Comments on: Undue Criticism of Special Education http://ghsprincipal.edublogs.org/2007/02/01/undue-criticism-of-special-education/ Superintendent of Schools writes about learning and school management in rural Western New York. Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:20:06 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: Pat http://ghsprincipal.edublogs.org/2007/02/01/undue-criticism-of-special-education/comment-page-1/#comment-5091 Pat Mon, 11 Feb 2008 19:10:56 +0000 http://ghsprincipal.edublogs.org/2007/02/01/undue-criticism-of-special-education/#comment-5091 Wow! What an awesome post! I bet you are also awesome to work for! As a special ed teacher, thanks for the support! Wow! What an awesome post! I bet you are also awesome to work for! As a special ed teacher, thanks for the support!

]]> By: Crystal http://ghsprincipal.edublogs.org/2007/02/01/undue-criticism-of-special-education/comment-page-1/#comment-1675 Crystal Sun, 04 Feb 2007 01:25:50 +0000 http://ghsprincipal.edublogs.org/2007/02/01/undue-criticism-of-special-education/#comment-1675 Yes, we know that there are the good, the bad and the ugly in every job. What we should keep in mind is that we are all supposed to be professionals. If there is ever a question about whether a fellow professional is doing their job correctly, we owe them the benefit of the doubt and should confront them with the problem? Often there is more to the story, as long as we are willing and brave enough to treat eachother respectively and communicate with one another, we might learn a little from eachother. For that matter, we should give the student the benefit of the doubt as well. Yes, we know that there are the good, the bad and the ugly in every job. What we should keep in mind is that we are all supposed to be professionals. If there is ever a question about whether a fellow professional is doing their job correctly, we owe them the benefit of the doubt and should confront them with the problem? Often there is more to the story, as long as we are willing and brave enough to treat eachother respectively and communicate with one another, we might learn a little from eachother. For that matter, we should give the student the benefit of the doubt as well.

]]> By: Sue http://ghsprincipal.edublogs.org/2007/02/01/undue-criticism-of-special-education/comment-page-1/#comment-1667 Sue Sat, 03 Feb 2007 14:53:47 +0000 http://ghsprincipal.edublogs.org/2007/02/01/undue-criticism-of-special-education/#comment-1667 Your brush is broad but your general theory is accurate. The unfortunate reality is that there are good teachers and there are poor teachers - in both general and special education. As a special education teacher I advocate for the child, work with them, and try to work with all of the gen. ed. teachers. Unfortunately the finger is occasionally pointed my way, or more accurately, at my department because students are given accommodations to help them achieve academic success. Some gen. ed teachers lack the basic understanding of special education and unfortunately so do some of the special ed teachers. Some teachers take the easy route, they feed answers to students because the learning process is…. too time consuming. It takes work, dedication, and patience to be a good educator. The idea should be to give the kid a chance, a fair chance at success. With proper and appropriate administrative support this can be accomplished. Your brush is broad but your general theory is accurate. The unfortunate reality is that there are good teachers and there are poor teachers – in both general and special education. As a special education teacher I advocate for the child, work with them, and try to work with all of the gen. ed. teachers. Unfortunately the finger is occasionally pointed my way, or more accurately, at my department because students are given accommodations to help them achieve academic success.

Some gen. ed teachers lack the basic understanding of special education and unfortunately so do some of the special ed teachers. Some teachers take the easy route, they feed answers to students because the learning process is…. too time consuming. It takes work, dedication, and patience to be a good educator. The idea should be to give the kid a chance, a fair chance at success. With proper and appropriate administrative support this can be accomplished.

]]> By: Theresa G. http://ghsprincipal.edublogs.org/2007/02/01/undue-criticism-of-special-education/comment-page-1/#comment-1636 Theresa G. Fri, 02 Feb 2007 01:39:40 +0000 http://ghsprincipal.edublogs.org/2007/02/01/undue-criticism-of-special-education/#comment-1636 I was very lucky in my first years of teaching to work with a wonderful special education teacher who taught me to differentiate and to really teach reading and writing to all students. I may have had the content knowledge but she knew how to deliver it to kids with varying abilities. I would not have survived without her. Eventually - our entire middle school team embraced these concepts and we began the year teaching skills that we needed our students to have before the content. Others thought we were crazy and that we would never "cover" our content - but we were successful beyond measure. Not only did we "cover" our content, but I am convinced our kids learned and retained more than their peers on other teams. All along - we were guided by our special education teacher's knowledge and our teamwork. I agree - the bottom line is to help our kids become successful and work together to do so. After all - it takes a village!! I was very lucky in my first years of teaching to work with a wonderful special education teacher who taught me to differentiate and to really teach reading and writing to all students. I may have had the content knowledge but she knew how to deliver it to kids with varying abilities. I would not have survived without her.
Eventually – our entire middle school team embraced these concepts and we began the year teaching skills that we needed our students to have before the content. Others thought we were crazy and that we would never “cover” our content – but we were successful beyond measure. Not only did we “cover” our content, but I am convinced our kids learned and retained more than their peers on other teams. All along – we were guided by our special education teacher’s knowledge and our teamwork.
I agree – the bottom line is to help our kids become successful and work together to do so. After all – it takes a village!!

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