I’m a Teacher. I Don’t Give Accommodations.
I try to do something better.
At the outset, let’s put all the cards on the table. I have been teaching for about a decade now, but there are a lot of teachers more experienced than I am.
I have primarily taught in the corners of the educational system: in private, charter, and homeschool situations, not in the mainline public schools. But I have taught some in those schools, and of course I’m surrounded by those that do and hear about them in professional settings constantly.
I don’t have an education degree and I don’t have a teaching license, though that’s a matter of paperwork and preference (I took all the classes) rather than training. I am, however, a college professor and master’s candidate with nearly 40 years of professional experience in and out of the classroom.
Just wanted to make sure, before pulling the pin on this grenade, that I’m clear about what I can and can’t competently speak to.
I teach junior high and high school. My classrooms are filled with neurodivergent, disabled, and developmentally delayed students — and I don’t know a teacher that doesn’t have that same situation.
From the standpoint of <insert your special accommodation acronym here>, things are getting more complicated every year. We were “joking” in faculty…