I teach in the middle school. Spec. ed. 7th and 8th. I teach math spec. ed. for two hours, one hour I have three students that need intensive help, another hour I teach language arts. All of my students are included for language arts, but after a while I ended up teaching language arts in the 7th grade because the teacher doesn’t accomodate. So I need to go over everything.
My biggest problem is the reg. ed. teachers. I wonder what their role is with my spec. needs kids? You see for Science, I provide all of the accomodations (I remake the test, give the students the vocab words, take notes and provide them, etc.) In History, I read the text into a tape so all my students can listen to it. Then I redo the questions so that my students can do them. Basically I do all of the accommodations, plus if a test needs to be read I do that too. So sometimes I can have three different groups in my room. I am teaching language arts, others are listening to a tape, and others are taking a test. Three different groups in my room at the same time. I constantly worry my kids aren’t getting the notes and such… The reg. ed. teachers don’t think ahead of time what accommodations they can make to make the spec. ed. students lives easier like providing notes, study guide ahead of time. It is pretty much expected that I will do all this. If I don’t then it doesn’t get done. I have been doing this all year, so I know that not much will change. I am wondering how to change next year. I would rather pull-out for math like I have been and teacher language arts to students who really shouldn’t be in reg. ed. lang. arts. It just doesn’t make any sense to make all of the students attend a reg. ed. lang. arts class when they can’t read at a 7th grade level, let alone a 3rd grade level. I really get too stressed worrying about the reg. ed. classes I can’t devote the time needed for spec. ed. stuff. I was wondering how all of you would handle this, or really am I right to assume what I do? Please be honest and let me know….. I almost feel like a glorified aide in the reg. ed. classes, and I have the training as a spec. ed. teacher and I feel that I am not using it to my full advantage….. Thanks………..
You're not doing enough (well, sort of).
You’re giving these kids their fish every day — only every kid has a different diet so you’ve got to run around like a chicken with your head cut off (I love mixing metaphors). And… are they learning? At the end of the year, what will they walk away with? Fond memories of being the kid who needed all that extra help to get by, and no experience of what it’s like to have command of knowledge or skills.
It sounds like you’re having to rewrite the Science & History courses. Hmmm… What Science are you trying to teach? And what’s the teacher’s underlying attitude? Is s/he satisfied with thigns as they are (having written off those sped kids, or feeling that having exposed them to stuff is fine) or would s/he be willing to try something different?
I’ve been in your spot but the situation was worse than hopeless in lots of other ways so I spent my year doing damage control. Right now (this minute even :-)) I’m thinking about what I want to say at the IDA conference in November, about designing content area courses in middle & high school so that they actually *work* for LD kids, instead of this mad torniquet application version of the illusion of inclusion. Things like figuring out the “big ideas” you want them to actually know for the rest of their lives, then teaching to those instead of unit by unit hit & miss stuff. I’d be glad to use what you’re doing as my examples — let me know what units you’re working on & what to toss in as review (if you’re doing that) and I’ll play around with it.
As for what I would *do* in your situation… there are too many kids with horrendous literacy skills who are “graduating” from school. In middle school you’ve still got half a shot at working at the basics of reading and math. This stupid idea that if they haven’t learned to read yet, somehow eihter it’s just too late or they’ll magically pick it up by osmosis, is one I don’t buy. I’d do my darndest to figure out a way to work on reading, writing and arithmetic.
Re: Am I doing too much?
If your 7th graders are reading at only a 3rd grade level, it seems like it would be more appropriate for them to be pulled out for some intensive reading instruction. Maybe some of the middle school resource teachers out there can suggest a good program that you could use with them????
Re: Am I doing too much?
I don’t think you’re alone. Few schools have red. ed. teachers that do their own accomodations/modifications. They just don’t get it.
As a consequence, it leaves you no time to remediate your students’ basic weaknesses. You need and they need to spend all the time keeping up with the regular curriculum.
It’s a philosophical issue and it would take great effort and much time to change this even if your principal were sympathetic. In the meanwhile, without your support, your students would be floundering in their regular classes.
I’d be doing the same thing you’re doing as first and foremost these students and their families are hoping for success in school. Until we make a massive change in all our schools, yours isn’t likely to change.
Is there any person at your school who ‘get it’? Who understands what you’re saying? If there is, ask that saavy person if it would be well taken if you were to make some suggestions to the reg. ed for the coming year? Having experienced this now, could you make an easy list of accomodations the LA should/could be making up front? Could you have a sitdown with the LA teacher that begins, ” I was wondering… if it wouldn’t be trouble…
Good luck.
Re: Am I doing too much?
