The Chit Chat Chit Chat Thread

Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Gabe1 said:
That is our inclusion program-vs the old way of 20 years ago as a contained environment classroom. We have a contained for extreme behavioral issues and one for catastrophic physical and learning differences within our middle school building. Some of these students arrive by ambulance type vehicles each day and some have their own aides and one on one Registered Nurse. The costs are dramatic.
Our inclusion students have either a one on one aide or 2 to 1 depending on needs. We have a facilitator that reworks the lessons to adapt to the students specific needs vs a classroom teacher. We belong to a co-op of 8 districts that we all pay into and then the special educators travel between all the buildings or a few depending on demand. We actually had two speech therapists assigned to our district. Remember english as a second language or now called english language learners go to speech therapy to learn how to properly pronounce sounds and then the other students that have developmental speech needs. Where the line in the sand is-deaf students. We ship them to a special building for the deaf at the request of their parents. We would place those students in an inclusion environment but every single parent asked for the school for the deaf.
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Well, for the students who require a personal aide, that would be true no matter which school they went to, so it doesn't cost any more or any less to send them to a special school or to mainstream them. But, things like the speech therapy, or the deaf, or ESL...those cases then require a teacher per building, or the specialist has to travel. But if they travel, they have to divide their time between several schools, which means that only one school at a time has the benefit of that person, and if there's an issue at one of the other schools, they have to wait until it's their turn again to solve the issue.Not to mention the time lost in commute between schools. If you have a kid with severe dyslexia that needs special help, they need that special help all the time. They need a teacher who is trained specifically in teaching kids with dyslexia. But how many kids in each school are going to need that? Probably only a handful. And they will be in all different grades, so you can't just hire one teacher. But if you took all the kids with a really severe case and sent them to one central school with a teacher specializing in that area, you only need one teacher for that grade level in the district, rather than one each in 6 different schools. It just makes more sense. And then you also don't have the stigma attached to the kid. ALL the kids in the class have that issue, so no one is "the dumb kid" or "the deaf kid". Over here, even our high schools are divided up. There are several levels of school, so advanced students go to a harder school with more options like latin, greek, physics, calculus, etc...a school that puts them on track to go to a university and have a career that requires a higher level of education, like doctors, or lawyers, or engineers. Then you have the average schools, where the courses will be more general like Engligh and Dutch, algebra and basic biology, it puts them on track for a career that maybe doesn't require quite as much schooling...administrative work, for example. Then you have the schools for kids who are just never going to be scholars...kids who are maybe better in a trade, like carpentry, or working in a factory. Skilled labor. They don't need to learn latin or calculus. They will learn things that apply to their specific trade. Like math for a carpenter might involve units of measurement and conversion from metric to feet and inches. But by dividing the students up to go a school that fits their level, they don't need a shop teacher, AND a latin teacher AND a music teacher, AND a calculus teacher, etc at each school. They have the shop teacher at the trade school for building. And they have the Latin teacher at the school where kids might go on to be doctors. They have the cosmetolgy teacher at the school for beauty and hygiene. It's better financially not to have to provide several teachers in a district for the same course material, and it's better for the students because everything they learn actually applies to their chosen career. Someone who wants to be an auto-mechanic doesn't have to learn latin, and someone who wants to be a lawyer doesn't need to learn how to use a circular saw. No more of that "when am I ever going to use this?". They only get what applies to them. I hate this idea that every kid needs to learn how to do every single thing and we need to make them all little clones of each other who all know the same things and can do the exact same things, and if you can't, you are different and a freak and a failure. I really have no desire to learn to dismantle and reassemble a carburetor, and it's not likely a skill I need to have as a music teacher. But a class in music theory is essential to me, where...what in the world would a kid studying to be a lawyer need to learn music theory for? The downside to our system here is that kids have to choose a career path really early, because the school they go to and the courses they take affect their possible career choices. If a kid thinks they want to be a hair stylist, they go to the cosmetology school and then discover they'd rather go into economics, it's hard to switch gears because those classes won't overlap much, so you basically have to start over. But that's why most kids end up at the school with more general classes. Those classes apply to a wider array of career paths. There's a reason why the Netherlands are near the top education-wise in the world rankings.
 
