I have a 7 year old son in second grade who was chosen to be a peer model in the collaborative/inclusion classroom. He is an avid reader and has always been an excellent student - near perfect marks academically and behaviorally.
This year has been very difficult for him. He is experiencing extreme difficulty in completing his class work, listening to the teacher and thus has had this reflected on his most recent report card. He complains that the classroom is very distracting, the behaviors are inappropriate and the teacher is very mean because other children are given "lots of chances" and he is held accountable to a different standard behaviorally and academically.
I went into the classroom to observe and found it to be a HUGELY distracting environment where children needed to be re-directed constantly by the teacher and aide. Some children experienced such difficulty that the re-direction had to occur on a every 5 minute basis! The room was a "buzz" of conversations, children reading aloud (when expected to read silently), etc. Honestly, I could not stay focused in this type of environment. Additionally, the door opened four times (in less than one hour) for groups of children to be called out to work in small groups with reading & speech specialists. Again, more distractions!
We have met with the teacher numerous times and have escalated this to the principal. The principal (who is new this year) mandated that our son meet with the guidance counselor to discuss his feelings about the classroom, teacher, etc. Our son POURED his heart out to the guidance counselor! After the meeting, we met with the counselor who recommended a classroom change for our child. She stated that the environment was NOT a good environment for our son and that in these types of cases, a change of classroom is necessary and should be done immediately.
This is where it gets really ugly.... The new principal will not change his classroom. Instead, she is mandating all sorts of "observations", etc. for our son.
My problem... a principal who now is ignoring the guidance counselor's recommedation and parental concern.
I am on the executive boad of our parent-teacher assosiation (treasurer for the past two years) and am at a loss of what to do next. Every child deserves a right to a distraction free education...
