mom31257 Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 My dh is teaching a small group of high school special education students, most of which have IQs around 50, can barely read anything, and have trouble adding numbers on 2 dice. He has them 4 periods a day for math, social studies, language arts, and science. Here are some of the standards he is supposed to cover. He is allowed to put it on their level; however, these kids are socially aware of their age, so he can't use elementary items without them feeling babied. A few of the standards listed make sense because they are real world stuff. I just don't know about some of these, though. LA: central idea/theme point of view comparing texts of American literature supporting details compare/contrast 2 sources author's point of view compare/contrast persuasive texts Math: functions square roots probability gather and graph data mean and median He has no science standards, and the social studies are basically history, economics (topics make sense), and geography. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 BTW, there is no curriculum for these classes. He has to make up every single lesson, and try to individualize the lessons by each child's IEP as much as possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I think having any standards, beyond "make some forward progress if possible", with children whom are *very* SN, is unrealistic... and unhealthy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cera Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I think having any standards, beyond "make some forward progress if possible", with children whom are *very* SN, is unrealistic... and unhealthy. I absolutely agree with this. And I believe that forward progress should be in real world skills that are applicable to the lives they will live after school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Dh has been amazed. The 11th grader SN students have a portfolio which has to go to a state evaluator. It's like those students' graduation test. Dh will be the one who has to fill in all the paperwork and the student will do a little work on project, but the bulk of all of it is on dh. If he doesn't fill it out correctly, puts a wrong date on any of it, if a flashdrive is sent with it and doesn't work, if the evaluator thinks progress has not been shown or that the project doesn't align with standards, etc., the student does not pass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Library Momma Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I don't understand why he as the teacher is creating their curriculum. If they are classified as special ed it would be their caseworker's job. Most students at this level would have a paraprofessional or BT assigned to them to assist as well. Is this a public school or private? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Dh has been amazed. The 11th grader SN students have a portfolio which has to go to a state evaluator. It's like those students' graduation test. Dh will be the one who has to fill in all the paperwork and the student will do a little work on project, but the bulk of all of it is on dh. If he doesn't fill it out correctly, puts a wrong date on any of it, if a flashdrive is sent with it and doesn't work, if the evaluator thinks progress has not been shown or that the project doesn't align with standards, etc., the student does not pass. That's just insane. I admire him greatly for putting in that kind of effort. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 I don't understand why he as the teacher is creating their curriculum. If they are classified as special ed it would be their caseworker's job. Most students at this level would have a paraprofessional or BT assigned to them to assist as well. Is this a public school or private? This is public school, and he has a para-pro in the room. He is responsible for the IEPs and lessons plans, though. This is new for dh, and he's been overwhelmed by the amount of paperwork. He really loves the kids, and they love him. He was hoping (and it was presented to him), that this was mainly about life skills. He is expected to throw community based learning in the mix, too. He has 5-7 kids each period, but 5 for all 4 periods. His room is located in an old home ec room, so he's cooking with them every Friday and try to theme it around the week's activities. He believes these kids should be educated and cared for, but he feels the real ability to teach them things that will help them is severely hindered by all the red tape. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 That's just insane. I admire him greatly for putting in that kind of effort. Thanks, and I do, too. He's had to become an elementary teacher overnight. I'm trying to help with the resources I've acquired over the years, but much of what I have is still too hard for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 When it comes to functions, on what level do they have to understand it? He could borrow the explanations/function game approach Schmidt uses in the LOF elementary books. The rest of it seems very practical for daily life, except for square roots. Why square roots? Oy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Clearly insane. Sadly not that surprising. :( ETA: If he's allowed to put it on their level - as in, the American texts could be quality American children's literature or stories, they have in their IEP's they can use calculators to do the math work, etc. then it's not completely crazy though some of the things (square roots? really?) seem like a waste of time in the real world for kids who are going to struggle to add two digit numbers forever (the focus should be on money math, understanding how to read basic graphs, understanding basic statistics, understanding percentages, etc.). Mostly it's the idea that these skills must be mastered end of the story and the paperwork you describe. In general, I think teachers should have high hopes for severely special needs students, but that steady progress should be the only real goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 My mother was a teacher for many, many years at both Middle School and High School level, for remedial, standard, and gifted students. I was talking to her on the phone when I read your posts. She does not ever curse. She does not even say the word crap. Her response? That's a**inine! :ohmy: Honestly I was a bit