Today, my autistic student had the biggest tantrum I've ever heard or seen. And I've seen some good ones. After being placed in time out for refusing to follow my directions and continuing to yell, he was very angry at me. When I let him up, instead of going back to him center, he fell on the floor, starting screaming at the top of his lungs, in a high pitched squeal, and kicking anything he could reach. Then, he kicked his shin right into a bench in the library area, and screamed even more. My entire class stood in shock, covering their ears, staring. "Stop watching. Cover your ears if you need to, but go back to your centers and ignore him, please." I told them. They tried very hard to follow that direction. Eventually, after having a good scream, and pointing at me and yelling in what appeared to be gibberish, he found a spot to hide for a few minutes, yelled at anyone who came near, then calmed down enough to go back and stand, arms folded across his chest and still "cry-breathing" (as I like to refer to deep, short breaths you get after a good cry) at his center, watching the other students play.
"Mad face," he said later, as he pointed at my teacher look. "Yes," I said. "No more yelling."
I love my job. :-)
Monday, January 25, 2010
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Sweet CeCe's Date
So yesterday, I had a date with my buddy from last year. Here's a quick blurb for those of you who don't know him. He came to me in the beginning of kindergarten not knowing a single letter of his name. His behavior can be characterized as extremely defiant. He was aggressive, hateful, and rude, had no language skills (could hardly speak; his older siblings are selective mutes), and let me tell you, I fell in love. He was my baby. He grew so much in my classroom, and I loved the challenges he presented me with, daily. And sometimes I hated him just as much, because he knew how to try my patience and get under my skin, and I learned a lot about teaching and about myself, learning how to not react. Whoo. It was hard. I considered having him in my classroom again this year, and decided I better not, because we learned so much from each other, and love each other, and I didn't want to ruin that with another year. And he is thriving this year. It's so fantastic. I am so thrilled.
So, anyway, when we see each other this year, he smiles (this smile that can melt your heart), and we talk, and he is so sweet. So I asked his mom last week if I could take him for hot chocolate or something after school one day, so that we could catch up and have some time together. She was excited, but he was PUMPED. It's all he would talk about for the last week. "Mrs. Flynn, I never had hot chocolate before. Where do we get it? Is is hot?" etc. etc. etc. Then he was sick on Friday, which was supposed to be our day. So we replanned for Tuesday.
Tuesday, at recess, he was still super excited. "Mrs. Flynn! Come here!" he said as his class lined up. "My mom said we could just go right now." he told me. I somehow convinced him that we were going to wait until after school.
Well, after school came, and he was so freaked out that it was finally there, and we were going to hang out together outside of school, that he refused to speak to me or come near me. Hilarious. He finally warmed up to me, after about 45 minutes. By the time his mom got there, he was starting to talk to me again. (Oh, and we ended up getting Fro-Yo, since the temperature went up significantly this week.)
Today, he brought me flowers. Then, when he saw me at dismissal, he said for the first time this year, "Mrs. Flynn, I love you."
So, anyway, when we see each other this year, he smiles (this smile that can melt your heart), and we talk, and he is so sweet. So I asked his mom last week if I could take him for hot chocolate or something after school one day, so that we could catch up and have some time together. She was excited, but he was PUMPED. It's all he would talk about for the last week. "Mrs. Flynn, I never had hot chocolate before. Where do we get it? Is is hot?" etc. etc. etc. Then he was sick on Friday, which was supposed to be our day. So we replanned for Tuesday.
Tuesday, at recess, he was still super excited. "Mrs. Flynn! Come here!" he said as his class lined up. "My mom said we could just go right now." he told me. I somehow convinced him that we were going to wait until after school.
Well, after school came, and he was so freaked out that it was finally there, and we were going to hang out together outside of school, that he refused to speak to me or come near me. Hilarious. He finally warmed up to me, after about 45 minutes. By the time his mom got there, he was starting to talk to me again. (Oh, and we ended up getting Fro-Yo, since the temperature went up significantly this week.)
