On Hiatus

You're probably saying, "Duh". I really want to keep this blog going but it's really hard to do. I became really busy this fall. I decided to take on RTI for my building and become the RTI facilitator. I know, I know, you probably remember my RTI updates and rants where I adamantly opposed becoming involved with RTI. But here's why I did it: I want it to be done correctly. No one else in my building knows what to do, so I took it on. The other reason is because I have a new principal. I knew that I would be able to require teachers and specialists to follow a protocol if the principal backed me up. It was also a refreshing change to have someone else in the building that was aware of RTI. I've been fighting this battle by myself for 3 years now. So that's why I took it on. Many of my colleagues were surprised and thought that someone made me do it. No, I volunteered (after much soul-searching).

I seriously logged in to say that this would be my last post for a while. I started with the idea that I was going to blog every day, then it turned to every 2 or three days, then it was once a week, and now I haven't posted since October. I'm incredibly busy at work. I've remained anonymous so in order to maintain my anonymity I don't blog from work. By the time I get home I don't even want to look at a computer, so my blogging has suffered. I was about to pull the plug on this blog until I saw a comment. Sara C. commented on my Teach for America post. I often think that I'm just blogging for no one in particular. I know a couple of people follow my blog, but I never thought that people care enough to comment and disagree with what I have to say. That sounds like I'm adding something to the conversation on education! I can live with that.

So I guess I'm saying that I'm not gone yet. I'll be back in 2011. I hope I can keep the conversation going.

BBC

Land of the Luddites, Part 2

My new principal is tech savvy and he wants the staff to be as well. I'm all for it. It may take some of my coworkers some time to get used to it. When the principal toured our building during the interview process, he was taken aback by the number of chalkboards in the building. My building was built in 1990, so whiteboards were not prevalent at the time.

He's trying to make us as paperless as possible. I 100% agree with this. He does everything by email, which I find to be efficient. He has required staff to check their email at least 3 times a day. Some people are balking at this, they don't like being tethered to their laptops. However, if this is the only way you will learn about what is happening, you will have to adapt. The problem with my old principal was that she would communicate everything in two forms: email and a printout of the email that appeared in everyone's mailbox. It was redundant and didn't encourage people to check their email. I like this move because it's forcing me to be more efficient. I no longer create schedules in word and email them as attachments, now I just make appointments in Microsoft Outlook (what a novel concept). The funny thing is that I used to operate this way when I worked in an office years ago.

One bright note about technology: it's making printed text obsolete in the lives of our children. A fifth grade class in my building was looking at methods of reference. It was amazing watching the teacher try to explain certain types of books only to be met with blank stares and looks of bewilderment from her students. Items that elicited bewildered looks: encyclopedias, almanacs and phone books. It was especially funny to hear the students ask questions about phone books. "They print everyone's phone number in a book?" "What if your number changes?" "How do they know about your phone number?" It was also funny to hear the discussions about encyclopedias and almanacs. With the internet, how do you even describe what they are that makes them sound relevant? It made me realize how far we've come and it also made me feel old.

BBC

Issues in the Media

There have been a lot of relevant stories in the news. In today's New York Times, the chancellor of public schools in D.C. is resigning. Michelle Rhee is calling it quits. I didn't agree with her tactics, but it would have been interesting to see if they were effective. she battled the teachers' union. She abolished tenure and supported merit pay. With her absence, I'm not sure we will get a clear picture of the results of her efforts.

The recent story about the Rutgers student that committed suicide has everyone talking about digital media, social networking, and cyberbullying. My principal has been subtly pushing me to address bullying schoolwide. I think we have done a decent job of handling any bullying situations. My social worker went to a workshop that de-emphasized the use of the term "bullying". The rationale is that it can be vague and it often requires prolonged abuse. She proposed that we work on abolishing meanness. Even kids in kindergarten can identify something that's mean. They don't always understand bullying.

