Describe the differences between a transverse wave and a longitudinal wave.
If our Sun were a high mass star, what would be the eventual outcome of its life cycle?
Essay question: What would happen to our body's absorption rate of the intestines if villi had no microvilli?
There are a lot of things in this world that I do not know for sure. I'd say that most items fall under that category. So here are a few of those many things that I do not know for certain.
I can't say whether or not any of the above topics, which came home in Schuyler's classroom notes this week, would be within her grasp if she'd had a better mainstream classroom experience in the past, particularly last year. I can't claim that her mysterious and troubled brain would have the capacity to make sense of the material that she is now being handed in middle school if things had gone differently in her last few years in elementary school. And I can't say with any degree of certainty if things would be any different for her if the school district diagnostician hadn't informed her entire IEP committee two years ago that she wanted to retest Schuyler's IQ in order to have her labeled as MR, the range that she anticipated as the result of that test. I certainly can't state definitively that just making that observation subsequently informed, however subliminally, the way Schuyler was taught after that meeting.
What I can say for certain is that Schuyler's position in her mainstream class last year appears to have been akin to that of the classroom hamster. She was cute, she was friendly, she was tidy and she was helpful to the teacher. Remember, that was the extent of that teacher's evaluation of Schuyler's academic progress at her IEP last spring. Nothing about how Schuyler performed academically, and certainly not a word about strategies for teaching her. I don't know if there even were any strategies in place. If so, they appeared to be a trade secret.
And you know me. I love hamsters. I just sort of thought I was done raising them.
So that's the bad news. Here's the good news. Schuyler has all new teachers now. None of them were there two years ago when the diagnostician came right out and said that she believed Schuyler fell within the MR range and planted that seed. They'll find out soon enough that Schuyler isn't going to wax philosophical on transverse waves any time soon, but they won't have the whisper of "Don't bother, she'll never be able to do that" in their ears. And she has a special education team leader who appears to believe in Schuyler and whom I believe will advocate aggressively for her.
I don't know much about the outcome of the Sun's life cycle, either. I'm more concerned about the life cycle of my daughter. Its quantity, and most of all its quality.
If it makes you (and/or Schuyler) feel any better, Rob, I had to re-read those questions you put up at the beginning of your post and I still had no idea what in the world they were talking about! Maybe I fell asleep in class during those lessons, but they sure sound like gibberish to me!
ReplyDeleteAlso, I love hamsters too. In my lifetime I've had three adorable little rodents that I loved dearly.
Down "experts". What do they know anyways?
ReplyDeleteHere's hoping new teachers are a fresh beginning for Schuyler; after all, people live up to the expectations of others. Low expectations is not much to strive for.
I don't have a clue what those essay questions meant either.
Good luck to both daughter and father this year. I wish it wasn't such a fight for you both.
I know it's not your job to answer questions for her, but home teaching often has to make up for deficits. There are videos or animations to help visualize the first question: http://www.kettering.edu/physics/drussell/Demos/waves/wavemotion.html
ReplyDeleteFor microvilli, fingers work. Hold them out. Explain that anywhere skin is showing, something can get in. Then, make a fist. Ask...is there less skin showing? Could more or fewer things now get in? That's the intestine answer.
Heavy things give out earlier. That's the answer to the sun question. They will supernova, I think.
I'm thinking of how I'd explain this to someone very young, say about 4 or 5 years old. I don't know what Schuyler's comprehension level is, but I wonder if forgetting about that diagnostician and her "suspicions" and trying to find ways that fit your daughter's mysterious brain. That's more important that whether or not she falls into an arbitrary range that's identified via narrowly limited testing as ID. Based on my teaching experience, strategies for reaching into any mind take precedence over whatever presumptions are attached to a label.
I don't know if this advice is any good or helpful at all, but the smartest thing we did with our kids was to have a study group at our kitchen table almost every night. We'd have four kids (per grade) studying together and we'd feed them and support them whenever possible.
ReplyDeleteSchuyler might still be too young - but it might help her make friends and develop her own support group. I'm not sure how you would get one going, but if you remain open to the idea it might work itself out.
