Something nice happened

[soleiri]

Before deciding to go into education, I worked for many years in retail.
I went to my old work, a large department store, to pick up a few things.
I ran into a colleague of mine.
Actually, to be more precise, she ran after me.

She knew that I had left the store in order to go into Special Education.
She proceeded to tell me how her daughter has a learning disability and has always struggled in school.
But now her daughter is getting straight A’s in her classes
thanks to the programs that they have at her middle school.
She talked about how wonderful her daughter’s teachers are,
and how they make her family feel about how well they are doing to help her daughter be successful.

and yes, it’s a public school in a non-affluent area.

Even though I don’t teach yet,
hearing that from her made me feel so lucky to be joining this profession,
despite all this other crap.

[applegrove]

1. That is great. And yes you will be making a difference every day. It will be great.

[soleiri]

4. Some teacher already made a difference with this girl

actually, with her whole family.
Her mother was absolutely beaming with pride.
It was great.

[deedee77]

2. I think that's fabulous!

Too often we hear only about the bad in public schools. It's nice to hear about the good stuff to.

[4_TN_TITANS]

3. The wife has been teaching since '93

and just got around to creating a Facebook page last week. She got absolutely bombarded by friend requests from current and former students. Kids remember the ones who really make a difference.

[mzteris]

5. good!

I'm glad you were able to have some encouragement. Too often people just like to post "all the bad things". Sounds Like this girl got the help she needed.

Forget "all this other crap". Do what you love to do and do it well and the rest will follow. Right now the BIGGEST threat to schools (all of them) is the economy. We must find cheaper and more efficient ways to improve. I keep screaming for more small schools with smaller classes and teachers paid a hell of a lot more. This is what NEEDS to happen and yet it seems insurmountable with the money crunch.

Are you going into GEN-ed or some speciality area? How much longer to do you have to go?

[soleiri]

6. Special education

Mild/moderate.
I'm doing my student teaching right now.
I'll be able to teach next fall (if I can find a job).
I still have a couple of years to go after that, since I'm also getting a master's.

We definitely need smaller schools, especially in middle and high school.
Some schools are breaking up into smaller sort of sub-schools or cohorts within a school.
I'd love to see if that's making a difference.
People have to realize that public schools, if they are funded,
can achieve anything that charter schools can,
but with accountability and without throwing teachers under the bus.

[mzteris]

7. i didn't think it's just a matter of "funding"

it's getting rid of the red-tape. It's the ability to try new things, and not get hung out to dry if it's not working, you justg et to try something else. You're right - traditional public schools CAN achieve anything a charter can, but they're NOT. And there's the rub.

If your kid needed an educational model not offered by your trad school, but the local charter had just what they needed - I think you'd at least consider the Charter. OR - if you weren't ALLOWED to teach your students the way you KNEW they needed, but the charter school down the street would - maybe you'd choose to go teach there. What if you're a teacher in TEXAS and they will ONLY let you teach RW bs creationist crap - and dyou couldn't move 'cause of your husband's job. Would you teach at the trad school, or consider a charter. What about where you'd send your kids in a case like that.

Charters aren't the "enemy", really. They're just another methodology.

I honestly don't think anyone's is trying to "throw teachers under the bus". Do some need to hit the bricks? Absolutely. Do some need better teaching techniques? Of course! (And that goes for any teacher in any venue, ya know?) I'm not sure what's happened to create this perception. I think it's kinda like the dynamics we see right here in the Education Forum - or even over other issues on DU.

Poster A believes in X.
Poster B believes in Y.

Poster A says this and this and this is GOOD about X.
Poster B says - but what about that that and that being BAD about X? And Y does 1 and 2 and 3 better.

Poster A - hhmmph - what you said about X isn't true,. Maybe partially true, but not for the reasons you say. And what about the this and this and this I noted. YOu ignored it! AND I think X does 1 AND 3 better and who cares about 2 anyway? so nyah.

Poster B - YOU, Poster A, obviously hate ALL THINGS ABOUT Y because you said that. You can't like X and like Y - it's impossible - so now I HATE all things about X, too. So there! :headtoss:

Poster A - I never said I hated all Y. I just like X better on this and this and that. But yeah Y really sucks when it comes to number 467.
Poster B - OH it's OBVIOUS you hate all Y just because you're always defending X. And X really sucks at 1,2,3,4,5,6,7... and and and - you suck, too!

