Yesterday was parent-teacher interviews at the High School. I wasn't sure how things were going to go and I expected that all I would hear was how badly the big fella behaves at school. But here is how the afternoon went ....
All of the big fella's teachers said the same thing that he is a very intelligent kid and can cope with the work that he is asked to do, even with the amount of time he has missed in their classes he is still managing to pass. All of them agreed that it was his behaviour that held him back (like I didn't know) and that if he could handle himself better by not teasing, name calling or being rude to the other kids that things would improve immensely for him. I have no idea how we are going to achieve that. Maybe they could've given some 'friendly' suggestions.
All of the big fella's teachers said the same thing that he is a very intelligent kid and can cope with the work that he is asked to do, even with the amount of time he has missed in their classes he is still managing to pass. All of them agreed that it was his behaviour that held him back (like I didn't know) and that if he could handle himself better by not teasing, name calling or being rude to the other kids that things would improve immensely for him. I have no idea how we are going to achieve that. Maybe they could've given some 'friendly' suggestions.
I still don't think that the teachers realise he is a special needs kids. From the comments some of them made it seems like they have just labelled him difficult and a behaviour problem.
I guess it didn't help that the big fella was rude, loud and a little obnoxious during our visits with his teachers. He constantly fidgeted. He switched off from the conversations when the teachers spoke about things he didn't want to hear (and he made it very obvious that he didn't want to hear them) and tried to talk over the top of the teachers and myself & constantly tried to change the subject.
I can see why they have labelled him as they have. I just hope that they take on board what I had to share with them
I can see why they have labelled him as they have. I just hope that they take on board what I had to share with them
Also his teachers do not realise that I also have a background in teaching (mainly because I haven't shared that with them). For me at least, I think that High School teachers forget that some children are not as mature as others. They have probably worked with 'normal' kids for so long that they don't know or understand what they need to do with a special needs child. Their expectations for ALL children are the same regardless of their abilities. I also believe that once they are out of college/uni that they forget some of the basics that they have learned while they were there (I admit that I have forgotten a lot myself, especially since I haven't worked as a teacher for 5 years).
Out of all the teachers there were only two that didn't mention his behaviour. They just made comments about his work and how well he is coping in their classes. It made such a nice change to have someone say some positive things instead of just the negative.
I must admit with the two teachers who approached things differently than the others I was really impressed with. One was the Japanese teacher. She admits that the big fella has such a hard time in her class, not because of the work because is coping with that but just the behaviour. He now has a different learning program as far as Japanese is concerned. The teacher still sets him work but he is now allowed to work in the library. Both the teacher and the big fella are much happier with this arrangement.
The other teacher was the Maths/Information Technology teacher. He said look I won't go on about the behavioural stuff we know that there is a problem and we're working on it. Let's just talk about the work side of things. He then proceeded to tell me that even though he has missed a lot of the classes he is still passing and has a great understanding in Maths. (Hmm I think I said this already) There is no problem whatsoever with IT (which I knew there wouldn't be it is his favourite subject).
Why couldn't ALL the teachers just say that about the behaviour? It isn't like I didn't already know there was a problem.
All in all things went a lot better than I thought it would be. I left the High School feeling okay about the big fellas work. We just need to concentrate on the behavioural stuff and the homework side of things. I've not told the big fella that his 'day off' and I use that term loosely is now his "CATCH UP" day where he can complete all the work he needs to that he has missed. I've also put it in a way that he understood (well I hope I did) that he may go up a grade into Year 8 next year but that wont mean he will be doing Year 8 work if he cannot complete all the Year 7 work this year. I think he understood that one and from the look on his face he didn't like it. Perhaps that is incentive enough to get him to work a little harder than he has done.
Out of all the teachers there were only two that didn't mention his behaviour. They just made comments about his work and how well he is coping in their classes. It made such a nice change to have someone say some positive things instead of just the negative.
I must admit with the two teachers who approached things differently than the others I was really impressed with. One was the Japanese teacher. She admits that the big fella has such a hard time in her class, not because of the work because is coping with that but just the behaviour. He now has a different learning program as far as Japanese is concerned. The teacher still sets him work but he is now allowed to work in the library. Both the teacher and the big fella are much happier with this arrangement.
The other teacher was the Maths/Information Technology teacher. He said look I won't go on about the behavioural stuff we know that there is a problem and we're working on it. Let's just talk about the work side of things. He then proceeded to tell me that even though he has missed a lot of the classes he is still passing and has a great understanding in Maths. (Hmm I think I said this already) There is no problem whatsoever with IT (which I knew there wouldn't be it is his favourite subject).
Why couldn't ALL the teachers just say that about the behaviour? It isn't like I didn't already know there was a problem.
All in all things went a lot better than I thought it would be. I left the High School feeling okay about the big fellas work. We just need to concentrate on the behavioural stuff and the homework side of things. I've not told the big fella that his 'day off' and I use that term loosely is now his "CATCH UP" day where he can complete all the work he needs to that he has missed. I've also put it in a way that he understood (well I hope I did) that he may go up a grade into Year 8 next year but that wont mean he will be doing Year 8 work if he cannot complete all the Year 7 work this year. I think he understood that one and from the look on his face he didn't like it. Perhaps that is incentive enough to get him to work a little harder than he has done.
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