"Waiting for Superman" is taking the nation by storm. I haven't seen it yet, but I would like to. I'm not as defensive about the teaching profession as some of my colleagues. However, I do think that most people that bash teaching have no earthly idea what they are talking about. And they wouldn't last 5 minutes in front of a typical classroom.

The Next Big Thing

As the school year started, I spent time thinking about the trends in special education. To be specific, I was thinking about how certain diagnoses become the de rigueur diagnosis; it seems like everyone is seeking the diagnosis during each evaluation. During 90's, ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) was diagnosis that everyone was getting, and still is. Last decade, we saw an increase in students getting a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorders, and those continue to grow. Some figures estimate that 1 out of 160 children born have Autism. Now as we move into the '10s, there is a diagnosis that has gotten some press recently and I predict it will increase in prevalence. We'll be talking about over the next decade.

Drum roll....

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). This will impact schools in the coming years, especially as parents and physicians become more aware of the symptoms and implications of having the disability. The media and sports have become more aware of it. Concussions are now a major concern for the NFL and the NCAA. This will trickle down to high schools, junior high schools, and Pop Warner football in the coming years, if not sooner. Also, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to more soldiers returning with TBI and doctors are now correctly diagnosing it. Before, it was thought to be PTSD, but doctors are starting to see the subtle differences. One distinction is the cognitive impairment that results from TBI. This will be a big diagnosis, and I expect school psychologists will be dealing with it more in the coming years.

BBC

Changes

The new school year started off with some new changes. A new principal is roaming the halls. The first day of school was interesting because it was the beginning of a new era. My former principal had been in my building for 15 years. She witnessed a lot, and put a lot of systems into place. The beginning of the day started with students arriving to school. Some were confused and were found roaming the hallways before the morning bell rang (a no-no in my building). Arrival was chaotic because buses arrived late and parents were meeting teachers outside and people had new responsibilities and duties. The day started a little later than usual, but it went as smoothly as possible.

I was stuck in my office all day, playing detective, trying to find records on new students. That's how I usually spend my first few days. It's really funny when I get to know a student through his/her paperwork, yet I never lay eyes on him/her until a few days later. We have 2 new sixth graders that require one-on-one aides. This is quite a switch for us, because one-on-one aides are not that common in our building. I will try to learn what I can about these new students. I'm already scheduling meetings for them so that we can meet the families and revise their IEPs as needed.

My new principal is moving us towards the technological age. I promise this will be its own posting. Look for Land of the Luddites, Part 2.

At the end of the day, we had a major problem. None of the teachers had bus lists. Usually the teachers would have these lists so that they could verify them before the end of the day. Our school dismisses at 3 PM. At about 2:58, teachers received bus lists so that they knew which buses their children ride. You would think that most of the children know which bus they ride, but maybe you haven't met the average kindergartner. The end of the day was very hectic and nerve-wracking and we only had one child get on the wrong bus. Not bad for the first day.

BBC

Last Day

My principal retired on Friday. It was a weird day because everyone wanted it to be over, yet at the same time didn't want it to end. My principal helped transform my school into a school that has a successful positive behavior support system, great teachers, awesome students, and a warm and supportive climate. She will be missed. I realize how fortunate I was to have a positive relationship with an administrator. It seems that for most people in my profession this is not the norm. I think that part of the reason we had such a great relationship was the fact that she didn't supervise or evaluate me. We also had great conversations that expanded beyond the day-to-day building business. I will miss working with her.

The new principal starts July 1st and plans on meeting with staff individually during the summer. It should be interesting to see how things will be different.

I'm off for the summer. I plan on taking full advantage this year. Last summer flew by and I was really disgruntled by the time the new school year began. I'm going to enjoy this summer to the fullest.

BBC

It's Been A Long Time...

Sorry folks,

I can't believe I let almost 2 months pass between posts. I guess that's what happens when you are in the thick of annual review season. Let's recap the last 2 months.

-I finished reading the entire Percy Jackson and The Olympians Series (all 5 books) by Rick Riordan. I highly recommend them. I think they are at a 4th grade reading level, but I know plenty of kids that enjoyed those books. My favorites were Book 1, The Lightning Thief; Book 3, The Titan's Curse; and Book 5, The Last Olympian. Rick Riordan just started a new series of books based on Egyptian mythology. Those should be good as well.

