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Post by elaine on Jul 12, 2020 18:19:44 GMT
I wish she had addressed Special Education in her response and how those children are positively being basically abandoned by school systems because approximately 90+% their special education needs cannot be met by online education. That was one of the (many) things that I fussed about this spring. I couldn’t get hold of some of my parents, and when I did, the only thing that I could figure out to do was to coach the parent. My kids are young and largely nonverbal. It wasN’t enough, and I knew it. But it was all that I could think to do. No one has been able to figure out an effective, safe way to work with our neediest populations. It’s a terrible situation all the way round. Even though I retired at the end of this year, it still bothers me. Thank you. 3 of the 5 kids in my son’s class are non-verbal and the 45 minutes per day 4 days per week of online learning doesn’t come close to meeting any of their needs. It certainly isn’t the teachers’ faults- they are doing the best they possibly can given the circumstances. I truly believe that. At the same time, as a parent of a severe special needs child, I am frustrated with the responses to the pandemic and education that completely ignore all the children whose have needs that are impossible to meet in a virtual environment. Even more public acknowledgment that we, as a society, are failing them, would help; rather than simply ignoring them and their needs because they don’t fit in simple responses to the myriad of educational issues the pandemic has brought upon us. Because, if we ignore them and their needs, we certainly aren’t trying to solve the issues of meeting their needs - and it communicates in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that they just don’t matter to us as a society.
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inkedup
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Jun 26, 2014 5:00:26 GMT
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Post by inkedup on Jul 12, 2020 18:23:37 GMT
I wish she had addressed Special Education in her response and how those children are positively being basically abandoned by school systems because approximately 90+% their special education needs cannot be met by online education. I see and hear so much worry from parents of children who require specialized instruction. I don't see how it is possible to provide the services and instruction these children deserve outside of the school setting. This sucks. All of it. In a country that has unlimited funds for war and the police state, it is disgusting that our children and teachers have basically been left to fend for themselves.
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 12, 2020 18:28:02 GMT
That was one of the (many) things that I fussed about this spring. I couldn’t get hold of some of my parents, and when I did, the only thing that I could figure out to do was to coach the parent. My kids are young and largely nonverbal. It wasN’t enough, and I knew it. But it was all that I could think to do. No one has been able to figure out an effective, safe way to work with our neediest populations. It’s a terrible situation all the way round. Even though I retired at the end of this year, it still bothers me. Thank you. 3 of the 5 kids in my son’s class are non-verbal and the 45 minutes per day 4 days per week of online learning doesn’t come close to meeting any of their needs. It certainly isn’t the teachers’ faults- they are doing the best they possibly can given the circumstances. I truly believe that. At the same time, as a parent of a severe special needs child, I am frustrated with the responses to the pandemic and education that completely ignore all the children whose have needs that are impossible to meet in a virtual environment. Even more public acknowledgment that we, as a society, are failing them, would help; rather than simply ignoring them and their needs because they don’t fit in simple responses to the myriad of educational issues the pandemic has brought upon us. Because, if we ignore them and their needs, we certainly aren’t trying to solve the issues of meeting their needs - and it communicates in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that they just don’t matter to us as a society. our paras spent 2 hours per day with our severe needs students who logged on. A lot of them didn't log on. But many of our kids are also immunocompromised and will probably not return to school even if we are open for health reasons. So open or closed, we have to figure something out for them
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Post by librarylady on Jul 12, 2020 19:28:15 GMT
Amen! Do you have a link to this that I can share with Someone without giving up my secret society. 😜
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Post by mollycoddle on Jul 12, 2020 19:53:55 GMT
That was one of the (many) things that I fussed about this spring. I couldn’t get hold of some of my parents, and when I did, the only thing that I could figure out to do was to coach the parent. My kids are young and largely nonverbal. It wasN’t enough, and I knew it. But it was all that I could think to do. No one has been able to figure out an effective, safe way to work with our neediest populations. It’s a terrible situation all the way round. Even though I retired at the end of this year, it still bothers me. Thank you. 3 of the 5 kids in my son’s class are non-verbal and the 45 minutes per day 4 days per week of online learning doesn’t come close to meeting any of their needs. It certainly isn’t the teachers’ faults- they are doing the best they possibly can given the circumstances. I truly believe that. At the same time, as a parent of a severe special needs child, I am frustrated with the responses to the pandemic and education that completely ignore all the children whose have needs that are impossible to meet in a virtual environment. Even more public acknowledgment that we, as a society, are failing them, would help; rather than simply ignoring them and their needs because they don’t fit in simple responses to the myriad of educational issues the pandemic has brought upon us. Because, if we ignore them and their needs, we certainly aren’t trying to solve the issues of meeting their needs - and it communicates in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that they just don’t matter to us as a society. I share your frustration, Elaine. Even now, I wonder if I could have done more. I wonder if some of the problem is that many of the administrators(at least in my neck of the woods) have no background in special education. I was very fortunate to have been able to get a lot of extra training through workshops and seminars. It helped me immensely. I have not noticed that such training is widely available now-at least around here. It all makes a difference.
