i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

FH's first day as a first year tenure track teacher is today. (he took over leave replacements last year.)

He's teaching 5th grade inclusion. As of right now, he has 23 students. 5 of them are 'special needs', and he has NO teachers aide in the classroom.

I feel so bad for him! I spoke with him at 11ish, and it had only been 3 hours, and he was already a little overwhelmed.

Does anyone know if there are laws about having aides in a special ed or inclusion classroom? If so, where can I find them? He's teaching in Nassau, if that matters.

Thanks!

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

Call BOCES they can tell you. I think only self contained needs them. Do the kids have IEP's that say they need an aide? Usually an inclusion classroom has one special ed teacher and one general ed teacher. If this is the case, they don't have to have aides.

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

he is currently the only teacher in the room.

Thanks for the response

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

The only way that the students would be required to have an aid is if their IEP stated that the they needed it. However the students should be getting some type of support services/related services where other teachers either push-in or pull-out. Tell him to get his hands on their IEP's and read them thoroughly!!

I am a Special Education teacher and think its so unfair that teachers like your FH don't get adequate help....tell him to hang in there!

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

Oh Yes and I forgot to mention that if its inclusion there should be a Special Education teacher that works with him, they do not necessarily have to be in the classroom at all times, but they should make appearances (push-in) as well as be available to him for assistance, strategies, techniques and ideas on how to work with the students

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

I teach special ed in a psychiatric day treatment center. HARDCORE special ed. The IEP's have to state the need for the one to one paraprofessional if a student needs it. If not, it may be necessary for him to create and implement a behavior system of sorts to help manage the behaviors of the special needs students. UNLESS the special needs are academic in which case he would have to modify his curriculum. I teach kids ages 13-15 that function on a 2-7th grade level in some academic areas and there are 8 kids at once. I have one assistant and sometimes THAT isn't enough. If he needs any help, let me know!

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

thanks again, ladies.

I have a feeling that the school is categorizing HIM as the special ed teacher! He has his BS in Childhood Ed, and is getting his master's in Spec ed.

Either way, he's not ready for what they've given him, and he feels like a failure.

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

I am almost 100% positive that there needs to be a certified Special Education teacher that works with him and assists him with the inclusion students.....

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

I am dually certified in Elementary and Special Education. I did all of my ed classes on the graduate level. There was absolutely NO amount of schooling that could prepare you for working in ANY classroom. It is all about experience. Sure they can teach you methods, but it took years before I was able to develop behavior systems, curriculums, and even sometimes patience to make my classrooms work effectively. Tell him not to give up. If we were all perfect, they wouldnt make us sit through staff development conferences all the time!

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

he needs to check their IEPs if it says they need a 2nd teacher in the room...then the school can get in trouble

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

so true, Leslie!

I'm going to take him out for dinner, and get him to calm down a little bit.

He's all worked up, and he's overreacting, saying that he's not good enough, and that maybe he chose the wrong things, blah blah blah.

I don't know where this is coming from - he's been in a classroom for a year already!

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

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Posted by Shorty McBride

FH's first day as a first year tenure track teacher is today. (he took over leave replacements last year.)

He's teaching 5th grade inclusion. As of right now, he has 23 students. 5 of them are 'special needs', and he has NO teachers aide in the classroom.

I feel so bad for him! I spoke with him at 11ish, and it had only been 3 hours, and he was already a little overwhelmed.

Does anyone know if there are laws about having aides in a special ed or inclusion classroom? If so, where can I find them? He's teaching in Nassau, if that matters.

Thanks!

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Does he teach in the city? If so, then it is a whole different ball game...I've never heard of an inlcusion class on LI not having an aid or another teacher.

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

that s u c k s. i have several friends who are teachers....one who used to be a teacher but quit b/c they kept too many special need kids in his room (he was good with them so they kept giving him more)...and my best friend is a district psychologist.

with their stories, i can just imagine what your fi is going through. isn't there a teacher advocate group/union? maybe he can contact them?

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

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Posted by metmymatch

that s u c k s. i have several friends who are teachers....one who used to be a teacher but quit b/c they kept too many special need kids in his room (he was good with them so they kept giving him more)...and my best friend is a district psychologist.

with their stories, i can just imagine what your fi is going through. isn't there a teacher advocate group/union? maybe he can contact them?

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I don't mean to sound belligerent here but...I have to say something. I have been teaching for almost 10 years in the same setting (psychiatric day treatment - non-public school). I have many friends who teach both primary and secondary education in the regular education public sector. They ALWAYS say that there are special needs kids in their classes that they find challenging and make it difficult for them to do their jobs

DING! DING! DING! A bell is going off. There are more special needs kids that require different types of attention nowadays. If you sit for a minute and think about it, the education programs at universities, on both the undergraduate and graduate levels, need to further restructure their curriculums for prospective teachers in order to accommodate this growing population of children. The STATE where a teacher holds a license ALSO needs to require more than just a couple of classes in special-ed for NON special-ed teachers.

Sometimes there are not kids to compose a class for special ed OR there isn't enough funding to hire a special ed teacher OR there isn't a setting appropriate enough for the student in his/her home district and the child needs to be taught in a regular ed classroom. It would be more helpful to the teachers and the students if the teachers were to have more of a background not to mention it makes a teacher much more marketable as a professional if they do.

In other words, there are many of us who would LOVE to teach a nice little first grade class in the suburbs where the kids comply and everyone is perfect. Thats not the reality. Even in the best of districts, with the highest test scores, there are kids with special needs. Sometimes districts REFUSE to label the kids because it has an effect on the scoring and performance of the school as a whole.

Instead of thinking that THEY are the problem, teachers might want to be more introspective and perhaps more sensitive to the needs of ALL students.

Thus concludes my rant!

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

nic, that sux. did he know that he would have special needs kids in his class? i'm not a teacher, but i know there must be something he can do about it.

i'm sure he'll calm down and realize that he can handle this

and, if anything, if it doesn't work out, theres always.....







love you, mean it!!!

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Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

i'm the general ed teacher for a blended (similar to inclusion) class. i have a full time teacher of special education with me as a co-teacher full time.

in another district i worked in, their inclusion class had a half-day teacher of special ed and a half-day aide.

he needs to speak with his union rep and/or other inclusion teachers in the district

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

There really should be someone else in there. In my school there are 2 teachers in every inclusion class (we don't have any self contained classrooms) one general ed teacher and one special ed and an aid that comes by twice a day. Works out well...However, 5th grade is another story, since the kids are a lot more independent, a lot of the times people don't feel the need for 2 teachers....Depends on the district....Tell him to feel better though!!!!!

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

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Posted by smm2675

nic, that sux. did he know that he would have special needs kids in his class? i'm not a teacher, but i know there must be something he can do about it.

i'm sure he'll calm down and realize that he can handle this

and, if anything, if it doesn't work out, theres always.....







love you, mean it!!!

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OMG!!! Sarah, you made my day.

Thanks everyone - I took him out for some dinner, then went to Target. He got all excited about the cool supplies they have now, and he wasn't grumpy at all.

I know he'll be fine - he just doubts himself sometimes.

Re: i feel bad for FH (another teacher post)

seriously though, there has got to be something he can do.

hopefully, it'll get worked out.