Your Special Child in Regular Education

As a parent and as a teacher I see both sides of the issue of special ed students in regular ed classes. It is definitely a matter of who the teacher is. Some regular education teachers are great with special ed students. They show them respect and make sure their needs are met in the classroom. Some only tolerate the special education students in their room. Some just don't want them in their rooms and won't accept the fact that they are there. It is a challenge sometimes when a teacher has 20 or more other students to deal with on a daily basis. As a parent you need to seek out those teachers that are great with special ed students to make sure your children are placed appropriately. The quality of your child's school experience and education is at stake. Remember that you as a parent must take first responsibility for your child and for your child's education.

IEP Meetings

When you go to an IEP meeting for your child go prepared. Remember this a contract between the school system and you and your child to provide an educational plan that will meet the needs of your child. Make sure it is specific and the goals are attainable, however, challenging. Don't settle for generalized goals. ASk for more than you expect to get for your child. Most school systems will bend over backwards to accomodate the parents wishes. Some will not. Make sure your requests are inline with the disabilities that your child has.

Reading Writing Arithmetic

Some students get to Junior High School and cannot read, write, or even add numbers. Other students have very limited skills in these subjects. When these students get to this point without these basics of education it sets them up to fail. Many of these students drop out of school. It is my feeling that teachers should teach 3 subjects from K thru 3rd grade. They would be reading, writing, and math. We need a form of "Orchestrated Immersion" of the subjects. We should make sure our children have the basics so they can expand on those basics as they progress through school. WE need to set them up to succeed not to fail.

Chalksite and Engrade Educ 553

They advertise this as the easiest link to connect teachers and students. It is also advertised as free. Unless, as a teacher, you have 5 or fewer students it is not free. I think the idea is great but since I have more than 5 students I will not be visiting it again. There are many good sites on the computer to use for free. I signed up for engrade and it would probably be great for some teachers but it does not work well for me since I have to generate reports of Easy IEP in the state of Tennessee. As a special education teacher communication is of great importance and I check out everything that deals with communication that may help improve communication between myself and the parents of my students.