shocked, but I guess she feels strongly. :laugh:​ She sends you, your husband and those poor kids the very best and hopes there is some way to find precreated curriculum that might take some pressure off your DH while still meeting the guidelines he is faced with meeting. Hugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 functions? square roots? wtf. I mean seriously, I am all for not lowering the bar, but what they need is budgeting and shopping and comparing prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertBlossom Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Sounds like leftover nonsense from No Child Left Behind. I'm going to guess that whoever created those standards has never even met those children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Some of the standards include real life stuff like budgets, job applications, thank you notes, etc. I included some of those I considered unnecessary. His plans are to "introduce" those questionable standards, but still try to spend the bulk of class time on the skills they actually need. He really hopes to help them with money, although it's going to be tough. He made apple pancakes with them last week (had studies Johnny Appleseed), and they struggled to read the chart on the pancake mix box (a skill he is hoping to help them with). The crazy thing is that he drove 100 miles one way to the school he taught at last year, this school is only 15 miles away, and he's getting home later some nights this year. With 5 kids, 4 periods a day, and all with slightly different IEPs, that's like 20 lesson plans a day sometimes. He's streamlining as much as he can! Oh, and he teaches another new class for him this year, 2 freshmen level classes of Intro to Business and Technology. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 My dh is teaching a small group of high school special education students, most of which have IQs around 50, can barely read anything, and have trouble adding numbers on 2 dice. He has them 4 periods a day for math, social studies, language arts, and science. Here are some of the standards he is supposed to cover. He is allowed to put it on their level; however, these kids are socially aware of their age, so he can't use elementary items without them feeling babied. A few of the standards listed make sense because they are real world stuff. I just don't know about some of these, though. LA: central idea/theme point of view comparing texts of American literature supporting details compare/contrast 2 sources author's point of view compare/contrast persuasive texts Math: functions square roots probability gather and graph data mean and median He has no science standards, and the social studies are basically history, economics (topics make sense), and geography. Seems to me math should be more about basic life skill math--banking and interest and budgeting and whatnot--rather than things like square roots and probability, when they will never need to know IRL. I'm not too keen on the LA, either. How useful is that information? What about exposure different genres of literature? Social writing? I don't know how important it will be for them to know how to compare/contrast two different sources, or compare/contrast persuasive texts. I think challenging them to do more than basic sentence structure is good, but I think they also need practical usage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 The list is nuts. I have a mentally disabled brother who can't write his name and can't count to ten. This list is completely out of touch with the skills THESE students will need in their lives. (And I am saying this as one who is normally a proponent of high academic standards... for kids who are capable to achieving them) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 Yes, it is sad. So much time, money, and energy is really going into the wrong things for these kids. I think I came up with a useful way for him to cover square roots. I had several geoboards here (the kind you use rubber bands on). I thought he could use them to make squares (2x2, 3x3, 4x4, and 5x5) to show them that when you multiply 2 of the same numbers it forms a square. The number of pegs inside the rubber band is automatically the square and the number on each side is the root. It will help reinforce what a square actually is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 In his shoes, I would be saving myself time and energy by purchasing some good quality special ed materials and hi-lo readers and doing some photocopying. Does he not have a budget at all? Is he sure there are no textbooks? I know the first year I was teaching, I found out mid-year that in fact the school district had a giant warehouse full of textbooks that I could borrow for my classes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lang Syne Boardie Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Arne Duncan recently said he didn't believe in different standards for special needs kids. It really was that blatant, however hr actually put it. I will try to find the link... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiana Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Arne Duncan recently said he didn't believe in different standards for special needs kids. It really was that blatant, however hr actually put it. I will try to find the link... One article: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/27/arne-duncan-special-education_n_3819045.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom31257 Posted August 25, 2014 Author Share Posted August 25, 2014 In his shoes, I would be saving myself time and energy by purchasing some good quality special ed materials and hi-lo readers and doing some photocopying. Does he not have a budget at all? Is he sure there are no textbooks? I know the first year I was teaching, I found out mid-year that in fact the school district had a giant warehouse full of textbooks that I could borrow for my classes. This exact program is new to the school district and fairly new in the state. The sp ed director did tell him she is going to work on getting him some stuff for unique learning. I don't think he has an actual budget, though. He can make copies there, but everything he's done thus far (cooking, printing at home) has been on us. Thankfully it isn't a huge number of kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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