another day (not meant to scare kelly)
Last night, one of my students was shot in the chest in a drive by shooting. He was inside his house with his family. Someone drove by and fired about 20 AK -47 rounds into the house, killing a 26 year old man who was allegedly the target, and wounding my student severely. Another boy, 4, was hit in the shoulder.
While the student isn't one I have in class, I see him nearly everyday and talk to him almost every day. He's a good boy. Goes about his business, is respectful, responsible, stays out of trouble.
A now he's in critical condition after undergoing emergency surgery for a severe bullet wound to the chest. He's 11 years old.
His mother came to school this morning to tell the principals what occurred. What a brave woman. I had a student wander into my room, a bit dazed, right as the morning bell rang to tell me she heard a rumor that our kid had been shot.
Today was one of those hard days you're not prepared for. How do you deal with this? How do you get a room full of 11 and 12 year olds to focus on finding the perimeter of rectangles or defining the setting in a story when a friend of theirs is laying hooked up to machines in a hospital?
I'll be honest. I had a little trouble holding it together. I had to explain what happened to my morning class and sent a couple of his friends to seek counseling. One kid lives right down the street and they hang out after school most days. He was fighting back tears.
My afternoon custodian came in to ask me about it as I was grading papers after school and she totally lost it and started crying after I told her what I knew. I took a few minutes after getting through the day and grading to just sit at my desk and reflect a bit. I caught one of my principals in the hall who said he'd been on the phone to dad a few moments earlier and that dad was (understandably) all over the place. He said they both lost it on the phone.
We have state testing next week. I wonder if I get to fill in a bubble for this situation.
While the student isn't one I have in class, I see him nearly everyday and talk to him almost every day. He's a good boy. Goes about his business, is respectful, responsible, stays out of trouble.
A now he's in critical condition after undergoing emergency surgery for a severe bullet wound to the chest. He's 11 years old.
His mother came to school this morning to tell the principals what occurred. What a brave woman. I had a student wander into my room, a bit dazed, right as the morning bell rang to tell me she heard a rumor that our kid had been shot.
Today was one of those hard days you're not prepared for. How do you deal with this? How do you get a room full of 11 and 12 year olds to focus on finding the perimeter of rectangles or defining the setting in a story when a friend of theirs is laying hooked up to machines in a hospital?
I'll be honest. I had a little trouble holding it together. I had to explain what happened to my morning class and sent a couple of his friends to seek counseling. One kid lives right down the street and they hang out after school most days. He was fighting back tears.
My afternoon custodian came in to ask me about it as I was grading papers after school and she totally lost it and started crying after I told her what I knew. I took a few minutes after getting through the day and grading to just sit at my desk and reflect a bit. I caught one of my principals in the hall who said he'd been on the phone to dad a few moments earlier and that dad was (understandably) all over the place. He said they both lost it on the phone.
We have state testing next week. I wonder if I get to fill in a bubble for this situation.