Big Sky Country

Sometimes, I have no idea where these kids come from. One minute, I'm tearing my hair out and the next, they've got some profound (or, more often, hilarious) thought to share with me.

For instance, this afternoon I spent a good 4 full minutes trying to figure out how to help EA figure out the word "he." I mean, how do you even explain that? The "h" sound....the "e" sound...no? And then, he goes and makes a connection between the Darfur refugees I'm reading to him about and the Afghani ones in his video game. Then, he asks me the definitions of two words that "have really been bothering him" over break as he watched his favorite cartoons: "nostalgic" and "oblivious." I mean, I guess I wouldn't recommend the jump from "he" to

"oblivious" all that often, but today it just had to be made.

Also, Season 4 of Friday Night Lights...now I remember why I'm in TX:

What's the Capitol of Texas? ...... Asia?

Whew! Just so you all know, I fell asleep writing that last post. Oh the thrill. I hope you don't do the same while reading.


On another note, I realized something very interesting yesterday. Now, since it's dark as sin when I leave work, I get to drive home in the dark, rather than to work in the dark. And I discovered a hidden gem - something so uniquely TX that I didn't even know to look for them, and now that I do, they are everywhere!

That's right: the taco truck. Now, when I drive home the blinking lights and blaring music are insanely distracting...and bizarrely (for an herbivore -- we're studying them) attracting. On my particular drive home, there are 7 in a 2 1/2 mile stretch. Now that I notice them, I saw a guy sitting at one this morning around 6:45 -- breakfast taco? Yumm...I'm keeping my eyes open for a veg-friendly one because I feel very left out.

Student Snapshot #2: EA

EA and I spend waaaaay too much time together. This is his second time in 6th grade at YES and he still cannot read or write. He's also kind of a goof ball and just doesn't know what to do with himself in every class that involves reading or writing...which is all 9 hours of the day. Of those 9 hours, he and I sit together for about 3 over the course of the day. I pull him out of class for "direct instruction" (apparently someone thinks I know how to teach dyslexic 13 year old kids their letter sounds and then how to read 6th grade material) for an hour during the day, then he usually comes in to the Lab during study hall for 50 minutes, and then we spend 1 1/2 after school together doing his homework for the next day (or what he didn't hand in today). Let's just say there are pros and cons to this arrangement.

Pro: when we work together with absolutely no other people in the lab, no noises, no shiny objects, his attention span is pretty good and we can accomplish a lot.

Con: sometimes these accomplishments turn out to just be testaments to his amazing guessing skills.

Pro: he has to come in every day after school (part of a disciplinary final contract) so that means he can't just circle answers on everything he's given.

Con: sometimes after 9 hours I just want to go home...

Pro: He knows all his letters now (except 5)

Con: I still have to read every single thing to him.

Pro: He's a pretty good listener considering his attention span.

Con: He actually can't even look at a white page with black lettering. Apparently there is a disease called Irlens that causes the rods in your eyes to over-fire when exposed to different light sources. On the link above, you can find some examples of what the kids see when they look at a worksheet or a computer or a projector. It's pretty crazy to think about what it would be like to see everything so distorted. So, EA is being tested tomorrow for this, but all signs point to Irlens at this point: headaches when trying to read (which I usually scoff at as him making excuses), falling asleep while reading (which I also yell at him about), rubbing his eyes and blinking constantly, telling me how his eyes go all "googly" when he looks at his math homework. So fingers crossed, Irlens is it, and with the colored overlays (the quick fix cure) he'll be able to read like a champ....we'll see.

Pro: We sometimes actually have a good time together! Still, sometimes I want to strangle him for real.

Con: Irlens isn't the only disease he's got: swine flu, lice and ring worm. Holla!

I guess this has to be all for now because EA has run me down for yet another day.

Student Snapshot #1: JAR

The students I work with are the biggest part of my life here in Houston so to try to describe them all at once would be overwhelming. So I've decided to offer some quick snapshots into the Learning Lab and the students I work with most often. (For privacy rights, I'm going to just use their initials - I thought about nicknames but that would be waay confusing and I'd probably call them by their inappropriate nickname at school and that would just be weird.)

So! Allow me to introduce student #1: 6th grader, J.A.R. (He's got a double name, just like me, so I decided to put him first.)

This kid is at once adorable, hilarious and he makes you want to pull your hair out.

First of all, he looks like this munchkin (except Mexican, not Asian) and, really no matter what he does, you just want to squeeze his cheeks:


Oh, and he wears transition lens glasses. So when he walks into the sun, his glasses darken and he kind of looks crazy. But hilarious.

