#sped teacher

[odonette]

So why did you become a teacher? (Poem)

So why did you become a teacher? Numbers waltz in an elusive dance, A maze of fractions, caught in trance, Equations twist, formulas obscure, Patterns that hide, never quite sure.

So why did you become a teacher? Words get tangled, meanings stray, Conclusions drawn in a literal way, Vocabulary drifts like tides at bay, Long passages lead minds into the fray.

So why did you become a teacher? Sentences falter in a silent storm, Nouns and verbs lost in a swirling swarm, A labyrinth where grammar deforms, Punctuation refusing to conform.

So why did you become a teacher? Lines on maps that blur and confound, Systems of order where logic is drowned, Latitude shifts without making a sound, Coordinates vanish before they are found.

So why did you become a teacher? Layers of knowledge, difficult to weave, Paths through the body, hard to perceive, Bones that remember what minds disbelieve, Breath in the spaces I could not retrieve.

So why did you become a teacher? Symbols and systems, a cryptic refrain, Logic dissolves in a complex domain, A thought almost caught, then gone again, A lesson rewritten in silence and strain.

So why did you become a teacher? Raise your hand, get it wrong. Raise it high, please, just raise it at all. Better a whisper than silence too long, Better a stumble than never a call.

So why did you become a teacher? The mirror of self, clouded and dim, Seeking a shape at the edge of the brim, A name half-spoken, a light growing slim, A question reflected, but never let in.

So why did you become a teacher? Sit and stay, feel confined, A presence in class, undefined, Another face they fail to find, Why another mark they leave behind?

So why did you become a teacher? Find me. See me. Be me. Reach me.

Why did you become a teacher? To teach, not just to teach, but to learn, Really learn, About the how and the why, Offering the guidance I, too, yearn.

[psych-meup]

Kids never fail to restore my faith in humanity and put a smile on my face.

I'm a teacher and one of my kiddos walked up to a spiderweb he found and started meticulously picking the bugs out of the spider web because he wanted to "save" them.

[vivianseda]

Thank you at The Autistic Life

[mrtramplebone]

Mrs. Bitches class, amazing, talented, very beautiful, very powerful.

[hamptersadness]

Okay so I get the "treat all kids them same"

But special needs kids have SPECIAL needs for a reason.

You should treat all kids like a human.

But anyways I found out a student that I taught has an IEP( a legal document about what special needs the child has and how to help them). No one told me he has an IEP or that he was on the spectrum.

I saw behaviors that kinda indicated that he was on the spectrum (not reacting when name is called, lots of spacing out, gets overwhelmed easily, needs extra direction etc). But it's not my place to say hey this kid has this. But I brought it up to my boss and she's like yeah he's on the spectrum.

I am furious they didn't tell me. I don't care if you don't want me to see his personal information I just want to know if he has things I should be doing. He would've had a better time if I KNEW why certain behaviors were happening.

I get the "treat everyone the same" for people with disabilities but it's bullshit. They are DISABLED which means they live DIFFERENTLY. They shouldn't have to conform to society, we should conform to them.

That's why I'm a SPED teacher, to help kids COPE and find ways that help them. I am not there to teach them HOW to be "normal"

Also please tell me if any of this is problematic POLITELY, I just want to know. This turned into a rant.

[sophisticat42]

How to make your classroom more Aide-Friendly

Some classrooms have students with Special Needs that need 1:1 help. Sometimes you end up with rotating Substitute Aides, or the Permanent Aides are just not a good fit. Here are some tips for teachers in this situation that will make an incoming Aide more comfortable in your classroom, and more able to help your students. Sincerely, an Aide.

Create a brief overview of each of your students with special needs and put it in a folder to read first-thing. - Make a note of different health protocols: Siezures, Feeding and Swallowing, Physical Disability, Hearing or Visual Impairment, etc. - Make a note of any violent behaviors expected in the classroom. Who is a hitter? Who is a spitter? Who self harms? Who pulls hair? - Make a note of any students that Should Not Work With New Adults. Some kids have violent tendencies if they don't trust you. Aides need to know that. - Make a note of the students' strengths and interests. These are invaluable tools when working with a student when you have surface-level knowledge. - Even if your aides will not be working with specific students, they need to know what classroom behaviors to look out for. Please make this 1-2 page overview for each student. Pictures are helpful but not necessary. - This overview can move with the student from classroom to classroom. Check it every semester or so, to make sure it is still up-to-date.

