What is the “this”?

It is starting a podcast in order to share what I have learned with teachers, administrators, and parents. 

I cannot remain quiet any longer about the issues I see in education. I cannot continue to remain silent while struggling learners are failed.

So, I have created a podcast. Maybe this will help e and teachers who are passionate about the kids be heard. That is my hope at least. 

Reaching Struggling Learners

I’m not great at naming things, but in my “let’s do this” attitude, I feel that straightforward and honest is better than beating around the bush. So, Reaching Struggling Learners is my new podcast, which dropped today.

In this podcast, I will be talking about RTI, progress monitoring, teaching strategies, special education, teacher and parent advocacy… You name it, if it has something to do with struggling learners, we will talk about it. 

Episode 1: Let’s Do This!

I’m dyslexic. If you don’t already know that about me, now you do. 

My experience as a struggling learner was different from other kids, because I am one of the single most stubborn people you will ever meet. As a 6 year old, I realized that I couldn’t read, and I was mad about it! Luckily for me, my mother was able to get the supports that I needed to teach me how to read. 

My why as a teacher is that I want to make sure that students don’t have to experience the anger I felt at myself as a child for not being able to do something that was so stinking easy for everyone else. As a stubborn 6 year old, I decided that I was going to become a teacher to help them learn to read.

And you know what?

I love teaching, especially struggling learners.

I’ve taught in several settings in several different states. The one thing that I have learned that has stuck with me the most is that I LOVE working with struggling learners…whether they are in special education or not. 

I have also learned that there are a lot of students graduating high school with very low reading levels, and even lower writing skills. I believe that the education system as a whole is letting down many struggling learners, and I think that we can fix this….if we can work together.

I would love for you to join me as I share my experiences and what I have learned to help support teachers, parents, and administrators in reaching and teaching struggling learners. 

Join me as I share my journey from a dyslexic 6 year old throwing things to a teachers on a mission! So, let’s do this!

Please give a listen, and let me know what you think on iTunes! 

The post Let’s Do This! appeared first on Teaching Struggling Learners.

     When you have a cohesive team that just “gets” a student, writing an IEP and meeting with parents is a breeze isn’t it? Everyone sits down ready for a meeting knowing what they need to present, and what issues need to be addressed in the meeting. The student is the focus, and everyone is on board to get an amazing IEP written! Getting gen ed teachers involved in IEPs is crucial to that cohesive team.

     Think it is a fantasy? It’s not! You CAN create this awesome experience, but it takes consistent work throughout the year to achieve it.

     Special education teachers know  getting gen ed teacher involvement in IEPs is crucial to the process. They are a member of the team, and they can and often do provide quality insight into how the student performs in the general education class. But we have all been there…. There’s a general ed teacher who just doesn’t GET it. They are hard to reach, hard to get information and data from, and because of this, the IEP is harder to write and doesn’t fit the student as well as it could and should. 

So…what’s a special ed teacher to do?

     There is no simple answer to getting gen ed teachers involved in IEPs. But I have created a 6 step process which you can take to create a cohesive IEP team with general ed members who contribute consistently and accurately.

• Build a Relationship
• Establish Value
• Ask for Specifics
• Appreciation
• Cooperation
• Consistency

Build a Relationship

     Some people call this “playing politics” but I prefer to think of it as building relationships which help my students….ok, it MAY be partly playing politics…..just a little.

     The reality of our jobs as special education teachers is, we NEED the general education teachers on our side. We need their input, their cooperation, and their support. But who would anyone spend extra time out of their busy schedules to help a stranger? Yeah yeah “For the Kids”…but let’s call a spade a shovel here and remember that we are all super busy, and we work harder to help people we know, people we relate to….people we LIKE. So, the first step in building that cohesive team WITH general ed teachers is to build a relationship with each individual gen ed teacher. Don’t have time? I argue you don’t have time NOT to. 

     Spend some time at the beginning of the year getting to know your teachers. Talk to them, ask them questions (not just sped-related) and let them know some tid-bits about you (again NOT sped related). I’ve seen many times where sped teachers are left out of meetings and parties because they don’t “belong”. Part of this is because no one KNOWS the special ed teachers! You don’t think to invite someone to a party if you don’t know them! So get to know your general ed teachers. 

     This is NOT a one and done issue. This step is part of every single other step I have outlined below, but I put it first because it is SO much easier to ask teachers for help when you know their first and last names, and a little bit about them. If all you know about a teacher is that they teach Bobby math at 1pm, it’s going to be very difficult to help Bobby be successful in their class. So get out there and introduce yourself!

Establish Value

     Are you willing to work for free when you know no one knows or cares what or how much you contribute? 

     Yeah, I wouldn’t either. But we expect general ed teachers to do this all the time. Don’t we?

     We ask gen ed teachers to send data and information to put in an IEP, and sometimes we let them know what we put in, sometimes they get credit, but most of the time, they don’t. The information is there, but did the general ed teacher get to know the value of their contribution?

     The reality is, right now, most general education teachers know that an IEP is a very important document which must be followed. But what they don’t know is how valuable their insight can and should be in the writing and implementing of that document. 

     I have found, after many years of bashing my head against brick walls, that when I let gen ed teachers KNOW how valuable they were to the writing of an IEP and a successful IEP meeting, they gave me exponentially more information the next time I asked. 