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Post by elaine on Jul 12, 2020 20:02:07 GMT
Thank you. 3 of the 5 kids in my son’s class are non-verbal and the 45 minutes per day 4 days per week of online learning doesn’t come close to meeting any of their needs. It certainly isn’t the teachers’ faults- they are doing the best they possibly can given the circumstances. I truly believe that. At the same time, as a parent of a severe special needs child, I am frustrated with the responses to the pandemic and education that completely ignore all the children whose have needs that are impossible to meet in a virtual environment. Even more public acknowledgment that we, as a society, are failing them, would help; rather than simply ignoring them and their needs because they don’t fit in simple responses to the myriad of educational issues the pandemic has brought upon us. Because, if we ignore them and their needs, we certainly aren’t trying to solve the issues of meeting their needs - and it communicates in subtle and not-so-subtle ways that they just don’t matter to us as a society. our paras spent 2 hours per day with our severe needs students who logged on. A lot of them didn't log on.But many of our kids are also immunocompromised and will probably not return to school even if we are open for health reasons. So open or closed, we have to figure something out for them I hear you. We only made to online ESY 2 days this week because my son was melting down at the time class started and if he is crying, it upsets one of the other boys quite a bit, so I can’t logon to class if he is crying without stopping the whole class from getting anything done. Given only a 45 minute window, it is very easy to miss. The other boys and 1 girl in his class are very hit-or-miss in terms of attendance for the same reason. Thank you and your paras for all you do for our children.
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Post by iteach3rdgrade on Jul 12, 2020 20:50:13 GMT
Most of these arguments are the ones that go through my head. At this point my only remaining public-school child will most likely be doing his sophomore year online, either through whatever the district offers or a program like K-12. I know that we are extremely fortunate to be able to choose that option because I know so many families won’t be able to . I really want to do whatever is going to make it easier and safer for the educators and other families, while keeping my own son and family safe, and if taking my son out of the equation this next year does that then I will. I do understand that our district might lose funding that way so we’ll see what options there are to work around that. Your district would not lose funding if you enrolled in one of their online programs. That's my understanding. I know districts were worried about online schools advertising which would take money away from local schools if students enrolled in them.
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kate
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Post by kate on Jul 12, 2020 20:51:27 GMT
I'll be spending my first week or two teaching students about what to do when we go back online, because we WILL go back online This x100.
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seaexplore
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Apr 25, 2015 23:57:30 GMT
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Post by seaexplore on Jul 12, 2020 21:24:58 GMT
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Post by shescrafty on Jul 12, 2020 21:25:08 GMT
I wish she had addressed Special Education in her response and how those children are positively being basically abandoned by school systems because approximately 90+% their special education needs cannot be met by online education. Elaine do you have any ideas on what can be done to still meet the needs of students such as yours while keeping safety in mind? I think the special needs population has been underrepresented in discussions about what the next steps should be. But if we are all Virtual what do you think might work for your family or other families?