Poster A - What? I never said any of that. I said X was good, not that all Y was bad. ANd I never said you were bad because you like Y better than X! But you're being such a brat about it then , well, maybe I DO think you suck, too...

And on and on and on it goes..... losing sight of the original issue altogether and devolving into a series of mines better than yours and - NO! YOU"RE WRONG!, mine's bigger than yours (if were guys! lol) and soon no one is even talking about the merits anymore.

People PERSONALIZE, when they shouldn't. If I say my 6th grade teacher was a stone-cold BITCH (and she was!), I am NOT saying all teachers are B----, and I most especially am not saying YOU (the teachers on DU) are B-----. Just like if I say my 5th grade teacher was an absolute ANGEL!!, I'm not saying all teachers are wonderful, and I'm not inferring that I think anyone on here has any particular description one way or another. Does that make sense? (and yeah, my 5th grade teacher was sweet. Thanks Mrs. Rollins!) Now my 7th grade English teacher? A real hardass - and one of the best most demanding teachers I ever had. But then I'm weird, I LIKED demanding teachers!


Good for you in wanting to be a teacher. I was going to at one point (music), but after one of my student internships, I realized it just wasn't for me. I'm fine with motivated kids, but I'm not so good with the other kind. My band director's fault. His mantra was, if you don't want to be here, get out. If I THINK you don't want to be here because of your behaviour, I'll kick you out. (And he would.) We had a very small band - but the best concert band in the Southeast! So at the time I went to college, that was the mindset I had. I shouldn't have to motivate kids to be there. I was okay with more experienced kids teaching private lessons, but beginner band students? ARRRGH MY EARS!!!! I have, of course, grown up since then and realized that motivating is part of the equation - and for some a really BIG part.


I think all teachers should receive more education about exceptionalities. "Learning Differences" as it were. The kind that CAN be accommodated in the classroom. The kind that gets 'overlooked' because the kid's doing OK in the class, but left un-noticed starts to become a real problem in higher grades. Teachers in the classroom should be able to RECOGNIZE the symptoms enough to call for an eval, too.

What are they teaching about dysgraphia (or written language disorder) these days? Dyscalcula? Spectrum personality traits. Stealth dyslexia. Twice exceptionals. CAPD?? Giftedness?

I'd like to offer up some info for you - as the parent of a "twice exceptional" child (heck, more like three or four! lol) who's gone through the gamut. PM me if you want.



damn typos!!

[soleiri]

8. I know about twice exceptional children.

without going into detail, both of my sons have a disorder that severely affects their handwriting and organizational skills, and one has a slight hearing impairment. They are both extremely intelligent, my youngest scoring 99.7% on the Raven Matrices test.

What's overlooked in the public vs. charter debate are students that don't need to be coddled with extra attention and smaller class sizes.
I know everyone is focused on getting scores up, and helping troubled students. But my sons need that well rounded education that a public school offers. I looked at charter and magnet schools for the arts, but they offer very few academically challenging classes. One supposedly very reputable arts school didn’t even have precalculus or calculus!
My sons need a school with equal emphasis in the arts, academics, sports and sciences. Charter schools tend to focus too narrowly on one thing.

I won't get into a debate with you on charter schools here, I have my opinion, and you have yours. :)

[mzteris]

9. I wasn't talking about charters at all here.

I just wanted to discuss education. Sped especially. I'm very curious to know what is being taught these days and the current theories of educating kids with learning differences - especially the lesser known or more obscure ones. That part of my post had NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with whether or not is was a charter school.


I'm not certain whether I'm reading this sentence correctly or not - "What's overlooked in the public vs. charter debate are students that don't need to be coddled with extra attention and smaller class sizes." Are you saying they DON'T need "extra attention and smaller classes" or that they DO and aren't getting it?

I think every student benefits from smaller classes. There was a study done about 8 or so years ago +/- that indicated that if students had smaller classes for the first three grades, then they were more likely to be "better students" in higher grades even if they were in larger classes.

