My Life as a Teacher: Magical Remedies
There is such a thing as a magical remedy. And sometimes I simply need to remember that as I trudge forward through to the end of this first year of teaching.
Today was a typical Tuesday: my least favorite day of the week. And it so happens to be so because of the horrible schedule I have. I have back-to-back classes all day from 7 - 7. And it is the worst when everyone tends to back out on me in the last second for cleaning and supervising duties. As such, I found myself feeling disgusting, exhausted and extremely frustrated at lunch when I headed into my double period of English for Lower Elementary.
Now let’s just say one thing. I love my babies in Lower, they’re the joy of my life when they get the concepts and do well in class. I just love them to bits. But there are days when it’s especially hard. The biggest key issue here is simply that two block periods of the exact same subject for 3 hours is extremely, extremely hard to maneuver with extraordinarily excitable first and second graders.
And today was a case of the jitters. Cake. Lots of it. Frosting covered. To celebrate the Arizona Centennial. So we went to class with kids who were hopping, pacing, sugar-high and more. Sometimes I feel like we should have a mandatory watering-down after lunches, just because the energy levels either sink to an incredible low or they completely jump out of their seats. It’s awful having English right after lunch with the Lower Elementary.
And one of my kids today, was especially distraught. He is a typical ADHD male first grader and tends to skip and walk, I’m not joking, by spinning in consecutive circles until he reaches his intended destination. The boy is like a walking, talking Energizer bunny on speed.
And I love him. He’s an adorable child but has a severe negative self-perception of his own abilities and knowledge and has a common tendency to call himself a “bad boy” and “dumb” and “stupid”. It kills me everytime. I wonder where it comes from because I’ve never seen a kid who has put themselves down more than this boy. Regardless, I’ve been telling him constantly, that he is “not a bad boy.” That he is a “good boy” and even more simply, “a boy who needs to be remember self-control.” And it’s the honest truth. He is not a bad child by any means, simply one has yet to learn how to control himself.
He’s gotten into tons of scrapes and scratches and scars from all his prancing and tendencies to run around blindly. To no fault of anybody but himself, really. But he heals quickly. It is simply his rocket-fast tendencies and inability to control himself.
So as we start class as usual, we take ten minutes to work on handwriting and he immediately moves from the newly arranged circular desks to work by himself from the group. When I ask him why he’s moved, he tells me that “everyone’s so loud” and he can’t take the noise. At first, I’m a little bit perturbed, but remember that I used to experience the same issues when I was young. So I let him remain in the isolated region. But as time passed, he began roiling in unease and kept screeching and pounding the table. In the usual manner, I told him to give me his hands and held them, looking into his face, I asked him, “What’s wrong?”
His face was a warm red and in his usual manner, with forced tears and clenched teeth, he replied, “they’re.SO.LOUD.UGH!!” Immediately, I told him to close his eyes and breathe in and out. But the usual breathing techniques didn’t do much and he remained extremely uneasy and kept shifting, rushing through handwriting (which he normally loves doing) and attempting to push me away.
I was at the end of my tether and about to stop the relaxed attitude of chatter on the other table when I remembered the noise-cancellation headphones I had been using outside of class for full concentration. Bringing it over, I helped push his bangs back and carefully wrapped the headphones over his ears, plugging him into my iPod and playing classical instrumentals.
The effect was immediate. His face lightened several shades and his teeth broke into an uneven smile, looking at me with a curious happiness, he went back to work, slowing down and suddenly taking his time.
I actually gawked for a full two seconds before remasking my expressions. It really relieved me that I had finally figured how to work with his personal self worth and give him his need for isolation and quiet in a classroom of louder children.
As I put away the headphones for the day (and had to stick cotton balls in the clamoring calls of “me too! Me too!” students), I couldn’t help but break into a smile to see him calming down and returning to a very relaxed and engaged mood, like a young child always should be. It took me three quarters to finally devise a method to help him cope, but I think it really was worth seeing him become comfortable and able to work at his own pace without fear of being measured against others.
One day at a time. This magical time may end soon, but I’m so happy that I had the fortune to teach these amazing children.
@3 months ago with 1 note#teaching #education #adhd #children #my life as a teacher
