Learning Disabilities
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Spelling was impossible for Jim, despite the accommodations made by his resource teacher. He was doing well in all his subjects but a new teacher this year believing spelling a necessary life skill was insisting he perform as the other students. Jim's embarrassment over the weekly posting of spelling grades was jeopardizing his successes.
All The Eggs In One Basket
School was hard for Scott due to his learning disability, but he tried his best in the
past because he wanted to play football. This year, incentives lost, and failing grades,
the only option to graduate if he failed the HSCT was with a special diploma. One course
and one teacher with a strict reputation stood in his way.
Back To Square One Rachel and Leanne were expecting another great year co-teaching a combined 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade class with equal numbers of both general education and exceptional education students. Many students are returning from last year including Thomas, a fourth grader with learning disabilities and ADHD. When Thomas's mother has significant health problems, his behavior regresses and the whole class suffers.
Shawn is a student with a learning disability in Linda Thompson’s middle school, multigrade class. Although he has been recommended for a self-contained class for emotionally handicapped students, his mother has vehemently refused such a placement. In an attempt to help Shawn bring some of his negative outbursts under control, Mrs. Thompson enlists the aid of the entire class. The class agrees to an activity which requires each student to make a personal commitment to change some aspect of their behavior. Everyone hopes that Shawn will participate and be motivated to improve.
Difference of Opinion Jane is an adaptive physical education teacher in a middle school. One of her former students fails his regular PE class and his parents and doctor request that he be returned to her class. When the department head of special education blocks his return due to a technicality, Jane comes to his defense.
Samantha Green, with six years of experience as a teacher in a residential program, begins her first year as a special education teacher at Tanglewood High School. She quickly learns her 15-year-old bilingual student, Maria, can read only four words. Both teacher and student are frustrated by the obstacles they face.
Two special education teachers attempt to integrate a new student with severe behaviors into their class for students with language and learning disabilities. Because this student takes so much attention and time, they worry about how the other students in the class are faring as a result.
Jake is an energetic first grader with a learning disability. Although he is considered one of the gang as far as his classmates are concerned and is excelling academically during the two hours he is included in a general education class, Betty, his general education teacher feels he just "wouldn’t fit in" to a general education classroom full time. On the other hand, Sharon, his resource teacher, sees no reason why he would not be successful.
He Just Needs a Little Discipline
Matt was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder at the age of eight. All of his 8th grade teachers were concerned about his frequent outbursts in class and tried numerous types of interventions. Ritalin was prescribed in the past and it helped, but Matt’s father believes that his son should learn to cope without medication. Matt recently confided in Jill Gray, one of his teachers, that he thought he could focus better if he could go back on the Ritalin. The situation intensifies as his teachers wonder what to do.
How Far Should We Go
Brian had eight months left in Willow Brook Elementary before he entered middle school: sixth grade, six classes, six new teachers and he was reading at a first grade level! His learning disability was only part of the dilemma LuAnn and Karen, his co-teachers, faced. His dad had died when Brian was in the first grade, and his mom seemed overwhelmed with the demands facing her.
Is It Possible To Be Too Helpful?
Anita M
iller, is in her first year of teaching middle school students with learning disabilities. She makes a special effort to help Donald, one of her more needy and difficult students, by tutoring him after school, adapting his regular classroom assignments, and allowing his other teacher to send him to her classroom when his behavior gets out of control. After a Pep Club special event, when Anita drives a group of students home, Donald manages to be the last to be dropped off. He deliberately gives her incorrect directions to his house which prolongs the time they are alone together in the car.Serge Romanich, a third grade student and refugee from Serbia, spoke limited English and had seen war first hand; his father killed and mother maimed. His education had been sporadic at best and the new elementary school he was attending had tested and classified him as learning disabled
Helen accepted a position teaching special education at the Brokenstraw Reservation public school, but the experience was frustrating. She experienced the public schools on Brokenstraw as bureaucratic and self-serving. The public schools were having difficulty competing with the Catholic missionary schools. The Catholic school had a total student enrollment of 250 Native American children. Meanwhile, the public school where Helen worked had only 40 students in grades K through 12 (all of whom were Native American). It was a struggle to keep the school operating. Helen wanted to be an agent of change, but as she began to make progress with her students, she encountered obstacles.
Simone was struggling in Lisa Flannery’s second grade class despite Lisa’s efforts to adapt her lessons and support form the bilingual department. Simone’s family immigrated from the Philippines with high hopes of Simone becoming a doctor one day. Lisa suspects Simone is having learning problems but her family is unwilling to accept a special education label for her.
Abstract: Linda, as a new member of the special education team at Maple Park Middle School finds herself at odds with special education staff as she works with the general education staff toward finding a reasonable space to call a classroom.
When the six special education classes at Valley Elementary have to be realigned into four, Tom Jefferies, a fifth grade student, has to return to his primary class with his old teacher, Lisa Jenkins. Tom’s subsequent behavioral setback demonstrates a predictable consequence of such an unfortunate action.
Margaret Boggs, a middle school special education resource teacher, enjoys collaborating with her student’s general education teachers. Wayne, one of her more challenging students is having particular problems with one of his teachers, Doris Walker, who is demanding that Wayne be taken out of her classroom and moved to a more restrictive setting. Margaret, in an attempt to advocate on Wayne’s behalf, finds herself at odds with Doris.
Tom Back has spent five years developing a constructivist math curriculum to accommodate all types of learners including general and special education students. After spending long hours and many sleepless nights, he is finally seeing the fruits of his labor. His student's math grades and test scores reflect the effectiveness of his methods. But Tom is troubled because none of his fellow teachers have taken his lead and modified their teaching styles. Many of his students, after reentering traditional classes are returning to their former spiral of failure.
A new 11th grade student at Lincoln Academy, for learning disabled students, arrived with an "attitude" and a massive cumulative file documenting her previous "educational wars." After trying numerous strategies, Kim Statler, a third year teacher, is at a loss as to how to reach this student.
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