Return-Path: <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id iB20u9F00492; Wed, 1 Dec 2004 19:56:09 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 1 Dec 2004 19:56:09 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <5.0.2.1.2.20041201163854.00a799a0@pop.ix.netcom.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Michele Craig (shellcraig@ix.netcom.com)" <shellcraig@ix.netcom.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:4544] Immediate vs. Long term needs X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 5.0.2 Status: O Content-Length: 1945 Lines: 36 Gee, We just had this debate at the photocopy machine at the adult school where I work this morning. Also I had it with a colleague who is going to attend a meeting tomorrow at our county social services department whose new goal is "Everyone receiving county assistance will get their GED!" (Groan....this, for the social workers includes the mentally ill, the brain injured, and those whose IQ's unfortunately will probably keep them from ever passing the GED). What about helping them to become functional in the workplace? At the moment, I agree with Glenn, our job is to help the students with their immediate needs. Sometimes though, even their immediate needs (because unrealistic or unrealistically imposed by others) will take several years. For example I have a coma survivor who has gone from a 4th grade math level to a 12th grade math level in 2 years, but because of aphasia due to the brain injury, he will probably have a difficult time writing an essay for the GED without some kind of accommodation (if he can even manage it). The fact that he has stuck around for two years is a miracle, as far as I'm concerned. Most adults in my class who find that they can't meet their immediate needs within several months, give up. I find that an average for my GED/ABE class is probably 6 months. More and more I am coming to believe though, that there is nothing wrong with a dyslexic student learning to use a Franklin speller so they can write memos at work, or to teach someone how to do fractions on the calculator so they can make calculations accurately. I wish that I had voice recognition software and other technological goodies so I could show my students how to use them, but my classroom is more like the Ewok village than the DeathStar. And, most of my students can't afford fancy equipment and machinery even if they did know how to use it. Michele Craig Woodland Adult School Woodland, CA
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