-The search for a new principal is ongoing. There were several rounds of interviews and they may have narrowed it down to a handful of candidates. The process is so secretive that only those on the interview committee know anything, and they aren't saying a word.

-For the first time ever my teacher's union gave concessions for the upcoming school year. We took a contract extension with a limited raise, in the hopes that the economy will turn around and we will get a bigger raise the year after. This will prevent any layoffs and program cuts. This was threatened to happen last year with every new teacher in each building getting a pink slip. In the end, only 4 teachers were laid off, and I believe most of them retired anyway.

-Year one of RTI is coming to a close and there have been mixed results. Our initial evaluations have gone down a lot. My team is afraid that we will be swamped next year. We will wait and see. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds with a new principal since my current one is in charge of RTI.

-I have a student that likes to sleep. He has a gastro-intestinal issue, and his parents are not reliable. He has missed a lot of school. He absolutely hates his teacher and does whatever he can to get out of her class. We are starting to realize that he can be manipulative and we need to come up with a survival plan for him and us until the end of the year.

-I was recently trained on the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). I'm excited about adding a new weapon to my testing arsenal. I already have 2 students to use it on next year.

-For some reason, parents think that they can just send in a letter saying that they want their child tested and then "poof" it magically happens. They are all astonished by the 60 calendar day evaluation timeline. I have either received or heard about 3 such requests in the last 2 days. That's all for now. I'll try to keep this updated more frequently.

BBC

Minute to Win It and Processing Speed

I've caught a few episodes of NBC's Minute to Win It, a new hit game show. Contestants have to complete each game within one minute. The games increase in difficulty as the contestant progresses. Complete 10 games, win $1 million. Sounds simple, right? Most of the games remind you of things you did at a party in college while holding a beer. But, I happened to watch a couple of episodes that featured 2 games that reminded me of processing speed ability. The first game, Wheel of a Deal, involves sorting playing cards into 5 different stacks by face value. The other game, Separation Anxiety, involves sorting M&Ms by color. These games scream Gs (processing speed) to me, with a little bit of Gt (decision speed).

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Curtain Call

This should have posted on 4/1/10.

It became official today: My principal is retiring. She announced her retirement at our staff meeting this afternoon. This has been in the works for a while now. Everyone thought that she was going to announce it soon. I was one of a few people that thought it was going to be today. I knew it was coming. As we sat in our staff meeting, it became obvious that the ramifications started to set in people's minds. Who in the world will be able to replace her? While the principal is not my boss, that person can affect how I do my job. So I have a small level of concern, but I'm not as freaked out as my coworkers. I figure there's no need to freak out if I don't know what's going to happen.

BBC

Percy Jackson

I'm not sure how I existed this long without reading Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. My school is completely enthralled with this series. I dare say, my school is more into this book than Harry Potter or Twilight. It probably helps that our school librarian is into the books as well. I'm a big Greek mythology fan, so this book was a delight. I know a movie was recently released, but like all adaptations, there are some differences between the novel and the film.

Although the book was printed in 2005, there may be some of you out there that haven't read it yet. Well, I suggest that you do. It's a great story for kids with disabilities. From a school psychologist standpoint, there is a lot to like about the story. Percy is dyslexic and has ADHD. But when he finds out that's he's a demigod, or half-blood (half-god, half-mortal) he learns that his impairments are actually strengths and by-products of his "godliness". His dyslexia stems from the fact that he was meant to read ancient Greek, not English. (clever!) And his ADHD symptoms are in fact his battlefield reflexes that allow him to respond to his opponents' moves (hyperactivity) and see things that others cannot (inattention). It's very clever and gives those that have these disabilities a hero that they can identify with. As a plus, Percy also has some absentee father issues, and I know I have plenty of students that can relate to that. The Percy Jackson series is intriguing and I can't wait to read the next one.

