Can I Get Your Signature to Say That You Understand that Your Child Does Have a Disability?

Can I Get Your Signature to Say That You Understand that Your Child Does Have a Disability?

What kind of question is that??

...one that is actually legally required and a signature that is very important.

Last week, I led my first IEP meeting.  Not just a re-eval, an initial placement IEP meeting with a parent who hated his resource experience and the other parent at a loss of what to do with her child.  My mentor teacher and I decided together that I will see the who process through with this one child, not knowing that the meeting would be more high risk than anticipated.  I brought the child in for testing, administered the test, graded it, wrote presents levels and goals, created a color coded bell curve chart, and conducted the whole meeting.

WOW that was exhausting to even type out!

I wore a blazer specifically that day to look professional and to hide my huge pit stains that I was bound to have during the meeting! I knew the meeting was going to be stressful but I did not know that I would feel so awkward telling a parent that their child has a disability and you need to sign here to show that you're okay with that. I found that one sentence to be super intimidating and uncomfortable. Remembering a parent's rights was difficult to remember.  I thought I had them memorized but I forgot to some a couple of them at the meeting.  The parents asked me really tough questions too, like "So are you saying my child needs to get medication? She needs help with behavior but it isn't bad enough to see the school psychologist every week?"

AHH! Shh, don't ask me questions! I was only prepared for my script and I did not prepare for those types of questions!

I knew that I could NOT say, yes your child needs medication and we need more of your support from home to see if that helps first for behavior.  You canNOT say that to a parent.  no no no.  They district has to pay and/or get sued.  Not fun.

I am blown away that we have to be very trick with our wording for medication.  It's a tricky and sneaky game that I don't like but rules are rules.  I don't like to beat around the bush; I like to be direct when giving and receiving information.  I need to work on my indirection communication skills when it comes to parents.

I only fumbled a couple times during the meeting but my mentor was right there and stepped right in when she needed to.  She said that I did a really good job and that no one could tell that it was my first time conducting and IEP meeting.  Which made me feel really good about myself.  I was so nervous but I didn't want the parents to know that.  I also wanted to make sure that I didn't stumble through the testing scores and the IEP goals.  If I can sound professional and educated during those two parts, I would feel like I led a successful meeting.

My mentor teacher wants me to lead a couple more meetings before I go on to my next placement, but the next two are high-risk parents and she doesn't want me walking into a very tough situation just yet.  Bless her heart!

I was so excited that I called my mom on my drive home.  Super girly, I know!

P.S. I only have two weeks left. CRAZY!

Mothers and Road Blocks

Last week was the theme of mothers. Delayed, dramatic, divorced, divas, delivers of life came stormed into the resource room week. They were relentless, wanting to know information about other students, teachers, school politics, or other juicy information about everyone else besides their own child.  I have several stories but they are sensitive for the public internet. 

 However, one story deals with the opposite, the mother of denial....

I want so badly to have her understand her son's school performance but she just seems to ignore, suppress, or deny everything about her son.  This week, I have really encountered feeling like I can't provide the best service for a child.  I know that a Least Restrictive Environment is not the best education, but when I'm providing my best and it feels like the parent is doing everything to disrupt their own child's progress, I just want to shake them through a strongly worded email! I would rather have thoughts and emotions expressed than not returning emails after you asked for my"professional" opinion. 

ANGST! lots of it. 

But everything will be okay. I need to learn how to deal with it now because I know I will just run into this more and more.  Parents seem to be a blessing or a curse to work with. I have been told warned about the potential frustrations when working with parents, but now I have been able to experience it first hand. 

I think the most unfortunate aspect of it is the disappointment and frustration I feel when I don't think parents are doing enough for their child.  These are capable parents with means and they just don't understand.  No matter how many times we communicate or how many different specialists/people tell how their child is functioning and the parents deny everything.  I feel like I can be more understanding with families who do not have the resources or parents who have cooperated but nothing seems to work or even the parents who are completely apathetic to their child's education.  The parents who act like they want to help but once the truth gets tough, they say we're wrong or ignore any type of communication.  What a huge road block to the potential of a child's education. 

Dissatisfaction. 

Consistency

This week started a bit shaky but now it seems like smooth sailing. 

Earlier this week, my supervisor came out to see me. I was very excited and just a little nervous. I walked into the classroom that morning to find that my mentor teacher wasn't there. The principal came in and said that I don't have to have the class by myself today and I can just close the door for the day. I welcomed the challenge and told him that I will keep the room open for the day. In the morning, there are two more teachers in the room. 

The morning was fabulous; the children were working quietly, following directions, and completing work. How wonderful, I thought, I am a very capable teacher. I'm doing this a week before I normally would take over the class! Yay! Well, I did forget one thing, my mentor teacher doesn't take a break for lunch, the aid leaves at 12:45, and the other teacher leaves at 12:00. That means I don't have lunch and I'm by myself for the rest of the afternoon with my supervisor coming in to observe me. 

PANIC. 

The afternoon, started a bit rowdy and worked up to a full roar. The most demanding students students come in at the same time in the afternoon. At 1:00, I have 14 students by myself all doing separate things and managing 5 different behavior contracts. The plan was to work with one student and work on my lesson plan that I submitted but the other student's behavior was escalating. I tried my best to manage students at a different table, implement my lesson, and control outbursts of a different student. The one student started having a bad mouth and refusing to do work. I gave him the appropriate consequences and remained calm. I finally warned him that the next card flip means a trip to the office. He said, "I don't care. Let's go. I hate math". So, I stood up, sent the other students back to their classroom and escorted this student to the office. He started crying and screaming saying, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry.  I will never do it again". We kept on walking. "I hate you. Why are you doing this to me? I'm going to get grounded because of you". I kindly told him that I gave warnings, this is what Mrs. Russell would do, and everyone is responsible for their own actions. His didn't change his behavior. We got to the office and he sat down in the principal's office with a fuss. I went back and grabbed his math. Finally, came back to the classroom and decided to shut down Resource for the last hour while I talk to my supervisor. My supervisor thought that was fine, and so did the principal. 

