Special Education Under Pressure

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Transcript

Quick Hello And What’s On My Mind

SPEAKER_00 0:26

Everyone, I hope you're having a good day today. I'm just gonna talk about some random stuff today, nothing specific. Just kind of talk about some things that I'm seeing going on. I know that the school's budgets are really getting tight and it's putting more and more responsibilities on the teachers because we're getting more and more kids or reducing what's available for our students. Maybe one school had to lose what we call units, and it means classes, so they had to team up with another with another class. So we're getting overloaded with students. And it's hard when we have kids that are on the spectrum or have other behavior problems or other disabilities, and you're trying to meet everybody's goal, and maybe you only have one para in the room and you have 16, 20 kids that all have special needs that need to be addressed. So those are some things that I think we need to re-eval and just kind of come together as a village and help support each other. I know when you go into these IEP meetings, sometimes you feel it's you against the world and they're on one side and you're on the other side, but it really shouldn't be that way. We should all be able to come to a meeting and and work through the problems. And I've been blessed this year. I've had some really good discussions with parents, and my IPs have gone very well. And you know, I listened to the parents and they listen to me, and and that's what it should be about. Not we're all there for one purpose, and that's the child, and and trying to do the best for them. But if you feel like like you're gonna be against, like maybe you have a request or something, and you're gonna they're gonna be against you not wanting to give the request that you're asking for, I would suggest, you know, going in and talk to the teacher and ask for the principal to be there too. And that way you can have an administrator and you know, just uh express what you what you're feeling and and what you're looking for at the IEP. Ask for a draft of the IEP, especially the goals and that you want and accommodations that you want. And some of that can be maybe worked out before before the meeting and and everybody gets together. Please know that the teacher is most of the teachers are trying the rest. You're gonna get bad teachers and you're gonna get good teachers. I mean, people that care that wanna that wanna be there to to teach and to help the child, not just there because they want to check. And we do have them. There is there, you know, and in all c all walks of life, there's good and bad. But, you know, try to come together and try to, you know, give and take, and both parties, you know, the teacher, the district, the teacher, she can only do so much. She's there to teach. She can't make all the big decisions. It comes from the district office. And you can also ask for or you can bring somebody with you. And it's nice to have somebody just for another set of ears to to listen and and then um maybe take notes or or just support you during during an IEP meeting. But I think it's what we need to look at. I mean I know that parents get discouraged and then they take their kids out, and then after a few months, they're I I'm hearing it all the time. It's like, oh my gosh, you know, I can't get him to do this, I can't get her to do that, and it's not working out, and they're not getting the education that they need because a lot of times the kids at home they think, oh, I'm at home, I don't need to do this, you know, and and so they they put up a fight and and it the parents get discouraged and then they end up maybe going back to the school and stuff, and it makes it harder on the kids because now they're going back and have to play catch up because maybe they lost some time with academic's time. So you need to really weigh the options if you want to take the child out, and a lot of parents do it, and I am for I like homeschools. I think they can be really, really, really good. But you need a really good support system, and you really need to be able to have that time to say, this is where we're gonna learn, and you are gonna do this, you know. You have to be able to be strong in that area also, not just in academics, but also in that you have that control that that child is gonna be able to learn at specific times. And then, you know, reach out to you know, there's a lot of maybe tutoring can come in or your ABA can come in and help support you at that time. Don't put it all on yourself, don't think you're going to do it all yourself if you do choose to do homeschooling. But if you can keep the child in school and it works out, that's great. But I know that when they are in the classroom, there's a lot of different things happening, and there's a lot of different behaviors. And if that are those behaviors going to trigger your child, so those are some things that you need to think about and ask, you know, what what is the best option for for my child? You know, with all the budget cuts and everything, teachers get overwhelmed. There's no doubt about it. You're trying to teach, you're trying to make sure everybody is in control. You want your kids to be happy too, you know. It's not just about the teaching, too, but you want the kids to be happy and and have a good experience, not a bad experience. At least that's what I do. You know, I want my kids to be happy too. So we try to do things in a fun, fun way to of learning different aspects of the academics. So you need to build that rapport with that teacher. You may, you know, maybe volunteer for an hour or so in the room, or you know, buy them a cup of coffee or something, you know, just just say thank you once in a while and and keep that communication open. And if you've got a teacher that isn't good about communicating, which sometimes I have lacked myself in that area, because I get so busy and I'm, you know, at the end of the day, I just want to go home and and relax. And so sometimes I get I forget about doing that part of my job. And because you're trying to do lesson plans, you're trying to prepare for the next day, or maybe it was just a really bad day in the room. You know, I've been pretty beat up before in the room and death flying and everything else. But I keep coming back and keep hoping for the best. And I have to say, I've been at this school that I'm at right now, and my room is really coming together. I've got some great kids, and the one that I had a lot, a lot of problems with is it's doing doing well. And it was another one that I had too that had a major break meltdowns, and he's doing really well. And I even told him, I said, you know, come on, you know, because they could put him in a different school, they could, and I didn't want that to happen. I really like this kid, and even though he had some issues, I there's just something about that kid that I just really like. So he's coming together and and and he's doing really well. So I'm I'm really proud of him. So I've got some really great kids, even though I have a large amount of kids, and and there's times that's really difficult for me, especially when there's a period of time in the mornings. If I my pair is out for whatever, you know, doing something that she needs to be doing, and I'm trying to do first grade all the way to fifth grade all by myself with 11 kids, it's really tough. So we have to think about that. We don't always have all the support we need, and it's not always the school's fault either. You know, that you get so many units and you get so much money, and that that's it, you know. So you gotta make the best of it. So anyway, I just wanted to talk about that a little bit. Not there was nothing today that I was really had a topic or anything, just that I just want us to see if we can all think of things and come together more as parents and teachers and educators and office people and district people that we work together and try to not be cutting when budgets get cut or the funds get cut, it's always special education that goes first, always. And it's a shame, but it it it just always has been that way since I've been teaching for almost 30 years, and it's I guess it's never gonna change. You know, I always say, why don't you start cutting from the top a little bit? You know, a lot of times the schools are top heavy, or you know, they get their raises and and but they always cut at the bottom. So, anyway, that's all I have for today. I am gonna work on something, it's called rewards. I'm gonna work on three different types of a reward system, and I will be doing that. I'm gonna try to get that done by the end of the week. So, anyway, I hope you guys have a blessed day, and I'll talk to you real soon. And if you want to drop me an email, please do or it support me in any way. I would be really appreciated. Bye bye.