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meeha/ece/tx - Hi! Any special education teachers out there coming in? How do you get parents/family involved in the I.E.P. process? How to you get them involved in your program?
meeha/ece/tx - Hi Todd! Glad you're here!
Todd - thank you
buttercookies - Iam a studnet doing a paper on education for my college englsih class
meeha/ece/tx - hi bc! How are you this evening?
meeha/ece/tx - Todd & bc ... do you teach special education? do you teach?
buttercookies - Fine I wanted to know how long did it take any of you to become teachers?
Todd - I started up a non profit educational after school program
Todd - I'm not a teacher but if it's ok for me to be here I'd like to try to meet as many teachers as I can to tell them about the program and or get feed back
meeha/ece/tx - it took me 2.5 years at entry to university, then 8 years of "other work" and then 1.5 solid years at univerity to complete the work preparing me for certification ... I would say it took me another (maybe) eight year to "become a teacher" ... until then it was "hit and miss"!
buttercookies - What is typical day for a kindergarden teacher?
meeha/ece/tx - Todd, you're welcome to stay ...
Todd - thank you
Todd - meeha are you and I the only ones here?
meeha/ece/tx - Todd -- right now we are the only ones here.
Todd - what grade do you teach?
meeha/ece/tx - I work with special needs preschoolers ... 3 - 5 or 6 years of age.
Todd - very cool
Todd - is this a forum for the lower grades?
meeha/ece/tx - I can't imagine doing anything else, Todd -- I love my work ... and the kiddos and their families!
KindergartenCop - Although I'm KinderCop, I taught Spe. Ed for 10 years
meeha/ece/tx - This is a forum for multi-level special education teachers this evening -- we have a variety of different meetings over the course of a month.
meeha/ece/tx - Hi KinderCop! How are you this evening?
Todd - Incorporated in 1999, the Best-n-Brightest Foundation (BNB) commenced as a solution to the ever-growing problem of challenging disabled and at-risk children who are excluded from the social, educational, and physical activities that their peer counterparts enjoy. BNB will, through their nationally accessible website, form a common bond between these children and allow them to travel on a journey into the dawn of a new era where they will have the ability to live a quality and productive life both as a child and an adult.
KindergartenCop - Fine, meeha - just thought I'd check in. I'm having a child with autisum (sp) in my class next year
KindergartenCop - Todd - where are located?
Todd - I'm in Palm Harbor Florida
meeha/ece/tx - Interesting, KC -- have you had much experience with kiddos with autism? (I'm sending two kiddos with autism to kinder in the fall!
meeha/ece/tx - Hi msdtch!
KindergartenCop - meeha, yes, I've had two in the last 7 years of K. One high functioning and one lower
meeha/ece/tx - 'evening, JL -- welcome to tonite's special education chat!
msdtchr - hi
JL - Hello, I'm new to the chatroom.
meeha/ece/tx - msdtchr -- i noticed you were here earlier, but I missed you.
KindergartenCop - I've also had a student with down's in the last 5 years.
KindergartenCop - It seems to me, in my area of MI, we are having more students with these high needs, not just LD
meeha/ece/tx - JL -- just jump in when you're ready, do you have any questions about the room or t.net?
meeha/ece/tx - Hi, CECESC -- welcome to tonite's special education chat! ... are you at the CEC conference this week?
JL - Just wondering, when a special needs student is put into your gen. ed kindergarten class ...Does an aide come too?
CECESC - not at CEC
meeha/ece/tx - KC -- what area of MI?
KindergartenCop - JL - it depends on the need of the K. Usually, I just use the Spe.Ed. teacher as a resource, since I have a degree in Spe Ed
meeha/ece/tx - the child i IEP'd to kinder in the fall is going without a special aide ... need will be determined after he is there.
KindergartenCop - meeha, I'm in NE lower penninsila
KindergartenCop - OOPS - sorry about the spelling - no spell checker
msdtchr - i teach the physially impaired
meeha/ece/tx - I know we've talked about it before, KC -- i grew up in port huron
meeha/ece/tx - what age/grade, msdtchr?
