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Post by TexasMom on Oct 19, 2004 22:50:32 GMT -5
Steven started middle school this year and is flunking 3 classes already, mostly due to not doing homework. He can get 100's on tests and everything else will be zero's because he won't turn in things, or will turn them in late.  I don't know why this is happening, but my theories range from either switching from his meds from concerta to strattera combined with the problems of adjusting to middle school, to hormones to I don't know what. Also this year, just like last year he's being picked on at school (the school seems to be handling it well, so I haven't had to do anything). The purpose of writting is that the annual ard meeting is thursday and I'd like some suggestions on what accomodations might be helpful for Steven. Anyone have any ideas? |
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Post by camismom on Oct 20, 2004 9:28:39 GMT -5
Hi Linda. I'm also dealing with the middle school years and only just a few weeks ago my dd was failing 3 out of 4 of her academic classes. Thankfully due to intervention we were able to pull them up and I'm happy to report she made A'b, B's and one C on her RC yesterday. Does you ds have a 504? If not, get one ASAP. I'm assuming he does since you have a meeting coming up. Accomadations I have on Cami's 504 is more time given to finish both classwork and homework. We found in our most recent meeting that if she didn't finish her work in time to turn it in, she just wouldn't.  We had to explain to her that it is much better to turn in what she did complete and get a partial grade than to get a 0 for turning in nothing. She would do this for lost work too, other than confessing she lost it and asking for a new one. But, to help with this problem she is given more time on all work, and she is allowed to ask for a second copy for a reduced grade if she loses it. She also has an agenda she has to record her homework in and have the teacher initial it. She then has the teacher initial it the next day shen she turn it in. Teachers also know to give her "gentle" reminders when they see she hasn't yet. On top of all that, she was assigned a "peer helper" for each class, usually a strong student in each subject that is seated next to her and is instructed to help remind her to record her homework, and get back on task when she is seen goofing off. Then to top it off, she is permitted last period to go thru her agenda and make sure she got all books needed to take home for homework. If not, she is allowed to leave class a couple minutes before the bell to go to her locker and get them. Those are a few ideas to help with the homework problem. Let me know if you need more. |
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Post by tridlette on Oct 20, 2004 10:24:58 GMT -5
I had one teacher who would not count homework as a negative when it wasn't turned in... but Michael never knew that...
Another teacher gave him all semester to turn papers in, and he usually pulled off turning in 24 assignments in the last 7 days of the marking period.
We also found one teacher in the school, who agreed to be the home-school liason. Every Friday, he would e-mail each teacher and find out what was missing, what the current grade was for each class, what homework was missing. He then put it all together for me in a worksheet and e-mailed it home to me on Tuesday. Any day would have worked, it just seemed that it took that many days to get all the info. collected and collated.
Linda, I e-mailed it to you, since I just had it opened on my screen for MY son's IEP planning meeting this afternoon.
We didn't necessarily improve all his grades, but I always knew what was missing, what big stuff was coming up, and was able to keep up with him.
Laurie
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Post by adhdtimes4 on Oct 20, 2004 14:35:41 GMT -5
Have the teachers email you a daily copy of the homework assignments, post them on the web or record them on a homework hotline. Having a second set of books at home also helps. While it won't help getting the work turned in, it will give your son less to remember and keep up with.
Make the teachers responsible for asking your son for his homework, not just expect him to turn it in.
Our best accomodation has been to require teachers to communicate with us on a weekly basis. To facilitate this, I email them:
What's the grade until this point in the grading period?
What tests/projects are coming up?
What assignments are missing?
How focus been?
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Post by tridlette on Oct 25, 2004 11:04:54 GMT -5
How did the meeting go Linda? I hope things improve quickly for you.
I meet this afternoon with the district to re evaluate one of my guys. I am tired of hearing, "If he would only apply himself... he is lazy..."
Maybe he isn't lazy, maybe he is efficient and learned it the first time and doesn't need to pay attention for the next 3 days of the same subject matter.
Time will tell.
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Post by TexasMom on Oct 25, 2004 18:20:20 GMT -5
It went fairly well. We got most of the accomodations you mentioned. We have the assignment page the teachers have to sign off of. He has the use of an alphasmart. He has prefered seating, and they're going to check into gifted and talented classes, thinking that maybe he's just doesn't see the point of doing something when he gets it the first time. I did have a problem when they tried to come up with a behavior modification plan because they said that he purposely passed gas on kids and blew his nose disruptively.  I kid you not! They embarrassed the kid to no end. What else will our kids get blamed for?? |
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