The Sunday edition of the Indianapolis Star had a nice article entitled Our Children Our City that mentioned a volunteer program called ReadUp. There was a picture of a ReadUp volunteer reading together with a scholar that brought a smile to my face as I started my second career as a volunteer. The ReadUp program is seeking volunteers to spend one hour a week reading with third and fourth grade scholars. The article stated that so far seventeen people have come forward as volunteers but more than two hundred scholars are waiting for someone to read with them. As you can see the need for volunteers in our schools is great but what gives me cause for concern is that some of the grade levels being supported by ReadUp are third and fourth grade.
At the end of the last school year I did some teacher biography data entry into out school's website. While doing this one of the teachers put in her bio the following statement, first you learn to read and then you read to learn. The learn to read process runs from kindergarten through the second grade. The read to learn process begins in the third grade and goes forward for life. Knowing this I find it a bit disappointing that ReadUp is reading to third and fourth grade scholars when in fact these scholars should not be learning to read but reading to learn. Sadly I know why ReadUp is working with third and fourth grade scholars. In the state of Indiana every third grade scholar must take and pass an IRead3 test. In theory if the scholar fails the test she/he is supposed to repeat the third grade. Well, for the majority of third graders that fail to pass the test that does not happen. A conservative estimate of the number of third graders that fail IRead3 at my school is thirty percent. With approximately twenty five third grade scholars in each of the three third grades you're talking at about twenty two scholars who should be repeating third grade. Sorry, but that is enough scholars to require the school to start another classroom and hire an additional teacher and that is not going to happen.
I checked with my part time consultant and part time editor and full time spouse to see how long the IRead3 testing process has been in place. She thinks it's been four or five years. If you do the math that means that somewhere between eighty and one hundred scholars are in my school right now that are not reading at grade level. I'm not an education expert but with the high number of scholars in my school not reading at grade level something is broken. So what's broke? I'll start with IRead3. This testing process has clearly identified scholars who do not have the ability to read but at the cost of a few million dollars a year. If the state of Indiana wants to spend millions of dollars to identify scholars that haven't learned how to read and then ignores the results and promotes the scholars to the next grade level something is seriously wrong. It's my opinion that it is time to abandon IRead3 and find a better use for the millions of dollars that is wasted on this program every year.
Here is the other part of the reading process that I believe is broken. Just a short distance down the hallway from my classroom are the three second grades. On average each classroom has twenty five scholars with a teacher who gets no support from an instructional assistant or even a volunteer. That's twenty five scholars and one teacher and this is the last grade level where you learn to read so you can begin reading to learn. Given the failure rate of third grade scholars who take the IRead3 test something is wrong with what goes on in the second grade. I'm going to say it right now and say it strongly, don't even think about blaming the teachers. I know all three of the second grade teachers very well and we do not have a teacher problem. In fact, four years ago when I was a volunteer the first classroom I stepped into was with one of these teachers. As I do today, I had a nice view from the back of the room and I recognized immediately that there were too many scholars in this classroom. So what's broke? A teacher can't spend the required time to teach each scholar how to read with twenty five scholars crammed into the classroom. Testing history shows that at some point thirty percent of these scholars will fall behind in their reading ability and the teacher simply can't divide herself/himself into enough parts to help twenty five scholars that are at different reading levels.
So what is the fix? IRead3 results plus results from the state mandated ISTEP testing in reading and math clearly indicate that a class size of twenty five or more is not working. Knowing this the first thing to do is downsize the classroom especially in the kindergarten through second grade classrooms. What is the ideal amount of scholars in these early grade levels, I'm thinking twelve. It would be much easier for a teacher to manage and as soon as a scholar gives indications that she/he is struggling the teacher can focus a lot more attention on that scholar. Will the class sizes in kindergarten through second grade be downsized any time soon? No! Why not? Money! The sad situation is that there is money but that would require risk takers to say enough with the millions of dollars spent on IRead3 and enough with the tens of millions of dollars spent on ISTEP testing. It will take a risk taker to step up and redirect that money so that class sizes in kindergarten through second grade can be cut in half which would give a teacher a real opportunity to put all these young scholars on an immediate track toward a successful education.
I've been living in Indianapolis for over thirty years and during all that time education has been at the forefront. It's time for a change. It's time for a risk taker to step up and take education by the horns and move it in a new direction and here is the proof that what is happening now is failing. A frequent visitor to the editorial page of the Indianapolis Star wrote an article entitled: Give yourself the gift of learning. The author is a Abdul-Hakim Shabazz. In his editorial piece he makes reference to the 7,300 jobs that go unfilled here in the immediate Indianapolis area. These are jobs that pay from $14 to $16 per hour but are not filled. Why? There are not enough candidates coming out of our schools with the required skills to fill these jobs.
First you learn to read and then you read to learn. Unfortunately thirty percent of the scholars in the first you learn to read part of the previous sentence have not learned to read. We can't continue going down that path. It's time for a change. It's time for that risk taker to step up. Hopefully I will not have to wait another thirty years before that change happens. Yikes! That means I'll be ninety five.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
Saturday, December 20, 2014
Counting Down Until Winter Break
I missed my first day of school this past week. I was doing my best all year to get to the classroom because if I didn't Gnu would receive little help and that is not good. Whatever ailed me started on Sunday afternoon as I slept all afternoon and then went to bed early. Come Monday morning I new immediately I wasn't going to make it. I sent a text to Gnu about being ill and missing the day. Her response was quick, "Oh no!" As I sit here thinking about her response I wonder if the "oh no" was sent as a sympathy comment about being sick or an "oh no" as I'm stuck in this chaotic classroom by myself. I suspect it was a little of both.
