Teachers and How They Really Treat Special Ed Kids

from JoeUser Forums
Teachers.....we like half of them, we dislike the other half, and some of them we just hate. I could think of a lot of teachers at my school that we all hate or dispise of.

I've never been an LD or special needs kid since I've been in school. So I really don't know what it's like first hand. I've had a couple of friends that were in those classes through out the years, but it really wasn't because they needed the help. It was more along the lines of they didn't do their work so they got F's in all of their classes and were put into the special kids classes.

Well today I walked into one of those special classes. All of the kids looked normal to me. They didn't seem to have any learning disabilities of any kind. They just seemed like normal 3rd and 4th grade kids sitting there doing their work, minding their own business. They could all talk fine, and they weren't one of those kids that have to take special speech classes or anything of that sort.

I guess one of the teachers at my school is sick or something.(Miss Blakemore, she's a witch!!! lol.) So the kids were making her get well cards. Nothing really fancy. Just a piece of colored construction paper folded in half "hamburger" style. I noticed that they were putting little stamps on them and decorating them with little odds and ends. I guess they were required to put Miss Blakemore's name on them and some form of get well soon, and then of course sign their names.

Now, the only reason I was in this kind of class room was because I was selling mulch to the teacher of that class room and I had to find out where she lived so I could deliver it. I was just standing there while she was writing out directions to her house. Well this one kid came up and had a whole bunch of figures on the front of his card which were put on with the little stampy things. Of course he had get well and blah blah on it. The teacher started yelling at him and told him that his card looked so stupid and it was ugly and horrible. I couldn't believe what I had just heard. I've never heard a teacher call any work of a student stupid. Especially an LD kid. Then she kept raising her voice as if the kid didn't hear her. I'm pretty sure you don't have to yell at the top of your lungs get a kid to hear you. Just like when people talk really loud to people of a different country expecting them to understand. These are little 3rd and 4th graders we are talking about here! You shouldn't tell them that their little crafts are stupid and ugly and what not. They're not perfect. When I was that little I could only draw stick people. And you know what....that's all I can draw now, and now I'm in 10th grade. The another kid comes up and showed her his card and she also said that one was stupid and ugly and that he should do better than that.

I personally think that with the kids who have a learning disability you should take your time with them. You should encourage them and not tell them that they're work is stupid and ugly. That will only discourage them from trying harder and doing better. I think that the teacher who is sick should appreciate what they've done even if they're not as neat as possible. And the LD teacher shouldn't yell at them. They're just kids. I mean we're all kids at some point and we're never perfect. I mean....do you agree with me?

Now, I'm not trying to say all teachers the teach special ed kids are this way. But damn....this lady sure was. I wonder if their parents know?

~carebear~
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Reply #1 from JoeUser Forums Top
CB~

My aunt is a speech pathologist. Lots of the kids that go to her speech classes have disabilities in other areas, too--like learning or emotional disabilities, etc.

I LOVE MY AUNT for doing what she does: Since she has to pull kids out of their regular classrooms, she'll invite two or three other kids from that class to come to her speech class for a session, so they don't have to sit and wonder what Johnny does while he's out of the room.

She's so patient...so encouraging...

I'm just a regular classroom teacher, and I'll tell you...I have to *FORCE* myself to be patient with kids that are lots slower than the norm. I have a hard time not raising my voice. But a teacher who knows what they're doing shouldn't ever say "that's stupid..." or something to that effect. There's a better way to say that. You could say "You know what? I really like the flower you drew up here. Maybe you should add a flower pot down here." or "You know what? You've got a good start over here, but I think down here at this spot you might have gotten a little bit confused. Why don't you go see if there's another way you can do that?"

I think we need to remember...especially with the little ones...that those words REALLY count...
Reply #2 from JoeUser Forums Top
Great article!!

Apparently the cards and kids weren't the most stupid and ugly thing in the room!! ;~D

I was in a few "resource classes" (as they called them in Utah in the 70s). What it basically amounted to was us being taken out of "regular" class for a few hours a day to read comic books, and do "projects" much like those get well cards for the ailing teacher. What my parents thought would be classes that would help us "catch up" with the other kids, the classes turned out to be glorified babysitting sessions that did little more than keep us "slow kids" (yes, that was the technical term to describe us) out of the "regular" teacher's hair long enough for us to be sent to the next grade, and finally graduate with 1.7gpa's, or drop out completely, which was fine and dandy to most the teachers. (yes, that is the gpa with which I graduated).

Once in awhile, I would get teachers who actually saw that I just needed a little more help keeping my mind on task. I'm not sure how difficult it is for a teacher to notice a kid, usually in the back of the room, staring off in a daydream that is much more exciting than anything being covered in class. I owe SO MUCH to the few teachers who noticed, and cared, and I owe SO LITTLE to the "resource" programs that ensured I had ample time to do absolutely nothing of any educational value.
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Reply #3 from JoeUser Forums Top
Marcie~ I know as an older sibling how hard it is to be patient with kids alone. lol. My youngest brother isn't really one of the special kids. But he does go to speech classes because he can't say his R's right. And he goes to a reading class because he's slower on his reading than most kids in his grade are. He also failed kindergarten, so this year he's supposed to be in 2nd grade, but he's only in first. He's not really a slow kid, but I really don't know what kind of kid he is. I have to help him sometimes read. And I will admit that it is hard to be patient with him when he doesn't know things. But I'm not going tell him he's stupid just because he can't figure out a word. I do admire the teachers that do have that patients for kids with disabilities.

