My child is in a class with only ld/add students. The teacher is going extremely fast, I think; and wondered if this is the normal procedure. For example, they are currently studying Latin America. She began with vocab words and map skills. Then began each chapter. They read the book in class and then complete a page of fill-in the blanks for their notes. So far, they have covered one chapter and notes per day. Every night we are supposed to review notes and vocab. She has had 2 true false quizes. They are on their 5th chapter for the unit.
Math - she began reviewing math skills addition and subtraction, introduced multiple digit addition and subtraction with regrouping; the next week moved on to introducing multiplication one week to multi-digit multiplying with one factor, then muliplying with 2 or 3 digit factors before the end of the week. (386X6 to 386X53) These kids have ld’s and my son is caught up on multiplying (386 x 53) because he wants to multiply with the 3 and then add the 5 instead of multiplying with both the 3 and the 5. She has moved on to division and long division; but now has stopped everything to return to reviewing basic facts again in addition and subtraction because she lost everyone. Everyone still uses a chart because they do not have their facts memorized. She made the comment that she would be announcing everyone needed a calculator in January because she needs to pick things up.
My problem: my kid’s head is spinning because he doesn’t have one concept down before needing to learn another.
Since I’m not a teacher, I wanted some opinions. Obviously these kids have been exposed to addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, but they haven’t learned much because she is now backstepping. How can she pick up the pace when she is already losing them?
Re: how fast do you go for ld students?
This teacher is already defensive with me. At a recent meeting, though I didn’t mean to, I put her on the defensive and after that it was “her way or no way.” Refusing recommendations from an evaluation for my son that she hadn’t already incorporated into her classroom.
I have tried to stay in close contact with her about my son’s difficulties. My son is also not the best motivated person in the world; truthfully he’s unmotivated. Recently, I asked her to please check over his notes as they are completing them in class because he was bringing home notes that didn’t make sense. Textbooks haven’t been allowed home to check over notes because some students don’t bring them back. I did see some improvement but when it was brought up at a recent meeting and my reply didn’t agree with hers, I could see that she became quite upset; although, she did a pretty good job of covering it up.
Right now, I will probably contact an advocate recommended to me by the phychologist, just to see how outrageous the recommendations are to incorporate into a classroom that is supposed to cater to the ld/add kids.
Re: how fast do you go for ld students?
The no textbooks home rule strikes me as totally self-defeating for a place that is supposed to be trying to educate people.
My daughter’s school (and the schools I went to and many others) had a simple and effective policy on texts: lose a text and you pay for it. And those books are expensive!! Refuse to pay and no report card. We paid for two or three texts the first two years and then she smartened up; in Grade 11 she swore up and down she had returned the text so we and the nice but scatterbrained math teacher searched the book cupboard for the number and there it was; the fourth year we all got it right. She learned both academics and organization at that school.
Asking teachers to check notes is something that sounds good but is not always applicable in practice. A minute here and a minute there out of a 45-minute class and you can end up with no teaching time at all — I’ve seen it happen. And if some students have behavioural or attentional problems, going to one student’s desk can leave the others unsupervised long enough to lose the class.
Re: how fast do you go for ld students?
You have a point there about the notes; and, there are potential behavior problems, though most kids are very nice kids, supportive of each other. It warms my heart to hear some of the encouraging comments for each other that go on in the classroom.
About the books, I have requested copies of books, which was totally ignored at the beginning of the year. Then when I made the comment that I had rented the books for a year at the elementary school, I was told there weren’t enough books to rent. This is one of the largest counties in the nation!! They have the money and the resources. They’re just very picky about who gets what.
Re: how fast do you go for ld students?
You could use the Recordings for the Blind and Dyslexic. It is expensive but I am happy with it. I got the CD player instead of the tape. Ask the school for the ISBN number of the text and then you can listen to it at home. It is a challenge, as it is harder to scan a book auditorily than visually to answer worksheet questions. My school also did not have enough health texts to go around. I had asked at the beginning of the year if they were going to use a book in school let me know so I could get it, of course no one did, and when I started seeing these worksheets come home , I called again asking for that number and finally got it. Check out the teaching with technology forum as to what set up might be best. I am having my husband look for a speaker for our unit as I want to listen along.
Re: how fast do you go for ld students?
Thank you for the suggestion. I am checking into that today. I had actually copied down an ISBN # for a science book; ordered the textbook ($$) and then about 2 weeks later; the teacher switched books! :(
It’s unbelievable that the resources are in the school system but unless you know what you’re talking about, they don’t volunteer anything! And…sometimes you’re ignored. Why are they holding back?? Shouldn’t they be willing to do what is best for the student, so that he can succeed? Wouldn’t that help them with the No Child Left Behind?
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Re: how fast do you go for ld students?
Maybe you could contact someone at your board of education and tell them about the lack of text books and that this goes agianst NCLB. Put the ball in the board’s court. I bet they could dig up a couple of books somewhere for the students in the class to have at home, and if they dont return them at the end of the year then they will have to pay for them. Also, I have a problem with your son’s teacher going at such a fast pace. I understand that they have to cover certain material by the district, but the main objective is that the students know and understand basic math. Before they go on to division, they need to MEMORIZE their multiplication tables. They cant rely on thier charts all thier lives. I used to teach math in high school to special education students and there are a lot of ways that a teacher can use manipulatives in order to learn basic multiplication facts, like using playing cards with a partner and having them flip over 2 cards and then figure out what number they would get when they multiplied them, or using a big ball with muliplication facts all over it and the students throw it to each other around the room. Whatever problem that their right thumb lands on then they have to answer it. The whole class acts as a team and helps each other. A lot of students who are LD need manipulatives, because thier brain grasps things differenlty. I think that you are right in worying about if the teacher is going too fast. It is ridiculous to go fast and then have the students not understand it and then you just have to do it again. Your son might also be more motivated to learn if he is able to do it in a fun and supportive environment where he feels as though he can be successful. Working with teachers can be difficult sometimes, because they dont want to feel as though they are doing a bad job. Just make sure that you are professional and calm whenever you meet or talk with her. Offer your advise, but dont make it sound as if she is a horrible teacher who doesnt know whats best for your child. She will probably be much more willing to be supportive too if she feels as though you are not too hard on her.
There are competing pressures here; on the one side the need of the students to understand, and on the other pressure from administrations to “cover the material”. My personal take on this is that sure, as a teacher I can cover the material just fine, but what good does that do the kids? — and I am not teaching in a school situation any more, and that is just one of the reasons.
Administrations are under pressure from standards and testing — which in general is a good thing, that they are trying to get some improvement in kids’ achievement, not just warehouse them — and they have this nonproductive idea that throwing more and more material at high speed and threatening students with marks and tests is going to improve learning.
You need to talk to the teacher and find out where the pressure is coming from, and talk to the principal and department heads and maybe people on the board of education.
The point to try to get across, although it isn’t going to be easy, is that it’s better to get four things tight than twenty things wrong. In the math case, this means learning say for example the addition and multiplication tables and one-digit by three-digit multiplication this year; then multidigit and division next year. After two years, you would have good skills. But trying to teach it all at once like this, after two years you are even more confused than when you started.