Here comes the truck......

[kombinant]

Well, I'm officially a graduate of Williamstown High School and here comes the dump truck with my truckload of stuff happening. I go up to the hospital for a check-up of my lap-band thing; then about a week later, I go up again to schedule/find out when i get to have my surgery( which will leave me on crutches for 6 months); and I'd like to get a

Comments

[kirinin]

Martial arts, the source of all my woes, it would seem! I was learning how to execute a particularly tricky, mid-air double-kick. The young first-degree black belt who was helping me was very low on the totem pole, and likely did not yet understand how to instruct...

'Lean more towards the ground!' he told me. I told him I thought I would fall if I'd do that. 'Trust me,' he said.

And I foolishly did.

I landed on my ankle *while twisting in mid-air*. There were some unpleasant crunchy noises and then I said: "I think. My leg. Is broken."

It wasn't, though the ER Doc said it was the worst sprain he'd ever seen. One of the funniest things about the entire business is that two cops and a martial artist passed by, walking to and fro in the ER. All three said, "Hey! I know *exactly* how you did that!" And they were right. Apparently it's a common injury with that sort of kick.

Well, student teaching started in earnest in less than a month. I was Doomed. One of the teachers asked me if I wanted to wait another semester, but it was my LAST semester at college - no way!

The school I was student teaching in was ancient, and not equipped for a teacher with any kind of disability: the wheelchair did not 'fit' behind the teacher's desk, for one thing, which was clamped to the floor. It was impossible to do the daily minutae of teaching, like passing out and handing back papers. I worked my way through the class and every day had a 'helper', just like Grade 3 - but when I left the wheelchair towards the end of my time there, the students complained! They loved being the helper, just like when they were wee.

;)

-K

[kombinant]

That's incredible! Not the sprain thing but your students' reaction!

[kirinin]

I think everyone enjoys feeling important. Having a helper of the day who got to do all the cool teacher-y stuff was fun for them. I think that's also one of the most involved classes I've ever had - we really learned together, without the usual artificial separation between teacher and student. Sometimes this year I felt that with my eighth-graders - like we were learning together rather than separately. :)

As it should be, but seldom happens. :)

-K