You have to start the person where they are. For example, getting a student ready for Grade 5 math is ridiculous. [The teacher] should be thinking, “What is it that I want these kids to learn and how can I bring them to that point?” I guess what I’m really saying is: Grade 5 teachers are not maching Grade 5 math, but they are teaching math to Grade 5 students. The teacher has to decide who those students are and where they are in terms of mathematics.
==== THE CHALLENGES AND REWARDS The job of an M&R teacher is challenging in many ways. first and foremost, M&R teachers feel they never have enough time to do everything that needs to be done. Program planning, materials preparation and completing the paperwork associated with IEPs and other documents interferes with their ability to get into classrooms to observe and monitor student progress. M&R teachers recognize that they should spend several hours at a time in the classroom but usually only find time to observe for ten minutes to a half hour. As a result, most methods and resource teachers depend to a great extent on the reports of teachers and feedback from teacher’s aides.
Methods and resource teachers suggest that there are serious problems with classroom teachers expecting too much of their students with disabilities. M&R teachers must work very hard to see that teachers have realistic expectations and that students don’t experience frustration and failure.
While teachers’ expectations tend to be too high, parents of students who have spent a number of years in segregated settings often need encouragement to have higher expectations for their children. M&R teachers report that the parents seem reluctant to take risks with their child’s placement, putting tight limits on program alternatives. When there is a great gap between the M&R teacher’s judgement and the expectations of the classroom teachers and parents, development of an appropriate instructional program becomm very difficult.
