Struggling!
I teach high school science and I have a student who has a MID. They are a great kid, always happy, and ready to learn. I am struggling because this student cannot fully read and write, and doesn’t really understand topic(s) covered in class. He is able to copy things down and write what he is told. I have tried simple explanations, drawings, online simulations, hands-on labs and demos. I have modified every single assessment for him. I include less questions, only two M/C options, fill in the blanks, circle the correct answer with visuals and hints for every question. For example, one of the questions on his quiz was: “The atomic number tells us the number of: a) colours b) protons and c) shapes and he still got the incorrect answer.
I feel like I don’t know how to assess him fairly and I feel so bad about it because he really tries. He doesn’t have a good grade in the course despite me modifying everything, and it makes me feel like a bad teacher. It’s also incredibly time consuming and exhausting to have to modify everything. At the same time, it feels like I’m not even teaching the science curriculum anymore. I guess I’m just feeling exhausted. I have so many students with IEPs in my class and students who require scaffolding. I also have students who find the material too easy and need/want to be more challenged. How does everyone balance it all?