Friday at 4:00pm conversation #3. As a reminder I don't make this stuff up.
The scholars are gone and Gnu is moving about quickly. She says to me I have to be out of this room by 4:05pm as I have things to do. So I say to her you must have a date with your gentleman caller. She turns to look and me and says with a big smile on her face yes but not until later in the weekend. So I say what could be so important that this gentleman caller gets put on the back burner? I have university friends coming to town for a reunion and one of them is even flying in from Arizona. That sounds like fun, what's on the agenda. Well, first we are going to the monster truck rally. You're kidding! No, I like the monster trucks as she lists her favorites trucks. After that we are going to see the Chippendales and then I'm taking my new bow out to a shooting range. Let's see where should I go next? I'll start with the bow as I knew she likes to hunt and fish and when hunting she uses a bow and arrow so I realize at some point you have to practice. That was the easy one so I don't bring it up. You're going to see the Chippendales? Yes, my girl friends from university are in town and so are the Chippendales so we thought it would be fun. I tell her to have a good time at the Chippendales but warn her that I'll have follow up questions on Monday morning. She laughs and we both head out the door as the day is over.
Let's see now. Do I have to explain Chippendales to those that are unfamiliar with the word and if I do how can I explain them. I know, if you have no idea what a Chippendale is do a Google search for Chippendale Tour and then click on images.
When I arrived home one evening a few days ago I mention to my part time editor, part time consultant and full time spouse that I was invited to a case conference. She looked at me and said that's pretty unusual as instructional assistants don't get invited to those meetings. I said I know as I've never been invited to one and have never even been asked to provide any information on how I felt an individual scholar was progressing. My wife then asked me which scholar was involved and what was the purpose of the meeting. So I told her the scholars name and then thought about what to tell her next. After giving it some thought I told her this scholar was a major pain in the backside, is defiant, excels at manipulating the younger scholars in our classroom to make bad decisions and enjoys using his size to get in the face of smaller scholars that are not in our classroom but are in classrooms that are on the same floor as ours. Whew! That's a lot of verbiage. I then told my wife what my opinion was on how this scholar is doing. I said he is not advancing academically.
A couple days ago I attending the first meeting regarding this scholar and his upcoming case conference in Oreo's office with Gnu joining us. The meeting was mostly organizational to be sure we all stayed on message when meeting with the parental units and the school corporation overhead personnel takes place. Gnu and Oreo knew that I took home our behavioral logs so I could put together an overview of this scholars activities in the classroom so they asked me to discuss my notes. Prior to starting I asked if they could tell me exactly what is wrong emotionally with this scholar. Oreo responded with an acronym that meant nothing to me so I asked her to explain what that meant. She stated it's like being placed in an "other" category. Hold on here I say, our classroom is set up to work with scholars with emotional disabilities so if this scholar is in an "other" category why is he in our classroom? The response I received was shrugs. Oreo then said his parental unit thinks our scholar has an anxiety issue. Really is say. So when this scholar said directly to Gnu, shut up bitch, dropped the F-bomb on her, flipped her off and threw an object at her it's a result of his anxiety issues. Sorry, but I'm thinking a label of oppositional defiance is a much better description of this scholar's actions. I then reviewed my notes on this scholars behavior with Gnu and Oreo stating that I put them in four categories; defiant behavior, disruptive behavior, physical aggression and academics. I had bullet points for each category and proceeded to go over them. All was fine until I got to the academic section and I stated this scholar is not advancing academically. Stop said Gnu. You can't say that because it is an opinion. You can only talk about facts. She went on to say that when all the parties are together at the case conference they will listen to the facts and then come up with an opinion. Duly noted I say and make a note to myself to stick to the facts and offer no opinions. For those of you that know me personally you realize how tough it will be for me to keep to the facts and then shut my mouth.
As of this writing it's been almost a week since our meeting took place and it appears that putting the case conference on the fast track has been put aside and we are moving at a much slower pace. That's a little disappointing to me as since our meeting this scholar has continued his defiant behavior and spends about an equal time out of the classroom as he does in the classroom. So at this point I'll have to say this conversation will be picked up at a later date. Sorry, but I'm probably like you and hate to hear the words to be continued at a later date.
I was just about to say thanks for continuing to read my blog when this thought entered my head. We are quickly approaching that time in the school year when mandatory statewide testing will begin. This is a very stressful time of the year for teachers so I'm wondering if I'll even get to attend my first ever case conference anytime soon.
It's the weekend. I'm out.
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