important lesson

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Home : 2005 : May : 11

important lesson
By Laura H.

I frequently questioned the reason I became a teacher this year. Not only do I teach a total of 50 children, 4th grade, state testing etc., it is only my second year. The parents and community are super intense when it
comes to the school district. I was really fortunate last year to get a great group of kids, which was really nice due to added stress from being a first year.
Sometimes I feel like a secretary with all of the IBS meetings and IEP meetings that I have to go to. Graphs must ALWAYS come to the meetings charting progress in a variety of areas. Parent contact logs have to be turned in

with actual contact logged between meetings. Anyways, this year, I have 50 students and we swap kids in the PM. Here is the rundown: 13 on meds for ADD or ADHD, 2 children with oppositional defiant disorders, one with a non-verbal learning disability, one who has an open case with CS for neglect, 5 "hiding" from other parents because of custody battles, 3 children on Zoloft for depression/anxiety, one Bipolar and one child with half a leg and only 3 fingers. NO JOKE!!!!

I did not get my degree in special ed, nor did I really have any desire to make that my field of study. I actually only took one college course, Intro to Special Ed. That is it. OVer the summer, 3 weeks, one report on the subject.
What I did get my degree in was EDUCATION. I am in their lives to teach them. Whether they have 3 fingers or threaten to kill themselves everyday when told what to do, I know I am there to teach. No matter if they are in the hallway refusing to come back in our classroom or come to school smelling like cigarette smoke with sores on their arms and legs from lying in their bed all night in their own urine. No matter if one has stolen something off my desk because "he felt like it" or dad might be in town so mom said to stay away from the windows. If that means that I teach them to control their anger or strategies to cope with feeling sad, I am there to TEACH.

No one is asking you to be a special ed teacher. I find it hard to believe that you would not have any assistance in your classroom with the amount of "issues" you have.
I leave school everyday feeling exhausted and sometimes even downright angry for the class I was "dealt". But I just always and try to remember that they are someone else's child. Someone loves them and has entrusted me to take care of them. Some of them see me more than their parents each day. If it means that I have to play "special ed teacher" every day so be it. I wouldn't speak to your principal at all. Evaluate why you went into teaching. Was it to teach a group of perfect angels or was it to just plain teach and see how awesome it is when even one student learns?