BBC

A Change to No Child Left Behind

The Obama Administration is planning a change in the No Child Left Behind law. There has been a lot of grumbling about the proposed changes and what they might look like for a few months now. First the administration announced the initiative "Race to the Top" which was their way of encouraging schools to make changes, including dismissing ineffective teachers. I believe that many states have applied for the program, but there were some that didn't qualify. The main difference is less emphasis on standardized test scores. Under the current law, every school would have been on the failing list because by 2014, each school had to have 100% of its students meeting goal on the state standardized test. This was impossible and if we reached 2014 with the current law intact, it would have been the tipping point. For now, the administration wants to make significant changes, including getting rid of the goal for 2014. Now there is a different goal: All students are college ready or career ready by 2020. These are admirable goals, but I feel that NCLB needs to have a significant parental component. There are parents that do not understand nor accept their responsibility in their child's education. It is frustrating when they think that the school can do it all. In order for there to be true education reform, parents have to play a part.

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Teachers Are Made, Not Born

Recent article in the New York Times Magazine examines the training that teachers receive before they are employed. Lately, there seems to be a lot of stories in the media about teachers. My latest Newsweek has a cover story about bad teaching. I'll have something to say about that article once I read it. The article in the Times Magazine focused on teacher-training programs. I was disappointed to read that those that were examined are designed for teachers in charter schools and Teach for America. The author mentions that university training programs are lacking, and that most first-year teachers do not feel ready to teach once they enter the classroom, but there wasn't a lot of info in the article about how universities are working to improve their education programs. One of the researchers, Deborah Loewenberg Ball, created a curriculum for teaching teachers called Mathematical Knowledge for Teaching, or M.K.T. M.K.T. gets teachers to consider how others think about math, not what they themselves know about math. If you can understand how someone can think and misunderstand math, then you can teach it effectively. That makes so much sense. The one takeaway for me in the article was the idea of cold-calling: instead of having students raise their hands, whenever I ask a question anyone can be called upon, therefore everyone has to pay attention and think of the answer. I like that one. I think I'll use it next time I do a Second Step lesson.

BBC

School Psychologists in Pop Culture 2 - "Parenthood"

I happened to watch the premiere of "Parenthood", the new NBC drama airing on Tuesdays. Click here to see the premiere episode. It's an interesting show about the trials and tribulations of being a parent. But I'm not a tv critic, I'm a school psychologist. I won't spoil the plot, but there is a moment in the episode where a child gets into trouble at school and the administrators suggest that the child may need more than just discipline to address his behavior. When they make the suggestion, they refer to the "educational therapist." Then they mention an evaluation to determine what would work best. That's when it hit me: "Hey wait a minute, they're talking about a school psychologist." But I had to wonder why they used the term educational therapist. Is school psychologist still too esoteric for people to understand. Educational therapist sounds like a possible job title if this didn't recently happen. I see this as a missed opportunity for our profession. They should have been consulting a school psychologist!

BBC

School Psychologist vs. State Assessment

It's that time of year again. The time of year when teachers get depressed, children freak out, and my principal becomes a woman obsessed with security: it's the Annual Statewide Standardized Assessment. I've been neck deep in test manuals, test protocols, and number 2 pencils. Whenever I get into Annual Statewide Standardized Assessment (ASSA*) mode, I can't help but reminisce about the SAT, GRE, and Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) Exam. The last moments in my life when I would have to take such a monumental test. Now our students take high-stakes tests from 3rd grade into high school.

I ran into one of my old professors today and I was telling her how busy I am this time of year because of ASSA. I told her that other SP's in my district are busy as well. She started to go into this diatribe about what my role should be and that I shouldn't be doing this. Well, what does she expect me to do. First of all, the entire building shuts down because of testing. From 9:00 to noon, there is a test going on in one of the grade levels. During this stressful time, my caseload is off limits. I'm not giving anyone IQ tests during this time. I'm not pulling kids for counseling. I barely see my students during the month of March because they are way too busy. So what am I supposed to do during this time. Did I mention that there is also the strong possibility that I lose my office during testing? We have so many students that need accommodations and modifications during the test that every available room is being used. Every conceivable space is being used so even if I'm not playing an administrative role in this, I would be involved as a proctor.

