| THIS IS A READ-ONLY ARCHIVE FROM THE SORABJI.COM MESSAGE BOARDS (1995-2016). |
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Today one of my students, who (I'm sorry to say) is the biggest thorn in my side, had a meltdown and the principal, chaplain, and director had to be called in to intervene. I wasn't there so I don't know what happened. I first saw him crying in the hall with the chaplain, and then as I was coming in from taking the kids to the buses, I saw him and the chaplain, principal, director outside of school, talking. They were telling him he needs to be strong enough to handle this, whatever "this" is. He's 9. One of my former 1st graders (now in 2nd grade) was in a car accident last week that injured her and killed her mother and little brother. I know she doesn't see her dad because she told me last year he beat her and her mom, and she described watching her dad hold her mom against the wall and punch her in the face. So she has now lost her entire immediate family. I saw the girl today outside in a body brace, and apparently she came in school today just to visit her class and now lives with her grandparents. The poor kid. And her dad is now living with the mother of one of my former 4th graders, so who knows what's going on in that house now. I've met him, too, at church...I shook his hand during the sign of peace, though I didn't know who he was at the time. This afternoon the 4th and 5th graders gathered in the library and watched Laurel and Hardy movies while the teachers were in a meeting. It was mindblowing, seeing 50 kids who have been isolated on a Montana reservation their whole lives shrieking with laughter at fat Oliver Hardy getting hit in the butt with a wooden plank. What a day. |
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You're right, Sem. There is an awful lot of suffering and death on the reservation. A couple of weeks ago a high schooler got her feet run over by a train, for one thing. I learned today that my former 1st grader broke her windpipe in that car accident and needs to be in a body brace for 3 months. |
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It is so hard to motivate students to do their work, even in the elementary school, because the concept of college, or future employment, is like a fantasy to most of these kids. They just don't see it as ever happening for them. |
Sometimes i wonder sadly if that was added to their benefits package ironically, if the people writing it giggled at the time. :( |
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It's so weird, because in class, he never ever has outbursts like that -- true, he never pays attention and wanders around and sings to himself and stuff, but he never shows any sign of anger. He's just good-natured and bumbling. He's actually the last kid in that class I would have predicted to act like this. There's another kid in this class whom I find almost unmanageable. He's pretty bright (he's a good reader, anyway), but is consistently disrespectful and insolent. It really bothers me, and not just because it's directed toward me but because it's wrong -- he should not be speaking to any adult like that, and I would be equally pissed off if I heard him mouthing off to his teacher or the aide. It makes me want to sit on him until he starts to suffocate, or grab him under his ears and wrestle him to the ground like you do to a dog, to put him in his place. But then in good news, this morning another little boy put his head on my shoulder and told me he missed me yesterday when he was out sick. Totally made my day. |
And HA, then they are putty in my hands! People always have reasons for the way they act,it will seem logical to the person.If you can break through his barrier,then maybe you can help him.Good luck |