I felt a little better on Tuesday and went to school. As I was preparing the attendance form for Tuesday I asked Gnu about Monday's attendance. She responded The Collector is still suspended, Uh-Uh-Uh had a temperature of 103 degrees and was sent home early but everyone else was her. She then told me River was suspended for three days. Why? He tried to stab me with some scissors. Are you serious? Yes, it happened in art class. The scholars were working on an art project that required cutting. River took a pair of scissors from a tray of scissors in the classroom and was using them. When the art teacher reminded the scholars to return their scissors to scissor tray at the end of the class River didn't return his. Gnu reminded him to return the scissors and he responded, no these are mine. Gnu said no they are not yours because you just took them from the scissor tray a few minutes ago. River, now getting agitated, no these are mine. Gnu moves to take the scissors and he tries to stab her. Fortunately she got a hold of his scissor hand and eventually removed them. A short time later River's parental unit arrives at school to pick him up. This parental unit arrives without a belt, pants unbuttoned at the waist and zipper all the way down and removes his scholar from the building. As a reminder, the names are fictitious but the events are real.
Health wise I wasn't feeling my best on Tuesday or Wednesday but after what happened on Monday I wasn't going to miss another day. Tuesday was an uneventful day but Wednesday was pretty rough. IvyL was leading our daily group session that is designed to improve the social skills of our scholars and things were not going well. Normally during group I hang out in the back of the room as there are usually two or three adults in the front of the room. Today Oreo was elsewhere and Gnu was in a special education conference so I moved to the front of the room. The scholars were instructed to draw a shield and then write some goals for themselves for the year 2015 on the shield. It sounds simple enough except colored markers are needed and the squabbling over who got what colored maker was getting very animated. IvyL decided to shut down the animation by collecting all the makers and said to the scholars when you can sit quietly we'll start again. With everyone quiet IvyL says to MiniJ pick a marker. MiniJ picked blue and that is all it took. NoFouls erupted over the color of a marker that he wanted. Note, there were two blue markers but he had to have that one. The first desk that got flipped over was Yo!'s, followed by his own, then River's and finally Uh-Uh-Uh's. I was sitting near Uh-Uh-Uh's and turned to keep an eye on him. So far no one was at risked of injury so IvyL and I just let him vent his anger. After he flipped over Uh-Uh-Uh's desk he started sliding it toward me. He then picked it up off the ground about a foot and a half and tossed it directly at me. I made it known to him in no uncertain terms that you don't pick up a desk and toss it at either an adult or a student. He was then quickly guided to the timeout room as he was about to break an anger rule, don't hurt others and don't hurt yourself.
Within a few minutes of this eruption Gnu returned to the room and an explanation was given to her as to what happened. The group session was over so everyone was told to return to their desk and sit quietly as it was almost time to go home. Prior to going home each day Gnu fills out the scholars behavior sheet. The color choices are blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Blue is on the good end of the spectrum and red is on the bad end. When NoFouls saw his red designation he erupts again. This time he heads to his cubby to get his jacket and backpack and is storming out the door with MiniJ directly behind him. They both are heading for the bus but it's not time to go to the bus. I'm following them with Gnu following me. When we get to the gym she redirects them back to the classroom as they are interrupting a class that is using the gym. On the way back to the classroom I stop to use the restroom. When I do get to the classroom Oreo is standing at the door. She tells me that Gnu is restraining NoFouls as he shouted at her to "shut up you stupid bitch" and then charged directly at her. Gnu asks me to help restrain him as he is doing his best to kick her. I assist as Oreo is calling for additional help. Duck arrives as she is the acting Big B today. Her first directive is to hold the bus until we can get NoFouls settled down. When she is off the phone I call her for assistance as NoFouls is doing his best to ram the back of his head into Gnu's face. In about ten minutes it's over and NoFouls is heading to the bus as if nothing happened. He is also suspended for the next school day.
Despite another challenging week Gnu continues to do her best at improving the lives of these troubled scholars. During the first part of the week she brought in gingerbread house kits for them to decorate. Later in the week we took time to watch a Christmas themed movie and everyone one go to participate in various other fun activities. In the afternoon of the last day of school we had a little party. There was cake and cookies and Gnu purchased a new toy plastic building set that they can use when they earn their choice time for good behavior. The new building set was a huge hit and it was fun to watch them assemble it without getting into arguments. Over the past few weeks Gnu has been taking pictures of the scholars. At times the picture was of an individual scholar. At other times the picture was of a couple scholars working together on a project. As the scholars were preparing to go home for the winter break I found out why she was taking the pictures. When behavior folders were handed out so were the pictures that were framed. The scholars were told that they could give the picture to their parental unit as a Christmas gift. The looks on their faces when they saw their picture was priceless. The first year teacher that I'm working with is also priceless.
For seventeen consecutive days I do not have to enter the classroom. Can I have an amen?
One final comment. I was disappointed about a week ago when the page view statistics for my blog indicated that a long time follower from the Ukraine stopped viewing. Do I know anyone in the Ukraine? No, but this individual has been viewing my blog for quite some time so her/his disappearance was a little disappointing. However, when I logged in today she/he was back. That put a smile on my face.
I felt a little better on Tuesday and went to school. As I was preparing the attendance form for Tuesday I asked Gnu about Monday's attendance. She responded The Collector is still suspended, Uh-Uh-Uh had a temperature of 103 degrees and was sent home early but everyone else was her. She then told me River was suspended for three days. Why? He tried to stab me with some scissors. Are you serious? Yes, it happened in art class. The scholars were working on an art project that required cutting. River took a pair of scissors from a tray of scissors in the classroom and was using them. When the art teacher reminded the scholars to return their scissors to scissor tray at the end of the class River didn't return his. Gnu reminded him to return the scissors and he responded, no these are mine. Gnu said no they are not yours because you just took them from the scissor tray a few minutes ago. River, now getting agitated, no these are mine. Gnu moves to take the scissors and he tries to stab her. Fortunately she got a hold of his scissor hand and eventually removed them. A short time later River's parental unit arrives at school to pick him up. This parental unit arrives without a belt, pants unbuttoned at the waist and zipper all the way down and removes his scholar from the building. As a reminder, the names are fictitious but the events are real.
