negativity in schools

The world needs more teachers with attitudes like yours!

I suspect teachers are so negative because they do not have the resources to teach children with LDs. They have large classes and improper training when it comes to LDs, so teachers must be frustrated.

I agree. I believe the negativity comes from inclusion without training and support staff for the regular ed teacher.

Of course you’re right. The problem is that teachers are given little in the way of real support or real understanding of the child with learning differences. So they become frustrated and even angry in their helplessness.

What too many of them don’t realize is that they can empower themselves to help these children but it takes some out of the box thinking. I once went to a conference on children with learning differences where the speaker encouraged us as teachers to think of ourselves as ‘teaching-disabled’ rather than see the children as learning-disabled. It wasn’t a popular concept with the audience but it made sense to me.

Any school is going to be lucky to get you.

Sara what an awsome thought. I always told my kids that the teacher needed to learn how to teach them,my reason for all the evaluations they had to go through.

Again,like my lower post,when we start making these kids realize how amazing it can be to be LD,is when the tables will turn.

I mean,why not have the reg. ed kids want to go to special ed. instead of the sped kids wanting to go to reg ed?

What’s with the name anyway? Resource room,remediation,learning disabled,special ed.?

Why can’t SLD mean students learning differently? This is the problem.

Yes,teachers are without support,hard to teach one kid who can’t sit still when you got thirty others that can. So let him stand up. Let him tap on his desk,give him a mouse pad,why do the desks have to be hard anyway? Give the kid a way to move. Why does the kid have to feel like he is not normal? So he moves,so he needs to tap.It’s not the kids who it bothers,it’s the teacher who teaches the kids it is bothering them.

I do feel a teachers and schools attitude can effect a childs learning. In our last district we were told “he is austic he can not learn.” They were of the belief that because of his label he could not learn to read and write and that we needed to accept this and work on social and life skills. This proclomation was made when my son was in Pre-school. We moved. Today he is a 3rd grader in an LD self contained class. This class is expected to learn the same curiculiam as the mainstream they are just taught differently. My son who “could not” learn can now write a few basic sentences, read about 2nd grade level and is on target for his math skills. What a difference the change in attitude made. Here they know is strengths and weaknesses and use his strengths to help improve his areas of weakness. The result a happier child who is learning.

Money, money, money, money
for more teachers, more materials, more
classes.

My son just sat doing his math, for his honors
math class, while he waited for help for his
language issues.
And he sat, sat, sat.

Because the teacher and her assistant were trying
hard to catch the kids with behavior challenges and
get them back to the same galaxy.

Their issues were/are so different from my dyslexic
son’s. And their issues were so much louder and
physical and entertaining.

And my son sat.
I pulled him out.

I KNOW the teacher cared, I know her assistant cared.
But two women can only do so much. You can’t sit down
and talked about soft c and soft g when the other students
are dancing on the chairs.

And don’t think I don’t appreciate the chair dancers. I coach
them in an academic competition we are involved in. They shine.
But my quiet dyslexic son can’t compete for what he needs.
He shouldn’t have to.

Money, mone, money would solve this problem; more teachers,
more materials, more classes.

You better go in swinging for money.

Anne

Anne and these classes do not change in upper class. My son just sat in resource room while the teacher tutored all the kids that are further behind. My son was told to just do his work (independantly) while his needs were never met. More money is definitely not coming to fix this broken system.

>>More money is definitely not coming to fix this broken system.<<

I know, but it could, more money could fix a lot of its problems.
But you are right, I doubt it will ever come.

Which is why I know more about phonics now than I ever learned
as a college grad.

Anne

The money is there, but someone decided it should be spent on welfare, unemployment and jails that our kids will need after they have been neglected and abused by the educational system for 12 years. If we could some how change the thinking and put the money into early screening and remediation, we wouldn’t need to spend it the social services later.

I do not feel that more money will fix this broken system. Ous school administration has just made a decision to cut the only reading support program for “at risk” students our elementary school had. Our school does not serve enough free lunch and therefore, does not receive Title money to assist “at risk” students. We have a reading support program that is funded by our district in place of federal title money. Our district is facing big budget cuts this year due in part to POOR MANAGEMENT!! They are keeping in place art, music, technology and phy ed, but have cut the reading support program. I feel that all of these extra programs are needed to some degree. However, if your child can not read, these programs are not of great value. I do not feel this is a funding problem, but a resource allocation problem. Our school administration is allocating their resources very poorly. What are your thoughts?

Dear Teacher to Be,

We need thousands of you to spread around to help our kids. My son told me before my IEP meeting to please ask if I could get him a teacher next year that will help him. He never complained all year except to say he does seat work all day. We pay for a reading tutor ourselves.

I pray the teacher he is getting next year will help him she has a wonderful reputation.

They call our kids dumb well they are wrong the kids know what is happening and will work hard for teachers that believe in them.