Today, he brought me flowers. Then, when he saw me at dismissal, he said for the first time this year, "Mrs. Flynn, I love you."
Friday, January 15, 2010
First Full Week Back
Okay, this was the longest week that has ever been. Last week, we had two snow days, and it was our first week back. In December, we only had 2 full weeks, and they were full of holiday activities and special events, so they all flew by. So it really seems like I haven't had a full week of uninterrupted teaching since November. So this week was looooooong. It's felt like Thursday since Monday. And I'm not exaggerating. But thank G-dawg, we made it to Friday, and I am sitting on my couch. Whewww.
My kids were so sweet and I was so excited to be back and see them. I loved the break, but I did miss their sweet faces and their love. It's so cool to see how they've progressed over the break. So many of them came back seeming to be writing and reading even better, which is fantastic. Of course there are also the ones that came back digressed, but to keep moving forward, I have to focus on the positive.
I've started small leveled groups that I meet with daily. I have six groups of 2 to 4 kids, depending on reading level, then I have one kid reading way above everyone else, who doesn't really fit in any of the groups. So seven different lessons for leveled work each day. One of my brighter kids said to his mom, "Mrs. Flynn has grouped us according to our talents." She said, "Oh. I see. How do you know?" He wasn't able to explain how he knew that, he could just tell. "And are you in a talented group?" she asked him. "I don't know." he replied. Hilarious. Smart little cookies.
I'm also trying to start a new program in my classroom over the next couple of weeks. My lowest kids, who clearly just don't get any attention and who don't get read to, are going to be paired with "parent reading buddies" who come once a week for a 1/2 hour, and meet with the same child each time, and just read with them, to give them some positive adult attention and expose them to good English and fluent reading. I'm excited about the opportunity it will give both the parents and the kids.
Anyway, those were the highlights of week one. Should continue to be interesting and exciting, as we get into these critical kindergarten weeks. In the next couple months, several of the kids will be writing and reading pretty fluently, and hopefully some of my struggling ones will start to pick up on some crucial skills to avoid retention.....only time will tell.
My kids were so sweet and I was so excited to be back and see them. I loved the break, but I did miss their sweet faces and their love. It's so cool to see how they've progressed over the break. So many of them came back seeming to be writing and reading even better, which is fantastic. Of course there are also the ones that came back digressed, but to keep moving forward, I have to focus on the positive.
I've started small leveled groups that I meet with daily. I have six groups of 2 to 4 kids, depending on reading level, then I have one kid reading way above everyone else, who doesn't really fit in any of the groups. So seven different lessons for leveled work each day. One of my brighter kids said to his mom, "Mrs. Flynn has grouped us according to our talents." She said, "Oh. I see. How do you know?" He wasn't able to explain how he knew that, he could just tell. "And are you in a talented group?" she asked him. "I don't know." he replied. Hilarious. Smart little cookies.
I'm also trying to start a new program in my classroom over the next couple of weeks. My lowest kids, who clearly just don't get any attention and who don't get read to, are going to be paired with "parent reading buddies" who come once a week for a 1/2 hour, and meet with the same child each time, and just read with them, to give them some positive adult attention and expose them to good English and fluent reading. I'm excited about the opportunity it will give both the parents and the kids.
Anyway, those were the highlights of week one. Should continue to be interesting and exciting, as we get into these critical kindergarten weeks. In the next couple months, several of the kids will be writing and reading pretty fluently, and hopefully some of my struggling ones will start to pick up on some crucial skills to avoid retention.....only time will tell.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Project Play Date
All of my girls were discussing how they wanted to have playdates today, and how their moms were going to talk to each other so that they could have playdates. Then, one of my students walked up to me and was getting really excited about the idea of all of these playdates. She said, "I need to tell you something." Then she cupped her hands and whispered in my ear, "Mrs. Flynn, come to my house for a playdate. I will tell my mom. I live in the projects." And smiled ear-to-ear when she pulled away, thrilled at the idea of her kindergarten teacher coming to her house for a playdate, and her ability to tell me where to go to get to it.
