Teacher might quit

[Anonymous]

DP
I’m better than mediocre, but if I didn’t need the pay and benefits I’d probably be done by now.

[Anonymous]

I would like to think I am better than mediocre but dealing with high-need, disruptive kids can be exhausting and damaging to everyone else in the room. Admin doesn’t want to deal with the kids so passes the buck to Special Ed teachers who may or may not be even in the room where the problems happen. When you have classes bigger than 30 kids disruptions are almost impossible to handle properly not matter the training a staff member has. Often time the kid will come in the room and immediately begin disruption after being triggered in a previous class, in the hallway, or just by having any sort of change in routine.

At my last school a security guard got fired. The rest of security is now told not to come to address certain student behaviors. Teachers are at a loss of what to do in these situations.

[Anonymous]

I wonder whose idea it was to have integrated classrooms with no support.

I guess the support dwindled over time. Eons ago, I was an EA. (Called paras now?) I worked mainly with one child to manage behavior. I sat right beside him most of the day. I was able to head off any outbursts, and minimize distractions. If he was working well I could go around and help other kids with reading, or whatever they were working on.

Now, that child would be in the classroom with no support.. He would start kicking his feet.. Then drum on his desk. Then start singing. He needed someone to help him focus. Fortunately his physical outbursts were rare. But, that one kid could be quite a distraction and take up a lot of time all on his own.

Teachers need more support, period.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder whose idea it was to have integrated classrooms with no support.

I guess the support dwindled over time. Eons ago, I was an EA. (Called paras now?) I worked mainly with one child to manage behavior. I sat right beside him most of the day. I was able to head off any outbursts, and minimize distractions. If he was working well I could go around and help other kids with reading, or whatever they were working on.

Now, that child would be in the classroom with no support.. He would start kicking his feet.. Then drum on his desk. Then start singing. He needed someone to help him focus. Fortunately his physical outbursts were rare. But, that one kid could be quite a distraction and take up a lot of time all on his own.

Teachers need more support, period.

+1. I'm an aide. I used to be assigned to one student. Lots of potentially big behaviors, but was on grade level if not above in some subjects. Once we got past the first couple bumpy months the student was a delight. The classroom teacher was thrilled, the parents were thrilled, the special ed team was happy, I loved my job, and most importantly the student was thriving. You can probably guess what happened next. Our principal, who was terrible, decided that since the student was doing so great the 1-1 help was not needed. I got pulled into various classrooms throughout the day and did not get to support this student full time anymore. Things deteriorated within a month. It didn't have to be that way. I switched schools because I was so disgusted with how badly the admin bungled that case and a few others.

School districts are happy to spend millions of dollars on central office positions that have vague titles, but ask them to provide a 1-1 aide for a student with special needs who makes roughly the same as a McDonald's worker and they scream bloody murder. Also, most aides are waking up to the fact that we are being jerked around endlessly and are not okay with that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I wonder whose idea it was to have integrated classrooms with no support.

I guess the support dwindled over time. Eons ago, I was an EA. (Called paras now?) I worked mainly with one child to manage behavior. I sat right beside him most of the day. I was able to head off any outbursts, and minimize distractions. If he was working well I could go around and help other kids with reading, or whatever they were working on.

Now, that child would be in the classroom with no support.. He would start kicking his feet.. Then drum on his desk. Then start singing. He needed someone to help him focus. Fortunately his physical outbursts were rare. But, that one kid could be quite a distraction and take up a lot of time all on his own.

Teachers need more support, period.

That’s what he would do? I have at least 6 in a class of 26 that do things like that non-stop and none are special needs students.

[Anonymous]

Those behaviors are not even on most teachers' radars. Now, being bitten and having stuff thrown at you....

[Anonymous]

I find it very odd that special needs students get one on one time, extra attention etc, but nobody even dreams about giving that level of support to a child that is truly intellectually gifted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I find it very odd that special needs students get one on one time, extra attention etc, but nobody even dreams about giving that level of support to a child that is truly intellectually gifted.

They do and there specific placements for students such as the ones you describe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it very odd that special needs students get one on one time, extra attention etc, but nobody even dreams about giving that level of support to a child that is truly intellectually gifted.

They do and there specific placements for students such as the ones you describe.

I don’t know of any case of a gifted student having a teacher or a teacher aid spending the entire day one in one with him. It just shows how the priorities are set up in our public education system.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it very odd that special needs students get one on one time, extra attention etc, but nobody even dreams about giving that level of support to a child that is truly intellectually gifted.

They do and there specific placements for students such as the ones you describe.

I don’t know of any case of a gifted student having a teacher or a teacher aid spending the entire day one in one with him. It just shows how the priorities are set up in our public education system.

Yes, the priorities are set-up for students who need support so they can TRY to be successful. The gifted students can already successfully met the state standards. There are laws that gifted students receive differentiation, but it’s like 8 hours a month. That is met by Level II-IV services. The resources ARE being spent in the correct place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it very odd that special needs students get one on one time, extra attention etc, but nobody even dreams about giving that level of support to a child that is truly intellectually gifted.

