School/Teacher question

[lisajl]

Please no flames regarding this post.
I am having a difficult time with our P.S. and I would like to ask your opinions.

Thanks....



My DS, 9 has a L.D. It is not evident by looking at him, it is a brain thing...he has something called cluttering. He is very intelligent, but it takes quite a while for him to organize things in his brain and get the result out of his mouth, or on the paper.

On the first day of school (end of the day) I went in the class to meet his teacher. She seemed not too happy that I walked in to her room. I told her I just wanted to meet her and make sure she was aware of my son's L.D.

She said she was not aware of it, and did I know there will be parent teacher conferences in Oct. I said I did not want to wait till Oct. to make her aware of my son.

She did not seem to care about anything I told her.

The next day, I went to the principal. (My sons teacher and the principal are both new to our school). I explained a few things about my son and asked her to call me if he has any problems learning. He is not a troublemaker, he needs help with school.
She assured me that my son would not be a problem.

Last year my sons 3rd grade teacher, the principal and the school psychologist had a meeting about him without my knowledge.
I was furious!! Yes, I spoke to everyone about it, and I could have taken it up with the administrators, but I chose not to.
They apologized and said it would not happen again. (We will see).

Back to story...the other 4th grade teacher stopped me outside a day after I spoke to the principal. Obviously someone had spoken to both teachers.
She asked me what she could do to help my son.
She also said, "I know I am not his teacher, but what can I do?"
I almost said, where is his teacher? This is not your job. But, I did not and am accepting her help graciously.
She is even trying to get more help for him with the upcoming reading proficiency tests.

I am thinking of asking to have my son moved to her room...she seems to care. The other teacher does not. She has not spoken to me since the first day. I am not happy.

What would you do if it were your child? I would love to hear other people's opinions. Our public school has gone downhill so fast. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. We are considering homeschooling, also.

Thanks.
Lisa

 

[bananiem]

Does he have an IEP?

 

[PRINCESS VIJA]

First of all, HUGS to you! So sorry you have to deal with this. My first gut reaction would be to see if he can be changed to this other teachers class. I wouldn't hesitate. Other's probably will say try and work it out with the teacher, but if she already is showing signs that she isn't interested, then I would change. I am just wondering if this is the teacher's first year of teaching, or is it the first year at your school. SHe could be trying to settle into teaching, and not quite ready to deal with this as well. Since the other teacher came to help, I would maybe talk to her and see what she says. Good luck.

 

[bananiem]

I just realized how personal my question was! Please accept my apologies! I was just thinking if he does have any IEP there would be certain things that would have to be met. If they arent' it would be easier to remove him from that class, I think.

 

[ripleysmom]

Yes I would request that he be moved. Also if your son does not have an IEP then I would begin the process of getting him one. He will be in Middle School soon and that can be very daunting for a child with a disability.

 

[piratesmate]

I'm not a big proponent of "give it time." We did that with DS & I can't tell you how wrong that approach was for us...almost dead wrong & not something I often go into in "public."

I understand that many teachers don't like to read the students' files so that they can form their own opinions. However, it is unacceptable IMHO that a teacher wouldn't know about LDs. Surely the school would notify the teachers about any "special circumstances" with students.

I'd be very concerned that the other teacher is "trying to help." That raises red flags with me. Why would she feel the need? There are professional ethics in teaching, just as there are in medicine....i.e. teachers don't usually say anything bad about other teachers. Unless these teachers "team teach" I'd really have to question why she's even involved. Based on my experiences (remember, they're not good ones) I'd worry that she's concerned about the situation but doesn't want to say that outright.

You have to do what you feel is right for you & your DS. In our case, we ended up homeschooling...it was the best decision I've even made!

Good luck!

 

[4greatboys]

I think you should ask for him to be moved, I would not wait. Normally your gut instinct turns out to be right. If his teacher was that abrupt on the first day of school things are not going to change. The other teacher is offering her support and sounds like the best one to go with.
Good luck with it!!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What would you do if it were your child? I would love to hear other people's opinions. Our public school has gone downhill so fast. I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. We are considering homeschooling, also.

If it were my child I would probably move into a school district that has the facilities to help my child in school.
So I am assuming you do not have a "special ed" teacher at school? No special programs for kids that need help?

If I couldn't move I would get outside help and then force info out of the teacher every week. Perhaps she could sign off on a sheet to explain his progress. That way you have documented proof she is either helping/not helping your son. I would not want to wait till Oct to find out that your son is in trouble.

Good Luck! I know you will find a great solution.

 

[tkd lisa]

Lisa:

Been there, done that. Several people have mentioned the IEP. In case you don't know, that's an Individual Education Plan. By law, if your child has a diagnosis of a learning disability, you can request an IEP, with specific accomodations. There is an intermediate step, at least in MD. It's called a 504 plan, and is a little less structured.

With an IEP, the school is MANDATED to provide these accomodations, even if they don't have the facilities or resources. With a 504, they can attempt to provide the accomodation, or do it whenever they can (in other words, the can provide a resource teacher to help your son organize his thoughts for long stance questions, but if they are short of teachers, they might pull that resource to cover a classroom. If it was an IEP, they can't pull the resource). The IEP also requires quite a bit more reporting paperwork.

