Thursday, December 25, 2008

Pouring Out Useless Information



IEP teacher dots all his i's and crosses all his t's when he writes up one of these things. He uses all the appropriate catch phrases "Johnny will finish 50% of his assigned tasks on time." "Gloria will raise her math level by 5 points."

IEP teacher sits in the classroom and does a crossword puzzle or searches the Internet while Gloria and Johnny are left on their own to complete their homework or do whatever else they feel like doing.

Main Stream teacher does not read IEPs. Instead, Main Stream gives up many a prep and lunch period to sit with Gloria and Johnny in resource room to bring them up to level and help them compete. Main Stream teacher has made flash cards to help Gloria and Johnny better remember what has been taught. Main Stream teacher has spent time getting to know Gloria and Johnny on a real level and has figured out a way that might possibly help.

In an ideal world Main Stream teacher would have time to read IEPs and help students. In an ideal world the IEPs would have useful information on them. NYC schools are not Utopias. Being a part of the system means you cannot have it all.

Now we can check IEPs online. Too bad my school does not hae computers easily available for teacher use. Too bad the IEPs are filled with useless information. Parents of IEP students--you decide. If IEP teacher is right for you and your child is in my class, I will happy to oblige. I will be saving quite a bit of time by devoting myself to these useless documents.

4 comments:

ChiTown Girl said...

Well, at least your IEP Teacher comes to the damn room, even if he doesn't interact with the students. Our IEP teachers can't even be bothered to show up to the classrooms to PRETEND they're servicing the students they are suppose to be helping!! "The IEP Teacher will increase her hiding time by 95%."

Sonja said...

This "IEP teacher" was told that she would sit in class and take notes for "her" students. This IEP teacher was told that punching holes in the worksheets was "too complicated" and to "keep her hands off" the "teachers desk". This "IEP teacher" would give her left arm to be able to work and teach and just be respected by the "real teacher".

CaliforniaTeacherGuy said...

Oh, Sonja, I hear you loud and clear! I was in your situation a couple of years ago--and it sucked mightily! I ended up being a highly paid aide.

Pissedoffteacher said...

Our IEP teacher has his own room.

He is the type of teacher that gives all the hard working teachers a bad name.