The downside is that it is a lot of work to pull off - a lot of food and a lot of late nights. The upside for us is that those kids are now at MIT, Duke, Tulane, UT, and TCU.
If Schuyler ever needs a bit more explaining on a topic you don't feel you can do justice, check out http://www.khanacademy.org/. This dude was tutoring his nephew cross-country via video, and decided to put them up for free. Then it snowballed. I went to an e-learning conference this year and a LOT of the k-12 educators there were providing relevant links from this site to their students so that they could try another teacher's explanation if they didn't get it the first time.
ReplyDeleteThat is an adorable picture! My son had a hamster last year that he just loved and vigilantly took care of - it was so cute to watch. And as for people's expectations...pluh...last year I thought (yes, I thought about my own son) that he would never be able to write well. Ever. And never mind the teachers he had in school. They wrote him off years ago and didn't even bother trying to teach him to write. This year? His tutor and I are teaching him to write a 5 paragraph essay. And he is doing it. The right teacher makes a big difference! I'm wishing the best for your beautiful daughter.
ReplyDeleteI know that she was struggling in reading in the past. Is she getting any extra instruction in reading? My philosophy if you can look up the answers to most questions, but you need to be able to read to do it. I know you guys are very informed parents. Keep fighting for her to get good instruction not just inclusion in names sake only. So often in the past, I have seen kids parked in a classroom and it is considered inclusion just because they are there, but they are not getting good instruction. This is the age to maximize her learning. Keep fighting for her!
ReplyDeleteHow should educators teach those students in the classroom whose ability levels are not up to what is being given to the class? Is it doing such a student any favors to be in such a classroom?
ReplyDelete@Catherine--First of all, I think the problem is that the teacher doesn't seem to have tried to teach Schuyler at all, not that she tried and failed. In more direct response to your question, an educator is supposed to do any or more of the following things: tell the parents the child isn't keeping up. Tell the principal the child isn't keeping up. Reach out to other teachers (particularly past teachers this child had) to see if they have any creative ways of reaching the child. I know educators are overworked and underpaid and all, but you know what? Their responsibility is to TEACH THE CHILD THAT HAS BEEN HANDED TO THEM. If they can't do that, they need to reach out for help in any number of ways, not just let the child sit in the class and fall farther behind.
ReplyDeleteI fell way behind in a science class in 7th grade, and by the way the teacher, the school, and my parents reacted, you would've thought the sky had fallen in. The fact that the teacher doesn't seem to have been alarmed at Schuyler's failure to keep up is, well, alarming.
Catherine,
ReplyDeleteEducators should teach students with all levels of development because that is what they have to do. I've seen teachers in our elem. school - year after year - accept our kids (both delayed) into their classrooms. They made adjustments to work, they modified sheets, they prepared study guides bc my kids can't keep up with taking notes. They do it because it's what we all agreed on in their iep is what will be help them succeed. They make the adjustments as part of their everyday routine. They never once made me think it was too hard or not worth it or even difficult. Never, ever.
The teachers aren't doing any favors - it's their job. The law says my kids have to have "reasonable access to education" and that is what they have to do. It is not a favor. My kids deserve access to everything typical kids have access to -- even if they have to have it taught to them differently. It's good for all of our kids though, not just mine.
Our kids are going to be out in the world. It is a fact. We have to be positioned for our kids to live side-by-side with all types of people - old, young, NT, not and the best way to start this is in the classroom - a controlled environment where all of our kids can figure out tolerance, compassion, empathy, patience. Because if I know anything, I know kids need to be taught those things; or we're all in big trouble.
Too often have I witnessed colleagues and other students treat a student who is mainstreamed in my music class like a baby. Luckily, I have noticed more of my students realize that these are just other kids who spend much of their time in another teacher's room. Some of my students who are mainstreamed for specials become the rock stars to their gen ed peers.
ReplyDeleteHow should educators teach those students in the classroom whose ability levels are not up to what is being given to the class?Is it doing such a student any favors to be in such a classroom?
