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Home : 2002 : October : 27
I teach in a school that for the last 3 years did not have a special ed teacher. Our Principal did the paperwork and he only had about .4 time for what he was doing. This year we actually have a 1/2 time special ed teacher. I have 2 special needs students in my room. One is behaviour and one is moderately delayed (although I suspect it is more than moderately delayed). I do not have an IEP's at this time in place. The special ed teacher is working on them and hopefully by the end of November I will finally have something for them. Since I teach grade 1 it hasn't been a huge issue because I am teaching things they can learn. As far as the behaviour child is concerned I've had worse so I have learned how to deal with these types of students over the years. So to BLS this is my advice...... - first talk with your union if you have one - ask them what type of protection you should have being pregnant and working with a violent student. - go to your Principal - demand a meeting between you, the Principal and the special ed teacher. At the meeting ask specifically for IEP's to be made available asap, specific assistance for materials and activities to be suggested to you that would be at the levels these boys are at. If you do the meeting with the Principal there then the special ed teacher cannot just ignore your requests anymore. - Leave the meeting knowing the approximately grade-level learning age of the students. If they are working at a grade 1/2 level then go talk to the grade 1 teachers at your school and borrow materials from them. - Do you have some really top students in your class. Rotate them with these students - have them help these students (make it a priviledge). They could help them for example use playdough or clay to make the shape of your state. Help them to paint a map. If you could tell us what you are specifically teaching we might be able to give you more ideas as well. - Ask for the students to be delayed or kept out of one of your classes next week. Use that class to have a talk with the rest of your students. Talk to them about acceptable and non-acceptable behaviour. Tell them that you do not appreciate it when they purposely try to set off the boys. And tell them that from this point onwards, anyone who is the cause of an altercation will be sent to the office as well. Invite in someone from your town's mental-health department to talk with your class on what it might mean to these two boys to have support and friendship, how they can assist them, etc., Some of the problems may stem from your other students not knowing what to do either and even from watching how you deal with the boys. On a further note, aggression is a common form of behaviour for many children who are experiencing frustration. Your special ed boy wants a book, he is not given the book and he lacks the ability to deal with that so he hits. The other student should have been made aware that he should have just given the book to the boy and then let you know quietly that there was a problem. Set up goals for the whole class and help them to learn how to deal with these boys. I'm assuming that you will be off on maternity leave soon so hopefully things will be ok until then. If all else fails and you are not getting any support for these next few weeks, ask a relative or friend to come in and sit in the class with you during that class just in case the child becomes violent. They can at least get help quicker and perhaps calm down the situation and you will not be in danger. You definitely do not want to be in a place where you will be hit. While you are off on maternity leave why not pick up some books from the library or a bookstore on mentally handicapped children, children who are violent and read up on current trends, etc., And perhaps when you return things will be better - you will feel more capable of dealing with the boys because you will not be worrying about your baby. Meanwhile don't let a few posters get you down. We all have areas that are issues for us and sometimes we let those issues take control. And because you know that the one term really bothers a few, try not to use it in your posts. You only used it in the first post near the bottom and I think you were feeling at your wit's end by that point. Unfortunately with budgets and some of the new thoughts out there I do not foresee a future where LD students are not part of the regular ed classroom. For some LD students it is very good for them to be in a regular room - my two for example fit in fine when they are behaving. But there are some who do not fit in and who create a lot of problems in a regular classroom to the point where all the students suffer. I think for some a special school with specific classes, well-trained teachers and aides would make such a difference for them. I've seen the catalogues out there for resources and there are some wonderful (expensive) resources and equipment a regular school could never afford - but a specialized school who could get extra funding could. Each child would have to be looked at on case by case and parents would also have to be involved. But if our goal is to do the best for all our children, then perhaps we need to take a step back and really rethink what "best" really means. And on a final note please post after you have had your baby and let us know if it is a boy or a girl!
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