     You see, but letting my teachers know the value of the work they were doing (for free) for me, I validated their knowledge, their expertise, and their unique perspective of the student. Once they understood their value in the process, they were so much more willing to give accurate and valuable input. 

How do you establish value?

     I used notes, like the one pictured here.

     This is part of relationship building, but it is my next step. I get to know my teachers, then I send them a little note letting them know the value I place on their input. 

     Short by sweet is my motto. I let my busy teachers know I appreciated them, then I gave them the questions I needed answered. Easy as that. 

Ask for Specifics

     Don’t you hate it when a parent or admin asks you “How is Bobby doing?” In my head, I start running through ALL the things going on with Bobby, from academics, to behavior, to homelife, to emotional turmoil, to what he ate or refused to eat last Tuesday. The question is too broad. It’s ANNOYING! 

     So, don’t do that to your gen ed teachers!

     Ask your gen ed teachers for specific information. I like to send surveys out periodically depending on the student and the services. For example, a survey could be sent out monthly for a student receiving monthly consultation. It could be sent out quarterly to inform your progress reports. But the most important aspect is, I don’t ever ask a general ed teacher to “tell me what’s going on with Bobby”. I pose specific questions which will help me figure out how to help the student. 

     I have found that asking specific questions helps guide discussions with my general ed coworkers, and helps me to get much more useful information. 

Appreciation

     So, you’ve started building relationships, you’ve let them know you value them, and asked for their input. Now what?  How to I keep my general ed teachers involved in the IEP process?

     Time for some of that appreciation all of us are wishing for! 

     How great does it feel, after a particularly difficult meeting, when a fellow teacher comes over and lets you know that you handled that situation like a pro! Man, I am beaming all the way home! 

It doesn’t take much to let a teacher know you appreciate them.

     When I get surveys and input returned as requested, I send a quick note, through the school mailbox, a student, or through email, letting my teachers know that I appreciate the time they took to give me what I requested. 

     Again, I cannot tell you the number of times I have gotten mediocre (at best) input from a teacher, but when I sent a thank you note, I would get more information sent to me which they “forgot to add”. And next time I sent that teacher a survey, I was almost always guaranteed to get helpful information in response. 

     Why? Because my teachers knew that I valued their input enough to thank them, letting  them know that I WAS using their input to guide my actions as a special ed teacher. They want to feel appreciated, just like I do….maybe we aren’t all that different after all.

Starting to see a pattern here? YUP! All of these steps lead right back into creating that relationship with your general ed teachers.

Cooperation

     It is so much easier when we don’t have to go it alone isn’t it? Feeling like your girls have got your back is so empowering! But that only comes with strong relationships and cooperation. 

     One way that I encourage cooperation with my gen ed teachers is to make sure that I read and respond quickly to the comments they make on my surveys. 

     Above, I explained the need for appreciation, but part of what I do when I send those notes is address concerns or comments they made. 

     For example, if a teacher raises a concern about an emotional issue the student is experiencing, I comment on my thank you note that I will check into what is going on and get back to the teacher. This lets the teacher know that she has someone on her side who will help support her student…OUR student. 

     By making small comments about the teacher’s input, I show them (again) that I value their input and will act upon it. I’m cooperating with them to make their jobs easier in working with the student. Because they cooperated with me, I can return the favor….and we have built a stronger relationship in the process. 

Consistency

     Last, but not least, I develop consistency with my gen ed teachers throughout the year. I am constantly working to build relationships with them through the process outlined above. I am consistent in sending out information as I learn it, and in thanking them for their assistance any chance I get. My teachers know that I will take their input seriously and act upon it throughout the year.

     I am never done building relationships with my gen ed teachers, just like I will never be done building relationships with my students. 

Building relationships is a lot of work. But it is not time wasted.

     My work is never done, but it IS a whole lot easier now that I have learned how to get my gen ed teachers involved in my IEPs. 

Need help getting started?

     I’ve spent many years perfecting the questions I ask and how I ask them, and now you can benefit from my work!

     If you are looking for a survey to send out to get gen ed teachers involved in IEPs, click the picture to check out the seasonal surveys I send out. The questions are the same on each survey, allowing me to compare and contrast answers throughout the year, but the seasonal themes make teachers want to complete the survey. Nobody wants to complete the same survey 10 times….this way they feel like they haven’t! 

Want more information on everything special education or progress monitoring?
Complete the form below to be added to my email list!

The post Getting Gen Ed Teachers Involved in IEPs appeared first on Teaching Struggling Learners.

Those are the average students…the ones that are difficult…But what about the below average, and the below the below average students?

Let’s talk about motivating high school students who “won’t” because they can’t.

I’m a special education teacher, and I live and breath in the lowest 25% when it comes to academics. My kids are the ones who have struggled…often failed…for 8 or more years. Many of my kids have been told through their test scores, grades, peers, and sometimes evern teachers that they aren’t good enough…that they “can’t“.

By the times they get to me, a vast majority of the lowest 25% believe they can’t, they will never be able to, and there is nothing they can do about it.

Why try when you have no chance? Why bother even showing up?

This is my struggle every single day. It is a fight to get some of my students to open a book, let alone turn in an assignment. I have lamented many times to my husband about how frustrating it is to care more about a student’s grades…and future…than they do. It is frustrating. It is painful. I am exhausted.

I come to work every morning and throw myself back into the ring to fight for kids who often won’t fight for themselves.