CECESC - I teach Severely Disabled....Mostly Autistic and Downs 15-21 yr olds
JL - I teach primarily cognitively disabled gr. K - 6, but also the more severe emotionally involved and severfe LD.
meeha/ece/tx - How do you go about getting parents involved in the IEP process and keeping parents/families involved in your program?
meeha/ece/tx - hi Wysteria -- welcome to tonite's special education chat!
KindergartenCop - Wow, CECESC, twenty something years ago, I did my student teaching with severely disabled 18-26 year olds in a state home in Michigan
Wysteria - I teach jr. high students (moderate, severe, and autism)
msdtchr - middle school, but i am looking to go back itinerant and youger kids i hate self contained/resource
meeha/ece/tx - JL -- what state are you in?
JL - Wisconsin
KindergartenCop - Our elementary has gone from self contained, to resource rooms, to FULL INCLUSION (with inadequate staff) to part inclusion and part pull out
CECESC - I taught 14 yrs at state Schools for Severeely Handicappped in Mo before moving to SC...I love the severe level kids
meeha/ece/tx - Hi, Jan2! welcome to tonite's special education chat!
Jan2 - Thanks!
meeha/ece/tx - I enjoy working with my 'bitty-bits' ... can't imagine any other area.
KindergartenCop - CECESC, I was sure that was what I wanted to do, but couldn't get hired cuz I was new/young, so I took a job in a resource room - and had NEVER been in one before
Wysteria - I enjoy my teenagers.... been with them since I began teaching
msdtchr - year w/ 5 w/ me all day--8 boys,2girls
meeha/ece/tx - Jan, are you a teacher? What age/grade are your students?
CECESC - I made the mistake on moving to SC of taking an EMH/LD middle school self contained class...I only did that 1 yr and got back to my level
Jan2 - Yes, I teach grades 1-4 in a small Christian school where all students are integrated into the classroom.
msdtchr - i have 9 kids--5 with me all day--2paras iwill have 10 next year w/ 5 w/ me all day--8 boys,2girls
Jan2 - Fortunately we have very few LD children in our school
meeha/ece/tx - I've had one kiddo with emotional disturbance ... don't care to return to that area!
JL - I don't think any school can afford the help necessary to do full inclusion adequately. So many end up trying it and then going back to a more restrictive level. Frankly my students learn more academically from me than they do in any gen.ed. room.
KindergartenCop - Our numbers of LD and Title I students seems to be skyrocketing. I wonder if it has to do with higher standards
Wysteria - JL, I agree with you
CECESC - I have 10 students this yr and 3 paras...can't complain tho 2 kids need constant1:1 and all the others have significant behavior probs
meeha/ece/tx - The only way to do inclusion is "full inclusion" ... it cost a bit more to implement, but when correctly done it can be SO very effective!
Wysteria - Cop, you may be right...... I've noticed our numbers growing the past couple of years
KindergartenCop - JL - I totally agree with you - having the SpeEd teacher in the class for 1/2 hour a day certainly doesn't compare to 2 or 3 or 4 hours a day instruction at their own level
msdtchr - ihave one profound kid--my kids are all very involved--only 3 are ambulatory
JL - meeha - Did you say you work with the "little kids"? The younger the child the easier to include.
msdtchr - i had only 1 para til nov then i had to train the 2nd one
KindergartenCop - Gotta run - nice chatting. I'll check back on the Spe Ed nights sometime again
meeha/ece/tx - JL -- I do work with younger children ... I've been reading about "pure inclusion" ... 1/2 hour of sped upport in the classroom isn't what is intended with "full inclusion" -- unfortunately districts try to cut corner and dump on the other teachers ... in which case all become losers.
meeha/ece/tx - hi morgart and pearl! welcome to tonite's special education chat!
meeha/ece/tx - 'evening, naneb and Sabrina!
pearl - I am a regular ed teacher who has the special ed teacher with my second grade for 40 min. each morning and about an hour every other afternoon. I think my students make the best progress when they have one on one instruction...not assisted in the whole group instruction. any reaction or response?
pearl - i have 6 classified LD in a class of 18 students
meeha/ece/tx - JL -- the way our disstrict tries to do "inclusion" has the same effect as where you teach ... resource reigns here -- and changing that paradigm is difficullt to do!