I love kindergarten.
I love kindergarten.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Home Visit
I went on my first home visit this week. One of my students has always been a behavior problem. She is repeating kindergarten this year, and I am her third school so far. (Her older brother is in 3rd grade, and in his 9th school.) She came in with a lot of trust issues. Just to paint you a picture, she called someone a B**** the second day she was there. She constantly pinched, punched, and slapped students when she was upset about something. Also, she wore the same jumper (with no shirt underneath) for the first two days. I gave her 3 shirts on her 2nd day.
I gave her the tools to show emotion in an appropriate way, and gave a ton of positive reinforcement and logical consequences, and always said, "I love you," after discussing her bad behavior. Ihave had an amazing result. She is a different person. She hasn't physically hurt a child since about her 2nd week of school. She always tells me how she feels, and had become an average student, behaviorally, for me, and my favorite student, because I just have a soft spot for her. However, she is still awful for every other authority figure - bus driver, related arts class teachers, substitutes, cafeteria workers. I've had a sub twice this year; both times, they had to send her to the office because they couldn't control her. The bus driver has recently stated that if her behavior doesn't change, she is going to be suspended from the bus. She gets notes sent home at least once a week in related arts classes. It's a mess.
Then about 3 weeks ago, I caught her stealing, for the 2nd time this year (although I now know there were several other times that I just didn't catch her). It was the same day that she had gotten in trouble on the bus (for the 1000000th time this year, it seems) for hitting kids, cussing at them, and yelling "NO!" at the driver, when she would tell her to sit down. Also, her brother brought a knife on the bus that same day.
Then last week, her and her cousin (who lives with them due to parental incarceration and abuse in his own family) came all week, disgustingly dirty - worse than usual - and wreaking of urine. And she started stealing food from my classroom. It broke my heart. I threated to buy a secret house in the woods and begin stealing children, to give them a better life. Obviously not going to happen, but it just eats me up inside to send them home after school, when I don't know what they're going home to, but I know it's bad. It kills me. And poor Brenton gets the brunt of it, because I come home sobbing to him. These are my babies, and they don't deserve to be living the way they are.
So on Thursday of last week, I went to the assistant principal and I just said, "I don't know what to do. She's so dirty and smelly, and there is obviously something going on. She has now started stealing food. All of the kids at the school from this family have started acting out more than usual, and I can't just sit by and wonder if everything is okay." So, she suggested we go on a home visit to mom. I was so excited. I have never met mom before. We scheduled it, and the social worker, guidance counselor, and I went on Tuesday.
We showed up with bags of canned food in hand, and prepared to see the worst. No one answered when we continued to knock over and over. Eventually, we saw someone walking back and forth, but still, no one answered. Someone started yelling, "come in!" Although, we weren't really comfortable with that, so kept knocking. Eventually, we gave up on being greeted, and let ourselves in. I wasn't prepared for what I saw.
The kitchen was piled 2 feet high with trash. Old food, dirty diapers, and who knows what else. Surely small to medium sized rodents. It smelled terribly. But, just like my student. We kept walking in until we reached the back of the house (about 5 steps). Mom was asleep on the couch. She sort of awknowledged us (sort of), with a grunt. We stood there for the longest minute ever, before she finally sat up and invited us to sit. If you know anything about my germaphobia, you'll understand how I felt about that. But I did it. I sat.
After talking to her about progress and problems, she began to wake up more. Eventually, she opened up. I mean, really opened up. She told us all about how she loves children and family and has never been separated from any of her kids. She told us about the specifics of the abuse that my student's cousin suffered. She told us about how hard it is to work the graveyard shift at the hospital (ironically cleaning rooms), because she doesn't get to see her children. She told us about the other child she has living with them, who is 13 years old and due in January. When the social worker asked her if they had decided what they would do with the baby, she replied, "We're keepin' it. I keep everyone. Family's the most important thing." I couldn't understand. That baby could live such a better life with an adoptive family. But that is not her mentality. Somehow, the mentality that people like that have is that if they have to give up a child, they've somehow failed, when in fact that child would have such a better life if given up. Also, if done through an agency, she could be getting prenatal care paid for and be learning how to take care of her body for this child.