Health wise I wasn't feeling my best on Tuesday or Wednesday but after what happened on Monday I wasn't going to miss another day. Tuesday was an uneventful day but Wednesday was pretty rough. IvyL was leading our daily group session that is designed to improve the social skills of our scholars and things were not going well. Normally during group I hang out in the back of the room as there are usually two or three adults in the front of the room. Today Oreo was elsewhere and Gnu was in a special education conference so I moved to the front of the room. The scholars were instructed to draw a shield and then write some goals for themselves for the year 2015 on the shield. It sounds simple enough except colored markers are needed and the squabbling over who got what colored maker was getting very animated. IvyL decided to shut down the animation by collecting all the makers and said to the scholars when you can sit quietly we'll start again. With everyone quiet IvyL says to MiniJ pick a marker. MiniJ picked blue and that is all it took. NoFouls erupted over the color of a marker that he wanted. Note, there were two blue markers but he had to have that one. The first desk that got flipped over was Yo!'s, followed by his own, then River's and finally Uh-Uh-Uh's. I was sitting near Uh-Uh-Uh's and turned to keep an eye on him. So far no one was at risked of injury so IvyL and I just let him vent his anger. After he flipped over Uh-Uh-Uh's desk he started sliding it toward me. He then picked it up off the ground about a foot and a half and tossed it directly at me. I made it known to him in no uncertain terms that you don't pick up a desk and toss it at either an adult or a student. He was then quickly guided to the timeout room as he was about to break an anger rule, don't hurt others and don't hurt yourself.
Within a few minutes of this eruption Gnu returned to the room and an explanation was given to her as to what happened. The group session was over so everyone was told to return to their desk and sit quietly as it was almost time to go home. Prior to going home each day Gnu fills out the scholars behavior sheet. The color choices are blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Blue is on the good end of the spectrum and red is on the bad end. When NoFouls saw his red designation he erupts again. This time he heads to his cubby to get his jacket and backpack and is storming out the door with MiniJ directly behind him. They both are heading for the bus but it's not time to go to the bus. I'm following them with Gnu following me. When we get to the gym she redirects them back to the classroom as they are interrupting a class that is using the gym. On the way back to the classroom I stop to use the restroom. When I do get to the classroom Oreo is standing at the door. She tells me that Gnu is restraining NoFouls as he shouted at her to "shut up you stupid bitch" and then charged directly at her. Gnu asks me to help restrain him as he is doing his best to kick her. I assist as Oreo is calling for additional help. Duck arrives as she is the acting Big B today. Her first directive is to hold the bus until we can get NoFouls settled down. When she is off the phone I call her for assistance as NoFouls is doing his best to ram the back of his head into Gnu's face. In about ten minutes it's over and NoFouls is heading to the bus as if nothing happened. He is also suspended for the next school day.
Despite another challenging week Gnu continues to do her best at improving the lives of these troubled scholars. During the first part of the week she brought in gingerbread house kits for them to decorate. Later in the week we took time to watch a Christmas themed movie and everyone one go to participate in various other fun activities. In the afternoon of the last day of school we had a little party. There was cake and cookies and Gnu purchased a new toy plastic building set that they can use when they earn their choice time for good behavior. The new building set was a huge hit and it was fun to watch them assemble it without getting into arguments. Over the past few weeks Gnu has been taking pictures of the scholars. At times the picture was of an individual scholar. At other times the picture was of a couple scholars working together on a project. As the scholars were preparing to go home for the winter break I found out why she was taking the pictures. When behavior folders were handed out so were the pictures that were framed. The scholars were told that they could give the picture to their parental unit as a Christmas gift. The looks on their faces when they saw their picture was priceless. The first year teacher that I'm working with is also priceless.
For seventeen consecutive days I do not have to enter the classroom. Can I have an amen?
One final comment. I was disappointed about a week ago when the page view statistics for my blog indicated that a long time follower from the Ukraine stopped viewing. Do I know anyone in the Ukraine? No, but this individual has been viewing my blog for quite some time so her/his disappearance was a little disappointing. However, when I logged in today she/he was back. That put a smile on my face.
Saturday, December 13, 2014
Introducing River
My daughter mentioned that I need to use pictures so the blog will have some color. Ok! This picture was taken at 8:30am before the scholars arrived. I can assure you the classroom will never look like this again until I leave to go home at 4:00pm.
As a reminder Gnu received an email message about the arrival of River to our classroom in the middle of last week. The email instructed Gnu to set up a case conference with River's parental unit(s) so decisions can be made about River's future at our school. Despite given very little time to get this accomplished Gnu set the conference up and got confirmation from all parties that they would be in attendance. Does anyone care to venture a guess as to how the conference went? Please keep in mind that all parties confirmed that they will attend the conference. Ok, who should I start with as more than one person who confirmed her/his attendance didn't show up. Dear parental unit(s) a case conference that will determine the educational future of your scholar is taking place so where are you? That's correct, a no call, no show, just blow off the meeting. Dear overhead person you committed to attend a conference that you insisted had to take place in a very short period of time and you cancel due to a schedule conflict. You said you will attend and then say maybe you can participate via a conference call. Brilliant! The two most important participants attending this conference don't show up. The problem is that the conference can't be delayed as the scholar needs to be placed in either a general education or special education classroom quickly or the school corporation is in violation of a state law. How did the conference end? River was transferred from a general education classroom to a classroom for scholars with emotional disabilities. For the foreseeable future River is now labeled SpecEd. A pretty sad situation but there is more or as Paul Harvey would say here is "the rest of the story." I wonder if I should explain that? Naw! You can use your device.