If your incoming Aides are 1:1 support, make a folder of their student's specific needs and learning goals. - Summarize the student's plan. It doesn't need to be the whole IEP or the whole 504 (Maximum 6 pages, please). Include the main points, like behaviors to watch out for and what the Aide is expected to help the student with. - Include when students work with specialists, and if the Aide needs to go with them. - Include their current learning goals as up-to-date as possible, even if the goals are in limbo. -This overview can move with the student from classroom to classroom. Check it every quarter or so, to make sure it is still up-to-date.

Introduce your Aides to the class. - ask what they would like the class to call them. Don't assume it's the same name they gave you. - It's okay if it's not right away, but make sure the class knows what to call them, and that they can ask them for help. Even if it's just the day. - Even if the student is nonverbal, this helps them to understand that the incoming Aide is an adult you trust.

[adhd-hippie]

The thing I hate most absolutely fucking most about being a sped teacher is coming across kids with undiagnosed ADHD who are in sped. Don't get me wrong, I love that by being in sped these undiagnosed ADHDers are supported and receiving help but I hate that people want me to TEACH them how not to be ADHD, because that's what sped is about SPECIALLY DESIGNED INSTRUCTION. Whenever there's an ADHD kid in the mix they want me to teach him how to have executive function.

For example, this is the statement of "concern" that a teacher sent to me today for an IEP about one of her students.

"____has a very short attention span. He needs tasks broken up into small pieces. ___ has a difficult time keeping his hands and body to himself. He tends to wander and struggles to stay in class and participate alongside his peers."

What does that sound like?!?!? The fucking child is struggling to even cope in the slightest within her classroom environment and let me tell you about this classroom. It's noisy, there are 22 kindergartners in 1 class (we lost a teacher due to a stroke and her class had to be split up because we can't find a replacement teacher). There's shit on every fucking wall, posters, charts, decorations, etc. there are pencil boxes on the desks and toys within his eye-line constantly.

I was in that classroom for 2 hours a day and I couldn't stay focused on my task in that room.

Sometimes his teacher will "send him for a break" more like kick him out and he'll be in my room for an hour no problem. I have 5 students, every single one of my students exhibits violent behaviors that make it impossible to ensure safety in gen-ed even with para support. Consequently I try and make my room a sensory dream.

My students sit on the floor with cushions or on wobble stools, or on the carpet, or on low tables, and there's nothing on those tables. All the toys and fidgets in my room are kept out of sight unless in use as are all the pencils, crayons, etc. I have very few decorations on my walls, enough to make it cozy but not distracting. The florescent lights are off and it's lit by lamps. I have a noise maker and/or spa music going constantly. My calm down corner is jam packed with pillows and can be completely shielded from view by a screen.

Additionally my structure is RIGID. Even our play times are structured. I had free choice for a while but the kids can't cope. They get louder and louder and more and more dis-regulated and soon one is in the quite corner, another is under the table, one left, and the other two are hitting each other. Consequently now not a moment in my day is unstructured.

In my classroom he comes in, sits with my class and just does whatever we do. He's calm and collected, and highly interested in the lessons. Sure he's still a wiggly little fucker, and yeah sometimes his comments are completely unrelated to the topic at hand but he's fine.

HE CAN'T COPE WITH THE ENVIRONMENT of his gen-ed classroom and instead of getting to tell a teacher, well this kid can't cope because your classroom looks like a clown threw up, your schedule is confusing even to adults, and you using a mic wired into the speaker system to amplify your voice sounds ugly and is unpleasant to listen to. I get questions about if I'm addressing his Executive function issues when he's in my room...

...bitch no, I'm not, I can't TEACH a kid how to have executive function you have it or you don't YOU need to make your classroom a more welcoming place for this kid and that's not done by slapping his art to a wall.

[lavenderhazelover]

Thinking about everyone at the greta concert while I’m doing mounds of paperwork….. pls give us good content tonight