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 12, 2020 21:40:51 GMT
Most of these arguments are the ones that go through my head. At this point my only remaining public-school child will most likely be doing his sophomore year online, either through whatever the district offers or a program like K-12. I know that we are extremely fortunate to be able to choose that option because I know so many families won’t be able to . I really want to do whatever is going to make it easier and safer for the educators and other families, while keeping my own son and family safe, and if taking my son out of the equation this next year does that then I will. I do understand that our district might lose funding that way so we’ll see what options there are to work around that. Your district would not lose funding if you enrolled in one of their online programs. That's my understanding. I know districts were worried about online schools advertising which would take money away from local schools if students enrolled in them. most districts here don't have their own online program yet. A lot are going t I a state k12 program...i don't know what happens to fundingc
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snyder
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Apr 26, 2017 6:14:47 GMT
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Post by snyder on Jul 12, 2020 21:41:07 GMT
Amen! Do you have a link to this that I can share with Someone without giving up my secret society. 😜 Don't know if the post was edited to add the link, but the link is at the bottom of the article.
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 12, 2020 21:42:26 GMT
I wish she had addressed Special Education in her response and how those children are positively being basically abandoned by school systems because approximately 90+% their special education needs cannot be met by online education. Elaine do you have any ideas on what can be done to still meet the needs of students such as yours while keeping safety in mind? I think the special needs population has been underrepresented in discussions about what the next steps should be. But if we are all Virtual what do you think might work for your family or other families? I'm not Elaine, but as a sped teacher, I'd be willing to go into the school to work with various students on a case by case basis. I am far more comfortable seeing 3-20 kids per day for a couple of hours at a time than being in a building with 1000s of students
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Post by crazy4scraps on Jul 12, 2020 21:53:04 GMT
I have this idea.. just like forest preschools.. we do forest all school.. the districts provide good outdoor clothing and shoes for everyone.. and they just meet outdoors.. in all weathers. throw up some canopies.. find parks and parking lots to meet at.. just don't go back inside the buildings.. with masks and distancing possible.. it may be a better solution. That won’t work here at all. Our winters are brutal. They sometimes start as early as November and sometimes last until early May, and kids can get frostbite just waiting for the freaking school bus. So that would get a hard pass from me. Our district typically closes school probably 3-5 days every winter on those days that are just too horrifically cold to risk having kids wait for the bus, and they do indoor recess on many, many more days that aren’t cold enough to close school but are too cold to send kids outside for their 20 minutes of recess.
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Post by snugglebutter on Jul 12, 2020 22:02:11 GMT
Elaine do you have any ideas on what can be done to still meet the needs of students such as yours while keeping safety in mind? I think the special needs population has been underrepresented in discussions about what the next steps should be. But if we are all Virtual what do you think might work for your family or other families? I'm not Elaine, but as a sped teacher, I'd be willing to go into the school to work with various students on a case by case basis. I am far more comfortable seeing 3-20 kids per day for a couple of hours at a time than being in a building with 1000s of students
I have read a suggestion to let special education classes be the first group to return to in-person schooling. I wonder how realistic that idea would be?
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Post by elaine on Jul 12, 2020 22:36:50 GMT
I wish she had addressed Special Education in her response and how those children are positively being basically abandoned by school systems because approximately 90+% their special education needs cannot be met by online education. Elaine do you have any ideas on what can be done to still meet the needs of students such as yours while keeping safety in mind? I think the special needs population has been underrepresented in discussions about what the next steps should be. But if we are all Virtual what do you think might work for your family or other families? I’ll respond more later after dinner and bedtime routine here, but all virtual will never meet the needs of moderate to severe special needs children. Our school district’s plans were discussed quite a bit today on CNN -and it includes giving parents the choice of all online or in-person 2 days per week/online 2 days. I think this will help better meet the needs of the 27,000 kids with IEPs in FCPS, even though it means that many IEPs still won’t come close to being met. If we, as a society, decide that we need to sacrifice the needs of special needs kids for the public good, so be it. But to have those sacrifices ignored and have the arguments framed so that all parents who are in favor of some return to school as being misguided and selfish is offensive at best to the parents of children whose real needs are realistically being sacrificed for the greater good.