Day one and I have to turn in our attendance report but there is no River. Shortly after morning announcements River's current teacher walks down to tell us he is in her classroom and she will send him down when he finishes his breakfast. Twenty minutes or so later the teacher returns. I'm sorry but River just vomited in my classroom so he is in the first aid room. Approximately seventy five minutes later River makes his appearance. Gnu welcomes him to the classroom, shows him where his cubby (locker) is located and directs him to his desk. The plan was to have our scholars introduce themselves but that plan is put on hold. Gnu speaking, "River what is that on your shirt?" Puke!
Still on day one. It's the end of the day and the scholars have gone home. Gnu walks up to me and says "I can't understand a word he is saying." I know and not only am I having a hard time understanding him he's a low talker. Gnu speaking again. "When I tried to explain to him he had to do a worksheet I'm not sure if he understood a word I said."
Two items standout at the end of day one. First, no parental unit(s) showed up on his first day of school in a special education classroom. Apparently River's parental unit(s) had other plans. Second, academically I'd say he hasn't advanced passed first grade. So you know, River is in the second grade.
As a reminder Gnu received an email message about the arrival of River to our classroom in the middle of last week. The email instructed Gnu to set up a case conference with River's parental unit(s) so decisions can be made about River's future at our school. Despite given very little time to get this accomplished Gnu set the conference up and got confirmation from all parties that they would be in attendance. Does anyone care to venture a guess as to how the conference went? Please keep in mind that all parties confirmed that they will attend the conference. Ok, who should I start with as more than one person who confirmed her/his attendance didn't show up. Dear parental unit(s) a case conference that will determine the educational future of your scholar is taking place so where are you? That's correct, a no call, no show, just blow off the meeting. Dear overhead person you committed to attend a conference that you insisted had to take place in a very short period of time and you cancel due to a schedule conflict. You said you will attend and then say maybe you can participate via a conference call. Brilliant! The two most important participants attending this conference don't show up. The problem is that the conference can't be delayed as the scholar needs to be placed in either a general education or special education classroom quickly or the school corporation is in violation of a state law. How did the conference end? River was transferred from a general education classroom to a classroom for scholars with emotional disabilities. For the foreseeable future River is now labeled SpecEd. A pretty sad situation but there is more or as Paul Harvey would say here is "the rest of the story." I wonder if I should explain that? Naw! You can use your device.
Day one and I have to turn in our attendance report but there is no River. Shortly after morning announcements River's current teacher walks down to tell us he is in her classroom and she will send him down when he finishes his breakfast. Twenty minutes or so later the teacher returns. I'm sorry but River just vomited in my classroom so he is in the first aid room. Approximately seventy five minutes later River makes his appearance. Gnu welcomes him to the classroom, shows him where his cubby (locker) is located and directs him to his desk. The plan was to have our scholars introduce themselves but that plan is put on hold. Gnu speaking, "River what is that on your shirt?" Puke!
Still on day one. It's the end of the day and the scholars have gone home. Gnu walks up to me and says "I can't understand a word he is saying." I know and not only am I having a hard time understanding him he's a low talker. Gnu speaking again. "When I tried to explain to him he had to do a worksheet I'm not sure if he understood a word I said."
Two items standout at the end of day one. First, no parental unit(s) showed up on his first day of school in a special education classroom. Apparently River's parental unit(s) had other plans. Second, academically I'd say he hasn't advanced passed first grade. So you know, River is in the second grade.
Day two. He arrived wearing a hooded sweatshirt that was probably to big for me. He was wearing a well worn Joseph Addai (former Colt player) shirt and a pair of workout pants that were are least six inches to long and badly torn at the bottom of the legs. Keep in mind we have a school uniform policy.
Day three. He arrived wearing most of the correct school uniform but he had an odor. After lunch Gnu has the scholars standing outside the cafeteria waiting for me to take them to recess. Just as I arrive River starts vomiting in the hallway, Gnu is grossed out and turns away. I stand a safe distance away and watch chocolate milk exit his body. So you know, Gnu does not do well with vomit, odors or bugs. We also find out later in the day he isn't wearing socks or underwear. Gnu purchases sock, underwear, tooth brush and tooth paste in the evening after school.
Day four. Gnu takes him to our first aid area to take a shower. She then hands him the tooth brush and tooth paste. He takes the tooth brush and tucks it under his arm and then tries to put the tooth paste on the tooth brush. Gnu takes the tooth brush and puts the tooth paste on it for him. There are indications that this may be the first time he has brushed his teeth. Later in the day EM says to Gnu that River took a rubber band from him that he was using to roll up a completed art project to take home. River insists that it is his. I check EM's cubby as I was the one that put the rubber band on the art project and it is gone. Gnu takes the rubber band from him and he drops on the floor and just starts screaming.
Day five. We are in PE for the first time with River in attendance. The PE teacher gives the instructions then breaks the scholars into groups of four. Today's PE activity is very popular with the scholars. There are stations set up so you can jump rope, hula hoop, play tag, and stack cups. Each group of four is assigned a starting station and then the whistle blows. After two minutes the whistle blows again and you stop what you are doing and rotate to the next station. I'm watching River closely as I know this is his first day in PE. When his group ran to their first station he ran with them but in a most awkward way. As I watched him running I'm thinking has he ever ran before. When he arrived at the first station, jumping rope, he stood at the station and did nothing. He just had this look on his face that said what is going on.
At the initial case conference on where to place River one person made the decision. He will be placed in the room for scholars with emotional disabilities and not a life skills classroom. Sorry, but in my opinion that was the wrong decision.
Here is an abridged version of my week.
Politicians and pointed headed intellectuals are the driving force behind these acquity tests and the ISTEP test. These same individuals also use the results of these tests to determine how well a school is performing and if a teacher should be retained. And these politicians and pointed headed intellectuals wonder why so few people choose to enter the teaching profession.
