Thursday, February 01, 2007
Attention Deficit Disorder?
Dear Guidance Guy,
My teacher, Mr K. really doesn't like me, and I do not like him either. He has been very unfair to me in many ways. First of all, he made me take a test after an absence. I got a 16 and he wouldnt let me retake it or explain anything I did wrong. Today I walked into the class and took our "Do Now" and just started it. Then he told me to move my seat to the front corner of the room. I told him I'm not going to sit in a corner, and he said if I don't want to sit there, than I can go to the office.
Well most teachers just say that as a threat, so I decided to go to the office. My teacher knows that I'm struggling in his class and to put me in a seat where I can't even focus is just going to make it harder for me to do well. His excuse was that I came into class talking, but nobody was sitting around me yet. So I couldn't have been talking to anyone.
I had a conference with my guidance counselor and principal about what happened, but he is still being very stubborn and refuses to change my seat. My guidance counselor and principal say I will just have to listen to him. I know that I'm not going to be able to focus, because i have a windo right next to my seat. and i can see everything outside that's going on. Should I just sit there and try to focus, or always just zone out until he realizes that he was stupid for putting me there andthat I can't focus so he will move me back to a different seat?A Mad Student
*** *** ***
Dear Mad,
There are a whole bunch of choices you didn't mention, and I thnk one of them will work better than the "either/or" you describe.
Let's start here...if you keep in your head the teacher doesn't like you and you don't like him, it's going to be difficult to solve any of this. I would imagine your teacher is frustrated with your behavior, and you with his. If there's a pattern of you having conflict over a lot of issues, it makes it harder to communicate. But he probably wants what's best for you. So at least you have that in common.
If you are really having a problem focusing in his class - and you've tried everything you know to fix it - it's time to go to the next step. There's a condition called Attention Defecit Disorder that some kids (and adults) have. It makes it harder to screen out distractions from other sources. It can certainly be frustrating. This condition is something that can be dealt with in many ways, but first we need to know whether or not you have it.
Do your parents know about the difficulty you're having? If you are in the United States, I suggest they call your counselor and ask for something called a 504 Meeting. This is part of federal law for people with disabilities to get help when they need it. Attention Defecit Disorder is a condition that's covered under this law. Some of the help people can get are extra time on assignments, having directions written out as well as spoken, and lots of other things.
And yes, it can also include a change of seat. In fact, if you get an Individual Accomodation Plan through Section 504, it becomes the law. Your teacher HAS to follow it!
But - and this is important - none of this means you get to take it easy and not do your best. If it turns out you have a problem with attention you will still have to work harder than other kids without the problem. You can be as successful as you want. You will have to ask for help, insist on your rights, and be a member of the team in planning your education.
Best of Luck,
The Guidance Guy
My teacher, Mr K. really doesn't like me, and I do not like him either. He has been very unfair to me in many ways. First of all, he made me take a test after an absence. I got a 16 and he wouldnt let me retake it or explain anything I did wrong. Today I walked into the class and took our "Do Now" and just started it. Then he told me to move my seat to the front corner of the room. I told him I'm not going to sit in a corner, and he said if I don't want to sit there, than I can go to the office.
Well most teachers just say that as a threat, so I decided to go to the office. My teacher knows that I'm struggling in his class and to put me in a seat where I can't even focus is just going to make it harder for me to do well. His excuse was that I came into class talking, but nobody was sitting around me yet. So I couldn't have been talking to anyone.
I had a conference with my guidance counselor and principal about what happened, but he is still being very stubborn and refuses to change my seat. My guidance counselor and principal say I will just have to listen to him. I know that I'm not going to be able to focus, because i have a windo right next to my seat. and i can see everything outside that's going on. Should I just sit there and try to focus, or always just zone out until he realizes that he was stupid for putting me there andthat I can't focus so he will move me back to a different seat?A Mad Student
*** *** ***
Dear Mad,
There are a whole bunch of choices you didn't mention, and I thnk one of them will work better than the "either/or" you describe.
Let's start here...if you keep in your head the teacher doesn't like you and you don't like him, it's going to be difficult to solve any of this. I would imagine your teacher is frustrated with your behavior, and you with his. If there's a pattern of you having conflict over a lot of issues, it makes it harder to communicate. But he probably wants what's best for you. So at least you have that in common.
If you are really having a problem focusing in his class - and you've tried everything you know to fix it - it's time to go to the next step. There's a condition called Attention Defecit Disorder that some kids (and adults) have. It makes it harder to screen out distractions from other sources. It can certainly be frustrating. This condition is something that can be dealt with in many ways, but first we need to know whether or not you have it.
Do your parents know about the difficulty you're having? If you are in the United States, I suggest they call your counselor and ask for something called a 504 Meeting. This is part of federal law for people with disabilities to get help when they need it. Attention Defecit Disorder is a condition that's covered under this law. Some of the help people can get are extra time on assignments, having directions written out as well as spoken, and lots of other things.
And yes, it can also include a change of seat. In fact, if you get an Individual Accomodation Plan through Section 504, it becomes the law. Your teacher HAS to follow it!
But - and this is important - none of this means you get to take it easy and not do your best. If it turns out you have a problem with attention you will still have to work harder than other kids without the problem. You can be as successful as you want. You will have to ask for help, insist on your rights, and be a member of the team in planning your education.
Best of Luck,
The Guidance Guy
# posted by Larry Hochman : 3:28 PM