The level of test security to prevent cheating is pretty serious. The test booklets are kept in locked office. But it's not the security beforehand that's suspect, it the security during the test. It's considered a security breach if: you write down test questions that you happened to see on the test, talk about test questions that you saw on the test, leave a test booklet unattended, lose a test booklet, and if you take a look at test booklets before testing begins, to name a few.

I was discussing this with my intern and we talked about how school psychologists make the most sense as being the person in charge of this. We, more than anyone else, understand the importance of test security and test administration. Also, in this age of high stakes testing, many schools are being investigated for allegations of cheating. Teachers are strongly invested in how their students perform, and if they depend on how well their students perform, then one can understand the lure of cheating. The same goes for the principal. When schools get recognized for improving test scores, the principal and teachers get the accolades. No one goes around congratulating the school psychologist. Therefore, having me in charge of the test booklets before they are distributed makes sense, it's one more layer of security. I considered the thought of having K-2 teachers handle the test booklets, but it would be too tempting to crack one open and see what questions are inside. Who wouldn't want to take a peek to see if what they have been teaching is relevant to what kids will be tested on in a matter of years? Well, it goes back to the SP being in charge. And I don't mind. Besides what else would I be doing for the next 2 weeks.

BBC

From the Mouths of Babes

Sometimes children are so knowledgeable about their own situation that I wonder if I'm even needed. There are times when I feel like I spend so much time trying to get some children to face reality, and then a child that has it all together walks through the door.

I've known Allie for a while. She was one of my star students whenever I did Second Step lessons in her class. She always had a firm grasp on emotions and could always identify them properly. She was always knew more than her classmates. My sessions started with a phone call from Allie's stepmother. Allie was going to reunite with her estranged biological mother in a few days and the stepmom was concerned that Allie was upset about it.

When I talked to Allie, she basically told me that she hadn't seen her mother in over a year. They were reunited over the weekend and Allie was nervous as the weekend got closer. She was very blunt about her disapproval of her mother. In her words, her mother "lies and can't be trusted." Well, such strong words from an 8 year old. There really wasn't much for me to say, but I did remind her that she still needed to treat her mother with a modicum of respect. I knew that it would be hard, and practically impossible, but it had to be said. What I wanted her to understand is that she couldn't be disrespectful to her mother or her time would have been horrible. She got it, but she still looked like she wasn't going to put up with any b.s.

I talked to her after the weekend, and it sounded like it was a battle of wills. Her mom insisted that she wore certain outfits that she bought for her, and Allie insisted on wearing her own clothes. I think they compromised on the pajamas. She reunited with her other siblings. She complained about sharing a bed with her 5 year old sister. She also complained about not having any privacy. I wanted to tell her, "welcome to having siblings," but I refrained. I think that she had an okay time, but it will be better next time if there is an agreement beforehand about the clothing options.

BBC

That Look - The PPT

I think that there comes a time when your savings account of experience--your training on dealing with parents; your knowledge of special education law; every lesson you have learned about dealing with the mentally ill, and whatever moxie you have that keeps you from curling up into a ball and crying--has to be drained in order to survive a meeting. I had one of those meetings yesterday. This has preoccupied my attention so much that I neglected to show for a PPT for an interdistrict student on Friday, oops. My team prepared for this meeting by discussing who was going to say what during the PPT. Our lineup included the school nurse (who talked about the need for medication management), the special education teacher (who had good news because his academics are really strong) the social worker (who interviewed the parents extensively) and me. We decided to go in this order, school nurse, special ed teacher, school psychologist and social worker.

I couldn't eat my lunch. Most people thought I was really nervous, but I wasn't that nervous. It was the nervousness I usually feel before a performance. It was a good kind of nervous, I knew that it would help me raise my game to the appropriate level. The meeting was in the afternoon, and I only took a couple of bites of my sandwich before I knew it was futile to try and eat. As I made my way to the conference room I had a worrisome thought: What if the parents didn't show? I hadn't considered that. They could have just blown us off and I would have prepared for nothing.

