lazy

My daughter had a long term sub for science…The average score in the class was a D…needless to say most of the general ed kids and IEP kids got progress reports…Part of the problem was his teaching style…and when the regular teacher came back from maternity leave she had her hands full…and the sub was a washout as a teacher…

So many times Regular Ed teachers make assumptions that kids understand curriculum by the pragmatics that the kids display. In all reality many times what the teacher has taught has flown over their heads and the children with LD’s truly dont’ understand the concepts and sometimes kids with LD’s are lousy test takers, they are inattentive to the details. Just like the guy from the Sweet Home Alabama movie says to his wife…I may be slow…but I am not stupid…:-)

Many times an educator needs to take a long hard look at themselves before they can judge if a child is laxy…Yes, some students are lazy and know how to work the system but if you can tie a new concept into their schema, they truly understand and comprehend the material then in my book you are a good teacher…

You ask the hardest question of all, I think. I often ask myself - how many years will it take before the message gets through? Orton first described ‘word blindness’ or dyslexia in 1907!!!! Almost 100 years ago and yet most teachers, in my experience, still haven’t heard about learning differences or still just don’t ‘get it’.

I took courses in college. I noticed people around me (and me) struggle with their issues in school. Some to read, some to write, others to be organized…
You read, you hear, you observe the world around you and you know the truth of learning differences.

What about doing an inservice on Mel Levine’s The Myth of the Lazy Child?

Good luck. Your cause is a righteous one.

Chip away at the stone, girlfriend. Chip away.

I know this has been my biggest cross to bear in this profession. I knew two students once who were in a required class (for graduation) and they were having major troubles. Besides the regular issues LD students face, these guys had a replacement sub for a case manager. They came to me and expressed their concern that they were going to fail the class in their senior year. It became clear that no accommodations were being made to them. When I asked the teacher, she said she was using a modified grading scale and that she didn’t think she had to do any of the others then. (I didn’t really believe that.)

Anyway, long story–I wound up reading a test to them a few days later. It was a textbook test, multiple choice, and the teacher had allowed everyone in class to use the textbook to take the test. So I did what I assumed every able reader would do in a situation like that. I read the question. scanned the subtitled sections until I found one that sounded like it might contain the right information and began to read. Within in short order, I would come to the text that had the exact answer as one of the multiple choices—verbatim. I kept reading but it was plain to me that they were filling in the bubble so I would stop and proceed to the next question. I knew they had done well because it was so obvious when we came to the right answer—it was word for word. Well, don’t you know that when these boys got their graded tests back, she made a big deal about wondering how they had managed to do so well on this test suddenly, even outscoring some of her straight A students. Mind you this was not done in private. Rather than see how eliminating the barrier that reading posed in this course evened the playing field, she would rather believe that the three of us had acted improperly during the administration of the test.
This of course called for another talk with her but it was to little avail. She believed that she was helping them by raising the bar and I could not convince her (after about a 2 hour debate) that high expectations and reasonable accommodations need not be at opposite ends. Furthermore, motivation tends to be low when there is no expectation of success. Sigh.

Point is, ignorance is everywhere and we need to keep trying to combat it while we keep trying to teach students advocacy skills, compensatory skills, and people skills by not blowing our own tops when we have to deal with these types.

My non LD child is the lazy one. He doesn’t study, doesn’t keep up in class, doesn’t care about his report cards. He makes “B’s” and “C’s” without cracking a book.

The LD kid is the one who has to work twice as hard to accomplish (hopefully) half as much. Maybe they become “lazy” b/c then it’s the student’s fault they not learning and NOT the teacher’s.

Thanks for being willing to “go to bat” for our kids. Someone needs to. May your tribe increase.

Hi Kelli,

I am an adult with NLD/ADHD. Could you ask these teachers to imagine having to spend a good portion of their time every day working in their worst areas? Ask them how they would feel having to struggle so much?

Rick Lavoie in one of his articles mentions a teacher who struggled with computer issues and finally realized what kids with LD go through. Obviously, I don’t guarantee those breakthroughs but it can’t hurt.

The other advice is excellent also so hopefully something will get through to these folks.

PT

You’re right. Many thanks for the great post!

I’ve taught 20+ years and never knew a lazy kid. Maybe it’s the teachers that are lazy. They don’t want to teach children if they have to go out of their way.

To me, this is a crucial failure of Department of Education (DON’T GET ME STARTED!) in requiring states and districts to educate their teachers about ld. They just don’t.

Another favorite excuse: “She’s just retarded.” or “He’s a crack baby.” or “She has FAS.” I’ve heard both from too many teachers.

Children aren’t lazy but rewards can certainly motivate children. Success is a great motivator. If the child is not allowed to succeed why should they try?

I learned not to allow any of my children, especially special ed to fail at anything ever. Unfortunately, too many of my children had been taught they couldn’t succeed and had given up trying to learn and instead tried to find ways to avoid learning by creating discipline problems or getting arrested.

I’ve taught 20+ years and never knew a lazy kid. Maybe it’s the teachers that are lazy. They don’t want to teach children if they have to go out of their way.

To me, this is a crucial failure of Department of Education (DON’T GET ME STARTED!) in requiring states and districts to educate their teachers about ld. They just don’t.

Another favorite excuse: “She’s just retarded.” or “He’s a crack baby.” or “She has FAS.” I’ve heard both from too many teachers.

Children aren’t lazy but rewards can certainly motivate children. Success is a great motivator. If the child is not allowed to succeed why should they try?

I learned not to allow any of my children, especially special ed to fail at anything ever. Unfortunately, too many of my children had been taught they couldn’t succeed and had given up trying to learn and instead tried to find ways to avoid learning by creating discipline problems or getting arrested.

I am so glad to hear someone else have this experience. I have been begging my nephew’s teachers to give him his tests orally. I tutor him in the evenings, and I know that he knows the information when he goes to school. But he fails every test miserably. One teacher finally have him an oral test and he scored a 96%. She couldn’t figure out how he “managed to do so well.” Even after seeing that kind of potential, his teachers just shrug it off and go back to written tests that he fails every time. If there is a secret to opening people’s eyes, I’d love to know what it is!