Today is Tuesday the 11th. This means that I have taught for all of five whole days. Already I am fighting the bureaucracy and the politics of the education system. I am a strong believer that for the most part those people in the education field want to do what is best for students. Call me naive or optimistic but I know they didn't get into the field for the money.
Well, in all of five days I am already fighting with other educators at my school for information. I think that I should have access to all of my students that have IEPs, 504s, or are ELL (basically all my students that have special needs). I want to know which of my students get distracted so I can avoid seating them facing the window. I want to know which students need extra help so I can assign them a lab partner that will accommodate this need. I want to know which students are more than 2 grades behind in writing so I can make accommodations on their assignments.
But, I cannot get this information. I don't even know which students are English Language Learners. I have 150 students and some of them are quiet so I can't exactly tell which students are having trouble understanding me when I give instructions. I can't get the information I need because the people in charge of the student files don't want me to label the students before I get to know them.
This makes some sense to me. I wouldn't want to assume a student couldn't perform in my science class just because I know they have a learning disability. I wouldn't want someone to do this to me. However, I have the best of intentions. I just want to be able to accommodate those students that we know have a specific need we can actually meet. I just want to do my job to the best of my ability. Why is it so hard to see that all I want it what is best for my students and what is best for them is for me to have the information I need to accommodate their learning styles and abilities.
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