Confessions of a Special Ed Teacher

By Susan Cramer

In her debut work, Confessions of a Special Ed. Teacher, Susan Cramer tells of her feelings and experiences
in her journey to teach these special children. Using a humorous style, Susan has created a book that will
evoke in others a newfound hope, inspiration, and understanding of special needs children. Chapters in the
book take the reader through the educational process of identifying children with emotional disabilities, creating
an IEP, capturing and holding the attention of special needs children, making modifications and adaptations, and
implementing behavioral strategies used in her classroom to attain academic and emotional success in the lives
of her students. She sprinkles throughout the book controversial issues all too common in her profession:
teacher burnout, overcrowded classrooms, budget shortfalls, ineffective administrators, pushy politicians,
and absentee parents. She allows the reader to glimpse into her inner sanctum of the teacher's lounge and the
antics that keep her of sane mind and body before and after school hours. Then she presents the reader with
heart-wrenching stories about those special students who have touched her very soul. Through a combination
of tough love, old-school tactics, compassion and humor the author is able to get the students to trust
and open up to her in their quest to be successful for school. A "must read" for parents, educators, administrators
and prospective collegiate education majors.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trafford Publishing
• Release date: Jan 4, 2005
• ISBN: 9781412225397

Susan Cramer

Born in Fairbanks, Alaska, Susan has grown up and lived in Northwest Indiana for the past 47 years. She now resides in Schererville, Indiana with her husband and her two sons. She is in her 27th year of teaching. In her spare time, Susan enjoys reading, working on computers, web page design, and maintaining her water gardens.

Book preview

CONFESSIONS OF A

SPECIAL ED. TEACHER

Susan Cramer

© Copyright 2004 Susan Lynn Cramer.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any

means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,

without the written prior permission of the author.

The incidents and events depicted in this book are true. The names

and identifying characteristics of students have been changed to

protect their confi dentiality.

Note for Librarians: a cataloguing record for this book that includes

Dewey Decimal Classifi cation and US Library of Congress numbers

is available from the Library and Archives of Canada. The complete

cataloguing record can be obtained from their online database at:

www.collectionscanada.ca/amicus/index-e.html

ISBN 1-4120-3234-2

ISBN 978-1-4122-2539-7 (ebook)

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Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

DEDICATION

INTRODUCTION

FOREWORD

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

THE COVER DESIGN…

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I wish to acknowledge the following people who have supported me with this project not only through the actual writing of it, but also with their encouragements of kind words and enthusiasm to finish my endeavor.

I give thanks in addition to former and present administrators, Ken Miller and Mary Hoffman, for allowing me to be myself and be unique in my own style of teaching. They allowed me to touch the lives of children who need constant structure and assurance that their places in the world are of importance.

I also wish to thank my former colleagues at Yost Elementary School for a great support system and helping to keep me of sane mind in times of chaos and turmoil in the classroom. A special thanks goes to Andy Borrelli, Mary Jo Keck, Bill Gustin, and Vida Chochoulas for their unwavering sense of dedication and more importantly a sense of humor to keep all of us going during those really challenging days.

Acknowledgements also go to those certain and definitely special group of colleagues at John Wood Elementary School for the genuine support and patience of the special education program that they have for so long endured. Those who have kept me laughing and crying at the same time include Sylvia R., Mary S., Eric F., George G., Jo Mc., Mary Lou K., Cheryl W., Cheryl Z., M.J., Gail F., Janet C, and Almi O. (a.k.a. Sophie). I say thank you to those special general education teachers who looked beyond the disability of a child or the disturbances that have so often echoed the halls at our school.

I could not be successful in my efforts without the ultimate and selfless support that I receive on a daily basis from my para-professionals, Paula Krsak and Anna Ortiz. These gals have gone above and beyond the normal duties and have received many an errant punch, kick, and verbal abuse when working with these special kids.

A big thanks goes out to Chris Georgeff who graciously read the first draft of this book and then wrote the foreword for it. I met Chris a little over two years ago, and I know that he passionately believes in his work and has helped numerous children and their parents in the quest to get families to understand, cope and deal with their conflicting emotions. Chris has been a very important colleague that has helped me with some really difficult kids that have come my way. I hold his opinions in very high esteem.

Next, kudos go to Adam Turner who was the brains and artistic talent behind the cover of this book. After some suggestions, fine-tuning, and tweaking of the graphics, Adam did a great job coming up with an attractive and colorful cover. Thanks, Adam!

Now, my family. I want to acknowledge my parents Joseph & Dorothy Miller and my siblings Patti, Nancy & Joe and their families for helping me to become the person I am today. We grew up knowing that we were truly loved in a warm and caring home fostering individuality yet creating a family bond that no problems, behaviors, or screwups could tear us apart.

And finally and most importantly a special thank you also goes to my husband, Scott and my two sons, Nick and Ryan for being the rocks in my family. I love you guys. Being the only gal in the house, I am truly a queen, amongst my men.

