Week 3 down 39 to go!

I really really love my school. They give me so much support and I'm very receptive of all the wisdom there is out there.

I meet with the Math Coach during my lunch on Wednesdays.

I meet with the Literacy Coach on my Thursday Prep.

After meeting with both coaches I realize the importance for me to teach both curriculums.

(What does that mean?)

I'm glad you asked.

I'm a Special Ed Teacher, as you know. My class has 6 -2nd graders and 4 -3rd graders. In a Lazy world I would teach one curriculum and either weaken it or strengthen it for the other grade. To explain, I would choose the 2nd grade curriculum to teach all 10 students and make it stronger for my 3rd graders by giving them more challenging tasks to do according to the curriculum and much more independent work. Or I could choose the 3rd grade curriculum to teach all 10 students and make it weaker for my 2nd graders by giving them lot's of support and giving them more one on one assistance.

Like I said, in a Lazy world I could do this, but this is what is often done to the Special Ed students. They are given work above their curriculum or below their curriculum and then they suffer.

Most of my students have severe behavioral issues, ADHD, and speech and language impairments, but that has nothing to do with their brain functioning.

My kids are not mentally retarded.

They can learn if you teach them.

Yes the behavior gets in the way, but I've been building ways to work around that and they are definitly behaving much much better. I've gotten rave comments from other teachers and coaches in the school about how different my class is this year [with me] then they were last year.

Yes the speach impairment effects their oral fluency in reading, but that doesn't mean they can't write well. That doesn't mean they can't do a math lesson. That doesn't mean they can't learn on their appropriate level.

So I decided that I WILL teach my 2nd graders on a 2nd grade level and my 3rd grade on a 3rd grade level.

How is one person going to teach 2 different curriculums for Math and 2 different curriculums for Literacy, in the same day, within the same hour allotted for the teaching of one curriculum?

I don't know, but I have to do it for them.