Saying Goodbye May 26, 2010
Posted by Daniel Dage in moving on, Parent Support, severe disabilities, Special Ed., Special Education.comments closed
When writing the following goodbye letter, I was totally and unexpectedly ambushed by the emotion that bubbled through. It is just now, during the final days and hours of school that it has started to hit me that I will not be coming back her with these kids. And I have spent a lot of time in this room with these kids. I am still busy and still working to get all the end-of-year stuff done, but it is creeping in…it’s almost over.
I’ve been ready for the end for so long, I did not expect the leaving to reach out and snag my emotions like that. But it did and it might yet get me some more before it’s all over.
But here it is…me saying good bye:
Dear Parents of My Students,
There is this rumor going around that I will not return to Newton High School next school year. In fact it is not a rumor at all, but it is true. I resigned my position effective the end of the year and am applying for other positions both inside and outside of the county for next year.
The last 10 years have been a wonderful adventure and journey of learning about your children and your families and working together to meet the needs of this unique population. I have professionally and personally grown so much and have been taught so much by these students. In many ways, the students here teach everyone else the true meaning of compassion, caring, understanding, cooperation, patience, perseverance and integrity because they demand so much more than any other students.
During the past year, despite many challenges, each and every student in my program made progress and improved from where they started. It has been an honor and privilege to be a small part of that.
No matter where I end up, I will continue to be an advocate for all of our children, regardless of disability. I have to admit the emotional aspect of leaving comes as a bit of a surprise to me. There is a bond with each student that has passed through this room and for the first time in 10 years, I won’t be back to carry on.
I want to thank you all for your support over the past years as it does take a full team working together. I know a little about the challenges of raising a child with exceptional needs as my own son has a diagnosis of autism. I have looked upon each of you with so much admiration and respect for what you do each and every day. I get paid for it, you do not. I wish everyone well and really am praying, as you are, that the district finds a good teacher to improve on the work we’ve already started.
Thank you and God bless,
Daniel Dage
Serving Students with severe disabilities
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“Inspire Greatness”
10 Years By the Numbers May 24, 2010
Posted by Daniel Dage in Backstory, severe disabilities, Special Ed., Special Education.comments closed
I have been teaching individuals with severe disabilities in this school for the past 10 years. So just what does 10 years look like? Well, here is is, by the numbers….
0 – (as in zero) = number of times all of my paras have shown up on time. It is also the number of times all of my students have chosen to take advantage of their exam exemption and not come the last day of school. It is also the number of times I have eaten with other teachers in the faculty eating area because I had a duty-free lunch. This is also the number of other teachers in my system who have taught this population for 10 consecutive years. And finally, this is the number of times I arrived late to school this year. I am usually here 30-45 minutes before start time.
1- This is the number of students I have seen go the whole distance from grade 9 until they aged out. Several have transferred, and a few have died before finishing. I have also had one student who needed to be catheterized 2x daily. This is also the number of days I have missed school this year.
2 – The number of administrators who have actually come in to my room and watched me teach in the classroom in 10 years. Most observations took place in the lunch room while feeding. And some…I have no idea when they occurred!
3 – This is the number of students who have come through who have had to be tube fed in 10 years. It is also the number of SID/PID teachers we had here during my first 3 years here. 3 teachers and 7 paras at one point (year 3 , I think).
4 – Number of principals I have seen come and go in 10 years. They don’t seem to stick around very long here! This is also the number of times I have had to take a test in order to be highly qualified either in my subject or a new one.
5 – Number of times I have been absent in the last 10 years. My youngest was born over a Christmas break! The credit for this goes mostly to Jane who tends the boys when they are sick. This is also the smallest caseload I have ever had in 10 years.
6 – This is the number of times the bus broke down during CBI trips and left us stranded on the side of a road or parking lot somewhere. This is also the legal class size limit in Georgia for a class serving students with profound disabilities.
7 – This is the largest number of paras I have had to supervise in a single year. It is also the number of years I drove a bus for community-based trips.
8 – This is the number of years I was under or at the legal class size limit. Last year I had 7.
9 – My largest class/caseload size which is this year with the addition of 2 more PID students.
10- The largest number of adults serving this program at this school. We had maybe 16 students and only 3 wheelchairs back then, but several behavior/medical issues. 7 paras and 3 teachers.
Okay, maybe next time I’ll go into higher numbers when exploring the last 10 years in this setting with these students.
I may have waited too long… May 1, 2010
Posted by Daniel Dage in Blogging, Day-to-day school drama, severe disabilities, Special Ed., Special Education.comments closed
Perhaps 10 years is too long in this particular setting.
It has been awhile since I updated this blog. I have been busy, and the business is reaching a feverish pitch as annual reviews blend in with end of year checklists and tasks and re-evaluations and on top of that, my own campaign to find another job.
All of this adds up to more stress on top of a job that has been stressful all year long with all sorts of issues. But I have always met all of the challenges and dealt with them. Every year, I somehow make it through and marvel at how I ever did it.
Not everyone can handle the stress that is involved with serving individuals with severe disabilities. But most teachers I know do not cite the students as the biggest stressors. Lack of administrative support and the huge burden of paperwork rank among the top reasons educators leave the field of special education.
I have not talked about a former colleague of mine lately, although he does occasionally keep in touch. The stress on him was so heavy that he had a nervous breakdown and was carried out on a stretcher…more than once. I remember thinking those few years ago that I did not want things to get that bad. And maybe then it was that I began to look around at other options.
My first 6 years of teaching here, I drove the bus for our community outings, and so each year I had to get a bus physical. It wasn’t much of a physical, but it was at least blood pressure, pulse and weight. And none of those numbers fluctuated very much. I was generally healthy. However I did smoke. Smoking, besides all the health and social costs is also expensive and addicting. It was the fact that I was tired of being an addict that I finally quit a couple years ago. And then my weight ballooned so badly it was impacting my knees. So I began a diet and exercise program and managed to get the weight under control. All of these measures helped buy me more time and hopefully extended my shelf life.
But the load and stress this year has finally taken its toll. I was feeling a bit dizzy the last couple of days and had the school nurse take my blood pressure. And sure enough it was high. Not ER high, but a source of major concern nonetheless. The paras got a bit worried and called the nurse to check me again in the afternoon, and by then I was back in my normal range. I half-joked that they were overly concerned because if something happened to me, they might actually have to do some work! Ha ha!
So I am wondering: Are there a number of other teachers out there stressing more than usual this year? Has it taken a toll health-wise? I know I have a number of areas where I can improve my life style, mainly getting more sleep and laying off the caffeine. Those two alone can probably get me back in the normal range if I can also reduce some stress. Hopefully I can survive the next couple of weeks when all my annual reviews are done and I have less overhead….hopefully. They always like to pile on more and more at the end and so much of it seems needless.
I do want to write more, and that is one way to vent off a bit. And I also want to do a little series about the past ten years “by the numbers.”
But I need to make it through the next couple of weeks without having to be carted off in a gurney!
