Hello. I am new at this site, however am a member of adhd parents and would like everyone interested in sending a request to Federal Government requesting that
*teachers be required to have more training in handling children with LD
*smaller classrooms
*alternative teaching, letting them know our children learn differently
*more positive reinforcement be used in classrooms
*recognition that ADHD, ADD, ODD exsist and coexist with other disorders such as depression, anxiety, bipolar….etc.
Please contact me at [email protected]. We have currently composed a letter making this request and are asking all parents that have concerns about the way our children are being taught please print and sign the letter and send it in the mail. The more of our voices they hear, the better our chances. Will gladly e-mail this letter to anyone interested.
Thank you,
Rhonda
Re: Letter to the Dept of Education
I would like to add that I do not think requiring more courses is the answer. We already take a phenomenal number of courses in CA. CA requires a 5th year of college. Now pretty much everybody in CA must have a CLAD (English language learners) certificate and now a GATE (gifted and talented) certificate.
I think teachers could be taught more in the courses they already take, like reading methods, for example. There is a limit to the practicality of simply heaping more classes upon more classes for teachers. We never get out of school, we pay the tabs ourselves and frankly, the teaching profession does not pay us well enough or command enough respect (let’s not argue about this one, but suffice to say that in American the teaching profession has never garnered respect) to continue to require more and more time spent in class by teachers.
Re: Amen!
And to second that sentiment, I will say that 95% of the valuable things I have learned about reading have been things I pursued outside of formal education…IDA conferences, PG training, viewing Lindamood-Bell training tapes, reading the reading research, reading this board and web-site articles. The only useful thing I can recall from my undergrad training was that I had to take a course in phonetics for teaching hearing impaired. So I had a good background for teaching phonics. In my masters I concentrated in LD and while I had a good foundation, I was not taught how to teach a MSSL reading program of any kind. And none of these workshops were sponsored by my school systems, either…and I’ve taught in 4 different states.
Janis
Re: Amen!
Coursework?? Most of the university reading people in universities still support (as far as I can tell) approaches bordering on whole language. Don’t think for a minute the disastor they brought on has phased them one iota. Don’t think there is accountability.
Petitioning the present administration for smaller class sizes - check out the statements of Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida concerning ther recent ballot referendum on smaller class size.
The present push from “professionals” concerning special education placement is (and I give my cynical translation), “if they can’t make it in the mainstream, put them together in one room with a teacher certified to do it all, write them a dandy IEP, and be done with it!”
If your child has needs, it appears they have you surrounded. Perhaps the desire is for you to take your business to the private sector - where, for a pretty penny, your child’s needs can be addressed.
We’ve gone a long way since 1976…….backwards!!!
Ken Campbell
I would just like to add that with the “No Child Left Behind” law, I who has a SpEd teching certificate with a major in MR , a minor in Learning Disabilities, and an Elementary Education Endorsement will no longer be qualified to teach in the regular ed classroom which I have been doing for the past 18 years. I guess I feel I know how to deal with more of the kids than El. Ed majors.