Why do I do it day after day? Because I love my job, and I love my kids…Yes, even the one that cussed me out today over not being allowed to watch a Youtube video while I worked one-on-one to teach him Algebra. Yup, I still love that kid, because he is more than what is reflected in his grades. He is more than all the tests he has failed, assignments he hasn’t done, and office referrals on his record. I know that his potential is limitless…if I can just get him to see that. Motivating high school students is all about getting them to see their potential, when they think none exists.

The same is true for so many of my kids. We have no idea what they are capable of becoming because, for so long, they have done so little we don’t know what they can do right now.

So, What do we do? How do we fix it?

I know what the answer is not. The answer is not to bust the kids further down, get frustrated with them, or write as many referrals as we can to make a paper trail.

After working with some of the most difficult students, with the lowest academic records, with the worst work completion rates, I can say that getting negative with these students does not work. The way I think about it is; if people constantly told me how lazy I was and how little I care, I wouldn’t try to improve. These people have judged me, found me lacking, and it feels safer to let them believe the worst of me rather than possibly fail in trying to prove them wrong. Telling these students they are failing, missing massive numbers of assignments, doing poorly on tests, skipping classes…while all true…the students KNOW all this, and saying it again is a waste of your breath and will just alienate the student more.

So, if negativity doesn’t work, surely positivity will motivate the students! While I agree, a little positivity goes a long way; just being positive is not going to cut it with the most unmotivated students. Believe me, I have tried…really hard. I have been so bubbly and positive, I could have been a Starburst or a jelly bean. I have played the cheerleader role better than the state cheerleading champions. Some of the kids laughed. They rolled their eyes and continued not doing what was asked of them. Joking, cajoling, being positive, being negative…none of it works when students are THIS unmotivated.

Alright…If nothing works, do we just give up?

I wanted to last year. With two students in particular. Both barely made it to being sophomores in credits, though they should be Juniors. Horrible reputations for not doing work, having disrespectful attitudes, and being completely devoid of motivation. I was told by 3 separate teachers that the reason these boys received any credit at all was because their teachers didn’t want to have them a 3rd year in a row.

Then they came to me and my caseload…

I tried EVERYTHING I mentioned above and more with them. I tried every single piece of advice anyone would give me. At one point, I was certain that one of them was going to punch me in the face, or I would walk out to slashed tires. I am incredibly stubborn and refused to leave them alone about their grades.

Then, one teacher, in the teacher’s lounge, finally clued me into reality. I will never forget what she said. “Why are you wasting your time on him? He has never been anything, and will never be anything. He’s given up, why don’t you? Help the ones who want to learn and forget the rest.”

This was applauded by the other teachers in the lounge for “saying what we all were thinking but weren’t allowed to say”. I left that lounge disheartened, on the verge of tears, and feeling like a complete failure. These teachers must be right, they’ve been doing this for years!

My students teach me so much more than I teach them sometimes.

As I walked, a student of mine came running down the hall yelling my name. She had tears running to her chin. The SRO stopped her, told her to quit running and yelling, and she said “I have to tell School-Mom what happened!” She had earned a C on a test in Algebra that we had worked incredibly hard and studied for. A “C” doesn’t sound like much, but for a young lady who has had to take math in summer school since 5th grade…that “C” was the world.

The SRO made a joke about me being “school-mom”. She rolled her eyes in the most teenager way possible and said “School-Mom gets us, you don’t even know my name.”

Would this work with the boys?

I made a point of saying “hello” to my boys every time I saw them in the halls and walking in class. Wrote them up for skipping, and I talked to them to let them know I wrote them up. I wanted to know they were safe. They skipped my class less and less often over the next month.

Since they were coming to class more often, I made a point of going to each of them, sitting in a desk in the area, and asking how their weekend was, or lunch, or in-school-suspension. They slowly started talking to me….by talking….What started with grunts and head nods, slowly transformed into word-like utterances which I understood. I’m not joking when I say that these boys were tough to get to know!

One of the boys came to me, one day, and said the other was having a hard time at home and needed to talk to me. My tough student never talked about what was going on, even when I directly asked what was going on. I was about 8 months pregnant at that time. He told me he couldn’t trust a fat cow with his business, and I didn’t see him the rest of the week in class. When I saw him in the halls, wrote him up for skipping.

I messed up and was back at square 1 with him.

I changed nothing about how I treated him…even though I really wanted to cry-yell that I wasn’t a cow…Then I was out one day for training or meetings or something, and the next day he poked his head in my classroom 3 times during the day. No “hi”, no acknowledgement, just came to the room in the middle of class, looked around, saw me, and left. He didn’t come to class that day, but he did the next. If I didn’t waddle through the halls between classes, He knocked on my door at some point in the period, gave a mysterious head nod, then away he went.

He refused to do work in any of his classes, was disrespectful to all of his teachers, but I never had another behavior issue with him. He wouldn’t work for me either, but he respected my rule of having something in front of him that he was doing, so he read. In the month before I went out on maternity leave, he and I discussed 3 books he had read.

Meanwhile, my future Marine opened up and shared his dream to join the Marines and go fight for our country. He knew he had to graduate high school, but didn’t think he could. But, because I “bugged him all the time” he started bringing work to class. He started teaching me the math when my preggo-brain got bad…man my preggo brain got bad very quickly after that! His grades came up and his attitude got better in most of his classes.