ReplyDeleteCatherine, who exactly determines if a student is capable of comprehending the materials in a class, or whether or not they are "reachable" by a teacher? Who sets that ceiling? Who determines why a student might not be ready? Is it because the kid can't ever do it, or is it because past teachers didn't do their job? Are there neurotypical students who aren't capable of doing this work yet? Where do we put them?
I actually put this out to Facebook and Twitter, and here are a few answers others gave:
"The answer is through differentiated instruction. The teacher modifies each lesson to the student's academic functioning level. Most teachers do it without realizing, but the good ones plan their lessons with differentiation strategies and work built in. differentiatedinstruction.com"
"I am a teacher and would respond with, there are lots of students who are not at the expected level, even if they don't have an IEP."
"How do we get the best from our kids unless we ask the best of them? Who decides what kids deserve a place in her class?"
There are so many varied levels of ability in a classroom. Some kids have IEPs that illustrate these abilities and challenges they face. Many kids who are in classrooms have no such thing, no IEP at all and no discernible delay in learning, yet there they sit, in front of a teacher who is expected to TEACH them. So what's the difference? The child who has the IEP where the challenges are written out?
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher myself, we ought to think about how we educate ALL kids in our class and how we meet their needs, starting with where they are. Content as complex as physics can be changed to simple concepts and can be taught at all different levels. It is the teacher who thinks outside the box and is creative and resourceful who succeeds with kids who learn at a different pace and in a different way. It is our job as teachers to do it, and to have high expectations for all kids. Who is to decide that Schuyler or any other child might not learn physics? If she sat in my class I sure as hell would find a way she could learn it. I would have the faith, the believe and the ability in it.
As a parent of a child with a disability, who just happens to be entering 9th grade tomorrow, heaven help us all, who reads on a 6 th grade level and does Math on a 4th grade level, yet is enrolled in general education classes, including Algebra and English 1, I must tell you that I find it ludicrous that teachers are even talking about how to differentiate instruction in 2011. It is my daughters inherent right to a general education and to be in the Least Restrictive Environment in school.
It is not doing my daughter, nor Schuyler, nor any other child with an IEP a 'favor' to educate them with their peers. We don't need pity for our kids, we need educators who can educate a wide variety of students in a classroom.
In a perfect world with super teachers who follow ieps, modifications and employ differentiated instruction your daughter will be just fine. This goes for science or band btw. You already know, as a smart sped parent what must happen to make it work for your kid to succeed. But let's cut to the chase. Accountability. Not just accountability for your kid but for the whole class. Those teachers have to cram that curriculum down those poor young kids' throats and the general Ed kid is pressured to stay afloat in the increasingly competitive classroom. Meanwhile the academic gap widens for our kids. this shift happens in MS. It's a real adjustment for the parents, too. It's painful because the solution(s) come with compromise. Elementary school was waaaaay better.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter's school has two teachers in each classroom---one regular education teacher and one special education teacher. However, they both teach all the kids, and my sons in regular ed. rarely even knew for sure which was which. My daughter is not able to access most of the regular curriculum, and most likely never will be able to, but she is taught at her own level, alongside her peers. I know this is probably not going to happen in every school. I am not sure how a classroom would work with my daughter being supported by one teacher alone, but she is far, far, far lower functioning than Schuyler. I do feel every teacher has a responsibility to do their very best for every student, and every school has the responsibility to support their teachers so that is possible to do.
ReplyDeleteWell, Schuyler does have an assistant teacher or an aid in every class except for PE and band, so that helps.
ReplyDeleteFor us, elementary school turned out to be sort of a disaster, possibly because she only had one mainstream teacher a year, and if they weren't cutting it, it was a big torpedo to Schuyler's learning. At least middle school increases the number of teachers, theoretically increasing her odds of getting at least a few good ones.
There's a comment I'm not going to publish, but I instead want to clarify something. The questions I posted were simply examples from a much larger set of notes. They were example questions for the students, and they were drawn from a number of different, appropriate sections. I'm sorry if I made it look like they were just random questions with no context.