Despite the challenges of the week Gnu put together a very nice reading/social studies lesson on how Christmas was celebrated around the world. The countries were Australia, Israel, Italy, Germany, and Mexico. She discussed one country a day and the scholars enjoy learning about the different ways Christmas is celebrated.
By the way, I got to read "The Polar Express". I'm pretty sure I mentioned previously that I like to read. I'm out.
Day three. He arrived wearing most of the correct school uniform but he had an odor. After lunch Gnu has the scholars standing outside the cafeteria waiting for me to take them to recess. Just as I arrive River starts vomiting in the hallway, Gnu is grossed out and turns away. I stand a safe distance away and watch chocolate milk exit his body. So you know, Gnu does not do well with vomit, odors or bugs. We also find out later in the day he isn't wearing socks or underwear. Gnu purchases sock, underwear, tooth brush and tooth paste in the evening after school.
Day four. Gnu takes him to our first aid area to take a shower. She then hands him the tooth brush and tooth paste. He takes the tooth brush and tucks it under his arm and then tries to put the tooth paste on the tooth brush. Gnu takes the tooth brush and puts the tooth paste on it for him. There are indications that this may be the first time he has brushed his teeth. Later in the day EM says to Gnu that River took a rubber band from him that he was using to roll up a completed art project to take home. River insists that it is his. I check EM's cubby as I was the one that put the rubber band on the art project and it is gone. Gnu takes the rubber band from him and he drops on the floor and just starts screaming.
Day five. We are in PE for the first time with River in attendance. The PE teacher gives the instructions then breaks the scholars into groups of four. Today's PE activity is very popular with the scholars. There are stations set up so you can jump rope, hula hoop, play tag, and stack cups. Each group of four is assigned a starting station and then the whistle blows. After two minutes the whistle blows again and you stop what you are doing and rotate to the next station. I'm watching River closely as I know this is his first day in PE. When his group ran to their first station he ran with them but in a most awkward way. As I watched him running I'm thinking has he ever ran before. When he arrived at the first station, jumping rope, he stood at the station and did nothing. He just had this look on his face that said what is going on.
At the initial case conference on where to place River one person made the decision. He will be placed in the room for scholars with emotional disabilities and not a life skills classroom. Sorry, but in my opinion that was the wrong decision.
Here is an abridged version of my week.
- River arrives.
- The Collector is removed by the School Corporation police and is suspended for five days. Why? He bit a teacher multiple times.
- NoFouls is suspended for two days. Why? Fighting to include putting another scholar in an aggressive choke hold.
- MiniJ is suspended for one day and this happened before he even stepped into the building. Why? School bus incident.
- Em was required to take a language arts acquity test on a laptop. He can't read.
- Yo! was required to take a language arts acquity test on a laptop. "This is too hard" and he clicked on any answer just to get done.
- Wide was required to take a science acquity test. He got very active and refused to take the test. He eventually took the test but just click on answers without reading the text.
Politicians and pointed headed intellectuals are the driving force behind these acquity tests and the ISTEP test. These same individuals also use the results of these tests to determine how well a school is performing and if a teacher should be retained. And these politicians and pointed headed intellectuals wonder why so few people choose to enter the teaching profession.
Despite the challenges of the week Gnu put together a very nice reading/social studies lesson on how Christmas was celebrated around the world. The countries were Australia, Israel, Italy, Germany, and Mexico. She discussed one country a day and the scholars enjoy learning about the different ways Christmas is celebrated.
By the way, I got to read "The Polar Express". I'm pretty sure I mentioned previously that I like to read. I'm out.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
It Brought Tears To My Eyes
Crap! Gnu met the parental unit of our new scholar today. This is not the scholar we were anticipating but very shortly our count will go up to nine. That means by the first of the year our tenth scholar will arrive. Although I have not personally met our new scholar I've decided on a name. I'm going to call him River. Below is an updated scorecard.
The Scholars The Staff
The Collector - 4th grade Gnu - teacher
Yo! - 4th grade IvyL - behavior therapist
Wide - 4th grade Oreo - behavior specialist
EM - 3rd grade Duck - inclusion teacher
Uh-Uh-Uh - 2nd grade Big B - principal
MiniJ - 2nd grade
NoFouls - 2nd grade Staff Emeritus
River - 2nd grade BaseG - teacher
Grr! - 1st grade FillyFill - teacher
PhD*Sparty - behavior therapist
Gnu called all of our current scholars up to the front of the classroom to discuss River's arrival. When she finished talking she asked if anyone had any questions. The first question was, what is he like? Gnu's response was he is shy and slow. The next question came from Uh-Uh-Uh, does he have problems controlling his anger? Gnu's response he hasn't shown any signs of getting angry yet, he's just slow. That response piqued my interest and I'm thinking to myself if he doesn't have any anger control issues why is he being placed in a classroom for scholars with emotional disabilities? We will have ten scholars in our classroom soon and I'm frustrated. Am I so frustrated that it brought tears to my eyes? Nope!
Gnu was informed by email that River was about to arrive. That sounds simple enough except that the email also said she was required to contact River's parental unit and schedule a case conference and this conference needed to take place by the end of school on Friday. So you know Gnu was given three days to set his conference up. When she mentioned this email message to me her frustration level was rising quickly. "How am I supposed to get all of this done with such short notice?" "I'm not even sure what to do to coordinate this conference as I've never done this before." "And I'm told that if I don't get this done on time it will be recorded as a negative on my evaluation." I'm going to do my best to avoid profanity as it is now my turn to speak. "Why is a first year teacher put into such a challenging job with no support from our school corporation?" "Why is a first year teacher who is frustrated and sends out emails asking questions have to wait multiple days to get a response and it some instances never get a response?" "Why did overhead personnel make a commitment to take a first year teacher to another school to observe and question a veteran special education teacher who is successful and fail to follow up?" "Why was a first year teacher told the number of scholars in her room will be capped at five and then keep adding scholars to the room?" This is soooooooo frustrating but is it enough to bring tears to my eyes? Negativa! But I am a little pissed. Opps! I wasn't supposed to use a word like that.