When I came back from maternity leave, my boys were failing again…let’s be honest…most of my kids were failing most of their classes.

By the end of the year, my one boy was still failing everything, but he was coming to class every day and reading like I have never seen a teenager read. My other boy passed most of his classes for second semester!

That was all last year…This year I found out about a credit recovery program and was able to get both boys enrolled.

My future Marine performed so well in this alternative program that the administrators thought that he was cheating. Upon review of his work, he absolutely was not cheating, he just really was able to learn that quickly! We never saw that in our setting, but then again, did he ever really get the chance to show us? That I will never be able to answer. What I can answer is the question about his future. I learned he recovered all of his credits he was missing, but he got so far ahead that he graduated two weeks previously. He left for Marine Basic Training two weeks ago. He will graduate from Basic Training 3 weeks after his peers graduate high school.

My tough kid, who also went to the program…he actually made me cry this week. That young man came to my classroom asking for help. He had finished his program, all of his courses and will be graduating in May! He came asking for help with completing the FASFA so that he can afford to go to Welding School. The toughest kid we had in that grade, the one no one thought was going to graduate high school, let alone go on to do anything else, is working to be a Welder!

My boys have a plan. They have a future,

So, what is the answer???? HOW do we motivate high school students???

Relationships

That teacher, from the teacher’s lounge, was partially right. We cannot help students who are unwilling to help themselves. We have to give them the opportunity to help themselves, and an excuse to do it. By opportunity, I don’t mean the work we give. I mean, we have to believe in them until they believe in themselves. Motivating high school students is all about the relationship we build with them.

Reach them… Then you can teach them.

Get to know them, show them that we care and will remain in their corner no matter what happens. We have to remember that they are still KIDs. As much as they want to be treated like adults, they are not ready to be adults….not yet. We can help make them ready by being the consistent people in their lives. The people who they can turn to when they are ready to fight for themselves.

I do not care what the politicians, administrators, or experts say. If you want to motivate the unmotivated high school students, you MUST build a relationship with that student. Be true to that relationship….even when you’re 8 months pregnant and they call you out on being a cow.

Relationships are the only way to motivate students who won’t because they can’t.

To the next unmotivated kiddo on my list, I say: Do your worst kid! I’m ready for you! I’m not going to give up…fat cows don’t quit….mommas don’t quit (school or otherwise)…and neither do special education teachers….We create a land of hopes and dreams…..then….. then we make them reality.

Be sure to join our mailing list for more ideas on motivating all students!

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Today is April Fools day. What better way to celebrate than with the start of the testing season?

All my teacher-friends know what I mean when I say “testing season.”

For my non-teachers readers, this time of year makes teachers miss the week before Christmas break. Yes, I MISS the cookie and Santa-crazed week before Christmas break in kindergarten during testing season. It is the time of year during which as least 95% of our students will take a test which will determine their proficiency in that subject area, and our effectiveness as teachers. One test is used to determine if the previous 140 days of blood, sweat, and tears was effective. Standardized testing is a cruel joke we play every year on our students, and it needs to stop.

One. Test.

I, for one, am incredibly happy that I am not being tested today, because I am certain I would fail…not because I don’t know the material, but because I do not feel well. You see, last night, I caught a rough strain of food poisoning. I still feel terrible, but in to work I came….because…testing.

As I sit here, having horrible flashbacks to last night, and writing “clean the bathroom” on my to do list, though I doubt I will forget….I wonder….how many of my students were sick last night, or had to work late to help pay the bills, or didn’t eat over the weekend because there’s no food in the house and they only eat at school.

One. Test.

The scores from today will be used to judge my effectiveness, and that of my colleagues, as a teacher. The scores from today will determine whether these students graduate. These scores are the single worst measure of my students and their capabilities, yet their and my futures are determined by it.

The work my students put into their presentations last week, and how much progress they have made will not be reflected in this test. This test is a waste of their time, and taxpayer money…yet I walked around a room for 3 hours today administering the first part of a test which will determine their futures.

I’m not supposed to say that. I’m not supposed to come out publicly against this abusive system, but someone must speak up.

10 Days

In the next 2 months, of school, I will get to teach for 2 weeks…10 days….the rest is testing, or meetings about testing. If that is not a wholesale denial of FAPE, I do not know what is.

Schools across the country will be closing their libraries, media centers, and/or computer labs for testing as this testing season kicks into gear. Computers are confiscated for testing. Teachers will be denied access to technology, and students will be denied access to resources to help them complete projects and learning activities.

Is this fair?

Our testing focus is completely out of control. The ones who are suffering most are the students, especially those with special needs. Administering standardized tests to many students with special needs has been an absurd joke for several years….cruel and absurd.

We can do better for the students. We must do better.

What are our alternatives? How can we fix this system?

It is time to listen to teachers….You know, the ones going in to work despite some nasty food poisoning. Those are the ones who know, first-hand, the true cost of standardized tests. They can give all of us valuable insight into the problems and possible solutions.

Let’s stop this April Fools joke now. Standardized testing is a cruel joke. Listening to teachers about how to best teach and support the students, that is the answer.

Please comment and share your take on standardized testing below! Don’t forget to join us by submitting your email below to get all the latest on all things education delivered straight to your inbox!

The post Standardized Testing is a Joke appeared first on Teaching Struggling Learners.

