Too busy with physical care to teach

[KarenB727]

I have three middle school kids with severe impairments and one fantastic teacher's aide. All three students need and deserve one on one care and have involved IEP's. One student can be very non-compliant and has to be watched constantly so he will not accidentally hurt himself or the other two students. I am so busy helping my aide provide physical care (toileting, changing briefs, tube feeding, colostomy care, etc) and dealing with discipline/safety issues that I find I have little time to actually teach. I try to squish moments of learning toward their IEP goals in between the physical care. This is not enough time to teach to make much of a lasting impact, let alone keep up with documenting everything. My class aide is wonderful but it's just her and I to provide one-on0one to three students. Another aide is out of the question due to budget contraints. I know that affective behaviors are caught and taught, but how do I get more direct instruction in toward their goals? I apologize for rambling but would like some suggestions or tips as to schedule or order the day as I set up the new year schedule. Thanks for any advice you can give.

[wendilynnsmith]

Karen, I am not sure if you read my other posting but a really good professor to know from CMU is Dr. Sherrel Haight in the special education department. She is really knowledgable and maybe a quick email to her may help. She could provide you with some advice. Here is her contact information.
Office: 222 Rowe Hall
Phone: (989) 774-7172
Fax: (989) 774-2305
E-mail: haigh1sl@cmich.edu
Best of luck to you
Wendy

[Nicolette Brata]

Karen you are really facing a huge challenge there. I can feel your 'frustration'. I have never been in a situation like yours and you know best what is (not) possible with all those students at once in your class.
I was just wondering if there would be any wonderful volunteers who would be able to help you out with all the basic stuff, so you can concentrate more on the teaching? Parents, students who are looking for a community service project, anybody who has enough patience. A few would be better, so they can take turns ... you don't want to exhaust your resources!
Maybe you could ask your aide what she thinks about this and if she knows anybody? And don't forget to praise her for all her hard work: buy her a coffee once in a while! Where would we be without our terrific aides?
Good luck!

[Unregistered]

Karen, i am sorry but did i understand this correctly.you only have three students and one helper. You should be able to set up activities for the students to keep busy when you are either changing, G-tube feeding,etc. This will allow you enought time to do whatever it is you have to do with one student at a time, while your para can be working with another student. also, you can make it a point to try and dedicate more time to one student per day so that you can work directly with this students goals and have enough time to also document there progress for the day.