ReplyDelete"How should educators teach those students in the classroom whose ability levels are not up to what is being given to the class? Is it doing such a student any favors to be in such a classroom?"
ReplyDeleteEducators should recognize that they must forget about whatever preconceived notions of "ability level" they or others may have and do their best to find a variety of ways to reach students at any level. I never teach something once, I never teach something the same way over and over. I teach it in many different ways and monitor my students for comprehension and interest and re-engage where necessary.
It is beyond me why the concept of "favors" even comes up here. A student in a classroom is a student in a classroom. Where does doing a student a "favor" come in?
I can only tell you that it was about the 7th grade when I began to see the difference between my son and his "normal" peers in the classroom. Preston had more trouble understanding the questions that were asked both on paper and in the air; he took a lot longer to answer, confusion was always on his face unless it was math. (language not needed it's all visual) Yes, some of it was the fact that the services were not up to par but some of it was just that he could not at that time perform where the other kids were performing. I continued fighting for what I thought was right for him and I'm so glad I never gave up. He is in college now doing very well (and it has taken a lot of work) so just keep doing what you believe is best; no one knows your daughter like you do.
ReplyDelete"How should educators teach those students in the classroom whose ability levels are not up to what is being given to the class? Is it doing such a student any favors to be in such a classroom?"
ReplyDeleteHow about the same way they should teach the students whose abilitiy level is ABOVE what is being taught, and those whose ability level is ON PAR with what is being taught. Every child should have a virtual IEP in the mind of the teacher, all lessons should be accessible to all students anything less is a disservice to ALL STUDENTS in the class and to the teacher too. Teaching to the "middle" is poor form for any teacher.
Sigh. It's going to be difficult, I imagine. But I urge you to keep going, keep at it, keep advocating. I was sweating when I read that stuff you posted at the beginning.
ReplyDeleteThis was a fascinating post and relevant to our experience with our son.
ReplyDeleteHe's been in a segregated school for 3 years and I just pushed to have him in a regular high school that has support for students who oare deaf/hh. He attended an alternative elementary school and while he did create some authentic friendships there, he too was viewed a bit like the cute hamster (because he is tiny).
The sense I have from board people and teachers here is that many teachers don't know how to do differentiated instruction for children with intellectual disability. I was told it just couldn't be done, and then I found some examples online of how a book like To Kill a Mockingbird had been adapted.
My son's IEP was completely out of wack with what he knows and was never followed and used to show measurable progress. He can read but at the segregated school there were no goals for reading.
Now I am hoping he will get a better education (though he won't get his high school graduation because the courses will be adapted too much to meet the board's criteria).
But I have all the same concerns you have about teacher and student perceptions.
The school my son is going to has never included someone with his degree of disability and they would not normally allow a child like him to be placed there. I have an inclusion expert going in to talk to the principal and the board person, but I think it will be rocky to start.
Do you do education with Schuyler's teachers and students about her differences? I was told it was important to speak to both staff and students to present my son as a "person" -- his loves, interests, quirks, etc -- rather than a 'problem.'
However, I'm a bit nervous about this at the high school level.
I look forward to following Schuyler's experiences at Middle School. Thanks for sharing this! Louise
I am a science tutor in the UK, and I have to say I was surprised when I read those questions. They seem to be covering material which I would expect a typical 14 year old to be able to explain. Not an 11 year old. None of those topics are in primary school science here I think they do basic digestion, and of course the solar system - but only in terms of naming the planets and learning a bit about them. Not life cycle of stars! They also learn about the difference between sound and light waves, but on a practical level, not terms like "transverse" and "longitudinal".
ReplyDeleteAre you sure these are things she's expected to know now and not things she's expected to be able to explain by the time she leaves the middle school? They seem very advanced.
The kind of answers I'd expect from a "typical" 14 year old would be:
1) Longitudinal waves vibrate in the same direction that they're travelling in. Transverse waves vibrate from side-to-side (brighter kids would add "at 90 degrees to the direction they're travelling in").