Personally, I have a love-hate relationship with my teacher observation. I love that they only happen once or twice per year, and also HATE that my effectiveness as a teacher is evaluated based on one or two 30 minute observations of my classroom.

So…I got a little tricky in my observations….

What if we had an effective plan to ensure that more of our work was evaluated? Most teachers will agree that evaluating us on one day does NOT present an accurate picture of what we do or accomplish in the course of a day, week, month, and certainly not the entire school year.  So, I came up with a plan that I’ve used for several years to force administrators to evaluate me on more than the 30 minutes they spend in my classroom on a given day.

I am a special education teacher, and my students fluctuate drastically when new people are in the classroom….really any change can trigger an unpredictable class period. Let’s be honest, part of the reason we special education teachers love our jobs is the lack of predictability, but when it comes time for teacher observations….this can pose a problem. 

Step 1: Plan for Success

This step starts at least two weeks before your teacher observation (more if possible). Administrators, no matter how frequently (or infrequently) you see them, are well aware that students struggle in certain skills. Mention, in passing, that your students are struggling in a certain area, but you are reteaching the concept and expect the students to perform better very soon. (Extra bonus if you can talk about how Progress Monitoring has helped your students make progress.) 

This shows your administrator that you are aware of how your students are doing (use fancy words like “formative assessment” to further impress admin). Show admin that you have a plan in place to solve the issues. Make your admin aware that your students need work on a certain topic or skills, and when they come in for your teacher observation and your students ROCK that skill, they will be super impressed. This forces your administrator to see that the skills you are teaching your students extend over more than one day or week.

Step 2: Practice, Practice, Practice!

In the time between dropping your hint about your excellent knowledge of your students, and actually being observed, have your students practice the skill or topic in a variety of formats. This helps all students, including those with special needs, generalize their learning and become more comfortable using that skill. To be impressive, use fancy terms such as “spiraling the curriculum” to explain this time leading up to your teacher observation.

Step 3: Plan to Shine (in the background)

When planning your observation lesson, devise an activity (but call it a lesson) in which the students show off their knowledge or skills. Culminating project or presentations are great for this. This activity should include the skill you discussed earlier, but shouldn’t be strictly about that skill. This shows that you have built up your student’s skills. They can now use that skill  to complete the next step in their learning. THIS is how you force your administrators to evaluate you based on more than just one observation. They are now observing you, with the background knowledge about your students, and the progress they have made on the recent unit or topic. You will be allowing your students to show how amazing you are as a teacher through their new knowledge or abilities.

Step 4: Facilitate that Lesson!

During the activity, allow your students to take control because they will be presenting their knowledge. Your students take center stage, teaching the class, while you stand back and assist your students in being amazing. Show your admin how much trust you have in your students. Allow them to show the presentation or conduct the activity, while you watch in awe at all you have taught your students. This ticks the box for students taking ownership of their own learning. It also shows working on social skills while teaching content. The more that you show your ability to hand learning over to your students, the better environment for learning you have created. This is SUPER impressive to your administrators.

Step 5: Show Off Your Skills

Obviously during the teacher observation you must be doing SOMETHING. Show off those amazing behavior management skills! Have the classroom environment in tip-top shape to assist the presenters. Make sure your administrator hears a few of your encouraging words. Use proximity to help keep THAT student under control. 

Worried about behavior during a presentation? I don’t! The administrator is in the room! Use that to your advantage! Students know admin is in the room and will act better if they know they are watching them. I have conducted teacher observations in kindergarten and high school special education settings. When students know the administrator is there to see how much the student has learned… as well as watch you… the better behaved even the most challenging student will be.

Step 6: Talk About How Far They Have Come

Now, for the final step….the post-conference. THIS is my least favorite part of the teacher observation process. I am not afraid that an admin is going to tell me I could have done a better job. I know I could have. Why? BECAUSE EVERY LESSON COULD HAVE GONE BETTER. 

I always look back at my lessons, no matter how great they were, and think about all the ways I could have done better. I think about things I should have done differently. Most of the time, when asked to rate my lessons, I rate them lower than my administrator (except that one admin I had, who, did not know how to evaluate a special education teacher). So….how do I work around this most-hated aspect? I focus myself on how far the students have come….including referencing that comment made in passing weeks ago. (It never hurts to remind a busy administrator about how struggling students aren’t struggling any more.) Focus, in your post-conference on the culmination of the unit of work. Let’s face it, teaching isn’t about one short lesson, it is about building toward something better…. Reference hurdles your students have overcome to make it to the activity your administrator witnessed. It is very hard to mark someone down when they are able to show that their students have made a lot of progress in a short amount of time. This is what you have shown them through this process.

Now that you have rocked your teacher evaluation… What do you do? Get back to doing what you do best! TEACHING! No matter how the teacher observation went, or what your evaluation says, you are doing the best for your students. At the end of the day, that is why we all got into this profession.

There will always be hoops to jump through….so jump….then get back to teaching!

BONUS TIP: Ok, so this is also one of my secrets to rocking my observations…. Student use of technology. I have made it a point to make sure that my students create something during the lesson. Or that they have made something which is presented during the teacher observation. Teaching students to actively create using technology has greatly boosted their learning, as well as my observation scores! Administrators know that students need to learn to utilize technology effectively to create products. Show administrators that you not only encourage the use of technology, but integrate it into lessons and activities. Prove that you deserve to be recognized as an outstanding teacher!