Figgy1

Figgy1

Premium Member
Gabe1 said:
So how do you find the prices at your farmers market by you? Our prices are generally higher than at a grocery store. Usually much fresher at the Farmers Market but we get that sticker price shock.
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Mine is quite reasonable for most things. Eggs $4 a dozen for organic, green or yellow squash .79 a pound, tomatoes were 1.79 or so last summer, berries give me sticker shock and they're just ok at best, bok choi 1.29, organic greens(kale spinach chard and such) 2 a bag and they weigh about a pound and a half to 2 pounds
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
Years ago I worked for a school district in Vermont. A woman brought a lawsuit demanding that her child be allowed in the school. According to her, her child had a severe peanut allergy to the point that, not only would it be required that no peanuts or peanut products could be on the property, but, no child in the school could have even eaten peanut butter at home because he was so sensitive that with it just on their breath, they could cause the child into a seizure or possible death resulting reaction. Her demand was that the school would be responsible for things even out of their control. All the parents of all the kids in that building would have to not use any peanut product, because, her child should be able to attend a regular school.

The two points made by the school seemed like an obvious thing. They could not police or control the child when they weren't on the property and it would be next to impossible even when they were on property. And also, what they demanded was an unreasonable hardship for everyone to be expected to not slip up, no matter what their intention was. We all felt bad for the child, but, in order to accommodate that one person they entire community had to deal with it in massive detail. The school won, but, really there were no winners. The one thing that I thought about, but, we couldn't bring up in the conversation, was... If I had a child that could have that severe a life and death reaction then I wouldn't expose them to the possibility. Many a child has been successfully home schooled without any severe social problems and if it meant the difference between dying and not feeling part of something I would have acted on the side of the let him live and not take the risk. And what a huge risk it would be.
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Interesting...and that's exactly my point. You can't police every single place your child might go. If the allergy is that severe, it's just not a viable option to send them to school. And as you pointed out, there are many children who go to special schools, or who are home schooled, and they turn out just fine. Of COURSE every parent wants their child to be "normal", but that's just not something you can force. You don't get a choice in which disabilities your child will have...if that were the case, no one would sign up for things like a deadly nut allergy. And sometimes a child just can't be expected to thrive in the same environment as other children. That's more about the parents feeling bad that their kid misses out on things than it is about what the kid NEEDS. It's sad, but it's just the way it is.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
MOXOMUMD said:
That includes days they are sick. You have to provide doctor's excuses if they miss more than two days in a row. Our school system is a real stickler on attendance.
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Wow...I would be interested to see the statistics about illness in your district. How many parents send their kids back even when they aren't better because they don't want to take their kid to the doctor for the common flu? And then they infect other kids because they came back before they were completely better. It seems a bit counter-productive, but I guess it would prevent parents pretending they are sick for long periods of time.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
Sorry, but, you cannot have any. It seem that there is a person in Arizona that is allergic to Pecan's. The entire country is now expected to not expose that to the air in the event of a strong westerly wind and the occasional eastern one. It takes a country to raise a child.
I suppose if you consume it in an airtight facility it is OK as long as you promise not to burp when you go outside.
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You crack me up.
 
Songbird76

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
donaldtoo said:
We got pounded again last night and overnight.
An intersection on the south side of our subdivision was underwater and had to be closed. That's the first time I've seen that in the almost 40 years I've lived here.
60% chance of more storms this afternoon, but only a 20% chance tomorrow.
I was gonna' put new brake pads on all 4 wheels of DWifeys car today, but, I decided to do it tomorrow, instead.
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Sympathy like. Are you still safe?
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
donaldtoo said:
Other than in your own home, vehicle, or outside in non-public places, there is no smoking in Austin anymore, per city ordinance.
No skin off my behind' 'cause I don't smoke, but, I remember back in the day when everyone smoked everywhere.
When I was 13 and broke my calcaneous bone, the ER orthopedist smoked the whole time he was setting and putting a cast on my leg, and at every checkup I had with him after that. I can't even remember anyplace that didn't have some sort of ashtray back then.
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I think my grandmother was the queen of obtaining ashtrays from every dorky place that was giving them out, free. Oh, and she had a ton of free matchbooks, too. In all, it was quite the eclectic collection . . . :rolleyes: :joyfull: Oh yes, she had such lovelies as ones from gas stations, roadside attractions, restaurants, etc.
 
MinnieM123

MinnieM123

Premium Member
Gabe1 said:
You're right, Bets should love it. She has gone to the quiet mode, hope that means she is having a fun vacation.
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Yup, I'll bet that she and Mr. Bets, and the rest of the gang, are having a blast. I also suspect that she might be having some sort of issue logging in or uploading pictures, as she always enjoys doing that. But good things come to those who wait--we'll all get to see some great trip photos and stories once she gets back home on her own computer.
 

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