Adventures in Education
Three teachers and their boss crowd into a conference room to discuss a most important matter.
Administrator: Explain to me again why Alice cannot read.
Teacher #1: Severe dyslexia.
Administrator: Smart girl, though?
Teacher #2: Yes. She can pass any class just by listening to lectures and giving oral answers to tests.
Teacher #1: As long as we read the tests to her.
Teacher #3: That's the dilemma. How can we continue to pass a student who is illiterate?
(Dramatic pause.)
Teacher #1: That might present a problem, especially in Language Arts where she's expected to read and write.
Teacher #3: Yet, she has a disability.
Administrator: Okay, let's clear something up. Alice can't read or write, but that doesn't mean she's illiterate.
(Teachers look dazed.)
Administrator: After all, Abraham Lincoln was illiterate.
(Teachers look confused.)
Administrator: And he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
(Teachers' heads explode.)
The End.
posted by kate @ 5:55 AM
17 comments
17 Comments:
Working in the trenches I have learned that educators that are incompetent are promoted to get them away from the students and/or parents. Those teachers that are quality tend to remain in the trenches earning the least pay and receiving the most crap from all sides (administration, parents and students). Of course there are exceptions to every circumstance. I know some administrators that were quality teachers and some teachers that really need to go away. I predict this particular administrator was NOT a quality teacher and I see a move downtown in her future.
If I can stop laughing . . . this has to be a joke!
So sad but true. Pinky swear.
If this is true, you have just destryoed my faith in mankind.
sigh.
It is true - I am a witness. Staying anonymous in case Big Brother is watching :)
...So what happened to this poor student??
Also, what grade is this and why has her dyslexia continued this long untreated?
No...tell me that this is just a funny little story.
That said, what can a school teacher/district (in your state) do if a parent refuses to acknowledge their child's learning disability?
Can the teacher/school place the student in a clasroom setting that addresses the obvious needs of the child without parental consent?
The student is fine - doing very well actually. Dyslexia is not disease that can be treated and will then go away. It is a life long disability. People with this disability have to learn coping strategies to function in life. Most do quite well. I often use the analogy of a parapalegic. He/she is not going to learn to walk, but can function very successfully in life with their disability. It is not ever going to go away or get better, but coping skills and technology have made life better for all individuals with any sort of disability.
If a parent refuses to acknowledge their child's disability then that child is treated as any other child in the school system and receives no accommodations offered by special education services. The child may do fine if their disability is mild and have learned coping strategies or may fail miserably. If the parents refuse special education services then the school systems hands are tied with providing accommodations. A Child CAN NOT be placed in any special education classroom without parental consent. 'Tis the law.
so what you're saying is that the parents denied this child special education?
Not necessarily. This student obviously is in special ed or wouldn't get an accomodation like oral tests.
I teach high school and when we get a kid who is used to taking tests this way and promoted all the way on up - what do we do with them in 9th grade?
My former/hope to be future colleague in education does totally rock. She knows her shit, that's for sure.
Seriously love the serious talk - however, what about the Boss Folks who get ahead without knowing the fundamentals? I wonder if that particular admin. was a former history teacher...
That was my point. Not that it matters, peeps. ;-)
Rock on with your bad selves.
My sister teaches in NY -- okay, so I'm ducking the tomatoes.
There, the administration wants to get children labeled disabled whenever possible. It pulls their scores out of the pool and raises the whole school's test score.
Don't know how FLorida works. THe NY system has the advantage of intervention, to help the parent see the problem. But, it has also encouaged them to label people disabled who might not be....
as for this guy's intelligence level, I'm, sadly, not surprised. I try hard to chalk it up to a faux pas -- because I like wearing my rose-colored glasses. :)
ha. ha. made my day reading this.
and you wonder why I push for private/home/charter schools.
The principal is a principle example of the administrative bloat that exists in public education.
There doesn't ever seem to be any accountability for school administrators and school board members. And why is that? Oh yeah, cause teachers have unions and unions are the scourge of the earth.
Maybe the principle should be required to retrain as often as teachers.
For those of you who find this hard to believe, believe me, I was there. I still have the bruise from being kicked under the table when one of my "lovely" colleagues realized I was about to shoot off my smart mouth at such a blatently stupid statement from an Educational Leader.
laughing.. hard.
just an fyi.
FIRST, at least Alice has a future as a school administrator.
SECOND, bless the teachers who deal with parents, school board members, administrators, and cafeteria ladies daily.
THIRD, if the pic is an accurate representation of MacDonald, I might have found a new husband. (weakness for mustaches)
Post a Comment
<< Home