Sounds like you guys are in the same boat. The folder system, been there, done that. In catholic school, they used this system for everyone and it worked without a hitch - John has an aide whose job it is to keep his folders organized and it is not done! it is no fun when you are constantly trying to (politely) make them follow thru... Good luck, and keep it un-emotional if you can for the IEP meeting. :O)
tnx for the well wishes everybody. i just got back from the meeting and it went well. i totally embaressed that b*tch. i brought out examples of these nasty notes she has been writing about my son. she just sat there in complete silence. then my son's psychologist chimed in and stressed that his teacher needs to stop being so demeaning. the rest of the staff really seemed to be on my side. they agree my son needs therapy. there are so many steps when dealing with special ed. so many time lines and such. anyhoo, we came up with some really good accommodations and it was agreed that if there is no improvement, we will get a one on one aide for my son or consider different placement. his teacher was on the defensive the whole time. in fact when i requested if he could have multiple breaks during the day, she said "well he already gets up all the time to get a tissue." i said "well he's doing that to avoid the task, because he doesn't understand what he is supposed to do. if you were there to help him as needed, he wouldn't be doing that." here is her picture. she's the 2nd one from the right.
She seems like she should/could be young enough to not have too many bad habits to have to break- she can still be brought to the light - your impact on her as a teacher may help other kids in the future - or, as you said your son could be moved away from her. Hope that whatever happens it is for the best.
I am so glad it went well. Did they come up with a new IEP for him or are they still planning? My daughter was just referred to some extra counseling in school as well, to deal with the stresses of learning differently. Maybe they have a program like that for your son as well.
hi korrigan,
yes, we came up with an new IEP. my son sees his counselor almost every morning. i also take him to see a psychologist for some of his other issues. how is your daughter doing?
My ds's 5th grade IEP says "counseling" on it, but they didn't attempt it till this past month and then he was already overly stressed and used to a different routine. (he's not a fan of ad-hoc) I thought that the counseling was supposed to be like social skills counseling. Unfortunately, he can not stand to be "talked to" by them. He thinks that they are "suspect", (he has some really great intuition about the inner workings of people) - the biggest problem is that they started/to were/had been/ removing him from a class, or making him late for his next class which reeks havoc on a kid like him (ASD) whoo can't tolerate the break in his routine.(also doesn't help him keep up with the material) Also, they are attempting the wrong way of "helping" _
{probably why he is like "Stop trying to help me already - you are making things worse"!-to us} in the 5-15 minutes that they were talking to him - they intended to change him -("we want him to not see things as so black and white") not possible - not gonna happen - if he wants to change (the way he thinks), when he is ready, HE will , they are not the ones that will do it). I like the stubbornness in him - his Don't read on me attitude and need for freedom...they don't like that he resists their attempts to homogenize him and his ideas/ideals.
anyway, they are no longer allowed to talk to him - to pull him out of class - the old adage 1st do no harm -
So happy for you guys that your child is Okay with the being "counseled" thing - maybe their school is doing it right...
The difference seem to be that now that he is older - the emphasis is on social not eduacation.
She seems like she should/could be young enough to not have too many bad habits to have to break- she can still be brought to the light - your impact on her as a teacher may help other kids in the future - or, as you said your son could be moved away from her. Hope that whatever happens it is for the best.
oops, i just saw this reply. yes..this is only her second year teaching, so she's just a fish out of water.
ATM: I'd be curious to have information on the Megalgraptus. The Ordovician period is just after the Cambrian period. How interesting! Please have your son give you the information, and then you can post it...
In any case, I cannot comment on this particular case. I do know why the school system has certain teachers who are not very good. It is simple. The teacher college system drains a lot of the spontaneity out of teachers. The quest for knowledge and truth is, well, drained out. The idealism is gone.
I know this from personal experience. We are not attracting the people we need with such nonsense teacher training programs. Let me say that we need less emphasis on mass produced human beings ("cohort" systems, NCLB, educational philosophies, et al) and more emphasis on people who are creative and who love learning. Frankly, the whole school system needs more individuality and less belief in mass produced factory humanity.
We need more Helen Keller's, Albert Einstein's, Riemann's and Picasso's in the educational system. We need less people who have their cards punched. I am for abolishing the teacher credential program as it exists, and replacing it with something more innovative.
That is my humble opinion.
All the best.
Hi there,
Yes, the Cambrian period is fascinating as well. I completely agree with you in regards to what you said about teachers. Thank goodness there are some "needles in a haystack." In fact my son's teacher last year was an angel. His resource teacher this year is wonderful, too. I actually contacted the Special Ed Supervisor of our are yesterday to complain. She in turn contacted my son's principal so we can deal with the issues regarding hsi current teacher. He is in 3rd grade and his anxiety has been through the roof because of her. Here is his report 
It's short but sweet..