Anyway, there were definitely the positives and negatives about going. I learned that she is loved. This mother works (unlike a lot of single mothers in this situation), loves each of her 9 biological children (ranging in age from 17 to 2) and all of the others she's taken in. She wants her kids to succeed, but just doesn't have the resources or knowledge to make it happen. But I left knowing that my student is loved.
On the other side, I still hate what I'm sending her home to. It's not appropriate for a child (or 11; 12 in January). And the worst part is that there is very little I can do about it. This is what she knows. She doesn't realize what an innapropriate home this is. I mean think about what you would do if your child's teacher was coming to your home. I know what I would do, "Okay, I need to vacuum and dust and make sure I have a list of questions. Maybe have some tea brewing incase she wants some." She was asleep, and her home was a disaster, with 4 children running around. She didn't know that this was bad. She wasn't aware that the fact that she had to kill a cockroach crawling up her leg, 1/2 way through our conversation, means that her home is not suitable for children.
So, I hope to do something small - help out with their Thanksgiving. And focus on the student that I can hopefully continue to give some tools to. And other than that, I have to focus on the positive. She is loved. At home, and at school, she is loved.
I gave her the tools to show emotion in an appropriate way, and gave a ton of positive reinforcement and logical consequences, and always said, "I love you," after discussing her bad behavior. Ihave had an amazing result. She is a different person. She hasn't physically hurt a child since about her 2nd week of school. She always tells me how she feels, and had become an average student, behaviorally, for me, and my favorite student, because I just have a soft spot for her. However, she is still awful for every other authority figure - bus driver, related arts class teachers, substitutes, cafeteria workers. I've had a sub twice this year; both times, they had to send her to the office because they couldn't control her. The bus driver has recently stated that if her behavior doesn't change, she is going to be suspended from the bus. She gets notes sent home at least once a week in related arts classes. It's a mess.
Then about 3 weeks ago, I caught her stealing, for the 2nd time this year (although I now know there were several other times that I just didn't catch her). It was the same day that she had gotten in trouble on the bus (for the 1000000th time this year, it seems) for hitting kids, cussing at them, and yelling "NO!" at the driver, when she would tell her to sit down. Also, her brother brought a knife on the bus that same day.
Then last week, her and her cousin (who lives with them due to parental incarceration and abuse in his own family) came all week, disgustingly dirty - worse than usual - and wreaking of urine. And she started stealing food from my classroom. It broke my heart. I threated to buy a secret house in the woods and begin stealing children, to give them a better life. Obviously not going to happen, but it just eats me up inside to send them home after school, when I don't know what they're going home to, but I know it's bad. It kills me. And poor Brenton gets the brunt of it, because I come home sobbing to him. These are my babies, and they don't deserve to be living the way they are.
So on Thursday of last week, I went to the assistant principal and I just said, "I don't know what to do. She's so dirty and smelly, and there is obviously something going on. She has now started stealing food. All of the kids at the school from this family have started acting out more than usual, and I can't just sit by and wonder if everything is okay." So, she suggested we go on a home visit to mom. I was so excited. I have never met mom before. We scheduled it, and the social worker, guidance counselor, and I went on Tuesday.
We showed up with bags of canned food in hand, and prepared to see the worst. No one answered when we continued to knock over and over. Eventually, we saw someone walking back and forth, but still, no one answered. Someone started yelling, "come in!" Although, we weren't really comfortable with that, so kept knocking. Eventually, we gave up on being greeted, and let ourselves in. I wasn't prepared for what I saw.
