Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MollyBloom]

This is a serious discussion.

I teach a 3rd grade class that has a boy with mental disabilities...I can't tell if he has Down's Syndrome, but he is definitely a special ed. student. He has an aide that sits next to him.

It was my first day with this particular class and today I tried to include him in the activities, asking him questions because I didn't want him to feel left out. He did not participate because I don't think he understood what was going on, and also because his aide did not help him at all. She just let him doodle in Hangeul and she would quiet him when he was making noise or talking to himself.

I don't feel uncomfortable at all around him, but I am unsure of how much attention I should give to him, because if he is at a level where he cannot understand anything, I would rather focus on the students that really need my help. I don't mean that to be mean, but the student clearly needs special education and not education from me. One teacher suggested that he is in there for "show"(ie. special ed. students can learn English, too).

How should I handle this: is his aide there to translate/help him, or should I be directly involved with teaching him?

Also, how do you handle teaching special ed. students in your classes?

[D.D.]

I let them sit and listen in class. They seam happy to do that. After class they come to my desk and some of them practice the basics. One of my special needs kids is really doing well with the days of the week and basic conversation. But wasting time in class would be wasted time.

[pootle]

I think you have to discuss this with your co-teacher and see what s/he says. I have an ADHD/autistic child (diagnosis comes from my co-teacher, I'm not so sure) in one of my middle school classes and I asked how I should deal with this. I was told to not ask him to answer questions and that 'He will never complete worksheets or take part in pair/group work'. I've found this to be untrue and once the student is engaged he does contribute and loves to take part in games and other pair or group work activities.

Check it out with your co-teacher and then play it by ear. I have used elementary school worksheets with some of the "slower" middle school students and they enjoy it and love the sense of achievement from practising writing skills (copying words and phrases on sheets like this http://bogglesworldesl.com/kids_worksheets/index.htm) or even from colouring in pictures. If you can say "Well done" to them for completing, or even trying to complete something then I feel that this goes a long way.

Students will meet your expectations and sadly, many Korean English teachers' expectations are very low!

[KYC]

His aid is the one who's supposed to take care of him. Last year, I had 2 "special" kids. One had an aid and one didn't. The one that didn't....I had to constantly protect him from the other children since his jerk homeroom teacher never joined my lessons. It was a strain on me cuz I couldn't concentrate on the lessons fully. He did participate in the lesson, games, and worksheets just as much as the other children.

The other special child with the aid did nothing but doodle as well. Occasionally he has these bursts...he would run around the room or scream at me. It scared me a bit but his aid always calmed him down. I gave him worksheets but he just drew all over them.

Right now I have several special children and my coteachers seem to ignore them as well.

[I-am-me]

It sounds bad, but I adamantly refuse to teach special needs kids. I have had 2 and I was upfront with the boss. These kids needs special attention and as E2's we are not trained nor qualified to teach them in a class with regular students. It just amazes me how koreans like to lump these kids into one group and expect them to learn.

[OiGirl]

Wow. It's called "inclusion."

[Lao Wai]

[cruisemonkey]

Last year I had two, and this year I have one special student in my classes. I treat them exactly the same as all the other students - this way, they can not learn English... just like everyone else.

[Easter Clark]

I have at least one special needs student in every class I teach. I have learned that the best way to treat them is to be very forgiving in terms of behavior (unless they physically harm another student), and offer as much praise and encouragement as you can. These kids are nearly always ostracized, but if they do have a friend (or even acquaintance), seat them together. If they're happy sitting alone doing nothing, then so be it.

I have expressed my displeasure with the system, but what can you do? I'm not trained to teach these kids so the best I can do is just try to make them feel at ease. If I can't teach them English maybe I can at least give them a comfortable place to go once or twice a week.

[poet13]

Inlcusion for the students is fine, but why the hell does it have to apply to the special needs teachers as well?