One of the things I see with the 2x excep - is the masking of learning differences that sometimes occur. They're smart - and that smartness is able to "compensate" for some of those differences - OR - the learning difference impacts their ability to present as gifted - and they present as more or less "average".


edit: for clarity...

[soleiri]

10. When I mentioned not discussing Charter schools

I was referring to the part of your post that discussed Charter schools.

Yes, I am saying that some kids DON’T need extra attention.
I should have made myself clear that I was referring to high school students. Editing error.
Because of budget cuts and the fear of school closure due to low scores,
those extra classes that make going to a large school attractive to some students, are now being cut.
Once the woodshop teacher retired, they cut the class.

The sharp focus on just math, and language arts is detrimental to the students that ARE proficient or higher.
My son for example, wants to take his 3rd year of German next year,
act in the school play, take a film making class, take precalculus, and run track.
The Charter schools here don’t offer German or have a track team.
His needs are best met at a large well-rounded public school.
But if they continue to cut services to public schools, he's going to lose out.

I’m sorry I didn’t touch on every aspect of your post.
I guess if you want to discuss dysgraphia or dyscalculia, we could.
I'm actually very interested in Dysgraphia.

There are modifications and accommodations for both dysgraphia and dyscalculia.
Which ones to use depends on the student, there’s no magic cure or method that works for all students with dysgraphia or dyscalculia.
For example, some students with dyscalculia have visual-spatial difficulties,
while others have language processing difficulty. The strategies used would be completely different.

While these specific learning disabilities aren’t as frequently seen as dyslexia,
I think that teachers should look for signs of dysgraphia and dyscalculia.
I have to wonder if students with dysgraphia are dismissed as being sloppy writers*,
not knowing that there is a real learning disability that should be addressed.

note: fully aware that dysgraphia manifests in different ways, and isn't always about legibility.

[mzteris]

11. YES!

I haven't done a lot of research/reading on LD's for several years now. I'm interested in what the new theories are - not only the why's, but what kind of accommodations are working.

I'm so happy that teaching schools are now addressing these. There are still teachers out there who give you a blank stare if you mention some of the ones I mentioned to you. Having all teachers better prepared for the classroom has been a mantra of mine for some time. (NO, I am NOT KNOCKING TEACHERS!! If they aren't taught these things how are they supposed to know?) I advocate that ALL teachers have more training in at least recognizing there is a problem. Some classes on differentiation and accommodation would be nice, too. :)

Did you know there's a group for dysgraphia on yahoo? I haven't logged on to it for some years now, even though I'm still a member. I'd be happy to give you the url if you can't find it in the groups section.

My son was diagnosed with dysgraphia when he was 7. (He's 16 now.) The only reason I knew to ask for any testing is because my niece is SEVERELY dysgraphic and dyslexic. And SHE has an IQ of 140! She was labelled "slow" the first few years of school...

I try to tell people about it online when I hear things like "my kid's so smart but he's failing" or that article a few weeks ago about handwriting therapy that had DU'ers saying things like, "elitist parents" and "just make the kid do copy work" or "he plays too many video games" to "he's just LAZY!" That one really pisses me off, you know?

From my last readings - dysgraphia was of three "types", plus combinations of them. As for accommodations - I think we tried every pencil grip known to man, and every pen type. Mine had physical therapy to help correct the muscle weakness part. The best thing that helped him in that regard was when he joined the swimming team. He was an awful swimmer, but the practices really helped helped his shoulder upper back strength. Vision therapy - (yeah, I know another "suspect" treatment) helped him as well - especially in his reading speed and his coordination.

There has been so little on dyscalculia from what I remember - but you're saying "visual-spatial" difficulties. Interesting. I'd not heard that before. But it makes sense. My son had a lot of problems writing down problems because he couldn't keep the "pattern" of how to "do the problem" in his head - like in multi-digit multiplication. So he'd just DO the problem in his head and write down the answer. And I guess that would be why using graph paper to do problems helped - the alignment - but would that be dyscalcula or just another manifestation of dysgraphia if it's related to the visual-spatial?

When you say processing - are you talking about language - like CAPD, or working memory? It was always maddening that my kid could do multiplication with ease, but to this DAY - canNOT "say his times tables". The order gets all mixed up when he tries to repeat them. I still don't understand why that is.