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Post by refugeepea on Jul 12, 2020 22:39:54 GMT
I wish she had addressed Special Education in her response and how those children are positively being basically abandoned by school systems because approximately 90+% their special education needs cannot be met by online education. I'm feeling especially cranky today because my son has had two days this week of being up 24+ hours. When I started reading the opinion piece, it was immediately clear that was not going to be addressed. You responded better than the thoughts I was feeling.
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AnotherPea
Pearl Clutcher
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Jan 4, 2015 1:47:52 GMT
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Post by AnotherPea on Jul 12, 2020 22:45:22 GMT
I wish she had addressed Special Education in her response and how those children are positively being basically abandoned by school systems because approximately 90+% their special education needs cannot be met by online education. I don’t believe that percentage. I was able to meet all of my sped students’ needs during remote learning. And we were in a mad scramble mode then. There are definitely some needs that cannot be met virtually. I don’t have the answers to that problem.
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pyccku
Pearl Clutcher
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Jun 27, 2014 23:12:07 GMT
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Post by pyccku on Jul 12, 2020 23:04:00 GMT
I have this idea.. just like forest preschools.. we do forest all school.. the districts provide good outdoor clothing and shoes for everyone.. and they just meet outdoors.. in all weathers. throw up some canopies.. find parks and parking lots to meet at.. just don't go back inside the buildings.. with masks and distancing possible.. it may be a better solution. That won’t work here in the winter. I cannot even begin to imagine the hellscape teachers would be dealing with with trying to teach when it is 25 degrees or less outside. Which would be for a sizeable chunk of the school year since we are in Michigan. It’s 115 here in AZ. School starts in three weeks.
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Post by elaine on Jul 12, 2020 23:24:44 GMT
I wish she had addressed Special Education in her response and how those children are positively being basically abandoned by school systems because approximately 90+% their special education needs cannot be met by online education. I'm feeling especially cranky today because my son has had two days this week of being up 24+ hours. When I started reading the opinion piece, it was immediately clear that was not going to be addressed. You responded better than the thoughts I was feeling. (((Hugs)))) I’m nursing 2 cracked ribs that mine gave me 2 weeks ago and we had 3 days last week that he woke up at 4 am, so I am also on low-sleep mode, but not as sleep deprived as you.
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Country Ham
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Jun 25, 2014 19:32:08 GMT
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Post by Country Ham on Jul 12, 2020 23:31:39 GMT
but I also agree that children with additional support needs and children without access to internet/technology at home, and children of essential workers and...aren't in a position to stay home and school online Our school put out their plan this week. I am opting for in classroom for mine. I did tell my senior that if they'll let them go in and out throughout the day he can leave the building for his his online dual enrollment classes. Even though they do that work independently and usually at home there is still a time slot set aside that was "library" time. He should only have 2 classes then he has to be in the classroom for. My other is a sophomore and no dual yet so she'll be there all day. What I find crazy is that suddenly they have the money to give all kids their own chrome books. We've never had that money before. The library had 30 chrome books at the high school the teachers had to reserve ahead time if they wanted to use them for a period during the day. The information sent home stated that while chrome books were provided, each student/parent was responsible for there own access to wi-fi. Our town library has free wifi in one hour increments but they can only sit 6 at a time and plus the drive is a long way on country roads.
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Post by cade387 on Jul 12, 2020 23:43:04 GMT
I agree with the article. I also know that my DH and I will lose our jobs if we have the kids at home. I don’t know what to do. Our school is supposed to put out their plan end of July.
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FurryP
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To pea or not to pea...