Brenda - I'm a regular ed teacher with sp. ed students included all morning with an aide. I wish they could stay all day. I'd love to team w/ the sp. ed. teachers.
meeha/ece/tx - hi Brenda -- welcome to tonite's special education chat!
pearl - do you feel that true inclusion works for the younger kids just learning to read
Brenda - Thanks
JL - I am the primary lang. arts and math teacher for most of my "CD" students. They are in gen. ed. for science, s.studies, specials, etc... That has worked for me.
meeha/ece/tx - pearl -- your view is probably about right for those children! inclusion CAN work for younger kiddos learning to read -- but it HAS to be done correctly! The way it is practiced in most of this country, no -- the more traditional "RESOURCE ROOM" is far more effective!
pearl - meeha, what would you say the correct way would be?
pearl - JL, so you teach the primary special ed kids reading and math and then they are included for the other subjects?
meeha/ece/tx - Pearl, the "correct" way, per literature (not personal experience!) is a gen. ed and sped teacher team-teaching in a classroom -- not the sped teacher for a few minutes a day -- but all day (or most of it, anyhow!) -- with modifications/accomodations to individualized learning made right then and there!
pearl - if the special ed teacher is in the room, it seems like one teacher is doing the teaching at a time and the other is keeping the kids on task to listen during instruction time....
Brenda - Meeha, this is exactly what I would like to try next year. Fifth grade. I've mentioned it to the principal. Not much response. How do I get the sp ed teachers excited about it?
JL - We've moved toward guided reading in the K - 2. I have had a lot more success with keeping my kids in the gen. ed. because of the flexible ability groups. The teachers have also been great about accepting my older students into groups with their younger kids.
MK - I have taught in inclusion programs the "correct" way, and it did work beautifully. However, we still had to do some one-on-one and small group teaching within the classroom. The good part was that we could also address the needs of struggling regular ed kids too.
JL - Pearl - Of course no 2 kid's program looks exactly the same, but in general that's what it looks like.
meeha/ece/tx - pearl ... sometimes there will be two sessions running concurrently -- or one teacher may teach and the other support students with special needs (perhaps doing the samples right there or reteaching on-level) ... then at practice time each offers more support to every kiddo in the room!
meeha/ece/tx - MK -- that is exactly how it is supposed to work! everyone comes out a winner!
MK - You're right! The district's test scores looked great after a few years of inclusion.
meeha/ece/tx - Brenda -- You would probably need to do a LOT of research, write it up, possibly even write a grant to get funding for a new teacher ... but it can be done! You might talk with a local university and see if you could get some help proposing it to your campus!
JL - MK - How large is your district. How many grade levels do you cover?
meeha/ece/tx - JL -- I think the problem with inclusion, as with most other ideas that we would like to see work, cost more up-front (probably have a BIG pay-off in the long-run) so district shy away from them ((as they are supposed to be practiced, anyhow!))
pearl - it's my first year in a long time with inclusion kids and I just found the reading levels to be so far apart...some on third grade and above and my special ed kids at PP levels. I didn't feel we were meeting their needs in a whole group instruction.
Brenda - Meeha, sounds like a good idea. I'll have to give it some serious thought.
MK - Actually, I've moved to another district now. That district was very small. Only 2 elementary schools and 1 middle/high school. Each sped teacher covered a maximum of 3 classes with no more than 3 or 4 kids with disabilities and no more than 22 kids total.
meeha/ece/tx - pearl, it probably begins at the pre-k or k level and includes all the way up ... don't know how it would work if it started after the primary years.
meeha/ece/tx - Brenda, you'll need to start now -- planning for next year iss almost done in a lot of place!
