Have your children ever had an extremely disruptive child in elementary class?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I still do not understand the "teacher" who sent her other kids to a "safe place". As a teacher, you are responsible for the education and safety of all of the kids--not just the squeaky wheel.

This was a suggestion by the child's previous teacher and school counselor based on the student's behavior plan. If a child goes from just being disruptive to escalating into potentially hurting someone, you want the other students out of the room.

Oh, what a nice educational setting where kids are taught on a teacher's signal to run out to in ordrr to avoid being harmed. What kind of moron came up with this idea and thinks it's normal?

+1,000.

This set up is freaking insane! Teacher PP, I'm wondering if any of the parents has ever contacted you to discuss the situation in your classroom? Or are you teaching in one of those schools where no one cares?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are many reasons why he disrupts. His home life is a mess. His past is a mess. He has severe learning disabilities which cause him to become very frustrated. And there is a medical condition which probably contributes to it as well.

I guess I can't really expect people who are not teachers to understand this, or for people who aren't familiar with my school and its students to understand what goes on either. As I said - I'd welcome suggestions. If we give up on him, he has zero chance and he has the right to an education.

Maybe the school setting is not right for him. Maybe he needs to be home schooled or go into heavy psycho therapy.

Guess not.. but you can expect people who are parents to demand safe learning environment for their children, and not just 'safe', as in 'everyone ducks when a poor kid with a messed-up home life throws his shoes around', but also 'learning', as in 'mastering material that will be essential for further educational and professional development'.

Geez.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mainstreaming and special education and one on one aides is in the process of collapsing across the country because our educational system is simply not set up to handle what seems to be an ever increasing number of children needing special services. In theory, it's great to say that every child deserves his or her best possible education. In reality, public education is *group* education and cannot sustain if the focus shifts to individualized attention for susie...and bobby...and taylor...and emily and so on and so forth. Public schools are attempting to provide what amounts to private or one-on-one education and they simply can't do it.

To add, it's ludicrous, appalling, and completely self-absorbed to believe that an entire classroom of children should constantly be interrupted from learning just so ONE KID can eventually come to understand that it's not acceptable to pee on the shoes of others or throw chalk or bite/hit (!) the teacher. If my kid were in this situation and no one would address her right to learn in a safe environment - along with the other kids - I'd be filing suit. This is madness and needs to stop.

+1/2. I don't think it is as bad as PP suggests (at least I haven't seen clear data supporting it) but I do see the risk of backlash.

[Anonymous]

If you pay full tuition, you stay. Easy as that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:


There are many reasons why he disrupts. His home life is a mess. His past is a mess. He has severe learning disabilities which cause him to become very frustrated. And there is a medical condition which probably contributes to it as well.

I guess I can't really expect people who are not teachers to understand this, or for people who aren't familiar with my school and its students to understand what goes on either. As I said - I'd welcome suggestions. If we give up on him,

I've been a teacher. I don't believe you are a teacher. I believe you are a parent of a very disruptive child. This is the teacher of your dreams.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Also, I still do not understand the "teacher" who sent her other kids to a "safe place". As a teacher, you are responsible for the education and safety of all of the kids--not just the squeaky wheel.

This was a suggestion by the child's previous teacher and school counselor based on the student's behavior plan. If a child goes from just being disruptive to escalating into potentially hurting someone, you want the other students out of the room.

Oh, what a nice educational setting where kids are taught on a teacher's signal to run out to in ordrr to avoid being harmed. What kind of moron came up with this idea and thinks it's normal?

+1,000.

This set up is freaking insane! Teacher PP, I'm wondering if any of the parents has ever contacted you to discuss the situation in your classroom? Or are you teaching in one of those schools where no one cares?

No parents have expressed concerns so far this year. But, this year has not be severe.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:


There are many reasons why he disrupts. His home life is a mess. His past is a mess. He has severe learning disabilities which cause him to become very frustrated. And there is a medical condition which probably contributes to it as well.

I guess I can't really expect people who are not teachers to understand this, or for people who aren't familiar with my school and its students to understand what goes on either. As I said - I'd welcome suggestions. If we give up on him,

I've been a teacher. I don't believe you are a teacher. I believe you are a parent of a very disruptive child. This is the teacher of your dreams.

I can assure you that I am in fact a teacher. And no, I do not have a disruptive child.

As I said before when you accused me of this - schools probably have changed since you were teaching. And my school is out of the DC/MD/VA area and operates very differently then traditional public schools. Like I said before - you're welcome to fly out and visit. And if you were a teacher - do you have any suggestions that I should implement or propose to the school counselor who has worked with this student for longer then I have?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are many reasons why he disrupts. His home life is a mess. His past is a mess. He has severe learning disabilities which cause him to become very frustrated. And there is a medical condition which probably contributes to it as well.

I guess I can't really expect people who are not teachers to understand this, or for people who aren't familiar with my school and its students to understand what goes on either. As I said - I'd welcome suggestions. If we give up on him, he has zero chance and he has the right to an education.

Maybe the school setting is not right for him. Maybe he needs to be home schooled or go into heavy psycho therapy.

Guess not.. but you can expect people who are parents to demand safe learning environment for their children, and not just 'safe', as in 'everyone ducks when a poor kid with a messed-up home life throws his shoes around', but also 'learning', as in 'mastering material that will be essential for further educational and professional development'.

Geez.

He's in therapy outside of school and the school counselor is involved inside of school. I mentioned that earlier. The school he is in is the most appropriate setting for him unless his guardian was to pull him out and homeschool him but that is not going to happen. And he doesn't throw shoes.

