What a difference a dose makes...
One of my darlings is on meds (has been since late Pre-K), and I never realized how much he needs those pills until this week. On Wednesday, mom called school and said they spent the night at grandmom's house, and they accidentally left his meds at home. We adjusted the schedule for his afternoon dose, and I sent him to the office after lunch to take it. On his way back, he fell and skinned his knee. Then someone pushed him (not sure if it was an accident or not). This combination of events was apparently too much for him, because he had an "episode" that lasted 45 minutes... kicking the walls and bookshelves, trying to walk out of the classroom, carrying chairs into the coat closet, pushing his desk around the room. It amazed me how the other kids just ignored him. This all happened during our DEAR time (Drop Everything And Read), and God bless 'em, they all kept right on reading as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening at all. Must be something they learned from their kindergarten teacher. Anyway, it was great, because if they had made a fuss, it would have kept him going.
After about half an hour, I gathered my kids on the rug for story time. He was still walking around the room, occasionally kicking a desk or banging into a bookshelf. I gave him a choice: "You can either sit in your seat, or sit on the rug with us." (He has minor "episodes" about once a week, set off by random things. Only two things work - ignore him until he gets it out of his system, and then give him choices.) He dragged his chair over to the rug and sat in it. By the end of story time, he was on the rug with everyone else. And back to his usual cheerful self.
Learning the Language
My non-English speaker is swiftly turning into quite a master of the language! I've spoken to mom a few times, and she assures me that she's trying to use only English at home to help her daughter remember the language. In school, my friend regularly comes to my desk to tell me stories, in an endearing mix of Spanish and English.
The other day she said to me, "My mom's happy birthday tomorrow."
"It is? Wow, that's nice," I replied.
"Si," she nodded. "And she have big cake" (she spread her arms wide to show me) "muy, muy big, biggest cake."
Or, today... she came to my desk and picked up my ceramic pumpkin decoration.
"Ohhhh.... this... this..." (here she mumbled some Spanish).
"Pumpkin," I supplied.
"Si. Pumpkin. So beautiful!"
And my personal favorite. Today, we were on the rug for story time, and just as I paused for dramatic effect, she wrinkled her nose and said, clear as a bell, "Who farted?"
I think it's safe to say she's coming along just fine. :)
Little Old Man - Second Grader
My good friend Little Old Man is now a big, bad second grader. He keeps Miss W in stitches with his outbursts and comments. One day, second grade was walking past my room on the way to computer class. Miss W stopped at my door briefly to ask me a question, and I noticed LOM peering at my students disdainfully, arms crossed.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"So... these are your new students?" He sniffed and turned his head, nose in the air.
"Sure are," I replied. "Do you want to come in and say hi?"
Another contemptuous snort. "No, thank you."
Lord, I miss him!
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3 comments:
Missed meds - oh boy!
I once had a parent who would randomly give her son meds because she wanted to see if I could tell if he was taking them or not. Can you believe it?
Well, um YES, i could tell. Poor thing couldn't operate at all. I had to finally tell this mom to quit treating him like a home science experiment and just give him whatever the Dr. prescribed for him.
Poor kid...
Aw, that makes me miss teaching! Except the missed meds part. I don't think I miss that part.
It is amazing how students will simply ignore a classmate having a meltdown. I guess they just get used to it. However, it is sad that they are used to it.
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