Today I had yet again another meeting with the school Principal and PB's teacher. This is the 3 official meeting with the Principal and there have been some quick office visits to appraise her of the situation from my point of view. Princess Bear (PB) has a new teacher this year. To say that I'm less than thrilled about her would be quite an understatement. I had been "warned" about this teacher before PB even had her. I went into the year with an open mind but the bottom line is that she sucks. The first meeting was about what wasn't being followed in the IEP and lack of accommodations on the teachers part. The 2nd meeting I walked in with a typed list of almost 20 problems. At that meeting I pulled PB out of the inclusion science class that she was in. Last year I wasn't thrilled about the science class but that teacher was doing a great job with accommodations as well as teaching some valuable skills like note taking.
Oops- before I go to far let me explain that accommodations in a special ed room is when the teacher takes information and then breaks it down in to the level that the child can understand and learn the information. Since PB is in 8th grade but her reading level is a 4th grade level there needs to be a fair amount of time explaining vocabulary and then breaking the information down to where she is actually gaining knowledge and not just memorizing something.
So this year the teacher she has does NO accommodations. PB was in 2 inclusion classrooms. Science and Social Studies. The amount of information that is taught in that classes is way too much for PB to deal with and that's when it's at a level she understands it. At the 2nd meeting after repeatedly asking for more and better accommodations I pulled PB from her science class. While she really loved the teacher in that class she was getting very frustrated because things weren't making sense. I put her in a science class that in all honestly is too easy for her but there wasn't another option that would have been the perfect fit. PB loves the teacher for the new science class so she's happy about that. I just hate that because the teacher wasn't doing her job it made a problem for PB. I'm not OK with that.
The day before surgery I picked up PB and the aide from her classroom, Missy, who at this point is a dear friend to the entire family. Missy has some serious health issues and can't drive. A few times a week we take her to run errands. The day before my surgery she needed to go to Walgreens. PB and I were in the car talking while Missy was in Walgreens. I asked PB how her day had been and whoa! I wasn't expecting what came pouring out. PB was very upset that her teacher had yelled at her for forgetting an assignment. Some of the things the teacher said were "How old are you?" "You're too old to be messing up like this" and "Maybe if you're having so many problems in this class you should drop it too". This was the FIRST assignment that PB forgot this year. I was pissed to say the very least. You don't go off yelling at a child for forgetting one assignment! You also don't make them feel bad for dropping a class when in all reality it was the teachers shortcomings that prompted that change. So I called my mom & filled her in. We agreed to meet at the school and try to talk to the Principal immediately since my surgery was the next day and then the kids were off the next week for Thanksgiving. Luckily the principal completely understood and agreed with us. She did ask if I had talked to the teacher. I explained that since every time I've tried talking to this teacher she has completely disregarded me (and gave several examples) that I was no longer going that route. I would bring it to the Principal or coordinator instead. The principal thought it was time for another meeting and said that since the teacher hadn't listened to the Principal or the coordinator that maybe I should take the lead. I told the principal I had no problem with that but warned her that it would be gloves off and no holds barred. I was done and my next step is the School Board and the media. She understood and was OK with that. In some ways I don't think she likes this teacher much and was more than willing to let me have a crack at things.
Today was when we had scheduled the meeting. Since I still can't drive and my mom never drives to work my Dad had to take me, pick up my mom and drop us off at the school. On the way to the meeting I was listening to Rammstein which is my "damn am I pissed and I'm ready to kick a$$ music". To say the meeting was interesting is again an understatement. The teacher at one point mentioned that her children were honor students and she expected the same things from her students. HELLO? Do you not even understand what population you're working with???? She also flat out lied a few times. That will in all actuality make it easier to nail her to the wall in the future. We talked about how we expected PB to be treated and what kind of accommodations were needed. I have to admit that I don't have horribly high hopes that things will actually get accomplished but I've done what I can before I truly make things ugly at the school. On the upside my inner bitch was having all kinds of fun since it actually had permission to come out and play!
Oops- before I go to far let me explain that accommodations in a special ed room is when the teacher takes information and then breaks it down in to the level that the child can understand and learn the information. Since PB is in 8th grade but her reading level is a 4th grade level there needs to be a fair amount of time explaining vocabulary and then breaking the information down to where she is actually gaining knowledge and not just memorizing something.
So this year the teacher she has does NO accommodations. PB was in 2 inclusion classrooms. Science and Social Studies. The amount of information that is taught in that classes is way too much for PB to deal with and that's when it's at a level she understands it. At the 2nd meeting after repeatedly asking for more and better accommodations I pulled PB from her science class. While she really loved the teacher in that class she was getting very frustrated because things weren't making sense. I put her in a science class that in all honestly is too easy for her but there wasn't another option that would have been the perfect fit. PB loves the teacher for the new science class so she's happy about that. I just hate that because the teacher wasn't doing her job it made a problem for PB. I'm not OK with that.
The day before surgery I picked up PB and the aide from her classroom, Missy, who at this point is a dear friend to the entire family. Missy has some serious health issues and can't drive. A few times a week we take her to run errands. The day before my surgery she needed to go to Walgreens. PB and I were in the car talking while Missy was in Walgreens. I asked PB how her day had been and whoa! I wasn't expecting what came pouring out. PB was very upset that her teacher had yelled at her for forgetting an assignment. Some of the things the teacher said were "How old are you?" "You're too old to be messing up like this" and "Maybe if you're having so many problems in this class you should drop it too". This was the FIRST assignment that PB forgot this year. I was pissed to say the very least. You don't go off yelling at a child for forgetting one assignment! You also don't make them feel bad for dropping a class when in all reality it was the teachers shortcomings that prompted that change. So I called my mom & filled her in. We agreed to meet at the school and try to talk to the Principal immediately since my surgery was the next day and then the kids were off the next week for Thanksgiving. Luckily the principal completely understood and agreed with us. She did ask if I had talked to the teacher. I explained that since every time I've tried talking to this teacher she has completely disregarded me (and gave several examples) that I was no longer going that route. I would bring it to the Principal or coordinator instead. The principal thought it was time for another meeting and said that since the teacher hadn't listened to the Principal or the coordinator that maybe I should take the lead. I told the principal I had no problem with that but warned her that it would be gloves off and no holds barred. I was done and my next step is the School Board and the media. She understood and was OK with that. In some ways I don't think she likes this teacher much and was more than willing to let me have a crack at things.
Today was when we had scheduled the meeting. Since I still can't drive and my mom never drives to work my Dad had to take me, pick up my mom and drop us off at the school. On the way to the meeting I was listening to Rammstein which is my "damn am I pissed and I'm ready to kick a$$ music". To say the meeting was interesting is again an understatement. The teacher at one point mentioned that her children were honor students and she expected the same things from her students. HELLO? Do you not even understand what population you're working with???? She also flat out lied a few times. That will in all actuality make it easier to nail her to the wall in the future. We talked about how we expected PB to be treated and what kind of accommodations were needed. I have to admit that I don't have horribly high hopes that things will actually get accomplished but I've done what I can before I truly make things ugly at the school. On the upside my inner bitch was having all kinds of fun since it actually had permission to come out and play!
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