resouce class vs modification HELP

Hi Cindy,

I’ll tell you what I am doing. Last year my son was in an inclusion classroom. There were 2 teachers. He worked with the sped teacher. I felt she really dumbed things down for him. She gave him spelling words he already knew. Then there were the exercises like rainbow spelling and acrostic spelling. It was useless. He was bored and miserable. All she really needed to do was to encourage him to sound out the words which was something he could do. I guess it is something most sped kids can’t do so she just used methods that she always used.
Another thing that annoyed me to no end was that she insisted they knew the terminology of short vowel vs long vowel. He could read and was very good at sounding out words. The program I used did not teach using this terminology so she just made reading more confusing for him. Why did he need to know what it was called as long as he could sound it out?
I just felt the sped program was an all around bad fit. It is still difficult to tell if it was just the teacher.
So, now, I go into this year with my eye on all of this. I made my plea for a flexible, creative teacher. I really want one who will take the time to understand his needs and one who knows effective methods. Maybe if I click my heels and turn around 3 times I will get a Shay or a Victoria.
I know alot more going into this year thanks in a large part to this board.
If I feel the same type of thing is happening, I will ask he be placed under the regular teacher or taken out of the class entirely.
This is just my story, and my child.

Keep as flexible and creative as possible.
Get to know all the teachers, counselor and school psych.
Keep all the lines of communication open, a ‘we are working
this out together’ approach.

This year, 7th grade, will be different from 6th grade because
of a different sped teacher, a matured child and new subject
matter.

School office opens tomorrow!

Anne

What program are they using to teach her how to read? If not, why not? If not, what are you using to teach her how to read?

In my experience, it’s *usually* better to start with the resource with the idea that if things go well you’ll get out of it. That way you get to succeed and move up if you’ve made the “wrong” decision, instead of having to fail and drop back… and start out the year behind.

… it depends on what she would be missing. If she could take an elective that she excelled in…
(on the other hand, I *have* known kids lucky enough to get out of P.E. for resource! )

I have a friend who is taking her 9th grade son out of PE to go to LMB tutoring.

I am an ex-PE teacher. Why do you say ‘lucky’ to be taken out of PE. We are at an all time high with obese kids. This is also one class that the sped kids can work off their frustrations from having them sit all the time. As I used to say, PE and health are the only classes that may save your life some day with the knowledge and experience that the student learns. Also, a sped kid may be very good at sports and this is where the playing field is leveled. This is also where acceptance can be gained. My daughter was very popular in school, the only hang up she had was with the teachers in middle and high school. She was a dancer and a varsity cheerleader. Don’t count PE out. Many of my high school students were pulled out during that time in ele and middle school, now they are failing health and PE. I guess there isn’t a good time for a pull out program. Many students are pulled out for reading, I would do that only if the program was working, if not, do the program at home and don’t have him pulled out.

It depends. For one, on how P.E. is taught. If the whole program is sports, jogging, and calisthentics, and the already-athletic students get the best end of the deal, it’s going to be purgatory for the others (especially the students who are overweight and/or have coordination problems). In such a case, missing P.E. would probably be more of a relief than a disappointment.

Yours truly,
Kathy G.

Shay wrote:
>
> I am an ex-PE teacher. Why do you say ‘lucky’ to be taken
> out of PE. We are at an all time high with obese kids. This
> is also one class that the sped kids can work off their
> frustrations from having them sit all the time. As I used to
> say, PE and health are the only classes that may save your
> life some day with the knowledge and experience that the
> student learns. Also, a sped kid may be very good at sports
> and this is where the playing field is leveled. This is also
> where acceptance can be gained. My daughter was very popular
> in school, the only hang up she had was with the teachers in
> middle and high school. She was a dancer and a varsity
> cheerleader. Don’t count PE out. Many of my high school
> students were pulled out during that time in ele and middle
> school, now they are failing health and PE. I guess there
> isn’t a good time for a pull out program. Many students are
> pulled out for reading, I would do that only if the program
> was working, if not, do the program at home and don’t have
> him pulled out.

In my friend’s case, he is in 9th grade reading at 4th grade and doing math at 4th grade with an average IQ (down from highly gifted in 3rd grade) He is pulling out of PE so that he can go to LMB and then return after school to participate in cross country (he DOES excel in sports). You’re right, there isn’t a good time to remediate, but sometimes you have no choice but to find it.

Yeah, I was one of those “uncoordinated” kids who was very very happy to avoid PE. In the schools of my place and time (back in the Dark Ages) there was no PE in elementary — schools couldn’t afford gyms. In high school PE consisted of getting into a uniform, sitting on a bench and watching other people play volleyball, and taking the uniform off again. It never even had to be washed. There were two weeks a year of gymnastcs which was fun, especially the trampoline which I’d been taught, but then back to the bench.

In Grade 12, the PE teacher called me “unathletic”. I sort of mulled that one over for a while. Let’s see, I spent the summer in the water, a couple of hours of swimming a day and canoeing too at camp. I rode my bike and/or walked everywhere as regular transportation, two to five miles a day when the roads weren’t icy. I skied every chance I could get to a mountain. I belonged to a curling club and was out sweeping the ice two hours every winter Saturday. The one year I was in a school starting a girl’s soccer team, I joined and learned the game (So did the rest of the team — we made two points all season, but we had fun.) I was solid muscle and no fat until university and a broken ankle. But since my vision won’t let me catch a ball, I’m “unathletic”.

My daughter’s PE class was not much better. Her last class in Grade 9 had a mixed bunch of high schoolers, from my 90-pound twelve-year-old up to 200-pound six-foot men in Grade 12, playing indoor soccer with essentially no supervision. (The teacher might stop it if she actually saw blood). That’s where Grace ended up in the emergency ward for her ankle. We’ll stick to downhill skiing for her fitness; it’s safer.

Too many PE classes are still like that, and if yours are, then that is a perfect chance to pull the kid out for resource. On the other hand if you have the luck to get a real PE teacher who actually teaches something, look for another pull-out place because yes, physical skills and health are good to have.