I would pay *really* close attention to the writing assignments and how well he does on them. It's possible he does well if he "sees that it matters" but that's also an easy place to put a reason without analyzing the issue. It's easy to fall into thinking not trying or not being motivated is the issue when what's up when really is something else entirely, such as he tires on long assignments, is overwhelmed by having to organize a paragraph, he doesn't understand how to summarize, etc. It's easy to say it's lack of motivation, because how exactly do you define what "lack of motivation" looks like? How do you define the product? Realistically, a lot of the output and outward appearance of kids who have genuine academic struggles and LDs can *look* like they are not trying or only produce good work when they are motivated or think it matters. Inconsistency is a hallmark of having an LD.
OK, off my soapbox smile
Otherwise it sounds like the meeting went well! Thanks for the update!
Best wishes,
polarbear
Polarbear, yes, this was (and is) my concern as well. Apparently, an assignment was given in class, and my child wrote all of 2 sentences in nearly 2 hours. I asked him about it later on at home, and he said that he blanked out on what to write.
I think assignments where he has to relate or recollect something and produce written output is a challenge. I do not have tests to back up my statement, however. I just think so, from what I have seen. Also, FWIW, the school administered the WJ III test for writing (I forget what they are called), and he scored exceptionally well (it was one on one testing, and he typically tends to do well in it. However, I think, for some reason, he is not able to translate it to back-in-the-classroom for some assignments).
I am wondering what to do about this. I will try and post up his scores on the WJ III test a bit later on.I have still not signed off on the 504; I am debating about the writing thing.
I would agree with pb. "Sees that it matters" can mean a lot of different things. This is also one of the functions of oral pre-writing activities: that's when students grapple with the relevance of the writing assignment, not only on a motivational level, but also in terms of truly understanding the prompt--which is a skill in itself.
Some writing assignments he simply does not seem to care about. I haven't seen this at home, but, at home, I don't have him write on topics I choose. He's free to write about anything. Some days he writes a lot, some days very little.
I also wonder if he understands what he is expected to do when a writing prompt is given.
How do you feel about the plan? Did the school folk seem positive/responsive to your concerns? Are you satisfied, uneasy, or both? (I don't mean to interrogate you! Kind of collecting data since will be doing this sort of thing--again--sometimes soon.)
Despite or inspite of all these challenges, I have a somewhat okay-ish relationship with the school psych as well as the teacher. The teacher was very hard to deal with in the meeting (though I think she has his best interests at heart), but the administration was okay, and seemed very eager to help. I am upset about this writing thing though.
