dominant learning style. It is natural to TEACH using your own learning style. I am a strong visual learner, so I tend to teach with pictures, diagrams, drawings. I use descriptive language to help students visualize directions or new information. I gesture a lot and color code things. I use visual cues and patterns. AND I also have some learning differences that I have discovered over the last 10 years as a result of my son who had a very severe language delay. I tend to give rambling disorganized verbal instructions, which is not so great for an auditory learner. (makes for long emails and bb posts too.)
When I was in college, learning to be a teacher 16 years ago, we “talked” about student learning styles, but we were not trained in how to really recognize them in ourselves or others. And frankly it is a challenge to adapt your approach to a different style. I went on to grad. school and became an instructional designer. I am a strong believer that the curriculum and learning materials must include features that relate to many different types of learners. Even the greatest teacher around won’t be very successful if the materials she/he teaches from are poorly designed. I’ve seen so many textbook provided activities and test questions that are just horrible and make no sense. I think it is safe to assume that if I can’t understand a question on a 2nd grade worksheet, it is not such a problem that my dsylexic son can’t either.
We need teaching materials that are designed to reach all types of students. Most materials out there are written for students who are auditory learners who thrive on sequential processing. My son is a visual learner who scored very high on simultanous processing when tested, and low on sequential processing. My son has challenges, without a doubt. I spent a considerable amount of time researching reading programs before I choose a school for my son in 1st grade. Midway through 2nd grade they dumped the phonics-based program which used visual cues for a sloppy literature-based program with worksheet after worksheet of word finds and busy work and no phonics! Needless to say, they are already trying to find a replacement for that failed program. So much for my careful research.
We are still recovering after a year of tutoring with an Academic Language Therapist teaching Alphabetic Phonics. So often the curriculum materials are chosen based upon the latest whim or trend. Every year, some new and improved textbook or approach breezes through. It’s not just our private school. The public school is all a buzz with the Core Knowledge Curriculum trend. Fine. Whatever. Why not try doing just 2 things right (like reading and math) instead of 20 things half way. Now everyone is going to start freaking out over the mandatory testing each year. I just want a decent reading program for my kids that will help all different types of learners suceed. Ugh! If the program is educationally sound for a variety of learners, even a crummy or inexperienced teacher can teach it. Don’t you think?
IMHO - I place much of the blame for the problems in our schools on the “old school” University professors who are training our new teachers and on the education publishing industry that is marketing this year’s newest approach, year after year. We are also labeling kids LD who are really just a product of the chaotic approach used and teachers who are re-learning new techniques every other year. There is NO QUESTION in MY MIND that my son’s problems were magnified as a result of a poor reading instruction.
It has got to be so frustrating to be a teacher these days. My son’s teacher this past year would send home parent letters just full of writing errors and typos. She would compose test questions that did not make sense. She used DOLs (daily oral language) worksheets that were very confusing. My son’s tutor and I would have to ponder over exactly what the correct punctuation or grammar solution was supposed to be. I know she’s busy. But, it is sad to see that even your child’s teacher can’t write. Regardless…. I loved this teacher. She was the best teacher my son has had in 5 years of school.
I have no problem with a LD teacher in a classroom. Some of the best teachers around probably are ADHD, dsylexic or dsygraphic. I don’t believe it is the people who are the problem. I think it is teacher training and student materials. At least it is BIG part of the equation. SOAP BOX ENDED…
Agree 100%!
You are so right about wondering why schools can’t just teach reading and math.
The rest of it the kids can get on their own fairly easily if they can read and do math. And if they can do the extras and CAN’T read or do math, they can’t eaily pick up either on their own.
It’s so important for folks with LDs to pivk careers carefully ,and be ready to rethink along the way. Having empathy for people with similar challenges does not mean you’re the best person to be their teacher. Mentor, confidante, source of moral, academic support, yes. I’m not saying if you have LDs you shouldn’t go into teaching. However, if they’re going to keep you from doing right by the kids, it’s not fair to the kids. They have enough trouble.
That’s why I got out. I had a lot of empathy with kids and trouble remembering, trouble organizing, trouble wrestling with words. I shared a lot of strategies that worked. Bottom line, though, at some point challenge becomes frustration, or the kids were paying the price of my challenges and learning experiences.
It’s worse probably to have a teacher that doesn’t get it at all. THat thinks nobody could possible really forget things that quickly and be smart. But sometimes those teachers can get educated.