Dec

16

Helping kids with learning disabilities change negative habits of mind

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Special Education | 11 Comments

The other day in my senior class we were talking about what it feels like to have a learning disability. Many of the kids who are identified as having a learning disability said they felt retarded when they were told about their disability. Some of them laughed about being in my class and called it the “retard” class. I’ve heard their peers also call it the “retard” too class and laugh and comment about it. No wonder some of them want the door closed so that no one can see them sitting in the class. When I think about it, it’s a wonder any of them talk to me in the halls when they see me given that I ‘m the person who teaches that class. But, they do. Although, I must say that recently I had a grade 11 student cover his face with his hands when he saw that I was coming to talk to him. One of the students who has been identified as being gifted and having a learning disability told the class “One year they told me I was gifted; the next year they told me I was retarded.” How does a kid deal with that? This kid wasn’t dealing with it very well, unfortunately.

What do you tell kids who feel retarded because they have to live with the label of LD? I’ve told them everything I can think of. I’ve told them that they are not retarded. I’ve told them they have average or above average intelligence. I’ve told them they have interpersonal intelligence, intrapersonal intelligence, musical intelligences, etc that they could be proud of. But of course their daily experience in the classrooms doesn’t support pride. Now, I’m going to stop telling them things, and I’m going to have them start doing things that I believe will help them become more proud of who they are.

This is my plan. From now until the end of January, the end of the semester(I know that’s not a very long time, but I just thought of doing this now), I’m going to help them become philanthropists giving of their time, talents and money to help other people. This is my thinking behind my plan. At our school it’s really cool to be involved in various fund raising drives. The gifted kids do it all the time. The students helped raise eight thousand dollars to build a school in one of the developing countries. Students have raised thousands and thousands of dollars for charity. Every week there is some kind of fund raising going on. I’ve heard my students say that they’re never part of anything like that because other people think that they’re not good enough. It doesn’t matter what I say, they continue to feel that way. So, I’m going to use my class time to first teach them about philanthropy and then give them the opportunity to practice philanthropy and social action so that with each philanthropic act they do giving of their time, talents or money they’ll themselves in a more positive light adding to the common good and not see themselves as “retards” with nothing to offer the world.

Given that most of the students in the class are strong visual learners and extremely weak auditory learners and dislike reading, I decided that I would use a video or a movie of some sort to anchor the philanthropy unit. The question was what should I show them. I had no clue. So, I do what I normally do when I don’t have a clue. I googled and to my delight, I found a site that was most helpful. The site is called Finding Inspiration In Literature and Movies or F.I.L.M. for short. It is perfect because it has lots of suggestions for movies as well as questions kids could reflect upon. I showed them The Ultimate Gift, and they absolutely loved it and were more than willing to compete the assignments based on it. We’re at the point where the kids are going to interview an adult and create a video montage much like the one they saw in the movie. I can’t tell you how excited I was that they were excited about doing the assignments, even the kids who hate to write a word were willing to do this.

Now, I have to tell you something about showing videos or films to my class. Many of the kids in the class have short term memory problems and can’t do two things at the same time. I have found that if I show a movie over two consecutive days , many of the kids have forgotten much of the content. I’ve tried having them answer questions as they watched the movie, but that didn’t work well because they got so interested in the movie they couldn’t stop to answer questions .

So this is what I do now. I get the kids interested in the movie by asking a question about life related to the topic of the movie. Before I showed the movie The Ultimate Gift, I ask questions like: have you ever inherited anything; what would it feel like to inherit a million dollars; what would you do if somehow you got a million dollars? We talk about it for a while and then I told them that a character in the movie is facing those questions. Then I invited them to watch the film with me to see what happens. I showed the movie in it’s entirety, had a graphic organizer to help support memory and then I show the movie again in sections so that the kids could answer the questions. I find that showing the movie that way helps make sure that everyone get to see it at least once in class. If a kid wants to, I lend them the movie to take home and cross my fingers that they remember to bring it back the next day. Sometimes they do and sometimes don’t, but that’s life. I don’t remember everything either.

This semester I am teaching one Advance Learning Strategies class. Next semester, I teach two Advanced Learning Strategies classes so I’m going to spend some time before then, and see how I can incorporate more films to achieve the desired outcomes for this course.

I want my students to change the negative habits of mind they have about themselves, and I think I have found a way to help them to start do this. I think that when they start giving their time, energy, and talents to projects for the common good they’ll feel that they have done something valuable, that they are valuable and not a “retard”.

 
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Dec

9

Why don’t kids with learning disabilities get to do the cool stuff that gifted kids get to do?

