Somebody Else's Kids

I haven’t had much experience with special education students, at least not teaching them. When I was in high school I volunteered at a school in the city where my neighbor was a special education teacher. I was there working to get community service hours for graduation. It was apparent that these kids suffered from ADHD and many other disabilities. The students were rambunctious but they did listen and respect my neighbor as a teacher. My duty was to go around and help them with their workbooks which were for either reading or math. At this point in my life I had not thought about becoming a teacher but I still enjoyed being with the students.

I was able to long term substitute at Edgewood High School this past school year for the last couple months. The teacher mentioned that some of the students had IEPs and 504s but I had no idea what they were and thought nothing further about it. One of my honors chemistry classes had triplets in it. When I finally got around to reading the IEPs and 504s I realized that the triplets had some needs I was unaware of. One of them had severe ADD and required notes to be given to him each class. The other need extra time with quizzes or tests. The third had ADD as well but he did not exhibit the symptoms like his brothers. They were gifted and smart students they just required some accommodations. Luckily I was able to provide the additional help to them that they needed before the school year was over.

For a student like Lori Sjokheim, who has suffered from severe brain damage, accommodations and modifications are necessary to help her learn. She is extremely behind on reading and writing because of the abuse she received as a child. Despite these fallbacks Lori is an exceptional child and is very perceptive to those around her. Her injuries prevent her from deciphering symbols such as words or numbers. She requires extra help and attention for her learning needs. I love that Lori is so in tune with others’ feelings and attitudes but I am not sure I would be the right teacher for her, at least not as a first year teacher. Some accommodations that would need to be made for her are that she would need much simpler books for reading. Some of which might be way below her expected reading level. I think that it would be vital to work on Lori’s confidence first and foremost. This may come from her helping other students or being a classroom helper. Even if she starts with short books that she comes to memorize but still believes she is reading would help. I think the important thing would be to give her that boost. From there we could try to advance the book with longer sentences.

Fallbacks that could come from having a student like Lori in your class is that you may not have the time to devote to her because you have a full classroom. Because of Lori’s needs you would not be able to leave her to work on her lessons by herself. If she was in one of my chemistry classes I would need a co-teacher to help her. Somebody that would be able to read with her and talk out the concepts or theories. Lori is perceptive when things are taught to her she just cannot read it on her own or work the problems out on paper. If she has someone to talk it out with then she is more likely to comprehend. I would love to have her in my class because of her kind spirit and bright personality. She would bring such an amazing and positive attitude that is sometimes lacking in classrooms. I would enjoy having her there to help boost morale for other students that may be discouraged.

I know it would be challenging to have Lori in my class but I feel that we would learn from each other. I appreciate a good challenge and do not ever plan on becoming bored as a teacher. Every day will bring a new lesson for me as well as the students. I want to be able to modify any lesson plan for a student that may need it. I think I have developed those skills over the past year and a half in this program and I cannot wait for this fall when I have my own class to try them out on.

Hayden, T. (1981). Somebody else's kids. New York, New York: Putnam.