Saying goodbye :(

I think that one of the hardest parts of my job is saying goodbye to my students. Most of my kids will be returning next year but 2 of them are moving on to high school. One of these two is Karen. Karen has been with me for just this year and has grown into such a beautiful young woman. I am going to miss the quirky questions, the off the wall comments and most of all her care and compassion she shows to everyone she meets. She always will greet me with a smile and a creative reenactment of her previous day or weekend. Her positive view on life and her ambition to try EVERYTHING will get her far and will delight anyone she comes into contact with in the future.
Jesus is my other 8th grader leaving me and this is the one that brings tears to my eyes these past weeks every time I see him. I have had Jesus for three years since he entered my classroom in 6th grade and even though moving on is best for him I am not sure if I am ready. Jesus has these huge beautiful eyes that will melt anyones heart and the first day I met him that is exactly what happened. When Jesus first came to me his English was almost non-existent. He was very shy, confused and scared. Although born in the U.S. he spent most of his life in Mexico and returned to Atlanta at the end of 4th grade. Unfortunately Jesus was misplaced and did not receive appropriate special education instruction. When he arrived at my school he was scheduled for mostly reg ed classes with a few resource settings. It did not take but a week to conclude this was not appropriate for him and he was re-assessed and correctly placed in my MOID class. Since then, Jesus has grown into such an incredible young man (who now speaks English!) with an untiring ambition to learn everything life has to offer him. He strives for independence and even though it has been hard (only for my emotions :)) I have given him every chance to grow. Mr. Roldan is a Spanish teacher at my school who has taken Jesus under his wing. Even though Jesus has never been scheduled to be served in his class, Roldan has taken it upon himself to work with him every single day during his planning to give him a male role model which he lacks at home. He includes Jesus at times in his classes and gives him the life and social skills I could never equip him with. I am so glad and lucky to be working with a staff that recognizes these needs in my students and will go out of their way to help make my students successful.
Not having children, I think of each child as my own kid and only want the best for each one. Jesus has been that special kid to me that I will never forget. It is almost impossible to say I have a favorite but one can conclude. I am close with the high school MOID teacher and am extremely comfortable and assured he will be served, not just appropriately but with the care and concern that I was able to give to him as well. I am so proud of Jesus and look forward to hearing the success that he will continue to show with the years to come. Every special ed teacher I speak to says it will get easier with the years, I have strong doubts though :) I am finishing my 5th year and trust me, it has not gotten any easier. 
I will miss my babies very, very much but am so excited for the opportunities that await each of them. No one ever said special education was an easy job! (except maybe for some regular ed teachers!!! lol )

Academics vs Life Skills

Here is the last question I am adressing for the Weareteachers.com expert blogger special education panal. Check it out here or link to it from the here.
Academics or Life Skills? Should special education teachers emphasize one over the other, or is there a happy medium?

