To Teach is to Touch a Life Forever

admin — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:10:44 +0000

Many of my clients tell me I need to work for the Department of Education to encourage people to become teachers. Since I am so passionate about my teaching and I think it is the best job ever, they think I can convince any person, even those who do not like children, to shift to education.

I have my doubts about convincing any person, but I am sure that being an educator is the best job ever.

When I work with my clients on Needs and we get to the stage where they understand the need to make a difference in the world, I understand again why a teacher fulfills this need every time he or she goes to work.

Unfortunately, many people think that teachers are a conduit of knowledge. They take knowledge from one side, chew it and hand it to the students in an easy way. Teachers, on the other hand, see their work in a more purposeful way. To them, teaching is a facilitation of change. Teachers are there to help their students grow and evolve. They are there to help their students design their identity by learning.

For a teacher, teaching another grammar point or another math concept is nowhere near the excitement and fulfilment of teaching to develop a positive attitude or good habits. You see, it is hard to make a difference in the world by teaching multiplication, but easy by teaching ways to learn. It is hard to make a difference by teaching to read, but easy when the reading is about friendship. For teachers, knowledge is only a tool to teach attitude.

We learn math not to be able to go to the supermarket, but to be able to stimulate our thinking. We learn to read not to be able to sign a document but to be able to read about love, excitement, motivation and characters. We learn science not to be able to get great grades but to appreciate the world around us.

Teachers have that in mind every time they get up in the morning and pack their lunch to go to work. Their students’ well-being and education is far more important to them than the grades on their report card.

I am not my kids’ teacher at school and I told them from the first day they went to school, “I wish you a teacher that recognizes his or her profession as a mission. I wish you a teacher who will help you carve who you are and will stay in your memory as someone who meant a lot to you and was there to love you and help you be the person you wanted to be”.

I consider myself lucky, because I have been touched by many teachers, especially when I studied special education. The years when I was deeply inspired by those who define edcuation as a tool to change the world.

Remember that your child’s education is much more than the grades on his or her report card and look for those teachers who are there with the vision of touching your child forever.

By: Ronit Baras

4 Benefits Your Child In Special Education Can Receive From FERPA

admin — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 04:47:11 +0000

Do you wonder if your child’s right to privacy in their educational records, has been violated? Would you like to learn how FERPA can help your child? This article will discuss the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which applies to all educational institutions to which receives funds from the Department of Education. Also discussed are 4 benefits that your child can get from FERPA.

Benefit 1: Use FERPA to review your child’s school record to see if it is accurate, and if it contains items that you have not seen. It is amazing, what you can find in your child’s school record. Also look for items that may support your case.

For Example: If your child has behavior difficulties, that special education personnel want to suspend them for, look for evidence that the behavior has been happening for a while. School personnel are supposed to work to prevent the behavior, rather than continuously punishing the child for it.

Ask for a copy of any item that you have not seen, or supports your case. Special education personnel may charge a reasonable copying fee, though you should ask for the school policy on parents receiving free records.

Benefit 2: Use FERPA to have removed anything in your child’s school record that is inaccurate, misleading or violates your child’s right to privacy. Once again, it is amazing what you will find in your child’s school record. If something is written about your child or family that you disagree with, ask that it be taken out. If the school district refuses, they can file for a due process hearing, to prove to the hearing officer that the school’s records are accurate.

Benefit 3: Use FERPA to ask for items that you may not think about, as part of your child’s school record. You have the right to review everything that has your child’s name on it; permanent record, temporary record, e mails, internal memos, testing materials and protocols, audio recordings, video recordings, etc. If your child has difficulty on the bus, ask and see if your child’s bus contains a camera. If it does, ask for copies of any day that you are concerned about.

Benefit 4: If you feel that your child’s confidentiality has been breeched by special education personnel, file for a FERPA complaint. This complaint can be filed with the Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO) at: U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Ave SW, Washington DC 20202.

Your child has the right to confidentiality in their educational records. You have the right as their parent to access their school records. Good luck in your fight for an appropriate education for your child with a disability, the fight is worth it!

By: JoAnn Collins

Special Education » Department Education

To Teach is to Touch a Life Forever

4 Benefits Your Child In Special Education Can Receive From FERPA