The kitchen was piled 2 feet high with trash. Old food, dirty diapers, and who knows what else. Surely small to medium sized rodents. It smelled terribly. But, just like my student. We kept walking in until we reached the back of the house (about 5 steps). Mom was asleep on the couch. She sort of awknowledged us (sort of), with a grunt. We stood there for the longest minute ever, before she finally sat up and invited us to sit. If you know anything about my germaphobia, you'll understand how I felt about that. But I did it. I sat.
After talking to her about progress and problems, she began to wake up more. Eventually, she opened up. I mean, really opened up. She told us all about how she loves children and family and has never been separated from any of her kids. She told us about the specifics of the abuse that my student's cousin suffered. She told us about how hard it is to work the graveyard shift at the hospital (ironically cleaning rooms), because she doesn't get to see her children. She told us about the other child she has living with them, who is 13 years old and due in January. When the social worker asked her if they had decided what they would do with the baby, she replied, "We're keepin' it. I keep everyone. Family's the most important thing." I couldn't understand. That baby could live such a better life with an adoptive family. But that is not her mentality. Somehow, the mentality that people like that have is that if they have to give up a child, they've somehow failed, when in fact that child would have such a better life if given up. Also, if done through an agency, she could be getting prenatal care paid for and be learning how to take care of her body for this child.
Anyway, there were definitely the positives and negatives about going. I learned that she is loved. This mother works (unlike a lot of single mothers in this situation), loves each of her 9 biological children (ranging in age from 17 to 2) and all of the others she's taken in. She wants her kids to succeed, but just doesn't have the resources or knowledge to make it happen. But I left knowing that my student is loved.
On the other side, I still hate what I'm sending her home to. It's not appropriate for a child (or 11; 12 in January). And the worst part is that there is very little I can do about it. This is what she knows. She doesn't realize what an innapropriate home this is. I mean think about what you would do if your child's teacher was coming to your home. I know what I would do, "Okay, I need to vacuum and dust and make sure I have a list of questions. Maybe have some tea brewing incase she wants some." She was asleep, and her home was a disaster, with 4 children running around. She didn't know that this was bad. She wasn't aware that the fact that she had to kill a cockroach crawling up her leg, 1/2 way through our conversation, means that her home is not suitable for children.
So, I hope to do something small - help out with their Thanksgiving. And focus on the student that I can hopefully continue to give some tools to. And other than that, I have to focus on the positive. She is loved. At home, and at school, she is loved.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Best Compliment EVER.
Okay, so it had nothing to do with teaching.
We had the silent auction parent night last weekend. It was fun - I enjoy interacting with the parents in a role where I am not also trying to reprimand 22 five year olds at the same time. I actually get to be a normal human. Even the parents are slightly surprised that I am a real person, too. Anywho, so I was talking to our PTO president and my room mom, and somehow we got on the topic of fashion. (Yay.) The PTO president's daughter started kindergarten this year, and she said that she was so sad that she didn't get me as her teacher. When I started to say, "Awww..." she stopped me and said, "No. Just wait. It's because 'Mrs. Flynn dresses so well, and has the best shoes,' " according to her daughter. So apparently, she still comes home and tells her mom what I wore that day (when she passes me in the hallway or sees me on the playground)! Then, my room mom said that when she first found out who her son's teacher would be, she couldn't think of which teacher I was (from kindergarten open house). So she asked the PTO prez, who she's friends with, who Mrs. Flynn is. She replied, "She's the one who always looks like she's just stepped out of a JCrew catalog." And my room mom said, "Oh, I know exactly who you're talking about!"
So, that was the best compliment EVER!!!!! :-)
We had the silent auction parent night last weekend. It was fun - I enjoy interacting with the parents in a role where I am not also trying to reprimand 22 five year olds at the same time. I actually get to be a normal human. Even the parents are slightly surprised that I am a real person, too. Anywho, so I was talking to our PTO president and my room mom, and somehow we got on the topic of fashion. (Yay.) The PTO president's daughter started kindergarten this year, and she said that she was so sad that she didn't get me as her teacher. When I started to say, "Awww..." she stopped me and said, "No. Just wait. It's because 'Mrs. Flynn dresses so well, and has the best shoes,' " according to her daughter. So apparently, she still comes home and tells her mom what I wore that day (when she passes me in the hallway or sees me on the playground)! Then, my room mom said that when she first found out who her son's teacher would be, she couldn't think of which teacher I was (from kindergarten open house). So she asked the PTO prez, who she's friends with, who Mrs. Flynn is. She replied, "She's the one who always looks like she's just stepped out of a JCrew catalog." And my room mom said, "Oh, I know exactly who you're talking about!"
