conflicts+and+tensions+of+teaching

28th March 2011 Today we have had an IEP for Amelia's learning and schooling, it was a difficult meeting as there are a lot of inconsistencies with what has happened with her coming into the school. I worry that the tension of speaking up and wanting help has back tracked and could impact on my accountability further as I am at a loss as to what more or less I should do. The ideas from the parents and the others in the room was to keep adapting the programmes that I am currently doing and more testing is going to be undertaken in order to highlight the way she learns and how I can make an appropriate programme for her. This is what I have been after since the beginning of the year and even from last year. Today I had a teacher aide arrive at interval who would be in my classroom and others to help her to work, I however was not aware of this occuring and it took me by surprise. The teacher aide has never had any training and therefore will need direct instruction from me which is taking away once again from the interactions that I have with each member of our class. A child with special needs deserves to be in main stream education but it is difficult when the support and the knowledge isn't in place and a lot of it so far has not been and my knowledge is extremely limited and gaining confidence with different curriculum tasks proves daughting. I have the accountability of her parents also on the case now that they are paying for their own teacher aide to help her and pooring the resources into Amelia. Kerry the RTLB has highlighted that these measure were not in place in primary school - so why are they so necessary now at College. This has made me question my own practice and what is best practice when dealing with special needs children. I also question the validity of assessment for her, and how the assessments that we are undertake are above her reading ability therefore unattainable to represent the correct results that we can. This relates to RTC 9 iii; iv; v as I have communicated assessment information to the necessary people and asked for assistance in appropriate assessment tools to inform me of her learning. Kerry is going to understake further cognitive testing. The parents have not been presented this assessment information before and therefore were thinking of the opting out option, however assistance in response to what we have found to adapt the curric to her level is appropriate. Additionally this relates to collaborative professional relationships and promoting the well being of the child therefore RTC 1 and 2 also. 7th March 2011 Last week Mr and Mrs Bradley came in and met with Wayne in regards to gaining her assitance that they are prepared to supply. They also mentioned that they find it difficult to get through the amount of homework that is set out - I have altered the amount that she has to do in the third week, but Wayne suggested only 4 words - and referred to working with adult education and assertation of words. I made the judgment to keep 8 words for her as she does not like to have it made out that she cannot handle and is different to the rest of the children. The words that she has are small three to four letters which I believe she is cognitively capable of due to the work that I have seen her do - they are also high frequency words and her spelling tests indicate she is getting them right. This meeting got the ball rolling and I also emailed the RTLB for the area to ask her to look into assistance for Amelia as she has been under her direction in the past. The assessment information I provided her was below what she has seen in the past, which was alarming for me as I was unaware if the assessments I took were under not administered correctly - but she assured me she would use them and I believe the change in teachers and expectations confuses her also.

I have assistance with Tau a few times a week and I have just considered that her ability to work with Amelia and question her is very limiting. I will in future set her up for half a period with the class and then I will work with Amelia to try and work with her indepth and gain a better relationship with her. I worry about her in the other classes where she isn't getting a programme for herself and may be getting further confused. She can work independently but only with tasks that she is capable of undertaking - and she can't challange herself as her ability to comprehend and be aware of expectations affects this.

Feb 2011 Amelia Bradley has been a bright addition to my classroom environment. She has come with high learning needs and developmental difficulties. Conversation with her mother has highlighted that she has never been given a label for this. She requires and alternative programme for learning for all areas. Her assessment information and my overall teacher judgement shows that she has a good understanding overall of many different items but is nnot holistic in her understanding, comprehension and retention. For reading she is still just reading to decode the text and comprehension is low. Her mathematics is still one to one and she gets confused between the symbols - she has a lot of tools but is unsure of which one to use for what occasion. Therefore my teaching must be in realistic contexts for her to use everyday.

She is getting no assistance and I worry about her ability and the programmes that I am running for her - I am aware that I am trying to get her to the level equivalent of the curriculum for the children at year 7, or move her forward in the direction of this. I hope that I can do enough. I have approached the dean, HOD and the senco at school to get assistance. However the senco is new and unaware of the assessment information that we provide her and the difference between year 7 and 8's to the senior students. This makes it difficult to gain the appropriate help as a year 2 teacher with limited experience with children with learning needs. This could be a area which I would look into for further studies in years to come - it is hard due to one step forward one step back again. I am lucky however that I have a smaller classroom so I am able to give her time. She requires continual instruction and management to be able to undertake most tasks. She works well independently - however to challange her she can't be independent as she is unable to decode and comprehend. I think her being in different classes with different teachers and different expectations has reflected in her work output and her stress levels of routine.