Im Back!

I am soooo sorry to my readers for being MIA these past few weeks. School has been incredibly hectic. 2 IEP meetings, 3 re-evals, 1 new testing and to top it off a state audit. Yes, I still think I have my sanity but am not sure. How is everyone's progress going with the GAA? I have decided to use a lot of different standards and elements this year, so a new wheel is being built. For example I am switching to solids,liquids and gases for 8th grade instead of simple machines, allows me to show more growth with each student. So, I am trying to get to the blog as much as possible but please give me some slack. If there is something you would like me to write about or investigate please let me know!

100 Useful Tools For Special Educators

I received this link from a reader. Please check it out! 100 Useful Tools for Special Educators and Students

Georgia Special Education Teacher Preparedness

If you follow my blog you know I have huge issues with placing an adult into a Special Education classroom with no Special Education Training. As we know Georgia allows a person to teach SPED if they can just pass the test or if they go through the controversial "Teach For America" program. I am sorry to all you TFAs out there but I am no fan. My school has gained a special ed teacher through the Teach for America program and she is already extremely overwhelmed. She came into the school and immediately put the TFA ideas into implementation, surprisingly they did not work. She is doing a few inclusion classes and the teachers she work with are having a real hard time. So the question is "Was she adequately prepared for the job?" In my opinion NO! How could someone with only a summer's worth of training be prepared to take on the role of a special educator. I mean how many IEP's has she actually seen or how many kids did she actually get to work with before starting. I am not saying that the TFA program is always bad, we do have two science teachers who are doing a banging job.
Also at the high school my school feeds into, they placed a TFA in an MOID classroom! Now how can anyone validate that this is ok? There are so many issues that go on day to day how can this TFA ever be ready? Does he truly understand mental retardation? When i spoke with him at the beginning of the year he said all he was told was that he would be teaching special ed, not MOID. So where is the justification? Please show me! ALL SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO COMPLETE A DEGREE IN THE FIELD OR HAVE ADEQUATE EXPERIENCE! I am sorry if you disagree with me, but it is how I feel. Would you trust your child to a nurse or doctor who only had a summers worth of training or one who just passed a test? I definitely would not! Please leave you comments and thoughts!
Addendum!!!!
I want to clarify that I do not think that there are any teachers who are excluded from my above post. There are some people out there who do have a knack and can pick up quickly, I just do not feel that it is the majority.Of course someone who is familiar with special ed by way of teaching experience, having a child who is disabled etc, would have an easier time. I am talking about the people who are completely new without exposure.

First weeks of School!

Wow! Have I been busy or what!? So the first week seemed to go buy smooth as can be and then the 2nd week hit! I had a re-evaluation due the 4th week but my boss could only hold it the 2nd, so I had to scramble to collect all needed information. Then I had been Brigancing one of my new students and started to discover that she was functioning on a much higher level than expected. She came from a private school and therefore did not have a placement or eligibility.So i brought this to the attention of my boss and a quick eligibility meeting was scheduled for that Friday. Then Tuesday after school my boss tells me it has been moved to the next morning! Great. Love the time to prepare! So at the meeting it was determined after looking at all of her testing and performance that she was not MOID but in fact Severe Learning Disability, so she was moved! Then the flue started to spread through the school like wildfire. I have had a few kids seem ill but not stay at home. I had one child who had severe diarrea yesterday and tried to clean it up but ended up getting it all over himself. Also, 4th week into school my students schedules had not been completed. None of my kids were scheduled for any general ed interaction other than homeroom! I could go on and on but I am sure you all have your own stories and worries!