Inclusion...thoughts?

[Medellon]

I teach 7th grade Math in Texas and either the district or the state has decided that pretty much all learning disabled children are being released to regular ed classrooms. There has been a policy of inclusion for a while now and that a child should be placed in the least restrictive learning environment but there were always some kids who would be in the special classes such as PLC, AIM, BIC, etc. Well those kids are now being released and I got one the other day.
We were working quietly in our seats and I hear some wierd noise coming from this kid. Before I go further I need to explain that I maintain very good discipline in my class and when the kids are working by themselves you can hear a pin drop. I basically tell the kid not to do it again and don't make a real big deal out of it. He made the noise again about 15 minutes later and I really let him have it then. We were working in groups the next day and the kids were measuring various boxes I had brought in so they could figure out volume and surface area. This kid could not multiply 2 or 3 digit numbers, was not participating, and was basically thinking it was free time.
I'm pissed because they drop this kid in my class in the middle of the year with very low skills and poor behavior and this is just the beginning. I can expect more of these kids in the coming weeks and I'm thinking about asking for the same bonus that special ed teachers get because I'm working with the same kids. Thoughts?

 

[TommyVercetti]

Quick, break it into paragraphs and check for spelling mistakes before you get flamed.

 

[iwearnosox]

Originally posted by: Medellon
I teach 7th grade Math in Texas and either the district or the state has decided that pretty much all learning disabled children are being released to regular ed classrooms. There has been a policy of inclusion for a while now and that a child should be placed in the least restrictive learning environment but there were always some kids who would be in the special classes such as PLC, AIM, BIC, etc. Well those kids are now being released and I got one the other day. We were working quietly in our seats and I hear some wierd noise coming from this kid. Before I go further I need to explain that I maintain very good dsicipline in my class and when the kids are working by themselves you can hear a pin drop. I basically tell the kid not to do it again and don't make a real big deal out of it. He made the noise again about 15 minutes later and I really let him have it then. We were working in groups the next day and the kids were measuring various boxes I had brought in so they could figure out volume and surface area. This kid could not multiply 2 or 3 digit numbers, was not participating, and was basically thinking it was free time. I'm pissed because they drop this kid in my class in the middle of the year with very low skills and poor behavior and this is just the beginning. I can expect more of these kids in the coming weeks and I'm thinking about asking for the same bonus that special ed teachers get because I'm working with the same kids. Thoughst?

You're a teacher?

 

[Ronstang]

Ahh....the liberal mentallity, punish all for the sake of a few.

 

[StageLeft]

My thoughts are the natural logical ones being that inclusion is not a good idea in extreme cases such as the one mentioned. If a kid in grade 7 has the math skills of somebody in grade 3 that class is not going to help them in the least.

 

[Medellon]

I agree, I don't have time to try and teach someone skills they should have learned in the 4th grade when 25 other students need help with that day's assignment or whatever. Forget about tutoring before or after school, these kids will not go.

 

[RU482]

The worst thing about having serious ADD kids or other kids that just don't give a crap in the classroom with the main population is that they just bring down/waste the time of the majority of the class

 

[blackdogdeek]

i am also against inclusion in this case. the rest of the class will now have to slow down. and i agree that the child should have the skills expected of a 7th grader if he or she is to participate in a 7th grade class.

EDIT: teh speeling

 

[KarenMarie]

my friend is a teacher in TN and they did inclusion thing ages ago. If has lowered the grades of the entire school grade and the teachers are catching crap for it. And if you call in the parents you usually find ppl who care less then the kids. And you cannot fail them, or yell at them or treat them any different than the 'normal' kids.

When my daughter was in jr. high school the same thing happened in our state. But my daughter was really advanced and was getting pretty much ignored for the 'special' needs students and I had to fight the entire school baord to get her moved up a grade to get what she should have been in her grade.

It is very frustrating, but this is what happens in a PC society where the feelings of a few outweighs the three R's.

Sorry man, it must suck to be a teacher nowadays.

EDIT: in a thread like this, I felt it best to fix spelling errors!

 

[WinkOsmosis]

Originally posted by: Ronstang
Ahh....the liberal mentallity, punish all for the sake of a few.

The conservative mentality... call something stupid "liberal" and hope others jump on the bandwagon.

 

[johnjbruin]

this sucks man. I hate the idea that when people think equal opportunity blah blah...
Just realize that the kid cant do math worth jack sh!t and just put him in the lower grade. why do you have to hinder every normal persons progress because of that one kid being 'special'.
I realize the parents of these special kids would eat me alive if i said this to their face. but they make decisions based on their heart... oh my child is good... what are you talking about... he is capable of staying in this grade with the others... They need to start thinking with their head that the godo for their child is actually bad for the other 40 people in the class...
meh... i hate this crap in todays world.

 

[dpm]

How much is this due to behavioural pyschology and how much is it down to the authorities wanting to save money?

 

[Jzero]

Inclusion is a joke. A disservice to everyone - the "special" kids who don't get the attention they need, the "normal" kids who have to be slowed down to accommodate the "special" kids, the teacher who has to slow the pace down because of the "special" kid, and likely does not have a background in teaching special ed, the parents who who are trying to hide the simple fact of the world: Not every child is "normal."

 

[IGBT]

Find some fiddle fuggen thing for them to do..inclusion or otherwise..something they can do and get some feeling of accomplishment. The liberal paradigm says we're all the same..aren't we??

 

[Kadarin]

Did I read correctly that you said you can't fail them? Since when can a teacher not fail a student who does not master the material to at least a certain degree? What is the point of school if all students by definition pass the course?