Thursday, September 21, 2006

He makes my heart smile...

I have a student whose mood defines how my day goes. If it is a good day for him, it is a good day for us. If it is a bad day, well, to say that our day is bad is the ultimate understatement. Today was a good day. He worked hard, was polite, focused, held my hand in the hallway, hugged, you name it – he did it right. Until the end of the day…

At 2:45, his good day ended. He entered the door and in the matter of 10 minutes, I was called dumb, stupid, retarded, and poor. He grunted at me and stuck his tongue out. A part of me was waiting to be hit. He refused to leave a nook in the room and then stormed out, knocking things off desks as he went. I let the behavioral specialist deal with him and turned my attention to the 15 other kids in my room waiting to work on the 5 foot puzzle they earned for the day.

After school, I was erasing the board when I saw what the boy was doing while he was in the nook. On a white board, he had written “I like Ms. LaMore” and signed it “Love,…”. I grabbed the board and ran to the behavioral specialist. He smiled and told me that the boy cussed him out all the way to the bus. Then, as he boarded the bus, he told the specialist that he is scared. You see, I am going to be out tomorrow for training and a sub will be there. He is nervous and acting out. He likes me and trusts me. That will be gone tomorrow and he doesn’t know what to expect or how to express his feelings.

My heart melts…

2 comments:

jenn said...

how blessed to be so trusted and make such an inpact. It hurts my heart when some professionals just don't get it and don't do these kids justice at all.

Jackie said...

you are such a better person than I. That must be why you're a teacher and I mess with horses.