What strategies do you use to rock your evaluations? Comment your awesome observation strategies below!

The post 6 Steps to Rock Your Teacher Observation appeared first on Teaching Struggling Learners.

Ok, real talk…..4 am is WAY too early to jump around and lift heavy things.

Cue the song “Jump Around” in your head….that is not going to go away anytime soon….you’re welcome.

Ok, you’re right, that was mean….here’s a link to the song on Youtube to help you get it out of your skull while you read the rest of my confession.

Two weeks ago, I committed myself to exercising every day…including getting up before 4 am to go out to our garage and exercise. If you have no idea what I am referring to, check out my thoughts on exercise in Self-Care Before 4 am. Then head back here to find out my progression since.

Alright, on to confessions…. First of all, turns out trying to keep hubby from learning that he was right was never going to work….I should have known he would be nosy and (possibly more importantly) take pictorial evidence of that confession, which I will never live down.

Secondly, I drastically underestimated how much #teacherlife and #momlife distracts me from taking care of myself. I mean seriously, you would think that getting up an hour before everyone else would give me plenty of time for “me-time”. But….life happens…..bottles need to be cleaned, and socks need to be washed, children woke up more times during the night than usual, and then the tossing and turning because anxiety over that IEP meeting scheduled for next week….all these things got in my way. No, I’m here to be honest….I put them in my way to excuse my not getting up to take care of me.

That is what I do…..all the time. I find things to do; “important” things that need to be done, and use those chores as my excuse for not having time to put myself first. Do you do that? I slept in past my exercise time, and used everything I do as my excuse for being too tired to exercise.

It seems like every single time I set aside time for me, SOMETHING happens….whether it’s a poopy diaper, or paperwork for a meeting, that load of laundry I really “have” to get done before Monday, a dog being sick, or mandatory fun time at a school event….and my “me time” is gone. But that is the thing about priorities….you WILL find the time to do the things that are important to you.

When I am completely honest with myself, I have to admit, the reason everything else gets in the way is because I consistently prioritize everyone and everything above myself.

Hold UP!

I see myself as less important than IEP paperwork? I see my well-being as less important than that load of laundry? I place dirty dishes above my mental health? Wow….yeah, when I start thinking about it in terms of where I rank MYSELF…..that makes me see that my outlook has to change.

Yet, as I sit here with “Jump Around” running through my head, I can’t help but be reminded that THIS is what we, as teachers, have conditioned ourselves to do. Before I entered teaching, my professors drilled into me that we “didn’t get into teaching for the pay.” Meaning, we were willingly sacrificing the money we could make in other fields in order to teach. This sentiment is repeated and drilled into new teachers as we talk about how the students are worth the work, the long nights, the lost lunches. As a group of professionals, we laugh about how long we can wait between restroom breaks, and joke about the number of UTIs contracted.

We joke about sacrificing our physical health in our pursuit of educating others.

Teachers are striking across this country because they want better teaching environments FOR THEIR STUDENTS. We tolerate low pay, contact violations, and conditions which have negative impacts to our long term physical health year after year. When I check out the actual breaking point for when teachers finally go on strike….I see a pattern that the final straw is the teachers are no longer able to shield their students from the terrible working and educational conditions. We will sacrifice all of ourselves to educate our students, and we do it willingly.

Teachers embody the true meaning of sacrifice, and we MUST stop if we are going to improve education in the long term.

Teachers, myself included, must stop accepting intolerable working conditions. We must stop accepting abuse from students, parents, and even administrators. No other profession would tolerate being lambasted the way the teaching profession accepts the abuse. Doctors would not tolerate their patients hitting, kicking, biting, or spitting on them….why do we? Lawyers would not tolerate being torn apart or potentially losing their license because their client was held in contempt for poor conduct in court. An accountant would not dream of taking personal responsibility for a client providing incorrect documents at tax time. Yet we accept the blame for students who made poor choices, behaved badly, or physically abused us….why?…..because that is just what teachers do.

We are told that everything that happens in our classrooms is a direct result of what we do and how we do it. And we believe it….despite the fact that kids who haven’t eaten all weekend are GOING to enter our classrooms with an inability to concentrate no matter what bells and whistles we use in our lessons. We believe it despite the fact that kids are in our classrooms who are homeless, abused, dealing with a sick parent or sibling, dealing with divorce, a step-parent, a new sibling, their parent just deployed, their parent just came home from deployment, or they had the flu last week and missed a week of school. Teachers sacrifice their time, their energy, their money, and their physical and mental well-being because we buy into the idea that WE are ultimately responsible for the futures of every single student in our classrooms.

With this kind of weight on our shoulders, how in the world do we ever prioritize ourselves?

I speak with older teachers; teachers who have a much healthier work-life balance, teachers who are GREAT teachers, who love their students dearly and educate them, and come back the next day energized and ready to do it all over again. Time and time again these teachers remind me that, while we FEEL solely responsible for the futures of our students, we are ACTUALLY responsible for their education. We are responsible for making sure that our students leave our classrooms at the end of the year able to perform skills appropriate for their grade and age level. We are responsible for the safety of our students while they are in our care. THAT IS IT.