Megalograptus: The Giant Prehistoric Sea Scorpion
I would like to tell you about scorpions that lived 460 to 445 million years ago. This scorpion lived during the Ordovician period and was called Megalograptus. Megalograptus was 1 to 2 meters long. It had spines, claws and armor plates. They also had 6 legs, just like scorpions today. The back 2 legs were flat.
Megalograptus normally lived on the sea floor. They could also live in freshwater and on land. This scorpion lived in North America. The sea floor was covered in sand and mud.
This scorpion was a carnivore. It ate fish, trilobites and other animals. It also ate other sea scorpions. Trilobites are another type of sea creature that looked like a horse shoe crab. The animals that it ate were also found on the sea floor.
The Megalograptus was the most vicious of the sea scorpions. It's name meant "big writing" in Greek. It did not have a stinger, instead it curled it's tail. It would hold it's tail like a sword if it was threatened.
I hope you learned a lot about my animal report. I have been interested in prehistoric animals for the last 4 years. I have always been amazed with what used to live in our sea. It is pretty cool that the scorpion is still around today.
Great work - Oh my gosh - how long did the kids have to do this?
Great work - Oh my gosh - how long did the kids have to do this?
tnx the kids had a week, but my son and i finished it in half an hour. each child was allowed to pick their own animal. they then had to answer specific questions. so we just looked up the info and my son told me what to write. i typed it as he dictated and helped him a bit with the wording. he's giving the report today and is very excited.
how is everything going with your son?
Okay - starting last THursday, he is doing "independent research/study" . His topic for the past 2 days (for 2 periods a day) was Dinosaurs - Monday/Tuesday, his topic was the thoery of relativity. This is another stop gap measure we are enforcing while the school tries to get themselves organized - we have to lead them by the nose - they are very close to being legally negligent in their actions/inactions and lack of (honest/non-political) communication with us.
Okay - starting last THursday, he is doing "independent research/study" . His topic for the past 2 days (for 2 periods a day) was Dinosaurs - Monday/Tuesday, his topic was the thoery of relativity. This is another stop gap measure we are enforcing while the school tries to get themselves organized - we have to lead them by the nose - they are very close to being legally negligent in their actions/inactions and lack of (honest/non-political) communication with us.
interesting stuff. how old is your son? my son is fascinated with einstein, too. what exactly has the school been (or NOT) been doing?
The very short version is this: 11 yr old has (minor)sensory needs, 11 year old has a need for a break (from the chaos of middle school changing classes, lockers, lunch room), 11 yr old "looks/acts/pullsoff" being mainstreamed and uses techniques and self modulates so as to be "High Functioning" (OR HE DID, now he has said (3 weeks ago) enough, he has no faith theat they are even close to making his school tolerable) they forget to be consistent, they promise a quiet area for after lunch(library), they don't follow thru, they forget to enforce rules (with other kids/bullies), they forget to be honest - let's blame the kid for not being able to instead of using common sense and taking some responsibility themselves. (cannot go into details - too hard to explain). My 11 yr old has warned us that there is only so much someone can take. Now he #1, does not feel safety, #2 doesn not trust the,m and #3 is reverting to too much reliance on his limbic system and not enough on all the skills he has learned. He is a smart. witty, nice, polite, a rule abiding child, and is an aspie, they "know not what they do", - they do try, but if they think he is rigid!? they should look at themselves when they do the same thing over and over and expect a different response - that is the definition or insanity.
By the way, we have had, since September (this is the 1st year he was officially daignosed) more than 1 IEP meeting a month and have increased (on paper) the modifications for him- including his now having - for the first time in his life - an aide (the aide was supposedly to help with executive functions/orqanization- she is not). They just don't actually do them - their attempts are more disturbing to him than had there been none. You all know how much a kid likes changes... instituted haphazardly.
In relation to this thread - as far as Redoing the assignment...
When a rule is made by a school/teacher and enforced unfairly or arbitrarily we as parents cannot stand for it.
wow, i'm sorry you're son is going through all of this. is this his first year in middle school? it sounds so overwhelming. everything you explained is what terrifies me in re my son once he gets into higher grades. so what exactly IS the aide doing? have you worked your way up the ladder as far as who to complain to? have you been in contact with any educational advocates? how many iep's have you had since september? i am so tired of all these untrained people in our school system. what state do you all live in?
New Jersey - (used to be in private catholic school where they don't need a diagnosis to treat each kid special- school closed) Yup figuring out the process since Sept. 07, we have them/it figured out more now.... we shall see. Off to bring ds his lunch. PM me some time. Where are you from?