As educators, what do you really think of...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The one thing that teachers could do and don't, and that I blame them for, is to not use parent volunteers. How many kids who are in 3rd grade, but reading at a K level, could be helped by one-on-one attention from volunteers (and could have benefitted along the way)? We expect one person to manage a huge classroom with multiple learning levels and many types of disabilities and it isn't humanly possible. So admit that and use parents and other volunteers whenever possible to fill in the gaps. But most won't. At all.

We aren't allowed to use parent volunteers in the classroom. They can make copies, cut out laminating, work at a desk outside the classroom but that's it aside from volunteer on field trips. Once we make this clear to parents, most of them don't want to come in to help. I think many of the parent volunteers just wanted to 1) spy on the teacher and/or other students or 2) only work with their child.

Which district are you, and when did this change or is this a building decision? When my oldest child was in MCPS, it was totally at the discretion of the teacher and I was there every week working with kids at the "Reading Center". But look at your attitude and you will see why I blame teachers for not utilizing parents as volunteers. No excuse to not use them.

It depends on the school. Our school does not allow volunteers which is too bad as the classes are large and many kids like mine aren't getting the attention they need. I absolutely want to go to work with my SN child as the school wouldn't even follow the IEP they wrote let alone basic things like extended time and sending the unfinished work tom to finish. To me, I would prefer to help with all the other things like copying or specifically working with the SN kids, especially those without behavioral problems, as often those are the ignored ones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Forgive my ignorance, but I’m genuinely curious as to what an IEP does for a teacher. I thought it provided a set of requirements that the teacher needs to follow to give extra help to a student with a diagnosis, in order to ensure the child is not left unsupported. If a teacher is already giving that support, why the desire on the teacher’s part for an IEP? And what can the parents do for the teacher given that they are not the ones in the classroom during school hours?

+1.

It resolved them of some responsibility and accountability. If the child doesnt meet grade level expectations or misbehaves when a visitor or admin is watching, they can blame it on a documented disability rather than their lack of teaching and classroom management skills. Another thing it does is open up the possibility of having the child removed from the classroom for all or part of the day into a self contained classroom so the teacher doesnt have to deal with it. None of this would benefit the misbehaving child much whichbis probably why the parents refused.

So the child should just be able to disrupt class, disrespect fellow students and teachers. All the while the parents, similar to you, take no responsibility and instead blame the teacher. Nevermind the parents fail to acknowledge the reality of their child or actually help them. Easier to blame everyone else.

This is an anonymous forum. Why do you so confidently assume what side I am on? The fact of the matter is, in answer to pps question, ieps sometimes do more to help the teacher and other students rather than the misbehaving child. That is why a child who already receives all the informal accomodations he would need might still be referred for an iep. There's nothing more the iep would really do for the student. The iep in that case is for everyone else. Just needs to be said.

Not all SN kids have behavioral issues. Not all non-SN kids have perfect behavior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If that’s true it’s outrageous. But I feel compelled to weigh in as a counselor in MCPS. I’ve fought tooth and nail for kids’ right to interventions and have failed to secure services for kids whose parents didn’t show up or understand the processes; whose minority status disqualified them (illegally) because the school felt pressure not to code black kids, and meanwhile, plenty of white wealthy families buy a diagnosis and get a 504 plan if not an IEP. Parents in the know want a plan because their kid gets extended time etc. I’ve never heard of a teacher wanting an IEP so they wouldn’t get blamed for low scores or so they could boot the kid out and into a self-contained classroom. Counselors are usually the ones driving the train, and they don’t have a dog in the fight other than helping the child. Other parents in the class don’t have a right to any of this confidential information, and they definitely can’t dictate what the school does to accommodate another child’s special needs. If anything, plans create more work for teachers, but they like them because at least there’s targeted instruction and it’s helpful to know the kid’s area of struggle. Plus, they might get an extra teacher in the classroom if the kid’s plan calls for it. Long way of saying I think kids NOT getting services they need is a much bigger problem than teachers forcibly coding kids to evade responsibility. I have honestly never seen that or suspected that behavior in15 years in the county.

That's great you try to help but for many of us its an uphill battle as the schools only want to do what they want and that's absolute minimum. They want the IEP's for the numbers to get the paraprofessionals and SN teachers but then they don't help. We had no input on the IEP despite lots of arguments and private testing recommendations from people who have worked with my child for years. They put my child in groups of kids who had unrelated issues and not working on the same level and called it services. They put in my child shouldn't be taking standardized tests (I think they recycled some other kid's IEP) and yet they had my child take the tests (and then acted shocked at the scores). When we went asking for modification they wanted to diagnose my child with something else and not address the issue (minor issue that needed work on). So, either we fight with a advocate and spend thousands or actually get our child support and pay for private services and tutoring (or go to private school). There are some great schools but for the most part both personally and professionally I've seen more kids harmed by the lack of support and services than actually helped.

[Anonymous]

Depends. Sometimes I can get the impression the kid is emotionally struggling or doesn't have a great home life. I extend a lot of grace and understanding to that kid and encourage them to fulfill their potential and honor their own right to be successful.

Sometimes it's a kid who is just kind of a jerk and thinks they're smart enough to f*ck off during class and eventually turn in sh*t work and get an A. That kid just say "You know what you need to be doing and I've done my part here," and let it ride. If they don't care and have the attitude this is beneath them, I can be focusing on other kids who do care and need my help.

I don't take it personally in any case. Sometimes I wonder what the parents are doing to address it but even if you make contact home you can't really talk about their parenting or lack thereof, only what you're seeing at school. So we often just don't know.