One child....I used to know....
© Mary Pantazis
I also had students who had another serious disability; they were victims. Victims of a society that had thrown them away. Victims of poor parenting, hunger, abuse and neglect.
One day in September, a young Hispanic boy swaggered into my classroom. He was a very clean-cut boy. He was nice-looking and dressed all in the most trendy fashions of the time; expensive sneakers, a nice shirt, and "big" jeans. He had a couple of gold chains around his neck. When I looked at him, I saw a boy who wanted to be a man, wanted control, and had no idea how to get it. Surprisingly, he was very soft-spoken.
His name was Jeff. He was living in a foster home. That was all I knew about Jeff at the time, and he didn't volunteer any other information.
Jeff and I spent a lot of time together that year. He couldn't read or write even though he was 15. Jeff and I spent hours working on reading skills. He seemed to be excited about reading. He always came to class prepared to read, and he never gave me any trouble. Jeff wanted to learn to read and he was making progress.
Jeff and I had mutual respect for each other. I listened when he talked, and in turn he did the same for me. His reading lessons became very important to him. As the year went on, I added a few more male students to my reading class. Jeff did not associate with these students, and he got very protective of me. One particular new student used bad language regularly. Jeff would tell that student not to talk like that in front of me. Surprisingly, the students always listened to Jeff. This class became very productive. We developed a little newspaper and worked on computer skills. We learned to read using car manuals and other materials that I found that I thought would be of interest to teenage boys.
Jeff was a quiet boy. He did his work and was very proud of his books. He carried a backpack with pride.
At the end of the year it came time to pick classes for the next school year. Jeff came to me when all the students were gone and told me that he really wanted to take a course in clothing design. I was surprised at this and encouraged him to sign up for it. Promising to help him with it.
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Mary Pantazis's Special Education topic, please visit the Discussions page.