Middle school extended time 504 accommodation and Canvas Due Dates/Deadlines

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:DD's teachers never change it in Canvas and sometimes they remember not to take off the late points and sometimes they do not. When she asks them to fix it if they marked it wrong they never do it or if they do they are so annoyed by her they mark off extra points on subsequent assignments for no reason just because she dared take up their time to ask them to fix their mistake.

It's a lose lose.

Have you tried having her front load a reminder?

“Dear Mrs. Krabappel,
This morning you assigned the SpongeBob biographical poster. I will use my extended time accommodation to complete it by Wednesday at midnight rather than tomorrow night. Can you change the automatic due date in Canvas now so that neither of us have to worry about it later.
Thanks!
Harley Quinn, period 4

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has 1.5x. The teachers enter her due date separately from other students in Canvas. So what she sees is what she gets. It’s nice to not have the guesswork of wondering when her extended time runs out.

That's really wonderful. I argued til I was blue in the face for this, for my son. They refused to give him extra time on assignments, just tests. Flat out refused. He has slow processing speed. They just think he's lazy. I really hate MCPS sometimes.

Extended time on assignments for students with slow processing speed is a disaster. Assignments pile up, and kids get overwhelmed by the end of the quarter. Since test dates aren't moved, and new content isn't delayed, students are working on old stuff when they should be working on the new stuff. It's rarely in a student's best interest. In my experience it's something parents push for when they are in denial about the fact that a slow processing speed kid is going to be able to complete less work than a non-disabled peer with a similar work ethic and IQ, and that what they need is their workload adjusted, maybe by not taking all honors, or by moving a class to the summer, or by taking some electives with no homework, or by dropping down a level in math.

-- parent of a kid with slow processing, and also a high school special educator.

Another mom of a kid with slow processing speed, bf not a teacher. I never found extra time on assignments to be beneficial for the reason PP stated. Extra time on tests was completely necessary. We always worked to modify assignments.

I agree as a teacher that extended time for assignments usually backfires. I would love to offer the extended time before the due date, but that seldom works because I have to teach the content or skill before I can assess it. If I teach topic A on Monday, I can’t wait until Thursday to assign the Topic A assessment to everyone else so that the 3 students with 1.5x get their time up front. If I did, what does everyone else do meanwhile: busy work practices? move on to a new topic that the extended time students also need to master?

[Anonymous]

For those of you who do modified assignments and/or reduced workload, can you give any more specifics about how the 504 is worded or how those accommodations work in practice? Our psychiatrist recommended reduced workload but I can’t figure out how it would actually work. One of the hardest classes from a workload perspective is also one where my DS needs the extra practice (foreign language, that no one we know speaks).

He really struggles to get anything done IN class because everything is just so distracting, including his own thoughts. Just listening to the lesson is hard enough. The tricks he uses at home to get through an assignment are not really practical in a classroom (pacing, bouncing, while someone else types for him, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who do modified assignments and/or reduced workload, can you give any more specifics about how the 504 is worded or how those accommodations work in practice? Our psychiatrist recommended reduced workload but I can’t figure out how it would actually work. One of the hardest classes from a workload perspective is also one where my DS needs the extra practice (foreign language, that no one we know speaks).

He really struggles to get anything done IN class because everything is just so distracting, including his own thoughts. Just listening to the lesson is hard enough. The tricks he uses at home to get through an assignment are not really practical in a classroom (pacing, bouncing, while someone else types for him, etc.).

So, it would mean things like not taking a foreign language, much less a hard one that no one you know speaks in middle school. That's not a 504 accommodation, it's just scheduling for the kid in front of you and not some college fantasy. My kid with a 504 is taking one less academic class this year, he's taking advantage of the requirement that they don't have to take four years of World Language, science and social studies, and will probably do that all 4 years of high school. He's also taking on level math, and not honors.

I don't know what the PP means about modified assignments. You can't get modifications in a 504, and the circumstances when you get them with an IEP for a diploma track kid are very limited.

