Rough day.
There are days when I can't imagine my life without the kids in my class.
I forget that their lives are troubled, I just see smiling young kids, and I get the luxury of helping improve their lives. I love it.
And then there are days like today, where the realities of the lifestyles they see and experience every day come crashing in on my life.
These kids live in a world where they were surrounded by poverty, drugs, immorality, and selfishness.
I've got kids with parents in jail, kids who don't eat on the weekends, kids who's parents are addicts, kids who've lost loved ones due to violence.
And it makes it really hard when you grow to love them.
I saw one of our EH (emotionally handicapped) students taken away in handcuffs today.
I have spent an great amount of one-on-one time with this student, and grown extremely fond of him, and he had a meltdown, and there was nothing anyone could do to calm him, so the police were called.
These kids live in a world where they were surrounded by poverty, drugs, immorality, and selfishness.
I've got kids with parents in jail, kids who don't eat on the weekends, kids who's parents are addicts, kids who've lost loved ones due to violence.
And it makes it really hard when you grow to love them.
I saw one of our EH (emotionally handicapped) students taken away in handcuffs today.
I have spent an great amount of one-on-one time with this student, and grown extremely fond of him, and he had a meltdown, and there was nothing anyone could do to calm him, so the police were called.
It was an incredibly difficult look into the world these kids live in.
Had he been at a suburban school, where they would have more resources and training to deal with his disability, it never would have happened.
While it's hard, I try to remind myself that every person who tries to help them better themselves with a good education is a glimmer of hope for them to change their lives.
And that if I can push through the bad, I have the potential to be a ray of light in their difficult lives.
I feel that i have succeeded in that, at least a little.
My number one goal with this poetry unit was to give these kids a creative way to express themselves. These kids have no band or choir, and art only once a week for an hour (and the only thing they do, every week, for the whole hour, is draw. Really?)
Standardized testing is pounded into their heads all day, every day, because the state is 2 seconds away from taking over the school.
So poetry was my attempt at helping them find a way to express themselves.
It hasn't sunk in with all of them, but I told myself at the beginning if I could help one, it would be a success.
The following are some of the poems that warm my heart, and help me know I've done something positive for these kids.
5th grade poetry
Had he been at a suburban school, where they would have more resources and training to deal with his disability, it never would have happened.
While it's hard, I try to remind myself that every person who tries to help them better themselves with a good education is a glimmer of hope for them to change their lives.
And that if I can push through the bad, I have the potential to be a ray of light in their difficult lives.
I feel that i have succeeded in that, at least a little.
My number one goal with this poetry unit was to give these kids a creative way to express themselves. These kids have no band or choir, and art only once a week for an hour (and the only thing they do, every week, for the whole hour, is draw. Really?)
Standardized testing is pounded into their heads all day, every day, because the state is 2 seconds away from taking over the school.
So poetry was my attempt at helping them find a way to express themselves.
It hasn't sunk in with all of them, but I told myself at the beginning if I could help one, it would be a success.
The following are some of the poems that warm my heart, and help me know I've done something positive for these kids.
5th grade poetry
When my mom
died
It was the saddest
Day of my life
I was crying my heart out
Because a mother’s love
Is more special
Than anything in the world.
I loved my mom
With all my heart
Nothing in the world
Could split us apart.
Until the cold November afternoon
And I will never forget
That day…
The day my mom died.
-This students mom died of cancer last year, when he was a fourth grader. He and his dad framed this for his room.
No one wanted 9-11 to happen
As the towers fell and crumbled
To the ground they fell
All the way down.
Screams and cries down the streets
Why would this be?
This is dedicated to Flight 93.
-This student was not even 2 years old when 9-11 happened.
The guy is very shy.
When he’s bored he makes pie.
Instead of using a car, he flies.
We call him Fly Guy.
-I love this one, it just cracks me up. I think it's clever.
They’re people who stay
They’re people who will always be there.
They’re girls They’re boys
They’re not kiddy toys.
You don’t use them for their looks
Or their pretty voice.
That’s what friends are!
-This is a student who struggles in social situations, and I was proud of her for this.
Me and Dad really had nothing.
We had to work to earn food.
Me and dad really had nothing.
I had to clean for money.
Me and Dad really had nothing.
But the love and peace,
House and food he gave me.
Me and dad really had nothing,
But each other.
-This student is extremely closed, and puts up a front with everyone. The only way we have been able to get through at all is by building up her writing, which she is very talented at.
These give me hope.
Hope that, even if only for 8 weeks,
I've made an impact on these kids.
Friday is my last day with them,
but I'll have these to remember them by forever.
They make me proud.
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