Do not get me wrong, I love my students dearly. I laugh and I cry with them as they experience success and failure. But I am one person working with 120 kids a day in high school. I am one teacher in their school careers. Educating these children is all of our responsibility…..this responsibility we share, and I am proud to share this responsibility with some of the most amazing, caring, intelligent, dedicated professionals out there. I am reminded that an ENT does not attempt to take responsibility for a fractured ankle, or a lawyer take responsibility for a person experiencing a stroke. We all must do our parts to help the whole student, and trust our professional partners to do their part as well.

As soon as I put my life, my profession, into this perspective, a huge weight is lifted from my shoulders. I will always care for my students, and do my absolute best for them. Yet, I am one person. I can do what I can do, and what I can do is severely limited by the continued sacrifice of my physical and mental health. To be the best teacher I can be, I must do less. I must take responsibility for less. I must prioritize me.

I am a dedicated teacher and mother who has routinely sacrificed herself because I feel so much responsibility for others. I feel guilty for taking care of myself when so many others depend on me. My time has not been my own.

This must change. Not overnight. Not tomorrow. But slowly. Small steps. My self-care needs to become my priority…..My health….mental and physical….cannot be sacrificed to the pile of laundry any more….. Time to fight for me as hard as I fight for my children and students.

But….I still hate exercising……. Give me poopy diapers or puking kids over jogging any day…..except at 4 am…..that is MY time. I will make it mine.

Like this post? Want to know more about this self-care experiment?

The post Confessions of a Lazy Teacher appeared first on Teaching Struggling Learners.

I have told my students many times over the years that the reasons we have horses and cars is because I am not meant to run. They think I am joking when I say this. They are incorrect.

My husband, being in the Army, is more tolerant of exercise. Oh, who am I kidding? The man loves it. The idea of picking up and putting down heavy things makes him smile (sadistically according to his gym buddies). He could talk for hours about different exercises and their benefits….and do NOT get him started talking about how much weight he picked up and put down in his most recent gym session.

I would rather teach the last week of school in a kindergarten classroom full of cupcake inhaling children than go to the gym.

Yet, several times over the years I have participated in the random exercise session for self-care. I will admit, it DOES make me feel better afterward. Not during….oh no, not during. I am the single most hateful, angry, spoiled brat during the exercise session….but afterward….yes, I do feel better. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES IS MY ADMITTING THIS TO BE LEAKED TO MY HUSBAND. He will try to get me to pick up and put down heavy things WITH HIM, and I do not know if our marriage can handle that. Constant moving, changing jobs, buying and selling houses, two children, mountains of diapers and laundry….no biggy……gym buddies? Not a chance. Everyone has their limits. And my horrible attitude while exercising may be his.

But, burn out is setting in. I have to do something different if I want different results.

I have tried essential oils, calming breaths, hot showers, coffee, no coffee, coffee again because that was a horrible idea, chocolate, drinking more water, drinking less soda, scheduling my time better, making to do lists, ripping up to do lists, and quilting. Yes, quilting….it was surprisingly relaxing…..except when the sewing machine was ruining my fabric….then not so much with the relaxation. All this in an effort to exercise self-care.

Anyway, I have tried lots of stuff. Some worked for a little while, some not at all. I mean, honestly, WHY would I think that giving up coffee would be a good idea?? Yet, despite my attempts, nothing has worked for longer than a few days. So, in one of our many conversations about the load on teachers, my husband reminded me how exercising has, in the past, made me feel better. As much as I hate to admit it, he is right. So….dun dun dun….I have come up with a trial run to help me avoid burnout. I am going to get up every weekday morning and *gag, sputter, choke on the word* exercise.

But the thing is….I work an hour away from my house, and teachers have to be in the building by 6:45 am….oh, and I have two kids to get to daycare every morning….so back all that up, I am up at 4:30 every morning…..or I was, before I decided to exercise in the mornings before work. 3:45 is my new wake-up call….and yes, I HATE it. Why not exercise at night? Well….as soon as we get home its dinner and bed for the baby, then the “big kid hour” for my 4 year old. He’s in bed about 7, which means I then have about two hours to get my mommy and teacher chores done if I want to not be a zombie the next day….also, I am not a night-owl….

The one thing I hate more than exercise is how foggy my brain gets when I am really tired.

So, this week (it’s only Tuesday, so I won’t be applying for any awards quite yet), I have gotten up at 3:45 and done my exercises. As much as I hate to admit it….I do feel better….sore….but more positive….tired…but was more awake throughout the day….embarrassed that I struggled to hold my arms up to write on the board today…but proud that I did that many pushups.

So….my husband was right….at least so far….the exercising does make me feel better. But more importantly than the current extra endorphins running through my veins, is the commitment I have made to take care of myself.

This is the one thing that I do just for me. Perhaps, just doing something for me is all I really needed for self-care.

Since data and progress monitoring ARE my jam (as opposed to exercise), I thought I would share some of my stats from my exercise this morning. I didn’t count everything….mostly because I couldn’t breathe, but also because it is all timed intervals and all I could think of was when would it end. BUT….here are a few of my stats. I have committed myself to do this for 1 month, so hopefully at the end of this 30 day journey I will feel better and be able to see my own progress. That’s worth something, right?

• 5 minutes of terrible jump roping (I’m going to need to work on this)
• 21 Push-ups total
• 30 jumping lunges
• 12 Burpees

Like this post? Want to know if I survive this self-care experiment? Be sure to subscribe to the page!

For the next installment on this *epic* self-care journey, follow me to: Confessions of a Lazy Teacher.

