Seminar - Better Week

This week was probably one of the best weeks I've had at my practicum site since I arrived 5 or so weeks ago. It was a Friday instead of a Wednesday, which may have contributed in the types of things I was doing. There was more free time available which led to less staff meetings and more time to explore other parts of the school. Particularly, I was able to look at the instructional ED program that my research project will be centered on.

It was not a typical day for the program. It was not an instructional day, rather it was a positive reinforcement day. Every third Friday the class gets to participate in playing video games, watching movies, talking, playing computer games, or just about anything they would like to do -- if they completed all of their assignments for their classes. Students who did not complete their assignments had to spend their day working on those assignments in a separate classroom with a teacher who monitored them.

I spent a few hours observing this class day at different times and it was very interesting. I got to see how the students interacted with one another and the type of social skills they had. Most of the students got along very well with each other and had positive relationships with the teachers. When I was watching the class, I noticed the variety of reasons students were placed there. Some were likely the type who constantly created problems and others were more likely to create rare problems.

I also was given the opportunity to learn more about the program by looking at their handbook and talking to the teachers (there were about 5). The program uses great practices that have been around for a long period of time. It appears to be an eclectically based program from prior knowledge of "what works." This program looks like a great idea and I think it has a lot of room for growth. It has the potential to become research-based, organized, and able to pick up for anyone. After observing some of the class, I am optimistic that I will be able to help. This appears to be the only form of social skills training at the school and I can see a lot of other good things growing out of this starting point.

There is also a situation I have been thinking about which has been bothering me. Whenever there is a situation when a student on an IEP exhibits dangerous behavior, a manifestation meeting is required. At this meeting, people discuss whether the behavior was a result of the student's disability or not. The second half of the meeting is about whether the problem is a result of the district's failure to implement the student's IEP. I've noticed there is a tendency to ignore the second part. How can a student be responsible for their behavior if they have not been taught how to behave? How can a student be responsible for their behavior if their needs on an IEP have not been met? It gets sticky at the high school because people are of the belief that "students should know how to behave by now." I don't think that is true -- and there are some situations where students have not belonged to their school districts. Rather than passing the problem along, ignoring it, or not knowing how to deal with it, we need to investigate this type of thing and take responsibility so that students can be in the Least Restrictive Environment (as the law deems).