-- The parent/special educator who first commented on this not being a great accommodation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who do modified assignments and/or reduced workload, can you give any more specifics about how the 504 is worded or how those accommodations work in practice? Our psychiatrist recommended reduced workload but I can’t figure out how it would actually work. One of the hardest classes from a workload perspective is also one where my DS needs the extra practice (foreign language, that no one we know speaks).

He really struggles to get anything done IN class because everything is just so distracting, including his own thoughts. Just listening to the lesson is hard enough. The tricks he uses at home to get through an assignment are not really practical in a classroom (pacing, bouncing, while someone else types for him, etc.).

So, it would mean things like not taking a foreign language, much less a hard one that no one you know speaks in middle school. That's not a 504 accommodation, it's just scheduling for the kid in front of you and not some college fantasy. My kid with a 504 is taking one less academic class this year, he's taking advantage of the requirement that they don't have to take four years of World Language, science and social studies, and will probably do that all 4 years of high school. He's also taking on level math, and not honors.

I don't know what the PP means about modified assignments. You can't get modifications in a 504, and the circumstances when you get them with an IEP for a diploma track kid are very limited.

-- The parent/special educator who first commented on this not being a great accommodation.

Thanks for the unhelpful and unnecessary judgment. 🙄 He picked the language without any input from us - completed the registration before we even saw it. I had my doubts but do you tell your kid you don’t think they‘re good enough? And then go against his own wishes and make a special request to change his registration to something else? He’s actually doing fine on tests, just struggling to keep up with the daily classwork. At least this way he won’t have to take any language in high school. (He is in advanced math, because he would be even more bored and distracted in regular math, and while he’ll never be a straight A student, the math teacher told us directly just a couple days ago that he’s doing great.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who do modified assignments and/or reduced workload, can you give any more specifics about how the 504 is worded or how those accommodations work in practice? Our psychiatrist recommended reduced workload but I can’t figure out how it would actually work. One of the hardest classes from a workload perspective is also one where my DS needs the extra practice (foreign language, that no one we know speaks).

He really struggles to get anything done IN class because everything is just so distracting, including his own thoughts. Just listening to the lesson is hard enough. The tricks he uses at home to get through an assignment are not really practical in a classroom (pacing, bouncing, while someone else types for him, etc.).

So, it would mean things like not taking a foreign language, much less a hard one that no one you know speaks in middle school. That's not a 504 accommodation, it's just scheduling for the kid in front of you and not some college fantasy. My kid with a 504 is taking one less academic class this year, he's taking advantage of the requirement that they don't have to take four years of World Language, science and social studies, and will probably do that all 4 years of high school. He's also taking on level math, and not honors.

I don't know what the PP means about modified assignments. You can't get modifications in a 504, and the circumstances when you get them with an IEP for a diploma track kid are very limited.

-- The parent/special educator who first commented on this not being a great accommodation.

Thanks for the unhelpful and unnecessary judgment. 🙄 He picked the language without any input from us - completed the registration before we even saw it. I had my doubts but do you tell your kid you don’t think they‘re good enough? And then go against his own wishes and make a special request to change his registration to something else? He’s actually doing fine on tests, just struggling to keep up with the daily classwork. At least this way he won’t have to take any language in high school. (He is in advanced math, because he would be even more bored and distracted in regular math, and while he’ll never be a straight A student, the math teacher told us directly just a couple days ago that he’s doing great.)

FYI languages taken in middle school don’t count towards graduation requirements.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who do modified assignments and/or reduced workload, can you give any more specifics about how the 504 is worded or how those accommodations work in practice? Our psychiatrist recommended reduced workload but I can’t figure out how it would actually work. One of the hardest classes from a workload perspective is also one where my DS needs the extra practice (foreign language, that no one we know speaks).

He really struggles to get anything done IN class because everything is just so distracting, including his own thoughts. Just listening to the lesson is hard enough. The tricks he uses at home to get through an assignment are not really practical in a classroom (pacing, bouncing, while someone else types for him, etc.).

So, it would mean things like not taking a foreign language, much less a hard one that no one you know speaks in middle school. That's not a 504 accommodation, it's just scheduling for the kid in front of you and not some college fantasy. My kid with a 504 is taking one less academic class this year, he's taking advantage of the requirement that they don't have to take four years of World Language, science and social studies, and will probably do that all 4 years of high school. He's also taking on level math, and not honors.