Filed Under "At-risk" students, Special Education | 10 Comments

Why don’t kids with learning disabilities or kids who are taking applied level classes get to do the cool stuff that kids who are identified as gifted get to do? That was the question one of my students, let’s call her Cindy, asked in class this past week. Cindy who has a learning disability and is taking mostly applied level classes and getting good marks ,by the way, was indignent because she had been told by a teacher that she could not be part of the Student Activity Council because that was for the gifted kids. She almost didn’t get to go to a conference she really wanted to go to either because someone thought that only the gifted kids should go to that conference. Fortunately for Cindy, another teacher got wind of this and advocated on her behalf so that Cindy and another student who is also taking applied level classes could attend the conference. In a similar vein, recently one of my colleagues was asked to select some students to be part of a really cool activity outside of class. My colleague chose some kids that would really enjoy the activity, and the kids and their parents were really excited about it all. Then, my colleague was told that the activity was only for gifted kids and those kids who were originally chosen couldn’t take take part in the activity. My colleague was left with the unpleasant task of telling the first group of kids that they couldn’t go.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that students who are identified as being gifted shouldn’t be able to participate in enrichment activities. I think all kids should have the opportunity to take part in enrichment activities. I’m arguing that excluding certain groups of students from certain activities just because they are identified as being part of a specific group like students with learning disabilities or students who are taking applied level classes needs to stop. Equity for all students is what I’m advocating. Students who are identified as having a learning disability, students who are identified as having behavioral difficulties, students who are identified as being gifted, students who are not receiving special education support, all students need to be treated equitably . It’s time to stop the discrimination that is fostered through linguistic bias, stereotyping, exclusion, imbalance and fragmentation. Changes in school policy, changes in instructional strategies, changes in curriculum content, changes in school and classroom management and changes in family and community involvement can foster equity for all students in and out of the classroom.

How are we going to do this? The first step is to recognize that equity doesn’t exist and that biases do and then the next step is to re-culture the school community so that all students and teachers will be treated more equitably. I’m pleased to say that, that is beginning to happen. I’ve been part of the first group of teachers at our school who as part of the Board’s Grades Six to Ten initiative has just completed the Tribes Learning Communities training and hope to help more people at our school see with new eyes . I’ve been told that the Tribes training is only the first step, and I am looking forward to learning about and helping people take the next steps.

What is a Tribes Learning Community. Before I answer that question by quoting a passage from their web site, I want to make it clear that I am not connected to the organization in anyway other than I’ve taken the Tribes training course and believe that it will help us achieve equity in schools, among other very important outcomes. A Tribes Learning Community is a new way of learning and being together.

Thousands of schools throughout the United States, Canada, Australia and other countries have become Tribes Learning Communities, safe and caring environments in which kids can do well! After years of “fix-it” programs focused on reducing student violence, conflict, drug and alcohol use, absenteeism, poor achievement, etc., educators and parents now agree, creating a positive school or classroom environment is the most effective way to improve behavior and learning. The Tribes TLC® process is the way to do it.

Students achieve because they:

  • feel included and appreciated by peers and teachers
  • are respected for their different abilities, cultures, gender, interests and dreams ( that’s an outcome that I would really like to see given the demographics of my school)
  • are actively involved in their own learning
  • have positive expectations from others that they will succeed. ( this is another outcome that I would like to see given that I work with kids who often are not expected to succeed by others or themselves for that matter)

The clear purpose of the Tribes process is to assure the healthy development of every child so that each one has the knowledge, skills and resiliency to be successful in a rapidly changing world.

I encourage you to go to the site and explore it for yourself by clicking on the link I’ve provided.

Just an aside here, I want to say that I really like working at my school. It has an unusual mix of students and programs. There are about 1700 students enrolled in grades 7-12 . The school is home to one of the regional centres for the gifted and has about 450 students enrolled in the enhanced program and most of them are bussed to the school. It also has a high population of English Language Learners formerly known as English as a Second Language learners. But, since for some of the kids English is not a second language but a third or fourth one , English Language Learners is a more appropriate description. There are are about 60 languages besides English spoken in all. The school looks like a mini United Nations with students from different parts of the world sitting in classrooms, navigating through the halls and sharing the cafeteria during lunch. The school also has about 120 students who are identified as needing special education support and plenty more that need and get support but haven’t been formally identified, for one reason or another. A class for developmentally challenged students is also housed in the building and these kids are integrated into school life as well. It is a busy, busy place and I love it. But, that doesn’t mean that some things don’t need to be improved. I guess because I’ve spent over 22 years working with and advocating for students who need extra support of one sort or another I’m delighted to see the Board and school’s administration commit time and money to the new initiatives that will enable students to be successful in our rapidly changing world. Its actually a very exciting time to be teaching at our school.