2) If the Sun was a high-mass star, it could explode in a supernova at the end of its life. Then it could become a black hole or neutron star.
3) Without microvilli, the absorption rate of the intestines would slow right down. It would be hard for us to absorb enough nutrients from our digested food before it passes out of the body.
*How should educators teach those students in the classroom whose ability levels are not up to what is being given to the class? Is it doing such a student any favors to be in such a classroom?*
ReplyDeleteThose students are just as much "the class" as anyone else. They aren't there for show. They aren't there to make everyone feel better about being inclusive and PC, and they aren't the damned class pet. They aren't there to shut their parents up. Schuyler opens that door and finds her desk and looks at the front of the classroom for the same reason as every other kid in there: to learn.
Should a gym teacher refuse to teach a kid who is overweight or shorter than the other kids or can't run well? If a student signs up for an art class, should the teacher make him drop it if he has little natural ability? Fuck that. The school's job is to give the student exposure to new ideas, to stretch what they know, to shore up their weaknesses, and to work with the parents to make sure that every student is making progress and getting help when needed.
A class is a group of kids. Each group has its own blend of personalities and abilities and challenges. That's the basic idea behind public education.
In some school settings, the students are put into the classes that are appropriate to their level of comprehension. At the high school level this is done all of the time. Someone who does not have the math fundamentals to go into Algebra 2 or Algebra at all, has to go to the level where he can comprehend the material. This happens with many of the courses.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that some students may be no more able to comprehend the basic level of, say mathematics, that is being taught any more than the average pre Algebra student would be able to learn Calculus. At what point does one try to find where the student belongs in terms of best being able to advance in a subject?
Is it doing the child any good to put him/her into a classroom where s/he isn't going to be able to come close to even a small portion of comprehension of the material covered, and then move the child up to the next level?
Specifically, with Schuyler, would she be better off in a classroom setting where she could be taught what those questions are even asking, rather than the answers to them? I would not want to be in a classroom where the level is so far over my head that I would not be able to understand what is happening. I'd like to be at a level that could best bridge where I am to a higher level of education. Would it not be better to find out where a student is specifically in terms of grade level and work from that point?
She's eleven years old, Catherine. She's in the sixth grade. It is far far too early to start saying she "isn't going to be able to come close to even a small portion of comprehension of the material covered". Is that ever appropriate? I can't say. But it is wildly inappropriate at this level.
ReplyDelete"Someone who does not have the math fundamentals to go into Algebra 2 or Algebra at all, has to go to the level where he can comprehend the material. This happens with many of the courses."
ReplyDeleteBut what if the pre-algebra teacher has the kids spend all year coloring in Elmo coloring books? Wouldn't the parents be upset to find that their kids weren't prepared for Algebra 1 despite making good grades in pre-algebra?
So there's more than one issue going on here -- 1. Should kids be promoted to the next grade level if they aren't ready to handle the work? (Neurotypical or not)
and 2. WHY did her 5th grade teacher act as though the most important skill in 6th grade was going to be "being a great helper"?? Why weren't Rob and Julie receiving regular communication about areas where Schuyler may have needed more help? Argh. Just WTF.
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Rob -- any thoughts on having her repeat the 5th grade (ideally at a different school with a different IEP team, starting fresh)? It really sucks that she spent a year being sidelined, but might be better to spend a year backing up and shoring up her book learnin' before moving into the grades where things can get really overwhelming really quickly.
I know I'm an idiot and things are never that simple, but I've worked with ESL students and the transition into sixth grade is where the shit seems to hit the fan. A kid who has fallen through the cracks but managed to get by with poor reading skills in fourth and fifth grade finds himself terribly unprepared for sixth grade work. Not because he isn't smart enough to learn the material but because it's stuff that's hard to read, it's hard to follow in another language, and it's impossible to write about when your teachers haven't helped you nail down the skills you need to do it.