So, that was the best compliment EVER!!!!! :-)
Monday, November 2, 2009
2 Stories...
Story #1 - The Shooting
Several weeks ago, a handful of students came in telling me about a shooting in their neighborhood. The first said, "Mrs. Flynn, somebody got shot behind my house." She was relatively nonchalant, so I tried to be, as well.
"When?" I asked.
"Yesterday."
"Did you hear it?"
"Yea. It was by my back door."
I thought for a while about how to respond. "Did you know the person?"
"Yea. It LaDasha's cousin."
"Is he okay?"
"Yea."
Then the other child chimed in. "Yea. I heard the ambulance. They went to the hospital. I heard it, too."
I brought the students over to me to talk about it more, as this first part was happening across the room. "How did it make you feel?" I asked them. They were each thoughtful about their responses.
"It made me wake up during the night and I dreamed about monsters," one told me.
"Scared. And sad," the other said.
It's so sad to me. That was the last I heard of it. I had the guidance counselor talk to them the next day, but they never seemed interested in talking about it again. I mean, these kids are barely five years old. They shouldn't have to experience this. And if they do experience it, it shouldn't be so normal. They're already beginnging to be desensitised, which is the worst part, in my opinion. I just want to wrap them up in my arms and bring them home. I just love my babies.
Story #2 - Flickin' People Off
My new friend (student) started throwing up her middle finger at people this afternoon. For no apparent reason, not that it would make it better if there was a reason, I suppose. I think that besides the fact that she was doing it at all, the next worst part is that my other student came over to me and said, "Mrs. Flynn, she flickin' people off."
"What?" I said.
"She puttin' up her middle finger at people." I mean seriously, at 6 years old, they not only know the sign and what it means, but know the slang for it! I mean, come on!
Just another day with my new buddy...
Several weeks ago, a handful of students came in telling me about a shooting in their neighborhood. The first said, "Mrs. Flynn, somebody got shot behind my house." She was relatively nonchalant, so I tried to be, as well.
"When?" I asked.
"Yesterday."
"Did you hear it?"
"Yea. It was by my back door."
I thought for a while about how to respond. "Did you know the person?"
"Yea. It LaDasha's cousin."
"Is he okay?"
"Yea."
Then the other child chimed in. "Yea. I heard the ambulance. They went to the hospital. I heard it, too."
I brought the students over to me to talk about it more, as this first part was happening across the room. "How did it make you feel?" I asked them. They were each thoughtful about their responses.
"It made me wake up during the night and I dreamed about monsters," one told me.
"Scared. And sad," the other said.
It's so sad to me. That was the last I heard of it. I had the guidance counselor talk to them the next day, but they never seemed interested in talking about it again. I mean, these kids are barely five years old. They shouldn't have to experience this. And if they do experience it, it shouldn't be so normal. They're already beginnging to be desensitised, which is the worst part, in my opinion. I just want to wrap them up in my arms and bring them home. I just love my babies.
Story #2 - Flickin' People Off
My new friend (student) started throwing up her middle finger at people this afternoon. For no apparent reason, not that it would make it better if there was a reason, I suppose. I think that besides the fact that she was doing it at all, the next worst part is that my other student came over to me and said, "Mrs. Flynn, she flickin' people off."
"What?" I said.
"She puttin' up her middle finger at people." I mean seriously, at 6 years old, they not only know the sign and what it means, but know the slang for it! I mean, come on!
Just another day with my new buddy...
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