Great article!!


thanks!

Apparently the cards and kids weren't the most stupid and ugly thing in the room!!


So true!

Maybe you didn't need those classes after all. At least you graduated. And by the looks of it I would never guess that you graduated with a 1.7 gpa.

~carebear~
Reply #4 from JoeUser Forums Top
I'm a ways from being slow or special needs, but I remember distinctly a time a teacher did the same thing to me in grade school.

In second grade we frequently composed creative writing stories, and telling a 2nd grader to be creative is like telling a dog to sleep. So I wrote a story based in an African jungle and in part of the story something had to fly out of the airport, that happened to be in the jungle. The next day or so the teacher read over the story in her usual grouchy tone and picked mine out. She said (and I paraphrase), "And in this one, they flew out of an airport in the jungle! There's no such thing as an airport in the jungle!" I assumed no one else could craft such a beautiful piece of work as the Africa jungle-port story, and I was crushed. I hated that woman, and she still always just LOOKS grouchy.
Reply #5 from JoeUser Forums Top
Cares~

*laughs* Several of the kids in my first grade class can't say their "R"s right yet. In our district they can't be in speech for "r"s until second grade. Some of them will get it over the summer and some won't. I've talked to the parents of the ones I don't think will get it, just so they know... And speech isn't a big deal. Lots of times it's just part of growing up. And...I think it's cute for the most part.

Sometimes it takes awhile for things to click with kids. Most of my kids this year have clicked with reading, but some will probably click more next year. Some kids just need a little more time...or they need to find something to read or write about that they LOVE and are totally interested in. If a kid of mine loves Spiderman...by all means bring Spiderman stuff in to read. I don't care...as long as they're reading, you know?

Anyway...blah blah blah from me. I think it's interesting that you noticed that about a teacher though...lots of kids wouldn't.
Reply #6 from JoeUser Forums Top
"Several of the kids in my first grade class can't say their "R"s right yet. In our district they can't be in speech for "r"s until second grade. "


That has to do with the speed at which a child's pallet develops. Some kids' mouths are fully developed fairly early, and other kids go slower. I saw kids who were mercilessly berated by teachers for not using a hard 'r', and somehow they all ended up speaking okay. That just tells me the abuse was needless.

As for "special needs", the worst part is how many kids find their way there that don't belong there. My little girl was painfully shy, and tended to daydream a lot. I had two teachers, two years in a row that suggested that we might need to think about "special needs" during the first two weeks of school. BOTH teachers after a month or two sent notes home suggesting "advanced placement".

I ask myself what would have happened to her if I had listened to the idiot teachers and sought "special needs" classes she didn't need, but would have stigmatized her for life...
Reply #7 from JoeUser Forums Top
Andy!!! It's about freaking time you come back to JU. lol. Sorry....i was freaking out. lol. Yeah......teachers are just so blah sometimes. If you're supposed to use your imagination then why do they complain about things you write. That's kind of stupid. "Ok class....lets use our imaginations......except you're not allowed to imagine things." Yea, like that makes any sense.


I think it's interesting that you noticed that about a teacher though...lots of kids wouldn't.


Yea, I guess I just kind of have a thing for noticing things like that. lol.

I've noticed with my little brother that if he is reading something he likes, then it is a lot easier for him to read. But I don't really know his 1st grade teacher, so I don't know how she teaches them. I've also noticed that if he's reading something with pictures he reads the book according to what he sees in the picture. Especially if he doesn't know one of the words. And it's kind of weird, but he usually reads the exact words that are there without really reading it. But at least he knows what he's reading I guess.

BS~ Yeah.....I swear....sometimes teachers can be so dumb. They think they know every little thing there is to know about children. Except for Marcie of course! I guess they just don't understand that kids can be shy or quiet. That's what teachers used to think about me. I always used to be very shy. But after a couple weeks of 2nd grade if I can remember......I had the highest reading level in the whole 2nd grade. Which now I think is kind of awesome. I used to be really smart. Like a straight A student. Now I'm and A, B, and C student. My gpa on my last grade card was a 3.3. I had one C(which was in english) I had three A's(i think they were in band, pep band, and agricultural science2) and the rest were B's. So I don't know what happened between grade school and highschool. Jr. High I guess. lol.

~carebear~
Reply #8 from JoeUser Forums Top
I don't know if you knew, but miss Blackmore has cancer, she is dying, and even though you may think she a witch others may not. But saying she is a witch, isnt' what she needs right now, she needs words of encouragement, and the cards that were being made, were the best way to help her get better.

Stacey

SO she is sick but really sick with cancer! I am going to pray for her instead of calling her a witch!
Reply #9 from JoeUser Forums Top
And by the looks of it I would never guess that you graduated with a 1.7 gpa.


It was all just laziness, daydreaming and lack of an attention span to speak of. As much as the fact I was allowed to graduate with a 1.7 scares me, there is one thing that scares me even more. I graduated 345th of a class of 400, with means that 55 people did worse than I did, and still graduated!! ;~D
Reply #10 from JoeUser Forums Top
Okay.....well sorry Stacey. I didn't know that she did. I just thought maybe she had the flu or something. So you don't have to freak out on me. And now I do feel really bad about what I said. But I think I have reasons for saying that, and you wouldn't know because you didn't go to our school in jr. high. But yea...I do feel bad now. And I will pray for her.

cards that were being made, were the best way to help her get better.


I didn't say that the cards were stupid. I'm saying that that's what the teacher said about them. Not me. So you might want to read more carefully.

~carebear~