He continues to get lost in the shuffle and is falling farther behind. Who am I talking about? EM, a third grade scholar who is stuck in no man's land. I've wrote about him in the past but as a reminder he is well behind academically and should be in a general education classroom and not a special education classroom. The problem is that he is so far behind academically that he would be totally lost in a regular third grade. So rather than get him the help and attention that is required to get him caught up academically they decide to place him in a special education classroom because of the smaller class size. Dear overhead personnel, are you serious? How can Gnu and I spend the required amount of time needed to help EM? We presently have eight scholars in the room. They range in grades is first through fourth grade but academically the range is kindergarten through fourth grade. That's five grade levels and two people. When we do academics the scholars are divided into two groups of four. When I have EM he always sits to my immediate right as he will need the most help. The problem is I can't spend the appropriate time helping him because three others need help. When EM doesn't understand something and is told to wait for help he gets upset. He'll walk away from the table and go into the timeout room, walk away and crawl under Gnu's desk, walk away and leave the classroom all because I can't divide myself into fourths. Why does he walk away? Because he is starting to understand that everyone in the classroom does better at academics than him and he so badly wants to get better. It's so frustrating for me because some overhead person decided to leave him in a smaller sized special education classroom so he can get the required help and he is not getting it. Is this enough to bring tears to my eyes? Nyet!
I first met CorP when he was in the third grade in a classroom with only three other scholars. For those of you who are new to the blog CorP spent two years (third and fourth grade) in my classroom and he is now in the fifth grade. When I first met CorP he was a very poor reader and he knew it. Getting him to read out loud was a challenge and if he actually read out loud it didn't last long and it was not uncommon for him to get angry and throw his book across the room. Two teachers in particular took an interest in Corp with a determination to get him to read. One you've met as it was BaseG my teaching partner from last year. The other I'll call FillyFill who was a permanent substitute teacher at our school. Both of these gentlemen were determined to get Corp to read and just as important improve academically in math. While CorP's academics were improving so was the work of PhD*Sparty who was tasked with improving CorP's social skills and anger management skills. These three individuals worked for two school years with CorP and I'm real excited to make this announcement. About three weeks ago CorP was transitioned from a special education classroom for scholars with emotional disabilities into a general education classroom. Is this news what brought the tears to my eyes. Not quite yet. With the news of CorPs transition I sat at my desk and took out my cell phone. I addressed the text message to three people; FillyFill, BaseG and PhD*Sparty. As I started texting this wonderful news the tears started. I had to stop twice as I couldn't see clearly the screen on my cell phone to finish the text. Within just a few minutes my cell phone started vibrating. First it was FillyFill. Then I heard from BaseG. Lastly, I heard from PhD*Sparty. I can tell you right now I was not the only one with tears in my eyes. Who else shed a few tears? I'll keep that private.
This blog is longer than I wanted it to be but I've worked with fifteen or sixteen different scholars in this job and never has one of them transitioned to a general education classroom until now. Corp was a first for me and hopefully there will be many more. Thanks for your continued reading about things that I see from my view at the back of the room. I'm out.
The Scholars The Staff
The Collector - 4th grade Gnu - teacher
Yo! - 4th grade IvyL - behavior therapist
Wide - 4th grade Oreo - behavior specialist
EM - 3rd grade Duck - inclusion teacher
Uh-Uh-Uh - 2nd grade Big B - principal
MiniJ - 2nd grade
NoFouls - 2nd grade Staff Emeritus
River - 2nd grade BaseG - teacher
Grr! - 1st grade FillyFill - teacher
PhD*Sparty - behavior therapist
Gnu called all of our current scholars up to the front of the classroom to discuss River's arrival. When she finished talking she asked if anyone had any questions. The first question was, what is he like? Gnu's response was he is shy and slow. The next question came from Uh-Uh-Uh, does he have problems controlling his anger? Gnu's response he hasn't shown any signs of getting angry yet, he's just slow. That response piqued my interest and I'm thinking to myself if he doesn't have any anger control issues why is he being placed in a classroom for scholars with emotional disabilities? We will have ten scholars in our classroom soon and I'm frustrated. Am I so frustrated that it brought tears to my eyes? Nope!
Gnu was informed by email that River was about to arrive. That sounds simple enough except that the email also said she was required to contact River's parental unit and schedule a case conference and this conference needed to take place by the end of school on Friday. So you know Gnu was given three days to set his conference up. When she mentioned this email message to me her frustration level was rising quickly. "How am I supposed to get all of this done with such short notice?" "I'm not even sure what to do to coordinate this conference as I've never done this before." "And I'm told that if I don't get this done on time it will be recorded as a negative on my evaluation." I'm going to do my best to avoid profanity as it is now my turn to speak. "Why is a first year teacher put into such a challenging job with no support from our school corporation?" "Why is a first year teacher who is frustrated and sends out emails asking questions have to wait multiple days to get a response and it some instances never get a response?" "Why did overhead personnel make a commitment to take a first year teacher to another school to observe and question a veteran special education teacher who is successful and fail to follow up?" "Why was a first year teacher told the number of scholars in her room will be capped at five and then keep adding scholars to the room?" This is soooooooo frustrating but is it enough to bring tears to my eyes? Negativa! But I am a little pissed. Opps! I wasn't supposed to use a word like that.
