Elizabeth Tallent

Dr. Feun
Assignment #2
11/6/2019

After 40 years of service, our counselor retired at the end of the 2017-2018 school year.

She worked with our Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students at both Bloomfield Hills High

School and East Hills Middle School. She dealt with scheduling, parental and student concerns,

and transition testing. She counseled students’ in-group sessions. She was fluent in American

Sign Language, and so she was able to communicate with our students and take care of their

needs. She obtained grants for field trips, prescription glasses, and camp dues. Working with

her was the best, I only had to think about how to make my lessons more meaningful, collecting

IEP data, running IEPs and the various other paper work required of teachers.

During the 2018-2019 school year, there was no attempt to hire a counselor. A new

special education director and human resource director were hired. The DHH Supervisor retired

and the DHH teachers and interpreters had to deal with the fallout. Moral among the students

began to break down and students no longer had an outlet for their academic concerns and

teenage problems. To exacerbate the issues, we had to make the 2018-2019 class schedule for

our DHH students. Some of the DHH students were not happy with their auxiliary classes and

we had problems.

For example, four of our students took computer science class. After about a week, one

student requested to change to another class. Unfortunately, the assistant principal refused to

make changes to the schedule because there were not enough interpreters to cover and classes

were already full. In order to help the students pass computer science I asked my fellow DHH

teacher to take my class during 7th hour, so I could sit in on the computer science class. I had a
 Tallent

few meetings with the teacher and figured out how to help my students keep up in class. The

teacher showed me a computer app the students could use that would be compatible with chrome

books and personal computers. I have checked back with the teacher to make sure the students

are keeping up with the coursework.

I spoke with the interpreter in the classroom and she keeps me up to date on how our

students are faring in class. The newly hired DHH supervisor said a new counselor was hired,

but there was a problem with her certification. I spoke with the DHH supervisor about when we

could expect to have a working counselor, but he could not give a definite answer. In the

meantime, I reached out to the school principal, social worker, and counselors for help with our

students. It became very time consuming scheduling interpreters and working around everyone’s

busy schedules. Even though it may seem obvious, people do not understand the barriers the

Deaf and Hard of Hearing face every day.

The new counselor fell through. I felt like I could keep things going, but now without a

counselor in sight, I was overwhelmed. I spoke with our union representative and she told me to

keep track of the hours I work doing the counseling job. A classmate of mine gave me a

template to use to keep a daily log of my prep time used for counseling duties. For three weeks,

I have collected data on exactly what counseling work I did during my prep, how much time it

took, and the work I should be doing as part of my job as a teacher.

Collecting this data helps me keep my job in perspective. I shared the data with my

supervisor and the assistant principal. It made them aware of how much time I was spending

away from my job. I feel the data moved us closer to resolving the issue. The assistant principal

supported me and pushed the DHH supervisor to hire a counselor. Finally, interviews resumed
 Tallent

and it seems that they may have chosen someone. We should have a new counselor in the next

four to six weeks.

I will continue collecting data regarding the time I spend away from my job, but I have

branched out and am collecting additional data on my students. On the same sheets, if a student

does not come prepared for class, I keep a tally. It could be as simple as not having a pencil, to

not completing homework or studying for their quizzes or tests. I plan to use this information to

support my professional growth plan and my student growth plan goals for my teacher

evaluation.