Monday, December 31, 2012

Don Peek - Caring Makes the Difference

 

This post is authored by Don Peek, a former educator and past president of the training division of Renaissance Learning. He now runs The School Funding Center, a company that provides grant information and grant-writing services to schools. To learn more, or to subscribe to the School Funding Center Grant Database, go to schoolfundingcenter.com


Caring Makes the Difference
I have a lot of experience dealing with parents in a school setting.  I spent 20 years as an educator in public schools.  Seven of those years I served as an assistant high school principal in two different school districts.  I think many parents are somewhat suspicious of assistant principals because their children are often in trouble when an assistant principal calls.   They also tend to be a little bit suspicious of the special education programs in which their children are enrolled.  They often don’t have a clear understanding of how a special education program even works.
Because I was very involved in the special education programs at the two high schools where I served, I learned a lot about working with parents in general and parents of special education students in particular.  Here’s basically what I learned.
If parents trust you, I mean really trust you to make the very best decisions you can concerning their children, you can do almost anything and those parents will support you 100%. On the other hand, if you don’t have that trust, if they are constantly suspicious that you don’t like their children, or that you’re simply not concerned with their well-being, you couldn’t give their children a hard look without getting into a conflict with them.
When I told my dad I had decided to teach school, he gave me some advice.  “Just remember,” he said, “teachers deal with the single most prized possession of any parent, their children.  Always remember that when you’re making decisions.”  That advice is even more important when you are dealing with students who have disabilities.  Parents are going to be that much more protective, and that’s totally understandable.
There is no course in college that teaches you to care about each of your students.  That has to come from the heart, and it’s very, very difficult to fake.  When you genuinely care about each student, you have to make decisions that are best for the child in the long run.  That’s not even easy for parents to do with their own children, and yet as educators we have to remember constantly to make those long-term decisions with special education students every day.
For instance, it is easy to give learning disabled students practice sheets that occupy them for hours at a time but do very little to challenge them.  Bring out the sheets that are harder, the ones the student really needs to work through, and you have a battle on your hands --- often day after day after day.  It’s not always easy to do the right thing when an easier solution is so readily available.  You can have some quiet time and the student isn’t complaining.  The student is also not learning, certainly not progressing. 
The same is true in dealing with bad behavior.  Some students tend to disrupt the class on a daily basis, even on an hourly basis.  Do you do the right thing for the child and consistently use those disruptions as teachable moments, or do you take the easy way out and let the child get away with behavior that will both teach that child the wrong lesson and give inconsistent signals to the other students in the class?
If you genuinely care about your students, not just while they are in your classroom, but care about their futures as a whole, you will consistently teach them what is right.  You will teach them the next skill in the sequence rather than repeating things they can already do well.  You will teach them how to behave in a classroom and how to get along with the other students in ways that will literally shape their future behavior and their future lives as a whole.
It was very hard to care for every student I faced as an assistant principal.  Many had entrenched behavior patterns before I ever had the opportunity to work with them.  I did the best I could.  I cared as much as I could and tried to help shape their futures in a positive way.
I just hope that as you work with disabled students, either as a parent or a teacher, you will genuinely care about their well-being.  You will take every opportunity to teach your students and your children, not the easy way, but the right way.  I can guarantee you that it’s well worth the time and effort.
-------------------------------------
Grant Info:
Grant Name:  Dreyfus Foundation Educational Grants
Funded By:  The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, Inc.
Description:  Giving on a national basis for museums, cultural, performing, and visual arts programs, schools, hospitals, educational and skills training projects, and programs for youth, seniors, and people who are handicapped.
Program Areas:  After-School, Arts, At-Risk/Character, Disabilities, General Education, Math, Reading, Science/Environment, Social Studies, Special Education
Recipients:  Public School, Private School, Higher Education, Other
Proposal Deadline:  3/10/13
Average Amount:  $1,500.00 - $20,000.00
Telephone:  202-337-3300
Availability:  All States

6 comments:

  1. Bà bầu tháng thứ 8 có nên quan hệBà bầu mang thai tháng thứ 8 chắc hẳn đang ngong ngóng thiên thần mình chào đời rồi phải không nhỉ.
    Bà bầu tháng thứ 6 nên ăn gì?Bà bầu mang thai tháng thứ 6 là giai đoạn thai nhi đang trong thời kì phát triển nhanh, chính vì vậy mẹ bầu cần hấp thu nhiều dưỡng chất để thai nhi phát triển tốt nhất.
    Bà bầu tháng thứ 8 nên nghe nhạc gì?Nghe nhạc trong thời gian mang bầu không chỉ giúp bà bầu thư giãn đầu óc mà rất tốt cho trí não của trẻ sau này.
    Đặt tên ở nhà cho con trai theo ngũ hànhNgoài cái tên chính trong giấy khai sinh ra thì việc đặt tên gọi riêng cho con ở nhà đang được nhiều ông bố bà mẹ chú ý tới.
    Đặt tên cho con trai hợp tuổi bố mẹ 2015Đặt tên cho con trai hợp tuổi bố mẹ 2015 có lẻ là vấn dề mà nhiều bố mẹ hiện nay quan tâm.
    Thuốc uống trắng da toàn thân ivory caps có an toànViệc dùng viên uống trắng da để nuôi dưỡng da còn tùy thuộc vào việc chăm sóc của chính bản thân và chế độ ăn uống nghỉ ngơi nữa nhé các gái.
    Thuốc uống trắng da toàn thân ivory caps có hại không?Viên uống trắng da Ivory Caps là công thức liều cao giúp tăng khả năng làm sáng da độc quyền “Skin Essentials Glutathione Complex” giúp đạt kết quả tối ưu và cực kỳ an toàn
    Bà bầu thường nghén vào tuần thứ mấy?Nhưng trong thời gian mang thai, việc ốm nghén đối với bà bầu là hết sức khó khăn, điều này thường ảnh hưởng lớn chế độ ăn uống của bà bầu.
    Dấu hiệu nhận biết mang thai ngoài tử cung?Trong thời gian theo dõi thai ngoài tử cung, nếu diễn biến bệnh phức tạp, việc chẩn đoán gặp nhiều khó khăn, người bệnh sẽ được thầy thuốc chỉ định nội soi chẩn đoán để xác định và xử lý đúng đắn.
    Mang thai tháng thứ 7 bà bầu cần chú ý những gìTrong lần đi khám thai ở tuần này, chị em có thể biết ngôi của bé yêu. Ngôi có nghĩa là vị trí của thai nhi trong bụng mẹ.
    Chế độ dinh dưỡng cho bà bầu mang thai tháng thứ 8Bà bầu mang thai tháng thứ 8 là giai đoạn hết sức khó khăn, thời gian này bụng bầu to, nặng nề hơn, khiến việc đi đứng khó khăn và cực nhọc hơn.

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are here and now advances! - Most automobile title loan specialists need to be paid back inside 30 days. https://www.aaa1autotitleloans.com/chicago

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for sharing, nice article!. Thank you
    Proship là đơn vị uy tín chuyển cung cấp tới quý khách hàng các dịch vụ vận tải uy tín như: vận chuyển ô tô bắc nam, dịch vụ bốc xếp, dịch vụ ship cod, cho thuê kho vận chuyển xe máy, cho thuê xe tải tại tphcm, vận chuyển container bắc nam,... Các dịch vụ của Proship luôn nhận được sự đánh giá rất cao từ phía khách hàng đã sử dụng.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What is a blogging site where people give a lot of quick feedback?

    My site : 풀싸롱
    (jk)

    ReplyDelete