Well, I finished the progress reports, and they've not even gone home yet, and I've been chastised.
By the special Ed. department no less.
Seems that my several ignored emails and face-to-face attempts to get a copy of student IEPs weren't enough to get the case manager's attention. I kept asking about accommodations for two particular students; to no avail.
Until today.
Both are flunking my class, in which they have been mainstreamed.
One has completed one of 13 homework assignments; the other has flunked three quizzes and has not availed himself of the makeup opportunities I give at lunchtime and after school.
So today I get a phone message from the irritated case manager, stating that I need to have better communication with her since she had no idea that boy # 1 was doing anything but fabulously in my class. She then came over and interrupted a meeting I had with another English teacher, and demanded I give her all the work from the past 4 weeks. She also suggested that my requirement that students read at least 10 pages a night of independent reading as part of their homework was excessive; could I change it to 5 pages?
She's under pressure to make sure her students do well, I get that. She's the one the parents yell at first when they feel we aren't "supporting" the kids enough.
However.
I'm known at school as a mainstream teacher that does whatever she can to accommodate kids with special needs. I worked in Special Ed. for seven years, for goodness' sake. But, I can't do anything without information. In addition, I have 32 students per class, six times a day. Unless I know what that IEP or 504 accommodation plan says, I am at a loss.
Cranky I am.
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2 comments:
I know the feeling. There have been times when I have discussed particular students with the few Special Ed. people at our school and they are shocked and dismayed that I didn't know that student WAS special ed.and that I didn't know what accomodiations needed to be made for that students. Then I point out that they routinely fail to inform "us" about half of the RSP kids mainstreamed into our regular ed. classes.
Your rsp kids have a case worker???? wow!
(of course, our district is so far out of compliance with the ever changing RSP laws that they are a multitude of law suits waiting to happen, should an informed parent ever enroll their special needs kid in our schools.)
We have 5 "specialists" at my school: music, art, pe, library, and tech (me). This is my 8th year and only the third that we have been filled in about 504 kids and kids with special medical needs. In fact, I have found out months after the fact that I should have been treating some kid with kid-gloves because that have this or that disorder or issue. Mind you, I see every kid once a week, but shouldn't I know?
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