Rebecca,
I, too, am frustrated when I see special education teachers spending most of their time on accommodations that the regular classroom teachers should be making. I often wonder how many times we need to re-write tests or construct an organizer before the regular classroom teachers will “get it.” Am I being too demanding to think that regular classroom teachers should know that a handwritten copy of a test (many times in illegible cursive) might be typed so that a special education student (or any student) would be more able to decipher it? How much skill does it take to read a test to a student? Certainly, I think we should be able to expect regular classroom teachers to do this too without any special training. I am afraid that we, as special educators, have become enablers. Since we want the best for our students, we do the work that should be a part of the job description for all teachers. The regular educator’s mantra of “I don’t know what to do” is really an excuse for “I am too busy to do what is right.” Instead of teaching learning strategies and multisensory language (what we should be trained to do), we are relegated to being “glorified aides.” I do not believe this is going to change without a supportive administration that includes what a teacher does to meet the needs of all students in the class as part of the evaluation process.
chris, that is exactly how I feel!!!
Wow! You have said exactly how it is. It is these little tasks that you mentioned that I think the reg. ed. teacher could do is what keeps me from teaching more important things. All I really care about is the students. What i would really like to do is be able to teach reading skills to my students, but now they are fully included for reading, which is leading to more frustration. Although I have only been trained in the PG program (self-taught) I would love to learn more programs LMB, Wilson so I could focus on using my training instead of doing things that teachers should be doing!!!
Re: that is exactly how I feel and I may be the missing piec
I see the opposite at my child’s school. I wish they did adjust the tests.What they do is have a group discussion to fill out test ,and they have had other kids finish my child’s test for her.I wish I had you for my child’s learning support teacher.A question for you all , I was wondering about the inside working of the school to get everyone working together. It sounds like the regular education teacher doesn’t do the accomodations as well as my child’s doesn’t either ,even though it is in IEP.I’ve called my child’s learning support teacher about the tests,no response so I’m hoping next test will be different.Any way if you all have suggestions on how a parent can get the school to work together let me know as I (the parent) may be the missing piece to getting the regular education teacher to do what needs to be done.
auditory mom
I find that many of the regular ed. teachers don’t know how to accomodate a test. I had to learn how to do it myself and then the teachers learned it from me. For example in matching, many teachers give my students 20-40 definitions to pick from, well, I narrowed it down to two. All my students need to do is circle the correct answer. I guess what helps is knowledge as to how to modify tests and such. There are some very helpful articles on this site. I think it is under LDindepth. Many teachers aren’t properly trained, and really don’t think about the kids with special needs. I do, I think, how can my student succeed. What can I do to make things less complicated. I would look up information about accomodating and modifying and share it with others. The special ed. teacher should be on your side. It is a long journey and a lot of hard work, but very worth it. I just get frustrated because I do all the work and I am not always the expert when it comes to 8th grade History and Science. I need to know all of my students’ classes and what is going on. Each monday, each teacher gives me the lesson plan. I look at it and pull from last year’s work I used for accomodating. In the two years I have been here, I have really made a great system for all of the classes. Hope this helps, rebecca faye
Re: auditory mom
Yes, it does sound like a lot of work for you, it seems it would be beneficial if the regular education teacher would accomodate all kids in the class by using multiple choice,visual aids and preteaching concepts so it is understood by all in class.My child is in a regular 3rd grade class and as I watched it I saw many kids not getting what they were suppose to do.Even a simple task as turning to the right page was hard for the kids to do, afterwards I asked the teacher to write the page number on the board for the kids to see (a simple solution ).It does seem the general education teacher does need more insights into others’ disabilities especially if disabled kids are to be included into the classroom.I fortunately have the opportunity to write what special needs my child has, so the school can give her a teacher that will suit her ( I did not do this last year as I thought the IEP team would make sure she would be in a appropiate classroom) so I am asking for someone who will be able to do the accomodations.I don’t think the learning support here do the accomodations for the regular education teacher and I don’t think they should have to as each teacher here is teaching different subjects and that would be alot of work and like you said I would prefer the learning support person be teaching my child what they need instead of having to spend extra time to modify everything the reg ed teacher does (what a waste of time).thanks for the info I will try to get together with her learning support teacher again ,right now I know she is dealing with “a mom from hell”and I want to give the learning support teacher breathing room so we can work together to get a good IEP for my child.
Re: Am I doing too much?
I am a high school teacher, this year, but have been a middle school teacher and the easiest and fastest reading program for older students, in my opinion, is Phono-Graphix. I have been able to remediate a class of older students in a very short amount of time. If you want to learn more, do a search on the reading bulletin board or email me personally.
Re: chris, that is exactly how I feel!!!
Why, if you are trained in PG, haven’t you been teaching it in your resourse room? At the very learst, you could use it as a warm-up and by the end of the year your students could be reading better, then your work wouldn’t be so hard. If you are PG trained, why do you want other reading training?
Many Special ed teachers are allowed part-time aides to do some of the things that you are doing. I have done my time in the trenches as one of those aides, and even as a speech professional I still have to make sure that my charges understand regular ed curriculum and it is up to me to make that happen but I can relate to what you are feeling..
What you are doing sadly, comes with the territory. Many Regular Ed teachers are clueless when it comes to making appropriate accomodations for special ed students and it is up to the special ed teacher to make those accomdations unless they have trained the regular Ed teacher to do it.