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated in memory of my grandparents Michael and Susan Stofcik and Joseph and Anna Miller. I learned through my grandparents’ children, my parents, Dorothy and Joseph Miller to embrace life and live it with vigor, humor, and vitality. It was also important that I find my own niche in the world and be the best at whatever I chose to do. No matter what went wrong or right in my world, there would always be someone there to talk to or a place to come home to. I only hope I can carry on that legacy to my children.

INTRODUCTION

As a little girl, one of my life’s ambitions before I got old and gray was to write a book. Approximately two years ago, I told myself that there was no time like the present. I was not getting any younger and I was already gray! I just never realized that this day would now come. In working with this project, I had always envisioned that someday it would come to fruition.

You hold in your hands a book about a special education teacher who tries to make sense of children with emotional problems. I do not claim to be some miracle worker who can snap my fingers and cure the behaviors or ills of children who struggle in school.

No matter how hard I work with these children, when they leave, another child with emotional issues will take others’ places in my classroom. There will never be a shortage of students unfortunately in the field of emotional disabilities. That is the sad part. Many tell me that I will always have job security because there will always be a mixed-up student who needs to get educated. Wouldn’t it be great if children would no longer need special education services?

The result of this book contains 11 chapters of thoughts, facts, ideas, principles, more principals, and recommendations. I attempt to offer some fresh perspective on the field of special education especially with students with emotionally disabilities. I am not an expert or have all the answers. In fact, as I teach every year, I often have more questions that I seek to find answers to myself. The more I learn, the more I realize that the less I know.

The viewpoints in this book reflect my personal beliefs about the state of education and special education in my state and in my country. They do not reflect the administration or management of former and present employers. The readers may find some of my thoughts and ideas controversial. Out of the words that are printed from each chapter of this book, I hope to provoke some thoughtful dialogue upon which all educators, administrators, and parents can find common ground to improve services in special education. I don’t mean to offend anyone. And I also know that I am not going to please everyone that happens to read this book. I can live with that. As I tell many teachers and parents that I work with, I am not here for a personality contest, I am here to do my job. I educate youngsters!

This book is intended for educational purposes and to put my creative viewpoint on working with children with disabilities. I hope readers find this book enlightening, inspiring, humorous, and highly useful in their quest to learn all about these special group of children.

FOREWORD

A child’s education was once described to me as a three-legged stool. One leg symbolizes the student, another the school, with the final leg representing the family. Without any one of these legs in place, the stool falls over. It is frequently the case where special education students enter the classroom with extraordinary individual needs, limited financial, administrative, and personnel resources available to the teachers, and highly unstable family environments. Consequently, the need for cooperation and coordination among these three elements within this unique segment of our population becomes increasingly critical.

Confessions of a Special Ed Teacher embarks on Mrs. Susan Cramer’s journey illustrating these and other often unseen, overlooked challenges of being a special education teacher. With real-life examples and thought provoking, tongue-in-cheek humor, Mrs. Cramer guides the reader through the multiple, often conflicting roles special education teachers endure. Through no-nonsense, passionate dialogue, she calls for the resurrection of our collective responsibilities to unite teacher, family, and community in the education of children who will someday impact our world.

As a behavior consultant for a special education cooperative, I have had the pleasure of working with Susan Cramer for the past several years. Day in and day out, Mrs. Cramer embodies what it means to be a special education teacher.

She represents a warm nostalgic throwback to simpler, less confusing times when schools were not bogged down by computers, lawyers, and policies that often impede, even undermine, a teacher’s ability to educate our youth. Through her interactions with students, Mrs. Cramer exemplifies the art of balancing academic and character challenges with emotional support, praise, discipline, and above all, compassion. Her positive outlook, commitment advocacy, accountability, and tireless energy represent a refreshing approach rarely encountered among special education teachers. Serving as a model toward which other teachers should strive, she truly lives and breathes the ideas she sets forth.

This book is a must read for teachers, parents of children with special needs, and anyone at all concerned with the development and improvement of our society. Confessions of a Special Ed Teacher provides a thoughtful, provocative, challenging, and humorous excursion into the world of special education. Perhaps more importantly, as in the lives of the many students she has so deeply affected, this book allows others to be touched by the heart and mind of Mrs. Susan Cramer.

Chris Georgeff,

Behavior Consultant

CHAPTER ONE

As you shall make your bed, so shall you…

do it…. Patti, Joe, Nancyclean up your room …Jason, Jaci, Nick, Eric, Lizplay…Samset it up… Alexandramake your blanket…Trevorsleep in it …Justinthink… Briansleep…Lindsay, Samanthabrush your teeth…Corynlive…Ericabe dead…Dannywatch TV… Matthewgo to school… Jonathondo nothing…Kristenlay in it… Barbidress… Michaelfluff your pillow… Grace