He continues to get lost in the shuffle and is falling farther behind. Who am I talking about? EM, a third grade scholar who is stuck in no man's land. I've wrote about him in the past but as a reminder he is well behind academically and should be in a general education classroom and not a special education classroom. The problem is that he is so far behind academically that he would be totally lost in a regular third grade. So rather than get him the help and attention that is required to get him caught up academically they decide to place him in a special education classroom because of the smaller class size. Dear overhead personnel, are you serious? How can Gnu and I spend the required amount of time needed to help EM? We presently have eight scholars in the room. They range in grades is first through fourth grade but academically the range is kindergarten through fourth grade. That's five grade levels and two people. When we do academics the scholars are divided into two groups of four. When I have EM he always sits to my immediate right as he will need the most help. The problem is I can't spend the appropriate time helping him because three others need help. When EM doesn't understand something and is told to wait for help he gets upset. He'll walk away from the table and go into the timeout room, walk away and crawl under Gnu's desk, walk away and leave the classroom all because I can't divide myself into fourths. Why does he walk away? Because he is starting to understand that everyone in the classroom does better at academics than him and he so badly wants to get better. It's so frustrating for me because some overhead person decided to leave him in a smaller sized special education classroom so he can get the required help and he is not getting it. Is this enough to bring tears to my eyes? Nyet!
I first met CorP when he was in the third grade in a classroom with only three other scholars. For those of you who are new to the blog CorP spent two years (third and fourth grade) in my classroom and he is now in the fifth grade. When I first met CorP he was a very poor reader and he knew it. Getting him to read out loud was a challenge and if he actually read out loud it didn't last long and it was not uncommon for him to get angry and throw his book across the room. Two teachers in particular took an interest in Corp with a determination to get him to read. One you've met as it was BaseG my teaching partner from last year. The other I'll call FillyFill who was a permanent substitute teacher at our school. Both of these gentlemen were determined to get Corp to read and just as important improve academically in math. While CorP's academics were improving so was the work of PhD*Sparty who was tasked with improving CorP's social skills and anger management skills. These three individuals worked for two school years with CorP and I'm real excited to make this announcement. About three weeks ago CorP was transitioned from a special education classroom for scholars with emotional disabilities into a general education classroom. Is this news what brought the tears to my eyes. Not quite yet. With the news of CorPs transition I sat at my desk and took out my cell phone. I addressed the text message to three people; FillyFill, BaseG and PhD*Sparty. As I started texting this wonderful news the tears started. I had to stop twice as I couldn't see clearly the screen on my cell phone to finish the text. Within just a few minutes my cell phone started vibrating. First it was FillyFill. Then I heard from BaseG. Lastly, I heard from PhD*Sparty. I can tell you right now I was not the only one with tears in my eyes. Who else shed a few tears? I'll keep that private.
This blog is longer than I wanted it to be but I've worked with fifteen or sixteen different scholars in this job and never has one of them transitioned to a general education classroom until now. Corp was a first for me and hopefully there will be many more. Thanks for your continued reading about things that I see from my view at the back of the room. I'm out.
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
They Looked Like A Pretzel
On the top right side of my screen there is a series of icons. For over eight months I've basically ignored them until today. The icon shaped like a bell was lite up and had the number one in a red circle. What is that I'm thinking? So I click on the icon and it says I have one notification. Ok, what am I being notified about? I'm curious so I open the notification and it says you (and I'm assuming my blog) have been invited to the senders circle. I think about what happened and decide it's a good thing as maybe more people will read the blog. Then it hits me right between the eyes as I think of something the sender once told me quite a while back. So you know, the sender has been attending my Monday evening cycling class for quite some time and is a real good friend. The sender is also a member of the English Department at one of the universities here in Indianapolis. In fact he teaches English. Some time ago the sender told a story about grading freshman essays. In his frustration with the quality of work he received from university students he decided that students that wrote extremely poor papers would receive the appropriate letter grade and attached to their paper was an application to apply for work at McDonald's as they will not make it as a writer. Great! Now he and his circle are reading a blog that I know has grammatical errors. Dear Professor I Do No Sweat, if you bring in an application for McDonald's to the cycling class and hand it to me the resistance on that cycling bike will be going up incrementally for entire forty five minute cycling class.
Grrr! has arrived for his first day in our classroom. I mentioned this to my wife and she gave me this look of disappointment. I asked her about the look and she said the following. "Do you know what this means?" "When he steps into your classroom he will now have a label and this label will stick with him throughout his schooling." "This young first grade scholar has been labeled as special education and that is so sad to think about." "Image how his parental unit feels now that she made the decision to put her scholar into a special education classroom." Her comments really hit home. It makes me want to push even harder to reach the objective we have for everyone of our scholars. That objective, as I mentioned in my last post, is to get the scholar to the point where she/he can reenter the general education population. The challenge to do this will be great. We now have eight scholars with emotional disabilities that require a great deal of individual attention. Can we give them the attention they need with eight scholars in the room? NO! Can we give them the attention they need with seven or six scholars in the room? NO! Can we give them the attention they need with five or less scholars in the room? Probably! Do you think the powers that be in the high levels of my school corporation will reduce the number of scholars in my room anytime soon? NO! The fact is scholar number nine is on the horizon.
Back to Grrr!'s first day. He was the first to arrive and was assigned a desk and he sat down. Wide was the next to arrive. He made it into the classroom but stayed only a short period and then ran out into the hallway. Gnu followed him but returned without him. When I inquired as to his location she said he is outside standing on the top of his parental unit's car and is refusing to get down. About fifteen minutes later Wide arrives. He is being carried by his parental unit with assistance from Oreo into the classroom. When they have him in the room he is placed standing on the floor and his mother backs out of the room as Oreo blocks the door. Wide is now aggressively trying to get to the door. I move towards the door to relieve Oreo and go into my blocking mode. After multiple attempts to get past me I look at Oreo and say we can't do this all day and I nod my head toward the timeout room. She has the door open and I'm moving Wide in that direction. He is now wild. When I get him to the far side of the timeout room I try and back my way out. No deal as he charges at me and his anger is escalating. I move him back and try again. I'm not quick enough to get to the door and close it as he continually charges at me. Again, I move him to back of the room. This time he charges with his fists up high. I grab him by the forearms to prevent him from hitting me. As I hold him he sinks his teeth into my arm right by the wrist. I immediately release his one arm to avoid a serious bite. As I release his hand he grabs my glasses and twists them into the shape of a pretzel. I tell him to give me my glasses and he does. I then pick up one of he lense that is on the floor and walk out of the room. I'm not a happy camper as my visibility is limited and my glasses have been destroyed so I leave the classroom. The Big B is nearby and I show her my glasses. Her immediately comment, "who did this." I explain and tell her I need to leave so I can get them repaired. As I grab my coat to leave Wide is in the timeout room and is seriously banging his head on the glass window. Gnu, Oreo, The Big B and Wide's parental unit are in the room when I leave. I'm about thirty feet down the hallway when Wide's parental unit calls to me so I stop. "Mr. Schultz I will do everything I can to scrap up the money to pay for your glasses." I tell her that is not necessary as things like this happen in our classroom. She insists she will pay me. Again, I say it is not necessary and tell her to go back and be with her son.
