Another rant from the classroom

[azfiddle]

Yes mom is new to the district and I think she actually sued another district- but I'm not sure.....

Maybe the boy really does understand more than he can show, but it would be nice to get some clarification.
When I gave him some plastic beakers and graduated cylinders, he enjoyed pouring water but when I tried to ask him which one was full and which one was empty, he didn't really respond in any way.

He does like earning free time to play games on his iPad though....

[Crankin]

I have mixed feelings about this. I have been on both ends of similar situations now, as in being the classroom teacher, the sped teacher and being one of the "outside" team. However, the students I work with now don't have that level of physical issues, rather severe mental health issues. Most likely, mom has been treated horribly somewhere else. And Veronica is correct, cooperation will work a lot better!
I think your principal or sped administrator should make it clear that classroom teachers are not the ones who do the modifications, and be emphatic about it. I mean, I did them on the fly when I taught English, but it seemed "normal" to me, coming from a special ed background, and it's also a hell of a lot easier to do for a writing or reading project than science.
However, I have to say, the world outside of education will not understand when you are upset about "having to stay beyond contracted hours." They see you as professionals who stay until the job is done. Again, your administrator needs to be the one to set the parameters about this. And, I would demand (nicely) some type of report/eval that would specifically tell you what exactly is going on with this kid.
Many years ago, when I taught in AZ, I had to spend a couple of prep periods "subbing" for the teacher of severely mentally/physically handicapped students when she went to a meeting (this was something we all had to do). The students were so impaired I was nauseated by some of the physical aspects. Then, I felt guilty for feeling this way. These kids would not be in a public school setting in Massachusetts, but we served everyone in public school programs, which is much more cost effective than having towns pay for kids to go to private schools. I remember some parents who were encouaged to give their kids up to the state, so they could get residential schooling or go to a therapeutic school. That doesn't happen here, but all of these severe cases are really tough to deal with.
I know that when I go to meetings at the school of the one younger client I have (the one who almost destroyed my office in a tantrum last week), I make it clear that I am "one of them," and aware of the constraints the school has, but also I make sure they understand what issues the kid has. Of course, I am not there as an advocate. Those people are often brutal.

[azfiddle]

Thank you for your perspectives.

I have had inclusion students in my room for years, and I think one thing that sets this case apart is the mom's demands and bulldog attitude about how we should be educating her son. Secondly, how difficult it is to know what he can do and how I can include him. I have modified, suggested adaptations or helped create materials, working with the case managers and para-professinals in the resource department in the past. But I don't have time to create a parallel curriculum an

Oh, and after I left the meeting, the advocate who questioned me during the meeting about what I was teaching started emailing me resources that would be appropriate for a third or fourth grader, about the life cycle of a star, the solar system etc. while the meeting was still in progress! I composed a somewhat snarky email, which of course I didn't send, that pointed out I have master's degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, have been selected for the Developing Leaders program with Arizona Science Teachers Association (doing an in depth study of the Framework for K-12 Science Education), have been teaching science for almost 25 years, and have access to a wealth of resources. And I stated that I hoped she would respect my knowledge and experience in science education. It felt good to write and I'm sure it would have unnecessarily stirred the pot. But still.....

I sure appreciate having a forum like this that allows me speak my mind a little more anonymously than facebook or some other place.

[Crankin]

Like I said, sped advocates are often brutal. I remember being in one meeting (I was the resource teacher) where my principal threw one out and ended the meeting, because she was questioning the qualifications of one of the most professional speech and language therapists I have worked with. Exremely demeaning. Eh, I might have sent that email!