I don't know what the PP means about modified assignments. You can't get modifications in a 504, and the circumstances when you get them with an IEP for a diploma track kid are very limited.

-- The parent/special educator who first commented on this not being a great accommodation.

Thanks for the unhelpful and unnecessary judgment. 🙄 He picked the language without any input from us - completed the registration before we even saw it. I had my doubts but do you tell your kid you don’t think they‘re good enough? And then go against his own wishes and make a special request to change his registration to something else? He’s actually doing fine on tests, just struggling to keep up with the daily classwork. At least this way he won’t have to take any language in high school. (He is in advanced math, because he would be even more bored and distracted in regular math, and while he’ll never be a straight A student, the math teacher told us directly just a couple days ago that he’s doing great.)

FYI languages taken in middle school don’t count towards graduation requirements.

+1

PP’s kid would have to be a junior right now to be in the grandfathered group.

[Anonymous]

I didn’t think modified assignments and assessments could be written into a 504. We just asked for this in our child’s IEP and we’re told they weren’t willing to do that yet. They wanted to try extended time and “chunking” instead. I pressed about how this would work in real life. As a teacher, I know it is a disaster for reasons PPs have mentioned. Kid misses instruction of new material or the whole class has to wait for kid to finish before moving on.

This is one benefit of private over public (and I’ll be honest to say there are many cons). It is easier for teachers to differentiate assignments and assessments without having their hands tied to IEP/504 verbiage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who do modified assignments and/or reduced workload, can you give any more specifics about how the 504 is worded or how those accommodations work in practice? Our psychiatrist recommended reduced workload but I can’t figure out how it would actually work. One of the hardest classes from a workload perspective is also one where my DS needs the extra practice (foreign language, that no one we know speaks).

He really struggles to get anything done IN class because everything is just so distracting, including his own thoughts. Just listening to the lesson is hard enough. The tricks he uses at home to get through an assignment are not really practical in a classroom (pacing, bouncing, while someone else types for him, etc.).

So, it would mean things like not taking a foreign language, much less a hard one that no one you know speaks in middle school. That's not a 504 accommodation, it's just scheduling for the kid in front of you and not some college fantasy. My kid with a 504 is taking one less academic class this year, he's taking advantage of the requirement that they don't have to take four years of World Language, science and social studies, and will probably do that all 4 years of high school. He's also taking on level math, and not honors.

I don't know what the PP means about modified assignments. You can't get modifications in a 504, and the circumstances when you get them with an IEP for a diploma track kid are very limited.

-- The parent/special educator who first commented on this not being a great accommodation.

Thanks for the unhelpful and unnecessary judgment. 🙄 He picked the language without any input from us - completed the registration before we even saw it. I had my doubts but do you tell your kid you don’t think they‘re good enough? And then go against his own wishes and make a special request to change his registration to something else? He’s actually doing fine on tests, just struggling to keep up with the daily classwork. At least this way he won’t have to take any language in high school. (He is in advanced math, because he would be even more bored and distracted in regular math, and while he’ll never be a straight A student, the math teacher told us directly just a couple days ago that he’s doing great.)

FYI languages taken in middle school don’t count towards graduation requirements.

+1

PP’s kid would have to be a junior right now to be in the grandfathered group.

I don't think that's true. Can you point towards a document that says middle school languages don't count towards graduation requirements? If I go into ParentVue and look at Course History, the foreign language classes both of my kids took in MS show up as fulfilling the world language graduation requirement (e.g., my 7th grader currently in Spanish 2 shows as having completed 1 of the required 2 langauge credits, with the second requirement in-progress).

[Anonymous]

In DC's class since 99% of the students these days have a 504 plan they just bake the extra time into the assignments for everyone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has 1.5x. The teachers enter her due date separately from other students in Canvas. So what she sees is what she gets. It’s nice to not have the guesswork of wondering when her extended time runs out.

That's really wonderful. I argued til I was blue in the face for this, for my son. They refused to give him extra time on assignments, just tests. Flat out refused. He has slow processing speed. They just think he's lazy. I really hate MCPS sometimes.