I caught a break on the glass as the lenses were not damaged. The optical shop had the exact frame in the store and popped the lenses into the new frame and I was on my way back to school. When I returned to the classroom Wide was gone. He was sent home for the day. I then checked with the Big B about getting reimbursed for the cost of the frames. Her response was "I'll see what I can do." That was not exactly what I wanted to hear. What I wanted to hear was yes the school corporation will reimburse you for the $144.00 frames. About thirty minutes later our classroom phone rings and it is the front office and I need to go to the office. When I arrived there is a school security officer waiting for me. In order to start the potential reimbursement process I need to file a police report. Great! I have to file a police report against a fourth grade scholar with an emotional disability who when he actually calms done won't even remember what happened. I file the police report and show the officer a copy of my receipt. He photographs it and then gives me a tracking code to follow as my case is reviewed.
As of this post I'm still waiting to hear if I'm going to be reimbursed. I'll yet you know how it ends.
Grrr! has arrived for his first day in our classroom. I mentioned this to my wife and she gave me this look of disappointment. I asked her about the look and she said the following. "Do you know what this means?" "When he steps into your classroom he will now have a label and this label will stick with him throughout his schooling." "This young first grade scholar has been labeled as special education and that is so sad to think about." "Image how his parental unit feels now that she made the decision to put her scholar into a special education classroom." Her comments really hit home. It makes me want to push even harder to reach the objective we have for everyone of our scholars. That objective, as I mentioned in my last post, is to get the scholar to the point where she/he can reenter the general education population. The challenge to do this will be great. We now have eight scholars with emotional disabilities that require a great deal of individual attention. Can we give them the attention they need with eight scholars in the room? NO! Can we give them the attention they need with seven or six scholars in the room? NO! Can we give them the attention they need with five or less scholars in the room? Probably! Do you think the powers that be in the high levels of my school corporation will reduce the number of scholars in my room anytime soon? NO! The fact is scholar number nine is on the horizon.
Back to Grrr!'s first day. He was the first to arrive and was assigned a desk and he sat down. Wide was the next to arrive. He made it into the classroom but stayed only a short period and then ran out into the hallway. Gnu followed him but returned without him. When I inquired as to his location she said he is outside standing on the top of his parental unit's car and is refusing to get down. About fifteen minutes later Wide arrives. He is being carried by his parental unit with assistance from Oreo into the classroom. When they have him in the room he is placed standing on the floor and his mother backs out of the room as Oreo blocks the door. Wide is now aggressively trying to get to the door. I move towards the door to relieve Oreo and go into my blocking mode. After multiple attempts to get past me I look at Oreo and say we can't do this all day and I nod my head toward the timeout room. She has the door open and I'm moving Wide in that direction. He is now wild. When I get him to the far side of the timeout room I try and back my way out. No deal as he charges at me and his anger is escalating. I move him back and try again. I'm not quick enough to get to the door and close it as he continually charges at me. Again, I move him to back of the room. This time he charges with his fists up high. I grab him by the forearms to prevent him from hitting me. As I hold him he sinks his teeth into my arm right by the wrist. I immediately release his one arm to avoid a serious bite. As I release his hand he grabs my glasses and twists them into the shape of a pretzel. I tell him to give me my glasses and he does. I then pick up one of he lense that is on the floor and walk out of the room. I'm not a happy camper as my visibility is limited and my glasses have been destroyed so I leave the classroom. The Big B is nearby and I show her my glasses. Her immediately comment, "who did this." I explain and tell her I need to leave so I can get them repaired. As I grab my coat to leave Wide is in the timeout room and is seriously banging his head on the glass window. Gnu, Oreo, The Big B and Wide's parental unit are in the room when I leave. I'm about thirty feet down the hallway when Wide's parental unit calls to me so I stop. "Mr. Schultz I will do everything I can to scrap up the money to pay for your glasses." I tell her that is not necessary as things like this happen in our classroom. She insists she will pay me. Again, I say it is not necessary and tell her to go back and be with her son.
I caught a break on the glass as the lenses were not damaged. The optical shop had the exact frame in the store and popped the lenses into the new frame and I was on my way back to school. When I returned to the classroom Wide was gone. He was sent home for the day. I then checked with the Big B about getting reimbursed for the cost of the frames. Her response was "I'll see what I can do." That was not exactly what I wanted to hear. What I wanted to hear was yes the school corporation will reimburse you for the $144.00 frames. About thirty minutes later our classroom phone rings and it is the front office and I need to go to the office. When I arrived there is a school security officer waiting for me. In order to start the potential reimbursement process I need to file a police report. Great! I have to file a police report against a fourth grade scholar with an emotional disability who when he actually calms done won't even remember what happened. I file the police report and show the officer a copy of my receipt. He photographs it and then gives me a tracking code to follow as my case is reviewed.
As of this post I'm still waiting to hear if I'm going to be reimbursed. I'll yet you know how it ends.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)