But, they did show and the show went on. I don't mind being the meeting coordinator, except for the fact that I have to wear 2 hats during the meeting: coordinator and school psychologist. For this meeting I had to talk about my evaluation results, so I was doing double duty. I'm not sure if people appreciate how stressful that can be. Well, I presented my results and I felt that my role was to present a dose of reality: the child is emotionally disturbed. He has a past of aggressive behaviors towards peers and adults, and suicidal thoughts. After the results were presented, I had to tell the parents that their son was eligible for special education services for Emotional Disturbance. Actually, it didn't go that smoothly. I think I actually said, "Emotionally Disturbed. That's such an awful term. If we can change Mental Retardation to Intellectual Disability, then we should be able to do something about Emotional Disturbance.

In the end, the parents took the news well, I think. The father remarked that they had heard the news before, and after hearing it from so many different people, there must be some truth to it. The team recommended the student enroll in a therapeutic school. The parents seemed more receptive to the idea of an alternative setting, but we shall see.

BBC

Mass Exodus

A week ago was Alejandro's last day at school. He enrolled in the alternative school last Friday. His last day was somewhat chaotic because we had an emergency snow closing. It was a sad day because he kept telling his teacher that he didn't want to leave, but there was nothing anyone could do. Once the paperwork had gone through, there were a couple of days when he was well behaved and appeared to be well-adjusted. My principal expressed regret on these days and I had to remind her that this wasn't consistent and we had done all that we could for him. So now he's there and we are left to wonder how it will turn out.

There was a kid headed down the PPT pipeline that ended up moving at the last minute. This kid demanded so much energy and time from everyone. He was hyper-emotional, (if that's possible), and any perceived slight turned him into a sobbing mess. We tried multiple behavior plans to no avail. Interestingly, this was a kid that was an affection addict. Whenever he suffered a meltdown, he immediately sought a hug from the teacher, but then he would refuse to let go. It was as if he tried to suck the affection right out of her. To make matters worse, his teacher was the affectionate type. She hugged children a lot, and this wouldn't be a problem for 99% of children because most of them need hugs. But for this kid it was like an addict rooming with a drug dealer. He may have matured eventually, but he had been emotionally unstable since the beginning of the school year. We had reached the point where we were going to evaluate him, but of course, he moved. Usually students move once they are evaluated, but he moved away before we even scheduled the PPT. At least he saved us the trouble.

The PPT for That Look kid is coming next week. I finished my evaluation and got a nice compliment on my report from my director. It's nice to get good and useful feedback. I'm sure this PPT will be interesting. I'll post the play-by-play next week.

BBC

RTI: An Update 4

My principal forwarded a referral to the PPT last week. I had the chance to present it to the team to have them review it and decide if we would accept it or not. I have learned that my teammates and I have the same philosophy on RTI, and I knew that they would have questions about the referral. The big question: Where was the data? I sat in on the meeting when the RTI team decided that this particular student "flat-lined" and wasn't making progress. My response was, "What about Tier 3?" My question was met with this response from my principal, "The administrators met and we were told not to get hung up on what is a Tier 2 intervention and what is a Tier 3 intervention." So I accepted this referral knowing that my team would reject it. This was better than me outright rejecting it at the RTI meeting, even though I could have. So the referral was missing some key information, such as the starting and end dates for interventions, the dates for some of the tests, and the pre- and post-test data for the interventions. Essentially, a lot of pertinent data was missing, and they needed to provide it.