They do and there specific placements for students such as the ones you describe.

I don’t know of any case of a gifted student having a teacher or a teacher aid spending the entire day one in one with him. It just shows how the priorities are set up in our public education system.

Yes, the priorities are set-up for students who need support so they can TRY to be successful. The gifted students can already successfully met the state standards. There are laws that gifted students receive differentiation, but it’s like 8 hours a month. That is met by Level II-IV services. The resources ARE being spent in the correct place.

To add on to this: as a teacher I can meet with a gifted student at the beginning of the week for 30-45 mins to explain a project that meets their needs. Check in with them again later in the week for 45 minutes and they are able to struggle through most of it. Maybe another hour conferencing and providing feedback.
Most students with disabilities or other SNs require more proximal support and have less learning independence. I’m not really sure what else you’d be looking for if your child is “truly gifted”. It sounds like you are advocating for a magical building where geniuses each have their own professor aligned to their needs. Even private schools don’t have this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it very odd that special needs students get one on one time, extra attention etc, but nobody even dreams about giving that level of support to a child that is truly intellectually gifted.

They do and there specific placements for students such as the ones you describe.

I don’t know of any case of a gifted student having a teacher or a teacher aid spending the entire day one in one with him. It just shows how the priorities are set up in our public education system.

Yes, the priorities are set-up for students who need support so they can TRY to be successful. The gifted students can already successfully met the state standards. There are laws that gifted students receive differentiation, but it’s like 8 hours a month. That is met by Level II-IV services. The resources ARE being spent in the correct place.

No, the resources are not spend in the right place. As posted in the thread often resources are spend disproportionately on a student with deep behavioral issues at the expense of the rest of the class.
If you think the goal of educating a gifted student is meeting the state standards, you are terribly mistaken.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it very odd that special needs students get one on one time, extra attention etc, but nobody even dreams about giving that level of support to a child that is truly intellectually gifted.

They do and there specific placements for students such as the ones you describe.

I don’t know of any case of a gifted student having a teacher or a teacher aid spending the entire day one in one with him. It just shows how the priorities are set up in our public education system.

Yes, the priorities are set-up for students who need support so they can TRY to be successful. The gifted students can already successfully met the state standards. There are laws that gifted students receive differentiation, but it’s like 8 hours a month. That is met by Level II-IV services. The resources ARE being spent in the correct place.

To add on to this: as a teacher I can meet with a gifted student at the beginning of the week for 30-45 mins to explain a project that meets their needs. Check in with them again later in the week for 45 minutes and they are able to struggle through most of it. Maybe another hour conferencing and providing feedback.
Most students with disabilities or other SNs require more proximal support and have less learning independence. I’m not really sure what else you’d be looking for if your child is “truly gifted”. It sounds like you are advocating for a magical building where geniuses each have their own professor aligned to their needs. Even private schools don’t have this

I can guarantee you don’t meet regularly with any gifted student 2.5 hours a week. There’s not enough time to do that. It would be great if teachers gave those students projects that fit their needs. That also doesn’t happen.

I am advocating for grouping students in a class by ability and behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it very odd that special needs students get one on one time, extra attention etc, but nobody even dreams about giving that level of support to a child that is truly intellectually gifted.

They do and there specific placements for students such as the ones you describe.

I don’t know of any case of a gifted student having a teacher or a teacher aid spending the entire day one in one with him. It just shows how the priorities are set up in our public education system.

Yes, the priorities are set-up for students who need support so they can TRY to be successful. The gifted students can already successfully met the state standards. There are laws that gifted students receive differentiation, but it’s like 8 hours a month. That is met by Level II-IV services. The resources ARE being spent in the correct place.

No, the resources are not spend in the right place. As posted in the thread often resources are spend disproportionately on a student with deep behavioral issues at the expense of the rest of the class.
If you think the goal of educating a gifted student is meeting the state standards, you are terribly mistaken.

Federal law of what public schools are required to provide is FAPE- free and appropriate public education. This does not mean everyone gets the best education possible for them, it means having access to state standards. If you don't like it, private school is your better option.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I find it very odd that special needs students get one on one time, extra attention etc, but nobody even dreams about giving that level of support to a child that is truly intellectually gifted.

They do and there specific placements for students such as the ones you describe.

I don’t know of any case of a gifted student having a teacher or a teacher aid spending the entire day one in one with him. It just shows how the priorities are set up in our public education system.

Yes, the priorities are set-up for students who need support so they can TRY to be successful. The gifted students can already successfully met the state standards. There are laws that gifted students receive differentiation, but it’s like 8 hours a month. That is met by Level II-IV services. The resources ARE being spent in the correct place.

No, the resources are not spend in the right place. As posted in the thread often resources are spend disproportionately on a student with deep behavioral issues at the expense of the rest of the class.
If you think the goal of educating a gifted student is meeting the state standards, you are terribly mistaken.

Federal law of what public schools are required to provide is FAPE- free and appropriate public education. This does not mean everyone gets the best education possible for them, it means having access to state standards. If you don't like it, private school is your better option.

That too. We can also support, lobby and vote for a voucher program.