The post Self-Care Before 4 am appeared first on Teaching Struggling Learners.

So, how did Data and I really become friends? Well, it started about 9 years ago, back when I was a baby teacher. I had a slight no idea what I was doing, and really the only thing keeping my head above water was my awesome teacher-friends.

Back then, I taught a first grade resource class for students who struggled in reading and/or math. My kiddos were so cute! And they tried so hard! I spent almost all my extra time working on lesson plans, making activities, and oh the hours I spent with laminate and scissors. I loved my students, and my general education team members. It was awesome! (Also, it was in Hawaii, so I spent my weekends laying on the beach. It’s better to just admit now that you are jealous. It’s ok, I’ll wait.) Those were the days….then I got a new student…and my blissful lessons were…well….non-existent.

Seriously, how many times have you had that happen? You have your class (general ed or special ed, we can ALL commiserate here) going well. The students know the rules and procedures and you have your teaching groove on….then THAT student joins your class and you might as well start your year over because all your training and classroom community just got thrown on its head.

Don’t get me wrong, we accept the new student into the fold, but nothing is the same as it was before…This is what happened when my new student joined. He was supposed to be on consultation, but we figured out by the end of the first week that that just wasn’t going to work. The student was violent, like none of us had ever seen. He was incredibly intelligent as well. He could read a room, and knew exactly which student would react the most to his particular brand of attention. By the end of the first week, the student had destroyed his general education classroom twice, threatened several students with pencils and scissors, and caused his teacher to wonder if teaching really was the profession for her.

So, for safety reasons, we convened an IEP meeting, and services were increased to help him have some “cool-down” space and smaller group time. Our hope was that these interventions would relieve the student’s anxiety. It worked….for about an hour. The issues we saw in the general education classroom were just as bad in mine. He just had less space to move. By the end of the second week, my room was destroyed…. I don’t know how many times, but I do remember going home that Friday and not having the energy to go to the beach the entire weekend. I had bruises up and down my arms from being hit, kicked, punched and bitten.

On Monday, I met with my principal and counselors and we discussed the need for Data. I hated Data. NOT in my classroom! I barely had time to get out of the way of the objects being thrown at my head! How in the world could I deal with Data in that kind of environment? Fortunately for me, cooler heads prevailed, and Data came for a visit.

The first week was horrible!

I kept forgetting her in another part of my room. I have no idea how many times I had to tape her back together, and how exactly does one lose THAT many writing implements in a half of a portable??? BUT, on Friday, after school, when I sat with my counselor and teacher friends….Data and I had survived. Not only had we survived, but we now had cold, hard proof of what we had endured that week. Seeing it written down, in it’s multi-colored, ripped glory, gave me a deeper appreciation for what I had endured that week…..and my respect for Data was forged. My colleagues looked at the information with me, and we worked out a plan to help the student (and me because being bitten REALLY hurts) in the coming week.

The second week, Data and I were on better terms. I still forgot her on my desk. I still taped her back together many times. She got me back with some really spiteful papercuts. But she helped me see what interventions were working, and which ones were a waste of my time. The team met again and decided that experts were needed. The interventions weren’t working the way they should. The student needed more than we knew how to give.

Data and I got to work.

The experts were impressed with how well we worked together. They overlooked the tape, and fact that at no point was there a consistent color pen. (Crayons look professional in a pinch right?) Data and I demonstrated that the interventions I was able to give on my own were not enough, and together we convinced the experts to pony-up for a one-on-one aide to help this student manage his behaviors. Then, month after month, Data and I teamed up to show the progress the student COULD make when he had the support he needed.

Data didn’t leave my side during the entire experience. In fact, she came back day after day, and together we started looking at my other students and their progress in academics. We put our heads together and figured out, again, what interventions were working and which were a waste of time. …But this time….This time it was fun. I started to look at Data as a friend whose insight I needed to help me do what was best to help my students get the most out of my time with them.

I won’t say that Data is my best friend…..but she has saved me countless hours of struggle, frustration, and wasted time. She has backed me up in meeting after meeting where I advocated for the services and rights of my students. She has recorded my most difficult days and most amazing triumphs. I could not do this job without her. And for this reason, Data and I will always be friends.

Want an introduction to Data?

Click the link below for a free data collection sheet, similar to the ones I have used to collect academic data for my students.

The post Meet My Friend….Data appeared first on Teaching Struggling Learners.

Growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher. It all started when I was 6 years old and I was diagnosed with dyslexia. Reading was incredibly difficult for me, and at that time I vowed that I would become a teacher so that no student would ever know the frustration I felt trying to learn to read. I might have been a little naive to think that I could change how every child learned to read, so I have changed my goal to something slightly more manageable. Now, I work every day to ensure that my students face challenges with the support they need to succeed.

Every day is an adventure in special education….whether it’s learning to read, count to 10, or manage behaviors. Special education teachers are a special breed, and I can honestly say that because I am one. I’m sure future posts in this blog will show just how out-of-the-ordinary special education teachers are….they just have to be to survive!

Anyway, enough of my musings! I really am beginning this blog with the intention of sharing my thoughts, ideas, and passion with other teachers (or parents who may be interested). I honestly believe that the education system is deeply flawed, but that it can be improved in many different ways, one of which is by teachers collaborating in a common goal of education improvement. So, here goes something!

The post Teaching is a Passion appeared first on Teaching Struggling Learners.