JAR speaks fluent Spanglish, but not much English. His notes in class are riddled with "y," "en," and spellings like "parque." But he tries so hard! Whenever I ask him comprehension questions, like, "Why do you think Rule by Many is better than Rule by One?" he wrinkles his brow, looks directly into my eyes and stammers through a random collection of words picked up in his social studies lesson. He waves his hands around emphatically, lists his arguments on his fingers and seems to be asking me with his eyes whether I understand the complex point he is making. When I ask another guiding question (to clarify the gibberish I just heard), he shakes his head, "No, Missa Graf, este people can vote, many." Ohhh, I see. He gets it! Right?

And I didn't really anticipate McGrath to be a difficulty, but, oh my goodness, it is impossible! A few kids get it and berate their peers for their struggles with the Mc and Gr and th. At this point, though, I think this is a battle I'll leave alone, and from here on out, as long as I'm not just "Miss," I'll take "Graf," "MissaGrah" and "Mc...Miss!" There are other things to worry about...

For instance, how to get JAR all caught up after missing about a week of school! He's a social butterfly and cannot spend two seconds quietly if there are other students in the Learning Lab. He makes eyes at them, making them giggle. He pats his belly and makes a pained face, begging for cookies (really). He mimics a teacher tone and tells everyone, "Good job!" nodding his head and just being goofy and ridiculous. He jokes with the teachers, asking Mr. O why he was eating sunflower seeds, didn't he know those were for birds? Is he sure he got those at the grocery store and not at PetSmart? The worst is that most of the time, I can't help myself and I laugh, too. This makes it difficult to reign him in and make him focus on something that's hard for him. Which is basically everything. I've been trying to take a tougher stance with him, but sometimes when I look into those slowly fading transition lenses, I can't help but smile. And then he smiles (with those cheeks!) and its all over...

Two other very interesting facts about JAR:
#1: His dad does light shows as a job. Like a light technician or something, for shows or performances. So JAR does this, too! He works on the computer and makes light shows and competes on the weekends. Super cool.

#2: The reason he was out for the majority of last week is crazy. This poor munchkin was in a freak accident of sorts last summer. He was at a carnival/fair thing and went on the ride that just has a lot of swings attached to it and it spins around (see image below). Mid-ride, his swing broke and he flew off of it, breaking both his legs. Just take one moment and imagine that...





So he had rods put into his legs. And this past week he got them taken out (he showed me the surgery wounds...I gagged). I'm pretty sure I'll never, ever ride one of those things again. And hell will freeze over before I let anyone I know ride one, either.

So, that's JAR. I hope you guys enjoyed meeting him!

Karma?

So far, I have avoided the dreaded swine flu (knock on wood!). I think it might have something to do with my animal karma. Bacon's revenge? What would bacon want with me? I haven't even had "fakin bacon" in forever, so let's hope my good vibes keep all the sick kiddos from infecting me.

Remember when schools were shut down at the very first sniffle during the swine flu scare? Well now kids and teachers have it - and we still show up to school. One of the students who has been out for five days straight is a project of mine - I spend at least two hours a day with him. Let's just say my fingers are crossed and I'm even steering clear of any fake ham products until this season is over.

I Won a Bookcase!

I can't believe it! I seriously won a bookcase - and it's full of books! Some amazing high school kid in Houston built 5 bookcases and had a book drive to fill them so he could donate them to other public schools in Houston. I saw this on a TFA email, took the silly survey, and was just browsing our latest TFA newsletter and saw my name listed as one of the winners! This is particularly strange because, for those of you who don't know, TFA sends out a bajillion emails and even more surveys, if you can believe it. I used to think that they were all just a waste of my time - I mean, of all people, doesn't TFA know that I don't have time for this? - until now!! I am so pumped!

I'm not ignoring the fact that this is my first post in over a month. I just have so much to say! It's daunting - so I'm procrastinating. But, I promise, more to come soon -- maybe even pictures of my new bookcase at school!

High Aspirations

As soon as I found out that I was moving to Houston to teach, I immediately formulated a long-term plan: in two years time, I would become Tami Taylor. Mrs. Taylor, commonly known as "Coach's Wife," and more recently, as "Principal Taylor," represents everything any self-respecting teacher could possibly be: beautiful, thoughtful, compassionate, hip, and her rapid ascent in the public school heirarchy is dizzying. I think it's safe to say that I'll be taking my cues from Pricipal Taylor in the upcoming season.

In a bizarre turn of events, however, it seems as if I have some competition from another special educator teaching in Houston. We contacted a school office today to accesss some records for our students. To my dismay, (and this is 100% true) we were redirected to speak with a woman actually named Tami Taylor. Talk about an unfair advantage! However, I am not discouraged: I have a vision, and I will not be defeated.