Kids with moderate and severe disabilities qualify for a service called Extended School Year (ESY). Many of my students fall within this category, but only a few choose to take advantage of this great service. For those who decided to go this summer, they are fortunate enough to have one of our instructional aides working with them. I was meeting up with her and some other teachers/aides for lunch and decided I would drop by to check on my kiddos.
When I walked into the cafeteria today, it was as if it were any other day with my kids. They saw me and immediately hid, peeking around corners and from under tables with grins the size of watermelon slices. As I rushed towards them with arms wide open, 2 of the 3 gave me huge hugs and told me how much they missed me. The one booger ran and hid behind one of his new "manz" - he later gave me a big hug. I got a little emotional, but immediately reverted to joking that the heat must be getting to them. It was wonderful to sit and chat with them, meet their other ESY friends, hear about how their summers are going and what they are (or aren't...) learning in summer school. I got all the gossip on our cluster kids and how everyone is doing. It was reassuring to hear mostly positive things and that most kids were safe and happy.
It made my heart hurt a little when I asked "What did you guys learn today?" and the response was "Nothing...". I pushed further and they insisted they didn't do anything because of the heat (mind you the school is air-conditioned). While this is disappointing, academics are not the most important part of ESY for many of my students. It's a hot meal every day for lunch - something many of them wouldn't get if they stayed at home. It also gets them out of their house - something they cannot do on their own, unfortunately. While the learning is important, it's more important for them to be able to get out of their own houses and keep themselves busy. However, I was disappointed in the teachers I knew there for not pushing the kids, but you can't win them all. I mean, it was really hot outside...
In addition to seeing my ESY babies I visited my boy LB in the hospital. He got hit by a car while riding his bike 2 weeks ago and has been cooped up in the hospital on bed rest. He broke his leg and has a plate in it, which has made walking extremely difficult and painful. It's unclear how long his recovery is going to take, but the good news is he is expecting a full recovery. He informed me "Oh I'll be all better Ms. Walker because I really want it. You always tell me, if I want it bad enough I can get it. Well I want this reeaaallll baaaaaad." I told him he was right, as long as he wants it he can do anything. What was even better was he asked me to bring him some books because he was tired of watching TV. He is now all set up with two of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, a Calvin and Hobbs cartoon book, a word-search book, and a sudoku book. That should keep him busy until I come back in 1.5 weeks.
The most reassuring part of seeing all my kids today was that every single one told me they couldn't wait for school to start. They were excited about all the changes I was telling them about. LB was telling me how pumped he was about being able to participate in my after school program. SM couldn't stop smiling about me teaching English. TS couldn't wait to learn all day. Even AN couldn't wait to come back.
It made me realize that my kids need school. They don't have their summers filled with summer camp and vacations like I did when I was younger. I barely had a moment to breathe when I was a kid, and that's how I liked it. If you give kids too much idle time they don't know how to handle it. They love the structure that our program provides, that they are held to high expectations, and they are constantly provided activities to pass the time. When you're reading level is 5-8 years below your age level, it's tough to pick up a book and just read or to watch TV shows that require higher level comprehension. (Not to mention TV gets boring after 2 days - LB told me so). Kids act like they hate school, but that's just not true. While they may be shy to admit it, they would prefer school over vacation any day.
I reassured my kids it was ok that they were excited about the new school year, because I was really excited too.
When I walked into the cafeteria today, it was as if it were any other day with my kids. They saw me and immediately hid, peeking around corners and from under tables with grins the size of watermelon slices. As I rushed towards them with arms wide open, 2 of the 3 gave me huge hugs and told me how much they missed me. The one booger ran and hid behind one of his new "manz" - he later gave me a big hug. I got a little emotional, but immediately reverted to joking that the heat must be getting to them. It was wonderful to sit and chat with them, meet their other ESY friends, hear about how their summers are going and what they are (or aren't...) learning in summer school. I got all the gossip on our cluster kids and how everyone is doing. It was reassuring to hear mostly positive things and that most kids were safe and happy.
It made my heart hurt a little when I asked "What did you guys learn today?" and the response was "Nothing...". I pushed further and they insisted they didn't do anything because of the heat (mind you the school is air-conditioned). While this is disappointing, academics are not the most important part of ESY for many of my students. It's a hot meal every day for lunch - something many of them wouldn't get if they stayed at home. It also gets them out of their house - something they cannot do on their own, unfortunately. While the learning is important, it's more important for them to be able to get out of their own houses and keep themselves busy. However, I was disappointed in the teachers I knew there for not pushing the kids, but you can't win them all. I mean, it was really hot outside...
In addition to seeing my ESY babies I visited my boy LB in the hospital. He got hit by a car while riding his bike 2 weeks ago and has been cooped up in the hospital on bed rest. He broke his leg and has a plate in it, which has made walking extremely difficult and painful. It's unclear how long his recovery is going to take, but the good news is he is expecting a full recovery. He informed me "Oh I'll be all better Ms. Walker because I really want it. You always tell me, if I want it bad enough I can get it. Well I want this reeaaallll baaaaaad." I told him he was right, as long as he wants it he can do anything. What was even better was he asked me to bring him some books because he was tired of watching TV. He is now all set up with two of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, a Calvin and Hobbs cartoon book, a word-search book, and a sudoku book. That should keep him busy until I come back in 1.5 weeks.
The most reassuring part of seeing all my kids today was that every single one told me they couldn't wait for school to start. They were excited about all the changes I was telling them about. LB was telling me how pumped he was about being able to participate in my after school program. SM couldn't stop smiling about me teaching English. TS couldn't wait to learn all day. Even AN couldn't wait to come back.
It made me realize that my kids need school. They don't have their summers filled with summer camp and vacations like I did when I was younger. I barely had a moment to breathe when I was a kid, and that's how I liked it. If you give kids too much idle time they don't know how to handle it. They love the structure that our program provides, that they are held to high expectations, and they are constantly provided activities to pass the time. When you're reading level is 5-8 years below your age level, it's tough to pick up a book and just read or to watch TV shows that require higher level comprehension. (Not to mention TV gets boring after 2 days - LB told me so). Kids act like they hate school, but that's just not true. While they may be shy to admit it, they would prefer school over vacation any day.
I reassured my kids it was ok that they were excited about the new school year, because I was really excited too.
No comments:
Post a Comment