The first time I met this girl, the adult aide in the class told me that this student lied about absolutely everything. Most of what the girl said that day proved that the aide was giving me a good heads up. The only specific example I can offer is that the girl told me it was her birthday. Then others in the class challenged her as she had claimed it was her birthday the previous week. I guess it had to be her birthday too, as it was actually the birthday of another girl in the class.
I got to see this girl again today in 6th period. Within the first five minutes of class she had told me these things: she had no homework, she had not been at school yesterday because she was suspended, her father passed away yesterday, she was getting ready to move to Texas, and she was tired and wanted to sleep.
She doesn't like being called a liar. One of the aides had called her a liar, and she is now wary of this aide (according to the girl). My hands were kind of tied. There was no aide in the room to vet whether or not any statement was true, so all I could really do was sit there and nod. And I had to tread very carefully.
About the death of her father I expressed sympathy. She has made outrageous claims in the past, so whether or not it's true... ??? Then later she told me that this man was "like" a father to her. Ah! So the death part is true? I can't really tell.
The class was a study hall, so luckily she had lied about not having homework. She didn't feel like doing it, but we eventually found that she had work to complete. And then she told the other student in the room that she didn't have a cell phone (one was attached to her belt). Of course the other student didn't believe her, so she changed her story--she had four cell phones. (I saw two. Does she have two others? Hard to tell.)
She told so many stories that it's hard to remember them all. She found some gang bangers, took them to church, and now they're back in school. She was required to write a note of apology for the assistant principal about her suspension. She couldn't understand her science teacher. She had no homework to make up (even though she had been suspended).
I'm exhausted. It's hard to keep up, especially when I'm dealing with uncredible students.
No comments:
Post a Comment
I appreciate your comments.
I respond to comments* via email, unless your profile email is not enabled. Then, I'll reply in the comment thread. Eventually. Probably.
*Exception: I do not respond to "what if?" comments, but I do read them all. Those questions are open to your interpretation, and I don't wish to limit your imagination by what I thought the question was supposed to be.