Kelly

Thank you for touching on the subject of special education. I read your post and I could not help but agree on many of the points you shared. In reality, and I speak from my own experience, the area of special education is a very ‘touchy’ subject for many teachers because of the risk of litigation. I have felt many times that I had to be extremely careful to what I shared on IEP meetings.

However, I had the pleasure of working at a school where parents were really involved (and I mean ‘really’ involved). Parents were well educated, many had graduate degrees, and they perfectly knew their rights. I became used to having advocates and lawyers present at meetings and I was ok with it. As a matter of fact, I have been pretty outspoken at meetings and I personally would not sign an IEP (as a member) if I did not agree with something….but that is another story. From a teacher standpoint, I feel that many things (if not most) come down to funding. Any time there is a cut in education, special programs and resources are take away from teachers and students. The real question is: Due to the nature and complexity of serving many special educations students, what are schools/government doing to serve them fairly? I doubt you would find someone who having the resources, would deny them to a child who needs them. Unfortunately, many decisions in special ed are based on budget on not on students’ needs.

I can only speak for myself and my own experience and I have to say that yes, many schools want parents to volunteer for fundraisers, but when it gets down to curriculum, and other important decisions, many schools would like to do what they believe is best without much parent involvement. I can only commend you and admire you for really knowing your rights and fight for what you and your child are entitled to. As I have said it to many parents, I would be as involved and very demanding if I had a child with special needs.

My question to you is: What is your plan of action when it comes to speaking to the teacher of your child with special needs? What are you looking for in a teacher?

Thank you again Graciela, and I hope that after this long reply I was able to answer your question.

Kelly

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as the mother of three children, including one who is blind with hearing issues, an IEP and a mother and a father well versed and trained in special education law, I often tell parents who attend my seminar that teachers SAY they want involved parents until such time as we start to ask questions about methodologies (ie for kids who are known to be dyslexic), about compliance with the ” I” in the acronym IEP, assistive technologies and other concepts and information that we know more about than they do. My experience has been that when the parents know more than the teachers, the principal, administrators and the school board about something because they attend educational conferences, disability community events to learn how to effectively advocate, “professionals’” egos gets in the way and parents are labeled, fought, challenged, etc. Agree or disagree? I’m just curious because I truly believe that what schools want is parent volunteers, fundraisers and people to bring in treats for holiday celebrations and not parents who know more about subjects that help their children actually receive their federally guaranteed education as disabled children. Thank you.

Graciela Tiscareno-Sato
Google me with “Future Reflections” to find my advocacy pieces

Thank you for your question. Actually, my classroom management and overall teaching style has evolved over the years. When I look back at my first and second year, I see so many things that I could have done differently…but again that is how you learn.

Last year, I had a very challenging class. Don’t take me wrong, I loved my kids, but it was my hardest year as an educator. It tested my limits, patience….I really wondered if teaching was what I was destined to do (imagine how crazy it was!).

So, when I started teaching, I did have a chart with colors (red, yellow, green), then moved to a street light (same thing), but I never personally felt it had any impact. Those who did great, ALWAYS did great, and those who where in read, were ALWAYS in red. Once I moved to CA and changed schools, I was introduced to this entire new philosophy of no names on the board, no charts, no shaming of students. WHAT? I thought, “Yeah right…this is going to work.” It was a steep learning curve as extrinsic rewards were NOT allowed (in the upper graders 4-5)…they could earn some ‘peace time’ to color, read, etc.

Fast forward to last year. I moved to 3rd, and after much research I had to move to a token economy (students earning class $$ for their task/behaviors/etc). While the checkbooks have a credit and debit column, I rarely take money off. I also make a hard….hard conscious effort to praise positive behaviors and channel the negative into positive…Children love to be praised (who does not), so I do it all the time.

Also, at the beginning of each day, we meet to share what I saw the day before (PRAISE something even if I think they were horrible…”I am so proud of ________ for _________.”), and I set a rule to focus on (wait for our turn, no talking while others are sharing etc), EVERY morning I do this….whether is the beginning of end of the school year. Children need to be reminded of the rules….so they are revisited every day.

In summary, I use a token economy (attached to lessons about the economy, taxes, etc), LOTS of positive reinforcement, morning meeting to reinforce a rule and carry it our throughout the day, and no shaming at all….

I know it is a LONG response, but hope it clarify/answered your question.

Abrazos,
Kelly
Ps. Feel free to ask me for more details if you would like.