EBD Blog

One can learn how the school year’s starting for some teachers of students with disabilities by reading blogs. Over on liquidwafflegirl, Jill has a couple of notes about what it’s like during the beginning of the school year for a teacher of students with Emotional and Behavioral Disorders. One can follow along with the trials and tribulations she’s experiencing.

On TeachingLizzie, Beth is documenting her first year of teaching. As one might expect, she’s had some good days, but she’s run into a rough spot or two.

If there’s a theme to these posts, it appears to be behavior management concerns. I can understand, as I recall how important it was to get things right on that score…and how difficult it is to do so when working with students who have been assigned to you because of their difficult behavior. Taking the longer view—putting a strong management system in place and implementing it calmly and faithfully; knowing that it will bring about change over time, that learning how to behave takes time, doesn’t happen in an instant—isn’t easy. Sadly, sometimes I forgot this and sank into the same spots where the kids were: Only able to see the immediate situation, I’d engage in a battle of wills. But those strong, consistent, persistent, and positive management systems do work. I’m hoping that things will go well in these classrooms.