We started with 504 plans for both children. We felt it was best to get the accomodations worked out while they were still somewhat optional. That way, if there was something we were really pressing for, if they couldn't do it all the time, at least they could try it when it was possible and if it had good results, we could push it further.

The 504 has been enough for our son, but our daughter required sufficient accomodations (a portable typing method for instance) that we switched over to an IEP for her. Her 3rd grade teacher was having difficulty dealing with her, and reacted similarly. We held off til the semester end hoping to minimize disruptions. The other 3rd grade teachers were also very young, and we were worried that a new teacher wouldn't have the tools to address our daughters needs. Her English teacher (it was her first year teaching) was very supportive during this time, and we finally decided to switch daughter completely into this class. It was night and day difference.

If you have a teacher who wants to work with you, and a teacher who refuses to talk to you, MAKE THE SWITCH! If the school gives you a hard time, start to push that you want an IEP meeting right away, then develop the accomodations that your son needs. If the teacher still won't work with you, you have official basis for your needs.

 

[lisajl]

Thanks for the opinions. Yes, my son has an IEP. That is why I was so upset last year that they had a meeting without me.
It is illegal for them to do that.


His teacher is not new to teaching, just new to our school.
The other teacher, I know her. She was our daughters teacher.
So, I don't know if she is taking an interest because of that, or because she is truely interested in helping.

I am going to talk to her today and see what occurs.
She was busy yesterday with some parents, and I did not want to interupt.


Oh, for the IEP, he gets some help occasionally. He has had 4 speech therapists in the last 5 years. This school apparently can't keep them!
Also, I think his cluttering problem is more than the school can handle, but no one will tell me that.

AAAHHH!!! This is driving me crazy. I am just going to talk to the other teacher and see what happens.

My husband works for a school system in Worthington Ohio and they have open enrollment. It would be a pain, but he said they have more intervention there than we have here.

Will post what the other fourth grade teacher says to me, later on today.

Thanks for your help. Wanted to know if I was crazy or not!

Lisa

 

[Cinders]

She is even trying to get more help for him with the upcoming reading proficiency tests.

I'd hurry to get him switched before testing takes place! 2 years ago I volunteered in our school to help some 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders with LDs take their ISTEP and ???? the other test they take where they fill in the circles on the test. We did not give them any answers and once they decided on an answer we did not tell them it was right or wrong. We did break them down in small groups, I ended up helping 4 5th grade boys, so as to give them individual attention to help read large words to the help them use the manipulatives for the math problems. And they had no time constrictions.....we simply started them on the testing a couple days before the teachers did and allowed them to work at their own pace.

 

[hmwnick]

As a parent of a spec. ed child and as a teacher, I would move my child to the other teachers class. My 8 yr old daughter has epilepsy & is 504'd. I chose a homeroom teacher for her based on that teacher's ability to relate to children w/ spec. needs. The district is obligated to provide for the needs of these special children. I am not familiar w/ clustering but it does remind me of characterists of former students. I wish you the best of luck!

 

[powellrj]

not an opinion, just a thought. Did you call before you stopped in. My kids have been at he same school for 14 years and when my ds first started there, parents were welcome anytime. Now we have to call ahead if we wish to speak with a teacher. She may have come from a school where parents were required to call before they came to speak to a teacher, and she may have been surprised to see you. Like I said, its just a thought about why she reacted as she did.

 

[lisajl]

I did not get to speak to the other teacher today.
She did send home info regarding the proficiency tests, though.

No, I did not call ahead, but I thought first day of school, should see what the teacher looks like.
We had an ice cream social, but they were working on our elementary school ( lots of remodling), so we had to have it at the high school.
Needless to say, the kids did not get to see where their classrooms would be, or who their teachers were.

Lisa

 

[lisajl]

I spoke to the other teacher today. She said Kyle is already spending a lot of time in her room. She does not want to put him in her room unless something major happens.

She did not say anything bad about my sons teacher, just that she is trying to get used to the school.

Here is the good news. Mrs. S. the one my son does not have, loves to work with children with special needs. She was telling me today how she can help my sons teacher understand him better.
I am so relieved! I am so happy she is helping.
It may be a good year after all.

Thanks for the advice everyone!

Lisa

 

[Cindy B]

I hate to say it... but the teacher may have just been shocked due to security reasons.. We have a three step security process.. first they need to be buzzed in, then stopped at the info desk, and then the main office.. no one can just walk in..

In the school that I work, any parent can not walk in... they need to be announced and a NOTE stating thier business.


You really need to be on top of the IEP. Does the IEP have certain modifications?

Things like needs extra help, processing diffulculty, or needs extra time to write down questions.....


And thanks for explaining 504s to me... I was trying to understand the difference

 

[lisajl]

She may have been shocked by me first walking into the room, but after I had been there a while she should have at least talked to me about my son.

I guess I am very upset that she and the new principal were not brought up to speed about my son.

Hopefully with his IEP he can get through this year.
Yes, it had special modifications on it for more time, but she seems to think he is able to process information quicker than what he really can.

Lisa