 
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Nov

11

Not getting all the paperwork back is driving me crazy.

Filed Under Special Education | 7 Comments

I’ve come to terms with the volume of paperwork I have to do because of my job as special education teacher. I’ve come to terms with it, but I don’t particularly like it. Usually, I just try to suck it up and get on with it. Most of the time I’m successful. What I haven’t been very successful at is not going absolutely crazy when people don’t return the forms with information that I need so that I can do my job properly and efficiently. But, I been really thinking about it for the past week, and I think I’ve come up with a plan or at least a new way of looking at the problem that will me help come to terms with the fact that some people are not going to complete and return the forms that I need to do my job properly.

Why is this such a big issue for me? Let me explain. Some of you will already know this, but some of you won’t. Students who have been identified as having a learning disability or a behaviour problem have an Individual Education Plan (IEP) which among other things outlines the accommodations that teachers need to make in the classroom so that students can be as successful as possible. The accommodations can be instructional accommodations like students having all instructions read to them, environmental accommodations like having students sit near the front of the class away from distractions, and evaluation accommodations like having extra time for assignments, tests or exams. Student’s accommodations are determined using input from various sources such as any psychological testing and the recommendations that flow from the results of the testing, student input, parental input, the special education teacher’s input, past and present teacher input, and previous report cards.

Each student’s Individual Education Plan generates at least seven forms that I send out because I either need information from people, or I need to provide information to them. This semester, I’m giving special education support to 32 students. So that means, I have to send out 32 x 7 or 224 forms and get them back quickly so that I can complete the IEPs before the deadline-the first 30 days of school. Oh by the way, the 224 forms I mentioned earlier do not include the 32 appointment forms that I put into the homeroom teachers’ mailboxes for them to give to the students so that I can meet with the students to get the ball rolling.

This semester, I have one 75 minute period a day that is designated for special education support. (I know it sounds like a lot of time, but it doesn’t feel like it) This is the time when I am scheduled to meet with my approximately 32 students and give them whatever support they need. I say approximately 32 students because the number of students increases or decreases as the semester progresses depending on such things as whether new kids transfer into our school or transfer out of our school. Of course during each semester some student’s will have had the testing done that identifies that they have a learning or behaviour disability and are entitled to support from the spec. ed. program.

I meet with my students at the beginning of the semester to discuss their IEPs, and send a letter home explaining things and asking them to return the enclosed form with input from their parents or guardians about the accommodations they think are appropriate. Here’s where the craziness begins. Sometimes kids will not come to their appointment with me because they didn’t get their appointment slips for whatever reason, or the appointment slip got lost, or they forgot about their appointment, or they simply didn’t want to come. Of course I shouldn’t be surprised that this happens. Forgetting things, losing things, and not being organized is why some of these kids get the special education support they do. But this means that I have to follow up again and with some kids it’s again and again and again until I get the information that I need.

Once I get all the feedback I need, I complete the IEP and send a copy home with the student for a parental signature. The student is to return the signed copy to me. In the meantime, I send copies of the student’s strengths, needs and appropriate accommodations to their teachers- 32 x 4= 128 more forms that I put into mailboxes. Then at regular intervals of 4-6 weeks, I send another form to each of these teachers asking them to give me a progress report about the students. Now, I’m not complaining about the number of forms I send out. That’s how I get and give the information I need to support my students. That’s my job. That’s what I get paid to do. That’s OK. What drives me crazy is that not only are some kids not co-operating, but some teachers aren’t either. When I send out 128 progress report requests for teachers to complete and return, and I get less than half back, that’s a problem. That’s what drives me crazy, and that’s what drives other special education teachers crazy, too. I’ve tried all kinds of things in the past including asking the administration for help. But, you know what. That just solved the problem that one time. Now it’s a problem again. What to do?

Well, I’ve decided to do two things, one I’ve never done before and the other one I don’t do often enough. First, I’m going to do something that I haven’t done before. I’m going to practice collaborative problem- solving. Last week I attended a workshop by Dr. Ross Greene called The Explosive Child that was, in part, about collaborative problem-solving and wrote about it here. I like Dr. Greene’s model of collaborative problem-solving wherein each person respects the other person by being empathetic with the other person’s problems and concerns, and then each person is invited to propose solutions to the problem after the problem has been clearly articulated. Finally, the people involved agree upon a solution to the problem they both can live with. The second thing I’m going to do is to remember to live in the moment at work and not focus on the past or worry about the future. I’ve got to stop focusing on what didn’t get done and what might happen because it didn’t get done. I’ve just got to do whatever in the moment.

 
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