There are some things that you can't know about teaching before you begin. Especially special education.
For example, who would have ever thought that this
For example, who would have ever thought that this
would be motivating?
But this picture, this scrap, this remnant, is the most motivational thing in my classroom right now.
Who knew?
This shell belongs to Mark, one of my students.
I try to describe him, but there are no words. He is 17, tiny (about 4'10), walks with a hunched back due to his Scoliosis, and has this indescribable voice. If anyone has ever read A Prayer for Owen Meany, they talk about his voice and how strange and unique it is. The author even puts everything Owen says in all caps to get the audience to understand his odd voice.
Well that is Mark. It is low and raspy, and he yells and grunts a lot. He is definitely the bright spot in the classroom, and I can usually count on him to make me laugh when I am having a hard day. Of course sometimes he is the cause of the hard day, but that's another story entirely.
But luckily, he is easily motivated. His most prized possession is a wooden nutcracker named Mrs. H.
Seriously, you cannot make this stuff up.
Mrs. H used to accompany him everywhere, until his previous teacher finally wised up and banned Mrs. H from school. Turns out a large wooden nutcracker is excellent for hitting people with. Who knew?
So since Mrs. H herself couldn't come, he settled for a picture of her. This picture went everywhere with him. We laminated it, but it would inevitably fall to shreds, as Mark abuses his pictures horribly.
Trust me, you don't want to know.
We still have about 15 copies of the Mrs. H pictures laminated in a desk somewhere, because he keeps destroying them. It's nice to have a stockpile on hand.
Mrs. H worked for a long time, but then he became fascinated by another picture. I can't even remember what it was, but he stared at it and took it, and was obsessed with it, so we copied it and laminated it, and a new era was born, and his behavior improved remarkably. Since then we've gone through dozens of pictures: lawnmowers, radio station logos (honestly), book covers, microphones, pictures of staff or students, and possibly the strangest of all: the kitten picture.
The kitten picture (known in our room as The Kitten) is taken from a simple book using basic sight words that I print off the internet. I believe the sight word for that week was "it."
So the book is a boy asking what is in a present ("is it a ball?") and ends up with "it is a kitten!" When he first read this, Mark let out the loudest gasp of surprise and excitement that we all looked at him, even the students.
For the next two days, he returned to the book every chance he got and read the same page over and over again. "IT IS A KITTEN" he kept saying. So of course we laminated the picture and he carried it around.
Mark loves this kitten. If he is having a hard time, he knows he will temporarily lose possession of The Kitten. His response to this is to cry, yell, and carry on like we took away his best friend. He knows we'll give it back (we always do), but he cannot bear to be parted from this half-sheet of ripped, crumpled, and drawn on laminated page. But if ever we needed him to follow directions, we would merely say, "Mark, do I need to take The Kitten?"
"NO, DON'T TAKE THE KITTEN. NOOOOOOO!"
(He's very dramatic)
That was in July.
He came back from the three week hiatus with The Kitten still in his possession, albeit in a somewhat diminished form. He still loves it with all his heart though.
But this picture, this scrap, this remnant, is the most motivational thing in my classroom right now.
Who knew?
This shell belongs to Mark, one of my students.
I try to describe him, but there are no words. He is 17, tiny (about 4'10), walks with a hunched back due to his Scoliosis, and has this indescribable voice. If anyone has ever read A Prayer for Owen Meany, they talk about his voice and how strange and unique it is. The author even puts everything Owen says in all caps to get the audience to understand his odd voice.
Well that is Mark. It is low and raspy, and he yells and grunts a lot. He is definitely the bright spot in the classroom, and I can usually count on him to make me laugh when I am having a hard day. Of course sometimes he is the cause of the hard day, but that's another story entirely.
But luckily, he is easily motivated. His most prized possession is a wooden nutcracker named Mrs. H.
Seriously, you cannot make this stuff up.
Mrs. H used to accompany him everywhere, until his previous teacher finally wised up and banned Mrs. H from school. Turns out a large wooden nutcracker is excellent for hitting people with. Who knew?
So since Mrs. H herself couldn't come, he settled for a picture of her. This picture went everywhere with him. We laminated it, but it would inevitably fall to shreds, as Mark abuses his pictures horribly.
Trust me, you don't want to know.
We still have about 15 copies of the Mrs. H pictures laminated in a desk somewhere, because he keeps destroying them. It's nice to have a stockpile on hand.
Mrs. H worked for a long time, but then he became fascinated by another picture. I can't even remember what it was, but he stared at it and took it, and was obsessed with it, so we copied it and laminated it, and a new era was born, and his behavior improved remarkably. Since then we've gone through dozens of pictures: lawnmowers, radio station logos (honestly), book covers, microphones, pictures of staff or students, and possibly the strangest of all: the kitten picture.
The kitten picture (known in our room as The Kitten) is taken from a simple book using basic sight words that I print off the internet. I believe the sight word for that week was "it."
So the book is a boy asking what is in a present ("is it a ball?") and ends up with "it is a kitten!" When he first read this, Mark let out the loudest gasp of surprise and excitement that we all looked at him, even the students.
For the next two days, he returned to the book every chance he got and read the same page over and over again. "IT IS A KITTEN" he kept saying. So of course we laminated the picture and he carried it around.
Mark loves this kitten. If he is having a hard time, he knows he will temporarily lose possession of The Kitten. His response to this is to cry, yell, and carry on like we took away his best friend. He knows we'll give it back (we always do), but he cannot bear to be parted from this half-sheet of ripped, crumpled, and drawn on laminated page. But if ever we needed him to follow directions, we would merely say, "Mark, do I need to take The Kitten?"
"NO, DON'T TAKE THE KITTEN. NOOOOOOO!"
(He's very dramatic)
That was in July.
He came back from the three week hiatus with The Kitten still in his possession, albeit in a somewhat diminished form. He still loves it with all his heart though.
I think its time for a new Kitten.
1 comment:
I know I would think this kid is funny.
He kind of reminds me of a kid in my school who was born pre-mature so he's not....... well, as normal as everyone else. But he's really sweet and he can always brighten up any day. (he doesn't hit anyone with a nutcracker, though! ha! lol!) He can get a little tiring sometimes, but he's still adorable.
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