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Post by FurryP on Jul 12, 2020 23:57:05 GMT
Amen! Do you have a link to this that I can share with Someone without giving up my secret society. 😜
librarylady and TankTop, Often if you just copy a section of the writing you can google that and get a hit. Like this section: Like all of you, I’ve seen my feed become a flood of anxiety and faux expertise.hope that helps for the future
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Post by Merge on Jul 13, 2020 0:05:15 GMT
I agree with the article. I also know that my DH and I will lose our jobs if we have the kids at home. I don’t know what to do. Our school is supposed to put out their plan end of July. I feel for you. What has your employer said about its plans to keep employees safe by increasing teleworking options? What if one of you could work and the other could be temporarily laid off and draw unemployment? I really hope that employers (and our government, where it's not logistically possible for employers to do so) will step up and ease the burden on working families rather than expecting the public schools to solve this problem for them.
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moodyblue
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Post by moodyblue on Jul 13, 2020 0:16:21 GMT
Elaine do you have any ideas on what can be done to still meet the needs of students such as yours while keeping safety in mind? I think the special needs population has been underrepresented in discussions about what the next steps should be. But if we are all Virtual what do you think might work for your family or other families? I'm not Elaine, but as a sped teacher, I'd be willing to go into the school to work with various students on a case by case basis. I am far more comfortable seeing 3-20 kids per day for a couple of hours at a time than being in a building with 1000s of students I just read a piece by Jennifer Serravallo on Facebook, where she suggested that most all learning be remote, but have the schools open for things like Special Ed and Speech/Language IF teachers felt safe doing that. Students would come just for their specialized services but not be there all day, as it would be one or two students at a time.
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moodyblue
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Posts: 6,170
Location: Western Illinois
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Jun 26, 2014 21:07:23 GMT
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Post by moodyblue on Jul 13, 2020 0:17:42 GMT
I'm feeling especially cranky today because my son has had two days this week of being up 24+ hours. When I started reading the opinion piece, it was immediately clear that was not going to be addressed. You responded better than the thoughts I was feeling. (((Hugs)))) I’m nursing 2 cracked ribs that mine gave me 2 weeks ago and we had 3 days last week that he woke up at 4 am, so I am also on low-sleep mode, but not as sleep deprived as you. I know you’ve been hurt before by your son. I’m sorry. I can’t imagine living like that. Does he understand what he’s doing when he is physical with you?
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Post by ajsweetpea on Jul 13, 2020 1:10:57 GMT
I hear from so many people who say that their kids need to go back to school for their "mental health" and all I can think is what is their mental health going to be like when they have a classmate, teacher, bus driver or counselor pass away from Covid? We don't know how this virus is going to affect someone until they come down with it. Yes, most people who get it will recover, but what about our teachers/drivers/counselors/custodians/students who have chronic health issues? What about staff members who are nearing retirement age? And what about people who have bodies that don't do well with the virus? Younger people pass away from Covid too. What about kids who bring it home to parents/grandparents who are chronically ill?
I also wish many of these schools would make decisions NOW about what the fall will look like. If there is going to be online learning, it is a great time to start figuring out what that will look like. Additionally, there will be time to look at IEP's and try to figure out the best way to provide services and accommodations for students with special needs.
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Post by iteach3rdgrade on Jul 13, 2020 1:19:12 GMT
Your district would not lose funding if you enrolled in one of their online programs. That's my understanding. I know districts were worried about online schools advertising which would take money away from local schools if students enrolled in them. most districts here don't have their own online program yet. A lot are going t I a state k12 program...i don't know what happens to fundingc Wow.
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 13, 2020 1:58:52 GMT
That won’t work here in the winter. I cannot even begin to imagine the hellscape teachers would be dealing with with trying to teach when it is 25 degrees or less outside. Which would be for a sizeable chunk of the school year since we are in Michigan. It’s 115 here in AZ. School starts in three weeks. And they've said that running the air conditioning is bad because it spreads the virus
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Post by freecharlie on Jul 13, 2020 2:00:06 GMT
I also wish many of these schools would make decisions NOW about what the fall will look like. If there is going to be online learning, it is a great time to start figuring out what that will look like. Additionally, there will be time to look at IEP's and try to figure out the best way to provide services and accommodations for students with special needs. YES!!!! Give me time to prep. The problem is, nobody wants to be the bad guy. There is no "The Buck Stops Here" guy from the federal level on down.
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