That Monday was not what I had planned. It was a Monday, I didn't have lunch, a student had a melt down, I was being observed, and I was emotionally exhausted. 

I did title this post Consistency. That day was quiet the opposite! I just wanted to share my no good very bad day. 

The rest of the week has been much better. I now have confirmation of my placement and more specific instustructions. Since then, I feel confident and ready to work. I created a unit plan for one student and a new behavior plan, complete with a FUBA/BIP. I just need to write down more concrete lesson plans for the next week and continue charting behaviors. I feel like I can finally be creative as we'll as meet Westminster and my personal expectations of work and professionalism. 

I am happy to see behavior improvements already. His percentage of on task behavior has improved and the amount of work complete has drastically increased. This has been a great accomplishment for the morning. Next week, we will stop using the motivAider but keep the contract. The teacher will set the timer for 20 minutes and mark 0's at the time of redirection. The rest will be +. The afternoon, however, is a slightly different story. We still need to increase his productivity level and amount on time on task. He does not like the motivAider on him all the time. I think it adds an element of anxiety. But, he is increasing a productivity. Slowly but surely. The real mystery of what happens at lunch is still unfound. Maybe he isn't eating lunch and comes back hungry. Maybe he didn't eat lunch and is tired. Maybe he eats lunch but is just exhausted after lunch. We're not sure what is happening between his work before lunch and his attitude after lunch. 

For the unit plan, I am very excited and proud of what I have created. I created literacy rotations for one student. We're starting with a lot of phonemic awareness, OT skills, and sensory learning. Some of the the stations resemble some Montesorri work. I have researched some methods and I think picking and choosing from many differnt models of learning will help my student progress into words with consendent blends. With developing rotations, there is heavy planning needed at the beginning, but as time goes on, adding activities to the rotations should be easy for another teacher to do. That is my goal with these rotations, having the concept be understandable for another teacher to pick up and implement. We'll see how the first couple of weeks go. 

Bored.

Bored. 

Last week I was bored out of my mind. 

All I do is help kids complete packets, read words, and pass off tests. 

Why am I bored in a special ed room!?  Normally this is not the case. 

Where is the excitement, the challenges, the success stories, and the "we will never try that again" moments? 

I'm bored. 

On Wednesday, last week, I had to completely change my attitude. I had to choose to be happy and enjoy my day. I was sitting there like a zombie trying to help a student decode words and I started thinking of other things in my head. I wasn't being attentive to this child or to the group at my table. I was wallowing in my apathy and lack of stimulation. How pathetic, I thought, to act such like a child. Nothing is stimulating. All the students have ADD, where's the challenge. Whine, whine, whine.... I'm pathetic. That same night, I watched an episode of Mad Men and on the show, Bobbie came running into the room and yelled at his mom saying "I'm bored". She said, "Only boring people are bored. Figure out something to do." Thank you Besty Draper, that's the kick in the pants I needed to finish the rest of the week. Right now, I am no better than a little boy TV character. 

Now, things are better. I'm not as bored. I have new things to look forward to and by the end of this week I should have a new assignment that is much more exciting than relating my life to a tv show. But, I can't tell you yet! The suspense will make it that much more exciting! 

First Day of School

Well, here we are. The first day of student teaching. Coming right off of winter break to the biggest semester of my life caused much anxiety and excitement last night. I tried to come as prepared as possible, laying out my clothes, preparing my lunch, and packing my bags all the night before. If I could only keep this up the whole semester, my life would be much easier.

Once I was at the school, I felt much more at ease. I was introduced to multiple people who I've already forgotten their names and will encounter embarrassing moments later on as I try to remember. I've met other teachers, specialists, aids, volunteers, VP, and students. So many names to go with so many faces. Some of the students stuck out more than others.

My goal was to learn five student names today and I've learned seven. Those seven caught my special attention and as a future special educator, I am always drawn to the ones with the most outbursts. They're always are my favorite. I've learned personalities and work habits and none are exactly the same.

The curriculum here has a great rhythm and flow to the classroom. Every student knows what to get out, where things are, and when to ask questions. Everything is individualized on the written program based on data collection. There is data being collected constantly in math, reading, writing, and spelling. My mentor teacher also uses Fridays as a day for testing. This seems to be a luxury that compared to most special educators and districts.

Overall the students respond well to the multitude of reinforcements regulated in the classroom. There are The 7 Habits, bean jars, card flips, and personal behavior contracts coexisting in the same room. It is refreshing to see a well organized classroom.

There is technology available but I haven't seen much of it used today. The classroom has two computers and two iPads. The students can use the iPad but only as a reward for good behavior documented by the teacher. When using the iPad as a reward, the student can play games on the iPad that are not "educational". When using the iPad as a center, specific apps are only allowed.

The room is set up with one full time special educator, a part time teacher, and one part time aide. Both part time employees leave around noon, leaving my mentor teacher alone for half the day. There are 53 students on the case load with six students self-contained.

My hopes for this ten weeks is to learn the student's names, be comfortable with the programmed curriculum, and be involved with the behind-the-scene nature of special ed. I want to know why she picked the programs or were they mandated by the district? What testing does she do all day on Fridays? How does she work with the general educators? Is there a cluster unit in this school? Sound there ever be a push in model at this school?

There are lots of questions for the first day and I am very eager to learn the answers as the weeks go on. I would say that today was a success and I'm excited for the future!