The Best of Intentions

The Player(s)

My intentions were good. I’d taught [the student]’s siblings. I knew the family. There was a very loose casual connection between the family and me – friends and/or relatives in common – so there was some social interaction at one time or another. [the student] was polite, willing to participate, and wanted to know what was required for success in my classroom.

The Setup

I’d known about [the student]’s IEP for a while. It’s hard to keep information like that absolutely secret, even though the specifics of the situation were still confidential.

The class was working on the first assignment of the year. Everyone was trying to get caught up on the form and structure of the assignment, which is a wholly different animal than the information of the assignment. [the student] was working through issues just like [the student]’s classmates were working through issues.

The Sequence

As is my wont, I was walking around the room, looking over shoulders and reading from a distance. While trying to remain unobtrusive, I still wanted a clear feeling of where individual students were in dealing with the assignment. Those students on IEPs, in general, garner a few more deliberate passes by their desk and this was no exception. I looked at [the student]’s computer and was moderately surprised by what I saw.

I had heard [the student] read aloud from [the student]’s own writing. [the student] is articulate and well able to express [the student]’s thoughts. But the writing didn’t match the speaking. While I knew of the IEP, the reality of [the student]’s position was different than I’d thought it would be.

The Denouement

I spoke to [the student]’s IEP case manager. The case manager wasn’t surprised. Further testing had been done, and even more was forthcoming. Those of us in education still didn’t have a truly good grasp of what was going on with [the student]. Hopefully, the information that we required would be arriving sooner rather than later.

The Moral

Teachers with good intentions do what they can, with what they have, to try to meet the needs of the students they serve, even though, sometimes, it’s like trying to jump rope by yourself with one hand tied behind your back.