As a teacher I have to provide a safe learning environment. And that is what I am doing. Still waiting for suggestions on how to approach things better since I'm receiving so much criticism for doing what the school counselor/principal/his former teachers suggested that I do.

[Anonymous]

I'm sure the majority of the parents don't fully know what is happening in the classroom. If they did, I'm sure there would be more complaints. In my experience, schools and teachers don't want to upset the parents and so there is little volunteering of disclipine issues unless it is your specific child causing the trouble. If your kid is lightly hit/pinched/kicked (as not to leave a mark) by another child, you are not notified. And if it's considered normal by all the kids...well the parents aren't going to know the full extent of the problems.

[Anonymous]

Dear teacher, it sounds as if you're handling a person with a mental disorder. And you have to tiptoe around him like a nurse in a psych ward so God forbid he won't go bunkers.

The whole situation sounds out of place for a school. He should be in a special school or a special class, for emotionally unstable children.

[Anonymous]

For all of you complaining about how these kids need to be separated from a regular classroom, you should know the recently released Operational Efficiency Report for FCPS http://www.doe.virginia.gov/school_finance/efficiency_reviews/ recommends the opposite.

Recommendation 2-6: Increase the inclusion of students with disabilities into general education environments.

According to the Virginia Department of Education’s Special Education Performance Reports for 2008 to 2012, Fairfax county has not met the state requirements for LRE for any of the last five years. On all three indicators of how much time students spent in the less restrictive environments with their non-disabled peers, FCPS failed to meet the state target.

As a mother who is trying to get her DS out of a regular classroom, I can tell you it's damn near impossible. The school staff are under enormous pressure to keep kids not just in a FCPS school but in a regular classroom. If you have problem with the number of 'disruptive' kids in school, contact your school board member.

[Anonymous]

In theory, good practice. In reality, not so much. Especially, if the ED teacher thinks her job is to walk in your classroom cross the room and ask the kid, "how are you doing today" while you are teaching a math lesson.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For all of you complaining about how these kids need to be separated from a regular classroom, you should know the recently released Operational Efficiency Report for FCPS http://www.doe.virginia.gov/school_finance/efficiency_reviews/ recommends the opposite.

Recommendation 2-6: Increase the inclusion of students with disabilities into general education environments.

According to the Virginia Department of Education’s Special Education Performance Reports for 2008 to 2012, Fairfax county has not met the state requirements for LRE for any of the last five years. On all three indicators of how much time students spent in the less restrictive environments with their non-disabled peers, FCPS failed to meet the state target.

As a mother who is trying to get her DS out of a regular classroom, I can tell you it's damn near impossible. The school staff are under enormous pressure to keep kids not just in a FCPS school but in a regular classroom. If you have problem with the number of 'disruptive' kids in school, contact your school board member.

BZZT. It's not a "general education environment" when it's so disruptive that no education can happen. Major fail there.

[Anonymous]

NP here.

I find it interesting that everyone who is critical of the teacher has not bothered to answer her repeated question of what they would do in her situation, or what they think she should do. This shows a complete lack of understanding of what teachers face in the classroom when faced with a disruptive student.

Let's say she sends the student to the office. First, she has to actually ensure the student gets to the office. Then, most likely, they will sit in the admin office chair until some admin notices they have been there awhile and sends the kid back to class. Sometimes, the student is sent to a special ed teacher's office, who likely does the same thing.

Maybe the kid makes it all the way to the principal's office and maybe some privilege is lost. If a kid has a disability, this is a useless consequence, but maybe it makes you feel better. Maybe, if the case is extreme, parents are called for a meeting at some future date. If a parent was called to immediately pick up a student, what are the chances they would comply? They would say it was the school's job to handle, they have to work, etc etc. Maybe they would be right, but the situation that is created is obvious.

There are no systems in place to help disruptive kids. If they are diagnosed and receive services, there are some systems, but the adequacy of those systems depends on the resources of schools, which are constantly being underfunded or cut back. If you have a NT kid with simple behavior issues, there is no partnership between schools and families to provide and enforce appropriate consequences to students who misbehave or are disruptive.

It's well past time for parents to stop with the fake blame game and start working with schools to create better systems to deal with disruptive behavior. All disruptive behavior. I know DCUM readers want to believe that their own kids are perfect angels all the time, but, in elementary school, almost every kid has some kind of meltdown, and your kid will eventually be the one in trouble. When that happens, you will be the ones who think five minutes out of instructional time is not a problem.

Oh, and I didn't even bother to address this foolish idea that the only instructional time that counts is whole group instructional time. A good teacher always distributes instructional time to accommodate the needs in her classroom. One day, one kid (or group) may need a few extra minutes...the next day your kid will. I'm guessing the days it's your kid who gets the extra minutes don't bother you.

Sorry, this is getting long.

Point is, it's really easy to sit behind your computers and judge what teachers do, but you have no idea what obstacles are in the way of adequately addressing disruptive behavior in the classroom. If you are a parent, you should be actively involved with your school and teachers to develop systems with teeth. Should you choose not to do that, or result to the various excuses like your "rights" as the parent of an exceptional student, or worse, your "rights" as a taxpayer, you forfeit your credibility because it is you who is failing your responsibility as a parent and citizen.

[Anonymous]

I have been a teacher. Sure, any kid can have a meltdown from time to time. However, I can assure you that I taught for twelve years and taught many,many kids who never had meltdowns in my class. This thread is about a kid that has meltdowns every day.