You have to prove your child has the need with testing documents from an independent experts. Never use their psychologists for testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For those of you who do modified assignments and/or reduced workload, can you give any more specifics about how the 504 is worded or how those accommodations work in practice? Our psychiatrist recommended reduced workload but I can’t figure out how it would actually work. One of the hardest classes from a workload perspective is also one where my DS needs the extra practice (foreign language, that no one we know speaks).

He really struggles to get anything done IN class because everything is just so distracting, including his own thoughts. Just listening to the lesson is hard enough. The tricks he uses at home to get through an assignment are not really practical in a classroom (pacing, bouncing, while someone else types for him, etc.).

So, it would mean things like not taking a foreign language, much less a hard one that no one you know speaks in middle school. That's not a 504 accommodation, it's just scheduling for the kid in front of you and not some college fantasy. My kid with a 504 is taking one less academic class this year, he's taking advantage of the requirement that they don't have to take four years of World Language, science and social studies, and will probably do that all 4 years of high school. He's also taking on level math, and not honors.

I don't know what the PP means about modified assignments. You can't get modifications in a 504, and the circumstances when you get them with an IEP for a diploma track kid are very limited.

-- The parent/special educator who first commented on this not being a great accommodation.

Thanks for the unhelpful and unnecessary judgment. 🙄 He picked the language without any input from us - completed the registration before we even saw it. I had my doubts but do you tell your kid you don’t think they‘re good enough? And then go against his own wishes and make a special request to change his registration to something else? He’s actually doing fine on tests, just struggling to keep up with the daily classwork. At least this way he won’t have to take any language in high school. (He is in advanced math, because he would be even more bored and distracted in regular math, and while he’ll never be a straight A student, the math teacher told us directly just a couple days ago that he’s doing great.)

FYI languages taken in middle school don’t count towards graduation requirements.

You are wrong
Lang in middle doesn't have to be counted on GPA. No high school courses taken in middle anymore do.
Your way off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has 1.5x. The teachers enter her due date separately from other students in Canvas. So what she sees is what she gets. It’s nice to not have the guesswork of wondering when her extended time runs out.

That's really wonderful. I argued til I was blue in the face for this, for my son. They refused to give him extra time on assignments, just tests. Flat out refused. He has slow processing speed. They just think he's lazy. I really hate MCPS sometimes.

You have to prove your child has the need with testing documents from an independent experts. Never use their psychologists for testing.

I know it may cost but if you don't pay the $$$, you won't get the diagnosis you want.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn’t think modified assignments and assessments could be written into a 504. We just asked for this in our child’s IEP and we’re told they weren’t willing to do that yet. They wanted to try extended time and “chunking” instead. I pressed about how this would work in real life. As a teacher, I know it is a disaster for reasons PPs have mentioned. Kid misses instruction of new material or the whole class has to wait for kid to finish before moving on.

This is one benefit of private over public (and I’ll be honest to say there are many cons). It is easier for teachers to differentiate assignments and assessments without having their hands tied to IEP/504 verbiage.

There’s some confusion about what modification means.

Typically in an IEP, modification means:
Limiting the curriculum objectives a student needs to master. (Larla is only graded on content not spelling.)
Reducing the number of items a student needs to provide to show mastery. (Larla names one civil rights leader rather than three.)
increasing the methods a student can use to show mastery. (Larla completes a sentence frame instead of writing a paragraph with a topic sentence and conclusion.)

504 plans are not supposed to do this, but ES counselors either were sloppy or under parent pressure and included some of these modifications anyway.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In DC's class since 99% of the students these days have a 504 plan they just bake the extra time into the assignments for everyone.

I recognize that you are exaggerating, but this resonates with me. I teach one inclusion class. In that class, 1/3 of students have an IEP or 504, 1/3 have an EML plan, and of the remaining 1/3, most:
should have a diagnosis, but are uncoded
Or their parents refused their ESOL placement, but they can’t pass WIDA
Or, they came to us from other school systems where they were in remedial classes which MCPS doesn’t do.

I have to give everyone extended time. I don’t advertise it, but it’s turned in when it’s turned in and I don’t do the late penalty.