Many teachers are specific about what they want help with, while others are puzzled by a student’s lack of success and want the M&R teacher to help determine why.
The second major area teachers want help with is classroom behaviour and discipline. For example, a student may not pay attention in class and may refuse to work or may refuse to work and disrupt classroom activities and affect the learning of other students. In some cases the students have severe behavioural disorders, which are expressed in temper tantrums, physical and verbal abuse of classmates or teachers, or in self-abusive behaviour.
Teachers are asking for help with students who just won’t do the work or who are acting out. Sometimes you don’t know whether the student is having an academic pnoblem because of his behavioural difficulty or whether he’s a behaviour problem because he can’t do the academic work:
The behaviour problems that come to me are where a child is what you might call a lazy student. He doesn’t get his work done. He’s disorganized, hyperactive. Of course, with integration we aim get emotionally disturbed or behaviour disordened kids. I work out a plan with the teacher to decide what behaviour we’re going to target and how to deal with the behaviour.
Teachers also need moral support. One M&R teacher reports that teachers just want to talk over their problems, discuss their ideas and get a second opinion on what they’re doing. In most cases this is done informally, in the hallway or in the staff room:
