special ed

I love my job! I worked in 7th grade at VanWYck Jr high yesterday, a self-contained sp ed class. the kids were just great! I love being able to actually help someone. a tall, thin Jamaican boy put his head down as soon as the math teacher started the new concept of scales, ratios, etc. I could tell he already felt overwhelmed by the long explanation. I went over to him and showed him how to set up the equation and do cross multiplying. he said that was easy, and he did a few more. he felt so good about himself. later, his class went down to help at a bake sale, and he didn't want to go. the teacher asked if I would stay with him and he could do homework. we talked the whole period! here are some of his responses: he says he is on the school Basketball team, yet, he didn't seem to know when they played or who. he loves b ball, and plans to make it to the pros. he watches college ball, so we discussed March madness, which term he never heard. he said his brother is on a college team, and when I asked the name of the college, he said he didn't know, but that is was somewhere in poughkeepsie. he told me of brothers and sisters gallore, so when I asked who he was living with now, he said his real mom was in Jamaica, and he lived with his pops, and his real dad was around in Brooklyn, and that his family was all mixed up, as he put it. he was so sweet and darling and we got to work together the next period also. I just wanted to bring him home to join the church and get him on a basketball team and help him do his homework and just give him what all you kids got. but alas, I can't change the world, and we need people like him. I told him not to get caught up in drugs, and to pass his classes. he said he would. I had another boy who limped and had a major physical facial problem, and he was so smart! then I had a boy who couldn't write, so he would scribble on his paper, and a one-on -one teacher took all his notes for him. when he had to do written class work, he used the computer. he was also so sweet. I just have a soft spot for these kids who have to work harder and over come many obstacles to just do regular school work.
another snow day today! there isn't a flake in the sky, at 8 am, but a noreaster is on its way, supposedly. :)
everything is closed.
Webbs, have fun in AZ! Hope to see you when we are in UT!