Anger Management

This past week was a mix of feelings. The kids were more or less amazing, partly because of their four day week. I, on the other hand, had the pleasure of getting up on Saturday for a day long "Gifted and Talented" training. I don't know why it had to be the whole day, or even the two-hour shorter than scheduled 7:30 AM - 3:30PM. The trainings that I have been subjected to mostly amount to me being talked at as I look at 3 ring binders full of Power Point slide print-offs. That may have come off a little harsh. The trainings are helpful, and I do try to get the most out of them, but it just seems that the time could be managed much better, especially since I have to give up almost an entire Saturday and a Friday night just to be there. (That's what they didn't tell you when you signed up to be a teacher: almost every other weekend you will not have a Saturday to sleep in). Even worse is the fact that I have to do the same thing for the next 4 out of 5 Saturdays. Oh well, one down, several to go.

Friday hit me with quite a surprise, which made me legitimately angry enough to rip a phone book in half (and without using the scientific way to rip it apart). At the start of the year, I had pegged one of my students as being in need of modifications, or in layman's terms, special ed. The student had a horrible time trying to read, would not read aloud, and got frustrated enough to shut down for the rest of the class. Being a nervous and shy child, I figured that it might take some time to build up the kid's confidence to attempt reading aloud in class. Nevertheless, I spent several hours with the head of the special ed department talking about said child. When I received the student's modification folder at the end of the first week, I was aghast, as modifications were required for every class but English. I expressed my frustration, and the SPED department head said she would look into his file and see about getting him tested again. Without any additional information, and holding a file that said my student was supposed to perform as a regular student in my class, I trudged along through the lessons.

When I gave my class their reading diagnostic, (beginning of the year test to let me see where they are), I made a point to try and test him extensively for reading comprehension and fluency. I started him off with a 6th grade text, to which he would not even attempt to say even the first word. Feeling his frustration rise, I quickly switched to a 3rd grade level text, and asked him to read it aloud to me. I encouraged him, told him that he would do great, and it was not for a grade. I let him know that it was ok to not know the words, and that I just wanted to be able to help him. Again, I was stonewalled. I tried pointing to the words and having him read along, only to get barely audible gasps that I would expect out of someone on the verge of death. Again, I switched out the reading passages, and gave the kid a Pre-K passage. The passage began with "Joe saw a Goat. Joe liked the goat. The goat walked up to Joe." The kid took one look at the paper, looked up around the room at all the other students taking the test, and promptly shoved his face into his hand and looked down at the floor. With no other options, I turned to my aid (I have enough modified students in order to warrant a teacher's aide), and asked her to take the student outside and see if he would read anything else. Since he had actually gotten out a few words before looking cautiously at his peers, my best guess was that he was embarrassed to be at the front of the classroom. That, or he was incredibly intimidated by me. The aide didn't have much more luck than me, as he only read through the Pre-K passage before giving up. He was on the verge of tears when the aide tried to get him to come back into the classroom.

I met him at the door and promptly apologized. This kid was emotionally beaten. I know some teachers might have told the student to return to their desk and finish the test, or tell them to stay after class and scold them for not doing anything. Noting that he did not want to leave the safety of the threshold to the room, I left his test on a table near the door, told him he could keep working on it if he wanted to, or leave it there. I also told him that it was ok to return to his seat or stay right where he was. Within two minutes, he picked up his test, wrote one word, and looked at a few more passages until the bell rang.

Luckily, our school started "team teaching" this year. I'm paired with three other teachers who all have the same students, but for Math, Science, and Social Studies. One of the teachers mentioned that she had been able to get my student to produce some work in her Math class and actually finish assignments. We talked for about an hour about how to help our mutual student, and parted ways with her saying that she would try to figure out what his interests were. We both thought that it was possible that he was intimidated by my presence (I am a large, tall, white male, and some kids tend to have a problem with this, or so I've been told). I needed something, anything, any kind of "in" so I could help him. I got my "in" the next day, and almost blew my lid.

The Math teacher had a chance to talk to the district head of the Special Ed department, who knows all of her students files by heart. Our student, as I learned, was dyslexic. Hmm... let's think about that. He's got modifications because he's dyslexic, but for some reason he DOESN'T need any modifications in an ENGLISH class? Yeah, that sounds about right. Reading disorders are much easier to deal with if you don't actually address them.

*Note*
I received an e-mail not 30 minutes later from the head of our school's Special Ed department about my student, confirming his disorder. I really like our special ed department, as they truly care about the kids. I was just absolutely livid at the fact that for some reason, no one from his 8th grade (or sooner) campuses felt the need to include in his mod file that he was dyslexic.

Thanks. I feel really great now that I forced him out of class and further lowered his self-confidence. I'm sure he really needed that - and it's a darn good way for me to start the year helping him.

Student Gems

From some of my diagnostics -
"What are descendants?"

They are very slow people.

"Did Amelia Earhart have a good imagination as a child? What in the story made you believe this?"

Yes, because it said she was a horrid little girl.