My Kids are Changing the World...

For those of you that don’t already know, I’m a special education teacher. I work in an elementary school in a self-contained class with a mix model of students who range from moderate to profound intellectual disabilities. My kids are the ones who will likely be dependent on adult care for the rest of their lives. Some of them may get a job if adequately prepared. But they will need a whole lot of preparation.

I teach in Georgia. When I first began teaching I was told that the kids were on a “functional curriculum.” This means we need to prepare them for daily life: cooking, hygiene, behavior and other life skills. We also taught academics such as letters and numbers, colors…whatever their little minds could understand. Mostly we taught them how to adapt, how to be a part of a community. We taught kids with autism how to communicate appropriately. We taught kids with Down’s Syndrome how to recognize boundaries. We taught those who could not communicate how they could. We taught them to be self sufficient. How to dress themselves, ask for what they needed, how to follow directions, eat appropriately at a table and how to “fit in.” That’s what we were hired to do and so that’s what we did. How wonderful that America recognized the right of these students and offered them an education where they could “be the best of themselves.”

But there was a shift in education, one that ultimately led to “No Child Left Behind.” As an educator I will not say that this policy is either good or bad, but I will say that it has affected the way we teach our special needs students in ways that have produced both positive and negative effects.

The Good:

The Good is that we are now being pushed to teach age appropriate material to our kids. No longer am I teaching my 12 year olds from baby books but I am using material that is relevant to them. They like Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers. So I am using that to teach whatever skills I can. “Hannah Montana Recycles” was a big hit! With this shift, I have learned how to adapt my lessons to their interest and needs and not just their cognitive level. My kids have learned about the Earth and other Planets. They have learned about the sun and the moon. They can recognize the map of the United States and know that they live in Georgia. They have learned about the Revolutionary War and its key figures. My kids know about the important inventions of the 19th century including the telephone and the airplane. They understand the concept of physical change and they can identify parts from wholes. I am so proud that they can, if only in part, comprehend the same things their peers are learning.

The Bad:

The other side of that coin is that for every minute we spend teaching our kids about the Revolutionary War is a minute we cannot teach them how to zip their own jacket. For every minute we teach them about math concepts they will never use or even understand, is a minute we cannot teach them how to feed themselves. We are being pushed to teach them grade level standards when some of them cannot even use the bathroom. No Child Left Behind mandates that we teach every child equally, when they are not all equal.
When I first began teaching, I learned right away the purpose of education. Teaching is not about reading, writing, math and science. Teaching is about giving kids what they need to succeed as adults. We used to say that education was about creating good citizens who would grow up and serve their community. Now it seems that the focus is on college. This is where my students get lost…where they are unfortunately left behind. Although two of my students, with all their inspiring optimism tell me how they are going to go to college in Paris…something they learned off the TV…the reality is that they won’t. They will likely live in a group home as adults and if lucky, obtain employment at a local grocery store. What are we doing to prepare them for this? Not enough.

Budget cuts have crippled education. One of the first things to go was something called Community Based Instruction (CBI). This was an educational initiative aimed at exposing students with special needs to their community and giving them hands on life skills. We visited stores, restaurants and other public places to expose children to the community. We taught them how to interact appropriately, how to shop for things they needed, how to ask for help, how to find a public restroom…essentials that they would need to know to be a part of a community. The very things the rest of us take for granted. Money ran out though so this initiative was put on the cutting board and with it went the functional curriculum. The focus became GPS standards and teaching age and grade appropriate skills.

As teachers always rise up to the challenge, we came together to figure out how we could still offer CBI but within the school setting. I attended a meeting where a group of us came up with ideas on how our kids could gain practical community skills within the school setting. From this meeting, many ideas were born. I took one of these ideas back to my school and didn’t realize at the time how much it would affect the community.

This year, my class of 4th and 5th grade special needs students launched the biggest recycling effort that my school has ever seen. Calling ourselves the Green Team, we volunteered our service to help collect paper every other week and deliver it to the recycling receptacle. We have since widened our efforts to all recyclable materials. Our school had always supported recycling efforts, but never involved students. It was mostly an adult effort. At first, I thought it was a crazy idea…that the teachers would inevitably do all the work and the kids would be lost on the concept. How surprised I was.

After a year of taking on this responsibility I am proud to say that many of my students know the difference between trash and recyclable materials and can sort those materials. I am proud to say that my students will independently pick up garbage on the playground and put it in the trash, not because they were told to, but because they know it doesn’t belong there. My students have made posters to promote recycling around the school. And every time they walk through the halls with a bin full of paper or plastic, they are setting an example of social responsibility and a commitment to the betterment of their community. In this way, however small it may be, they are changing the world.

In Japan, they view public schools to be a viable resource for everyone and to serve as a means to renew and build up the life of a community. The mayor of Sanyo Onoda City believes that students with disabilities are more vulnerable and so deserve a secure place in the fabric of society. His vision is for instruction that can ultimately lead to successful outcomes for the community.

I have learned this year how much our disabled students can have an impact on their community. I have learned how they can serve and protect our country. I have learned the example they can set for other kids that will one day be in charge. I have learned how much they care about being a part of their community.

I know that we need to teach these kids reading, writing, math and science…we are mandated to do so and it is not a fruitless venture. But let us realize the strength of these kids, the possibility of their futures. Let us also teach them how to be productive citizens and helpers in their own community. Let’s give them the skills they need to make a difference in the world. They very much wish to do so.