Re: irrational child

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Re: irrational child
By mlg

I had a somewhat similar experience my first year as a teacher and again last year. The difference between the two situations,and how quickly they were dealt with by the powers that be, is that last year I made sure that
I started documenting EVERYTHING immediately (literally, the first incident happened within 15 minutes of his being in my classroom and continued several times per day for the seven weeks that he was in the school). I also made sure that the administration and the guidance counselor was aware of each and every disturbing incident. I cannot stress more strongly to you the importance of

not accepting the b***s*** that you should "deal with it" on your own. You are a first year teacher in a regular ed classroom and you have a class full of other kids who are entitled to a safe, stress-free environment in which to learn. You are also entitled to have a safe environment in which to work. A child such as the one who is in your class can very quickly turn the over-all atmosphere toxic and the longer that it takes to remedy the situation, the more difficult it will be to get back on track. Don't be afraid to be persistent. It is an unfortunate reality that foster kids get easily lost in the bureaucratic shuffle because the types of academic settings that best meet their needs if they are ED are very expensive and in these days of cost-reducing bean-crunching, the people who can make it happen will do their darnedest to avoid having to shell out a single extra dime.

Don't make the mistake that I did by thinking that it is all your fault if you cannot meet this child's needs on your own. I ended up with an ulcer due to the stress. Talk to your union immediately and continue to be a squeaky wheel until the problem is resolved.