Once again, the issue is that those that are properly trained and well-versed in RTI are not responsible for it. Nor do we want to be. But regular ed teachers have no clue how to do this and they aren't providing the right information nor are they conducting proper progress monitoring. This whole operation has been piecemeal and the worse refrain that the administration has used is "this will look different in different schools." So there is no expectation of uniformity, except in really lame cases such as the form that people fill out. We wanted more information and felt that the RTI form is inadequate because it tends to lead to underreporting. When I suggested changing it, I was met with some resistance. Can we add an additional form? It's obvious that this whole thing is a mess because people have no concept of what we are doing. People are frustrated because they aren't sure of when PPS gets involved. I've been running interference between my principal and the speech and language pathologist because there is a misunderstanding on how language issues should be detected. I suggested to my speech and language pathologist that she create a screener that looks at articulation and some basic language issues. She should spell out each step with boxes and charts and labels so that each part is completed. There should also be a criteria of 80% proficiency, so that teachers know what is expected. Then each teacher gets one when they suspect some sort of language issue. That should stave off the mob that's slowly building. Unfortunately, my SLP hasn't received any directives from her supervisor, so she is at a loss. Hopefully, this language screener will appease my principal and we can keep this process moving along.

BBC

Making the Rounds

(Disclaimer - I know I failed on my mission of a new post every Tuesday, but I did start writing this post on Tuesday. It's taken me this long to finish it.)

First day back after a nice holiday. For some reason, I feel that MLK day has been downplayed. I don't think it's as big a deal now as it was when I was a kid. That could be because I grew up in the South, but it could be because of the multicultural society that we live in today. Maybe people feel as if they don't necessarily have to stress it anymore. I'm not even sure if it was mentioned in my building last week. There's a chance that kindergarten and maybe first grade talked about it, but they may have been the only one's to discuss it. My principal made a point of reminding the kids before they left on Friday to reflect on why they had Monday off.

Maybe that's where we are in 2010. We have a Black (Biracial) president, there are more opportunities for African-Americans, albeit a limited few have access to those opportunities, and there are few incidents of blatant racism. Maybe we've moved beyond addressing MLK in school. I remember asking an African-American teacher in my building what she was doing for African-American History Month. She told me that she wasn't doing anything special because she incorporated the information throughout the year.

Today, I went to two different schools to observe students that I am evaluating. These are both alternative schools, specializing in behavioral and emotionally-challenged students. I was impressed by the atmosphere in each building. On paper, these schools seem like they would be awful places to attend. In actuality, this couldn't be farther from the truth. Both schools--one an elementary school, the other a high school--seem very therapeutic. Each had a very welcoming main office, which is key to establishing a warm environment because it puts one at ease. And I met both principals as I explained that I was there to observe students.

In the elementary school I observed a student that seemed pretty well-behaved. I know that I was only getting a snapshot, but it was promising. It reminded me that his apparent success is the reason why we refer some students to these types of schools. Obviously, this was an appropriate placement for him. While I was observing him, I saw a former student of mine. It was bit depressing to see that he hadn't changed much. He was still rail-thin, his head riddled with bald patches from ripping out his hair during anxiety attacks. He was very meek and looked like he would fold into himself it it was possible. I had hoped that this school would have produced results for him, but it looks like he is pretty much the same. Unfortunately a lot of his psychological inertia stems from the fact that his parents are mentally ill with bouts of depression, paranoia, and anxiety. I'm supposed to reevaluate him before the end of the year, so this will give me more information on how he is really doing. I don't know if he recognized me. Hopefully he just didn't see me. Of all the kids that I saw in this school, he was the one that stuck out to me as being a child that seemed in critical need.

BBC

Adios, Amigo?

Friday, we had what was ostensibly a case conference to learn how a student's medication change was working, however it turned into a full-blown PPT with a discussion for change of placement. Alejandro (see previous post "The Package" from 9/23/08) has been problematic for most of the year, so it doesn't come as a big surprise, but this was a student that we gave so many resources- manpower and brainpower. When those kids leave you can't help but feel a sense of loss. It's not a matter of attachment, it's a matter of commitment. Once you decide that you're going to stick it out, it is a bit confusing when it becomes apparent that you have done all that you could and it's time for someone else to try. That's what I had to tell our principal, because she was wondering what else could be done. We worked with him for over a year and a half. He had significant issues, but we were somewhat successful at dealing with them. We were winning, dammit! But then it became too much for us to deal with.

