(no subject)
Today was the last day I got to see my students:(
I brought them all books for Christmas. It took me about 6 hours to get all of those freaking books found. I'm too much of a perfectionist. I wanted all 21 books to be perfect. You know...a truck book for the special ed kid who's obsessed with trucks (you should have seen his face...totally worth my $3), the Star Wars book for the Star Wars fanatic (he started reading it right away and is already half way through the book), and the Romana Quimby book for the Judy Blume fan (this was my personal recommendation to her at the beginning of the year since I think Romana books are a lot like Judy Blume books...and she was thrilled to find that she was the one with the biggest book in the class.)
But the one that did it for me was my problem child. I love this boy to pieces. He's incredibly talented in art, loves music, loves drama...but acts as such. You know how us artists can be...Always melodramatic. Always angsty. Yes, it gets aggrevating from time to time but it has broken my heart to watch this boy. His family might as well not exist. They don't do shit for him. He never has a snack packed for him. His mother has never even MET the teacher. His father lets him get away with murder. They watch porn in front of him. They let him skip school....and it goes on. Therefore, the only other outlet he has is school. And by this point, all of the teachers are fed up with his melodrama and get onto him way more than with the other students. I've seen him mocked by teachers in front of the class. I've seen him be brushed off on more than one occasion. I've seen him cry more than I would ever like to see a child cry. And no one seems to care but me. So...feeling I owed this child a little extra love, I made his present extra special. He absolutly loves Alabama football. He talks about it everyday. I tried and tried to find a book about it but they are nearly impossible to find at a decent price. So, finally, I sucked it up and paid the outrageous $15 for a child's book about Alabama because there just wasn't going to be a decent second option. I have never seen someone's eyes light up as much as his did. His eyebrows raised, his mouth dropped, and all he said was "Wow!". Then, he came up and gave me a big hug.
Today I accomplished the main reason for why I teach. I made a difference in a child's life.
I brought them all books for Christmas. It took me about 6 hours to get all of those freaking books found. I'm too much of a perfectionist. I wanted all 21 books to be perfect. You know...a truck book for the special ed kid who's obsessed with trucks (you should have seen his face...totally worth my $3), the Star Wars book for the Star Wars fanatic (he started reading it right away and is already half way through the book), and the Romana Quimby book for the Judy Blume fan (this was my personal recommendation to her at the beginning of the year since I think Romana books are a lot like Judy Blume books...and she was thrilled to find that she was the one with the biggest book in the class.)
But the one that did it for me was my problem child. I love this boy to pieces. He's incredibly talented in art, loves music, loves drama...but acts as such. You know how us artists can be...Always melodramatic. Always angsty. Yes, it gets aggrevating from time to time but it has broken my heart to watch this boy. His family might as well not exist. They don't do shit for him. He never has a snack packed for him. His mother has never even MET the teacher. His father lets him get away with murder. They watch porn in front of him. They let him skip school....and it goes on. Therefore, the only other outlet he has is school. And by this point, all of the teachers are fed up with his melodrama and get onto him way more than with the other students. I've seen him mocked by teachers in front of the class. I've seen him be brushed off on more than one occasion. I've seen him cry more than I would ever like to see a child cry. And no one seems to care but me. So...feeling I owed this child a little extra love, I made his present extra special. He absolutly loves Alabama football. He talks about it everyday. I tried and tried to find a book about it but they are nearly impossible to find at a decent price. So, finally, I sucked it up and paid the outrageous $15 for a child's book about Alabama because there just wasn't going to be a decent second option. I have never seen someone's eyes light up as much as his did. His eyebrows raised, his mouth dropped, and all he said was "Wow!". Then, he came up and gave me a big hug.
Today I accomplished the main reason for why I teach. I made a difference in a child's life.