Baratron's comment got me thinking because I too remember covering those types of questions in freshman science NOT 6th grade, so I'm going to shoot them over to Rymer (who starts 7th grade next week) and see what he says.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying that the materials they're going to be covering are inappropriate for 6th grade. I have no idea what they are going to be learning or what her science teacher is all about, and my impression is that he's very good.
ReplyDelete"Is it ever appropriate?", you ask. Clearly, yes. There are sections for science and math once kids get into high school because it does not make sense to place some kids who are not at the same level as others in the same course. Kids who are on a higher academic plane are often accelerated even earlier than that. I am not so much concerned about appropriateness as what is the best for the individual student.
ReplyDeleteWe had major major medical problems with one child some years ago. My oldest son at that time fell very far behind in school. The standardized testing showed a tremendous drop. Due, I'm sure, because I was not on his case, and he did little that year.
So I pulled him from our wonderful public school system after taking one look at the middle school curriculum and realizing that he was not anywhere near ready to tackle that academic material, and focused on homeschooling and tutoring him for the next two years. Had to do a similar thing for another one of mine a few years later. The focus on the academics did catch them up. It was not pleasant, but I saw too many kids get too far behind and just not catch up.
I would want to see kids who have gone through the system as Schuyler is doing, young adult kids, and see how they are now.
As your later post says, those in the disability community are not necessary in agreement, and in fact, are in much disagreement as to how things are done. Right now the emphasis is on inclusion in a regular classroom. When my kids were in school, it was working on their academics on an individual basis in much smaller groups in the special education setting. I ttony gattoruly don't know which way is the best to go overall.
Ok, results of my informal poll are in (Rymer's friends..ranging in 7th-9th grade) the general consensus was that the waves were taught in 6th grade and they all promptly forgot it all by 7th, the rest of it was met with a collective, "Huh?"
ReplyDeleteThe reason I took it to the kids was not because I thought you were suggesting the material wasn't appropriate for 6th grade, it was because I really think that even had Schuyler's 5th grade teacher not been an epic fail, she still wouldn't have been fully prepared for middle school science, it's completely different from elementary school. All the kids said that they felt in over their heads and I remember feeling that waaaay back when I was in middle school. The message for Schuyler from the bunch was: "Do all the homework because even if you have no idea what any of it means, you'll know the test questions from your old homework assignments."
Rymer thinks it's awesome that Schuyler's in band (he plays the baritone)and wants to know if she likes bowling and if she'd do karaoke, if so she's welcome into his pack of friends if you ever decide to ditch Plano..
I took an Elementary Ed course back in the middle 1980s (slightly prior to the Stone Age), and that's pretty much how mainstreaming was presented to us then: Class pet. Apparently, not much has changed in some quarters.
ReplyDeleteWell, except for kids who were presumed to have a "Normal IQ". Hmm... Okay, I think I'm starting to get what this 'Just a word' stuff is about. ;-D
If it makes Schuyler feel any better, I boggled at all the questions but the microvilli one. ;-D
I'm frustrated with how science and math are typically taught. Most schools make the subjects so dry and boring that most kids do their best to memorize facts they don't understand just long enough to pass tests. If, at the end of the school year, Schuyler doesn't understand the concepts behind the sample questions you posted, I doubt her neurotypical peers do either. (And if she gets a failing grade for it, and they get passing grades, it's completely not fair.)
ReplyDeleteI remember helping my neurotypical niece study for a science test on buoyancy. She had to memorize the most dry, tedious definition of buoyancy I ever read. She didn't understand what she memorized. Nor did she remember the definition a week after the test. How is this helping her?
What if, instead, schools took a totally hands-on approach to science? Forget these kinds of dry, tedious facts. Instead, let them play with buoyancy. Let them play with all different kinds of objects in water. What sinks? What floats? Let them get a feel for the relationship between the amount of water displaced and the shape and density of the objects. For supernovas (which would happen to our sun if it was a high mass star), let them hold a gold ring. A supernova produced that gold. They are holding the stuff of stars. How cool is that?!
There is so much about science and math that Schuyler could learn if she could just hold it and see it and play with it herself. I hope her science teachers get that.