Best of luck to you don’t ever change your attitude.

The whole funding issue is a real tangled web,
as you have state money, levy money, federal
money and we get money from the impact from the
federal project’s in our area.

And then it depends on which state you are in,
which district you are in and which school you
are in.

For example, as a special ed aide sub I will go
to one middle school which is crawling with aides,
then to another school that has a handful (my son’s
school). So each school spends their money differently.
When you ask why, they hem and haw and avoid the
question. So that tells me it’s political.

I guess my feeling is that the staff doesn’t want to
short change our kids, they want to do a good job
but they can’t fund what these diverse students need
with the money they have. Who would stay in this
job if you didn’t really care about these students?

But that is my school district and the people I work with.
And I don’t pay attention as much as I should to
all the funding issues, maybe I am missing something
— I use all my energy to
try and keep my son on track.
Maybe that’s how they ‘get away’ with it - we are
too busy, saying for the 999th time, see that /i/ that
is what makes the /g/ soft. You can carve that on my
tombstone ;-)

Anne - she was hooked on phonics - rip

Yes, money will fix the problem, because if they had enough money to go around, they wouldn’t have to pick which programs to keep and which programs to ax. Gym, art, music, etc. should not be seen as extras. For many ld kids these programs are crucial, it gives them subjects they can achieve in and finally feel good about themselves. The 90% my daughter gets in art and music makes her feel like she can achieve and makes her life worth living. We need both reading support programs and enrichment programs. Our kids deserve them and need them to survive.

Don’t be fooled into thinking if the money is there they would do the right thing.
Special ed kids are not high priority,they won’t bring up the football teams standing. These are the kids who’s statewide assessments are even counted to guage the schools success rate. Please,Please realize these kids are expendable. There are many,and they are in administration of any school district,that feel these guys won’t stay in school or ever graduate,why use the money on them? It isn’t the amount, it is how it is used. These top people need raises,they need a bigger house,they need,they need,they need,caring for kids who don’t fit into the mainstream is just a not worth it to them.

Several years back I was waiting in a office for an appointment. I was looking at a publication about state budget. Health/Education and Welfare is one budget. The article showed two pie graphs, one showing the dispursement of these funds several years before and another showing the current disbursement. The “welfare” portion of the pie graph had grown markedly, reducing the “education” part of the pie graph.

Whose problem is this? This is the big question. Is welfare the fault of the schools? Maybe changes in our education program will help. We also have a steady influx of immigrants from third world countries into CA, a portion of them are mothers with 5-6 children. They end up on welfare.

Socks, I’m depressed!!!

Anne

Why? Don’t be depressed be proactive. Kind of like looking the enemy in the eye and showing no fear.

If you go into it realizing their priorities,how slanted they might be,you can find their weaknesses,and get what you need in the end.

It is all a game,learning how to beat them at it, is the name.
Just because in their small minds your child won’t make it out on top doesn’t mean this is true. We know differently,don’t we?

Hmm,is it possible a lot of those people sucking the welfare system dry never really got a decent education?

Call my PollyAnna, but I just have to figure that
someone, out there in education-land, really does
care for my son.

Actually I do know one ;-)

Our school psych. has been with us since kgarten,
he moved up to the middle school this year, I’m hanging
onto him for as long as possible.

He was the one that took the big step of going completely
outside the box with me to have my son go from a chaotic
sped classroom to his own computer with the Lexia SOS
program so he could keep getting some kind of instruction
in reading skills.

But……. on the other hand, you are right, about being
proactive - I’m really, really good at that by now.

Anne-ee-anna

Oh NO!! Please do not get me wrong there are most definitely the rays of sunshine out there.
Actually most teachers do care,Most often then not they do care.
It about doing the best with little or no support. Teachers have it rough,and they are too often the whiping post.
I am refering to the administration, even legislators if you want to get specific ,and how they determine where the funding will go.
Special education is not high priority,it never was,and it never will be.

The one titled, Misunderstood Minds.

I caught some of it while we were traveling
and then read some stuff online about it.

This statement on the new ‘reality’ board really
got to me. It illustrates the skewed thinking that you observe
about $$ at the top levels.

>> I watched the PBS special, Misunderstood Minds. I was blown away by the statement that some states are planning the size of new prison construction based upon the number of children with learning disabilities in the 3rd and 4th grades.<<

Breaks your heart.

Interesting story out of Arizona, where the schools are suing the state for money.
And then another group is suing for vouchers because the Arizona is now at the bottom
of the school heap of states.
I’ll try and go find the story. It was in our paper today.

Anne

You are assuming that they will spend your money correctly. To this day I have never seen the run away freight train of public education spend the money correctly.

Is it the welfare system that has created the poor education system OR is it the poor education system that has created welfare? I find myself thinking about the age old question. What came first, the chicken or the egg?

What came first, the poor education system or welfare? I think welfare is winning for me.