For some reason this question is raised quite frequently in educator circles and I do not know why. The answer is simple; teach to the individual. If the student requires a life skills curriculum, teach life skills and functional academics. If the student’s adaptive skills are normal, then teach academics. If the student needs both, then teach both.
Let me break this down a little further, but first we need to define what academic curriculum and life skills curriculum actually mean. An Academic Curriculum is an integrated course of study that focuses on academia (English, Math, Social Studies and Science.) A Life Skills Curriculum is one that focuses on those skills or tasks that contribute to the successful, independent functioning of an individual in adulthood. These skills are usually grouped into five clusters: self-care and domestic living, recreation and leisure, communication and social skills, vocational skills, and other skills vital for community participation (M. Cronin 1996.)
I will start with the low-incidence population since they are my specialty. Let me add that the following synopses are generalized for the middle and high school populations. If a student is placed in a low-incidence setting (Moderate intellectual disabilities, Severe, profound, low-functioning Autism, and in some cases Orthopedic Impairment and Other Health Impairment, there are always exceptions of course) they usually have intellectual deficits and multiple adaptive skill deficits. So in keeping with the ultimate goal of making each student as independent as possible, a life skills curriculum is what should dominate instruction. Of course we do not want to neglect academia and therefore each subject should be integrated in such a way that facilitates the student’s learning processes. For example, a few of the academic concepts I teach in my classroom are sight word vocabulary (reading), asking and answering “W” questions (comprehension) how to use a calculator (addition/ subtraction), price comparison (algebra), and how to read a map (social studies). I would never waste my students time or energy (unless it is appropriate for the student) teaching abstract academic concepts such as sentence dissection (L/A), prime factorization (math), North American Trade Agreement (S.S.) or building a DNA model (science). Although NCLB would love for this to be our focus (check out some of my posts on the GAA –Georgia Alternate Assessment) it is not practical.
Let me move now to the population of students with Learning Disabilities (LD). A Learning Disability is loosely and arguably defined as having difficulties with academic achievement and progress. Discrepancies exist between a person's potential for learning and what he actually learns. These discrepancies are not due to mental retardation or emotional disturbances and therefore the students do not usually present strong adaptive skill deficits unless it is a manifestation of their learning processes. These students will require an Academic Curriculum with specialized instruction that focuses on their deficits in an effort to improve or alleviate the problem(s). In a “perfect world” these students should primarily be educated in a general or inclusive setting with the minimal amount of resource instruction.
I am now going to move on to Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities for the sake of time and length. EBD as it is commonly referred to, is a whole different ballgame. The definition of EBD is also widely argued but the gist of it is described as having a serious emotional or behavioral disturbance that has been evidenced over a sufficient duration that interfere(s) significantly with educational performance to the degree that provision of special educational services is necessary. Often, these students are dually diagnosed with Learning Disabilities which might not always be correct. A lot of the time the learning problem(s) is actually a manifestation of the emotional or behavioral struggle. In too many school systems these students are educated in resource settings along with students with LD. The only justification I can see for this is funding. You are welcome to disagree. If the EBD is not severe, the student should be educated in his Least restrictive Environment (LRE) with emotional or behavioral supports. The student’s case manager should monitor the students functioning within these classes and consistently meet with the student to provide strategies and assistance to help compensate or improve their struggles. In a severe situation many of these students are best served in a self-contained setting or resource setting for part of the day. In these classes, social skills instruction should be provided and in some cases parts of a Life Skills Curriculum should be incorporated. A lot of times the manifestations of their EBD can affect their adaptive skills.
Lastly I am going to address the Mild Intellectual Disability population (MID.) This population is the most controversial within school systems on how they should be educated. Before NCLB most MID students were primarily educated in self-contained settings with as much general education instruction as possible. Students who are MID also have adaptive skill deficits and should receive a modified Life Skills Curriculum (especially within the vocational and community-based domains.) But then NCLB came along and decided that these students should also take normed-standardized testing and therefore many school systems are pushing to educate these students with their general education and LD peers. In my opinion this is ridiculous! Yes, there are some students who are MID whose LRE is with LD and general ed students but this should be viewed as the exception not the assumption. These students have intellectual deficits and therefore in most cases have trouble accessing a full Academic Curriculum.
In my school system for example, MID is educated along with LD and DO NOT receive any sort of Life Skills instruction! This is horrendous. This creates multiple problems, one being students are not educated in their least restrictive environment. Let’s look at this example for instance; there is a student (6th grade) who has a disability (Downs Syndrome) that is typically diagnosed as MOID. The student does present communication and some adaptive skills deficits but intellectually functions on a MID level with an IQ of 60-65. This child can read and computate math on a 3rd- 4th grade level but due to their physical appearance is automatically pushed to be served in an MOID setting. This is ridiculous; the environment is too restrictive and will not foster appropriately modeled growth for the student. Yes, the child will probably struggle in general education and in some cases resource and this is why the school should have an MID placement. As special educators let’s not keep these kids in limbo but let’s fight for appropriate settings and instruction.
Although I deviated at times I hope you the reader could understand my reasoning and conclusions on Academic vs. Life Skills instruction. I pray that in 2013 NCLB will end and special education can return to its original purpose of teaching to the disability and not the standardized test. Education is not a cookie cutter concept and when everyone fully understands this then maybe we can start to make a truly effective change.