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.