WEEK 33 - Special Education (part 2)

Every student who receives special education services has what's called an "Individualized Education Plan" or IEP. An IEP is a very long document that lays out what the student's disability is, and what modifications and adaptations the student will receive because of his/her disability. For example, if a student is blind, they might have an IEP that states that tests can be done orally rather than by writing. If a student has a cognitive disability, the IEP might lay out strategies to help the teacher give clearer instructions. The IEP is different for every student, and has to be written by the Special Education teacher (a long process, they tell me).

This year I have 21 Special Education students. Their disabilities run the spectrum, from autism to hearing disabilities, to speech impediments to cognitive disabilities. A few examples of accommodations that I have to make are: giving more time to complete assignments, having the student seated to my left so he can hear with his good ear, testing in a separate room, checking in daily to make sure the student understands the instructions. Every student can have anywhere from 1-10 accommodations.  Because I have 21 kids who all receive different services, sometimes it can get confusing and I can make mistakes. Like I said in a previous post, the best thing a high school student can do is advocate for him/herself if they feel like their IEP is not being respected (take note, parents of students in Special Education). Because world language is an elective, we do not get help from the Special Education teachers (oftentimes the Sped teachers will be in the classroom as "collaborators" with the mainstream teacher, but we do not get this).

In a language classroom, we find that we have more students in Special Education in the lower levels than in the upper levels. After doing a quick glance over our records, we found that there were roughly the same amount of special ed students in levels 1 and 2, but then there was a massive drop-off in level 3, and there were none in levels 4, 5, or 6. One reason for this is that most of the time, students in special education enter into level 1 in high school because they didn't have room in their schedules to take a language in middle school. Another reason could be the way in which language is taught at the school might be difficult for the learner (if the student has a low reading ability in English, they'll most likely struggle in a foreign language if there is a focus on literature), and they might decide not to move on after 2 years.

From a language teacher's perspective, the best thing you can do for your child in Special Ed is get them as much exposure to language as possible before they enter high school. Nowadays, even students entering into level 1 have had some background in the language, and it's easy for kids without exposure to fall behind, especially if they are up against some type of disability.

My hours for week 33:

Day	Date	Start	End	Total Hours
Sun	4/14/2013	7:45 PM	9:30 PM	1.75
M	4/15/2013	7:45 AM	5:15 PM	9.5
T	4/16/2013	7:00 AM	4:15 PM	9.25
W	4/17/2013	7:45 AM	8:45 PM	13
Th	4/18/2013	7:15 AM	4:45 PM	9.5
F	4/19/2013	7:45 AM	3:45 PM	8
Sat	4/20/2013			0
	Total			51