Another Thing I Could Not Do

Okay, Here's My Deal...

Every once in a while you do things that help out others and you feel good about doing that, but it just serves to reinforce that you are right not to do something else with your life.

For three years now, I have suspended teaching my gifted ed classes for a three week window to help out special education teachers with our standardized testing. See, according to the geniuses on capitol hill that wrote and passed the No Child Left Behind legislation, all students will be tested at grade level or the tests don't count...which is fine for those students who read on grade level and have no learning diabilities. However, that means that special ed students who have reading disabilities and only read at a 3rd grade level even though they are in 8th grade must take the 8th grade level test and are expected to make yealry growth. So, we are doing everything in our power to help those students do better including:

They get longer to take the tests and are not timed like non special ed kids are.

They can have all of the tests read aloud to them except the reading comprehension tests.

They can be tested one on one instead of in small or large groups.

So, I volunteer my room as another quiet testing area and I volunteer to read tests or proctor them. Anyway, today I worked with a young man in the sixth grade. In two testing periods that were half an hour each, with a break in between, we got 9 questions answered on the social studies test. One question took him 10 minutes to answer. Part of it was his thinking...part of it was his spacing off with his head in the clouds due to his ADD...part of it was that he was tired right after eating lunch.

But regardless, I am glad that I was able to help out, but it just confirmed for me that I could not solely teach learning disabled kids--I have had them in my classes before when I taught in the regular classroom and I am fine iwth making modifications and accomodations for thier work...but to work with just that kind of kid all day long would drive me nuts. God bless the ones who do--they are awesome!!