JL - Our district is qite small. I'm it for the CD kids gr. K - 6 . I cover kids in 2 buildings. I could never get to each grade level in a day. It's a sad fact..but true.
meeha/ece/tx - Brenda, be sure you try to attend some inclusion workshops and/or conferences -- you'll get some good info there! Your local ARC may be a good resource for you, too!
pearl - are there any web sites to help us with inclusion
pearl - or mailrings that might give suggestions
MK - JL, I know what you mean. Inclusion is just not a possibility in my new district. The number of kids with disabilities is just too high and the regular ed kids are just too low.
meeha/ece/tx - pearl, I attended a fabulous workshop in Dallas last fall --- The Dallas County ARC sponsored an educator from California to come and present on inclusion. The training was fabulous! check with your ARC, parents of special needs kiddos, post a question at the sped chatboard here, check at http://www.google.com for "inclusion"
Brenda - You're right. It may even be too late for next year. But I'm not giving up. I know the sp ed students I have this year would have benefited or from my juided reading, words, and writing block.
pearl - I will do that. thanks for the ideas
meeha/ece/tx - MK -- why is the denity of "regular ed" kiddos so low? is it related to lack of family intervention/education?
JL - I have found that I need to look at what I do in a differnet perspective. When myu students are in my room their instruction is at THEIR level, so that is their primary reading time. Then, if I can , I have them in the gen. ed room for part of the reading instruction. Specificcaly the skill that most meets their need ( shared reading, working with words, etc) This becomes almost like an additional "resource" experience. I have had some nice improvements.
MK - Actually, I didn't make that come out very clearly. There are a large number of regular ed kids, but they are very low performing both academically and behaviorally.
meeha/ece/tx - JL, that is what 'individualized education' is all about ... aren't you glad you're able to meet their needs in that way? It is so nice to see progress and successes for the children along the way, isn't it?
Brenda - Have to go do some reading for a state sp ed review tomorrow. Just found out I have to represent reg. ed teachers. A daunting task considering this is my first year teaching fulltime.
JL - Brenda - Good Luck!
meeha/ece/tx - happy reading, Brenda -- good luck!
MK - Good luck tomorow!
Brenda - Thanks!!!
meeha/ece/tx - Hi Cindy -- welcome to tonite's special education chat!
JL - If anyone is interested in our "Guided Reading" approach. I have a powerpoint on the WI DPI website. http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/een/readsconf.html
meeha/ece/tx - JL -- thanks for sharing that site ... it will be here when others review the transcript of the meeting, too.
Cindy - I've never done this before (enter a chat room, that is), so bear with me.
meeha/ece/tx - Cindy -- just take your time ... join in when you're ready! If you have any questions, ask.
Cindy - I'm really interested in "Guided Reading"---will this website address still be accessible when this "chat" is over? (or do I need to copy it within the next 2 minutes?)
meeha/ece/tx - teachers.net is a friendly site to start at! (best site on the web!)
meeha/ece/tx - Cindy -- the transcript of this meeting will be in the archives after a day or two ... http://www.teachers.net/archive
meeha/ece/tx - all of our past meetings are archived there -- you may find other guided reading info there if you want to go and look!
MK - If I can change the topic, how are you guys meeting the mandates to address the general ed curriculum with your kids. My guys have severe/profound cognitive delays and at least one other significant impairment. I'm finding it overwhelming.
meeha/ece/tx - well, it was nice chatting with you all -- stay tuned -- we meet monthly (I think!) The chat room and chat boards are alway here for you, too!
JL - It's been nice talking with everyone, but my own kids need to go to bed. Sorry I can't stay and chat.
meeha/ece/tx - MK -- in Texas we now have "state developed alternative assesments" which can be used for our kiddos who can't do the standardized (typical) tests ... I don't know what happens other than attempts -- pretty much you kind of need to teach at the level of the students, don't you?
meeha/ece/tx - well, nite all! take care and be safe this weekend!
MK - Well, I know that, but my supervisors are CLUELESS! We just finished our alternate assessment. It's the daily lesson plans in all subject areas that are so ridiculous
MK - Anyway, it is getting late, so i'm going to log off too. Nice chatting!