He was on a very effective medication that controlled his impulsive behavior, but it was causing weight gain. At his mother's request, the medication was switched and he has never been the same. He has been obstinate, defiant and aggressive. This isn't the same child we worked with all of last year. It's unfortunate, because we made all sorts of accommodations to help him and we never took into consideration just how much the medication was contributing to his success.

The meeting culminated with a recommendation that he attends an alternative school that specializes in children with behavior issues. His outside therapists were the first to recommend it because at this point, a therapeutic school setting would be best.

I was warned about this: My director told me that as soon as Alejandro found out about the school change his behavior would deteriorate. Well, guess what happened today? It was pretty awful. Part of his plan was to have a check-in time with me in the morning. I am supposed to gauge his mood and see how his day will go. He was off this morning, but I hoped that he would get it together in time for class. I hoped in vain. He didn't even make it an hour. He had absolutely nothing to work for. My principal was very perceptive, she picked up on something that he said during his fit of stubbornness. In his stilted English, Alejandro said that he was angry with us. As she asked him to tell me what he said, it dawned on me that he knew about the school change. And of course, we have his mother to thank for that. His mother is not a good mother, and this was definitely something she would tell him. I think her words were that he's been misbehaving and he's being sent to another school because of it. Thanks, mom. We're still working on the paperwork now. This should happen fairly soon.

Temper Tantrum

Before I begin, just a few thoughts. One, I'm really going to try to keep my blog postings current. I've given myself a reasonable goal of one new post each week. I'm going to aim for Tuesday. So look out for new posts each Tuesday. On another note, I'll try to use Twitter to give brief updates or thoughts about whatever I'm working on at the moment. I will also use it to follow up on some open cases so that there can be a sense of closure (if anyone cares).

Today my director asked me if I was interested in having an intern. Of course this piqued my interest, but I wasn't sure about who I would want to be my intern. I'll have to conduct some interviews in the coming weeks.

Now onto the main story: My director was in my building to discuss a difficult case. I can't believe I haven't mentioned this case before because it is all-consuming. This child has consumed a lot of our energy so far this year. He's a first-grader, but he has these major temper tantrums when he doesn't get his way. Screams at the top of his lungs, threatens to run out, cries and turns into a complete mess. This has been going on since September. Well, we're going to put a stop to it.

We met with his therapist (who was clueless about this behavior), met with his mother, and we took what info we gleaned from them and developed a plan. First order of business is to extinguish his behavior that occurs after his tantrums. One would think that the episode is over once he stops crying, but no, he takes it to a new level by grabbing onto the teacher and clinging to her in an over-apologetic manner. It's quite troubling to witness it. We worked on a behavior plan that will focus on some positive behaviors that he can accomplish and will hopefully replace his bad behaviors. His target behaviors are 1) using an inside voice at all times, 2) keeping his hands and feet to himself, and 3) following his teacher's directions. My director advised that we give our new plan 3 weeks to work. We will reconvene and evaluate the results. More to come.

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Teach for America

Recent article in the New York Times looks at a study that focused on the level of civic participation of those involved in Teach for America. Growing up, I remember the disdain that teachers had for Teach for America members. They felt as if they didn't really pay their dues and they weren't dedicated to being teachers. They felt as if the TforA members considered it to be domestic peace corps. They go in for 2 years, teach some underprivileged kids, then go back to their "real" lives. I guess this article shows that these people aren't any more civically engaged than the rest of us.

My gripe with Teach for America and other programs of their ilk is that it operates under the premise that anyone can be a teacher. Why is it that one of the most important professions in the world is treated as if it doesn't take any particular skill or talent to do it? This is a difficult profession and only those who are dedicated to the profession should join. If I want to be a doctor, lawyer, mechanic, appliance repairman, I have to go to some sort of specialized program. But apparently, if I want to be a teacher, I can just join an organization. And teach in some of the neediest areas of the country. How does this fit with NCLB and "highly qualified teachers"?

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