It was one of those "severe" special ed classes where the high school aged kiddos are doing second grader work. The teacher had helpfully left a list of all the students and the things I should look out for.
Laila was obsessed with her toys. We were to gather them from her, then give them back to her at the end of the day.
The minute Laila walked in, she wanted to know if it was time for snack yet. And then she asked again about every ten minutes. (Snack is about two hours after the start of the day.) As soon as she got back from snack, the question then became about lunch. After lunch, she wanted to know if it was time to go home yet.
She repeated several things throughout the day. Besides the snack thing, she told me repeatedly that she missed her mom. I told her she'd see her mom after school.
And Laila could be stubborn. For history, they were to cut out the names of the original 13 colonies and paste them next to the outlines for those states. One of the aides color-coded them, so they'd be able to paste the names in the correct positions. But Laila was being unruly, so they sent her to work one-on-one with me.
She wanted to cut. So, I let her have a pair of scissors. She randomly cut slices into the paper, through the names, and all over the place. That's when I took the scissors away and did the cutting out of names.
At that point, Laila was done. She would not paste anything. She wanted to cut. But as soon as I got done cutting, she noticed that her paper had all these random cuts in it (that she had made), and that made her sad. She walked away from the project, refusing to do any more.
Finally, the end of the day arrived. The students were all escorted out to their buses or to be picked up by their parents. Laila went right for the teacher's cabinet. This cabinet had been locked all day, and none of us had the key.
We couldn't get into the cabinet. Laila refused to leave the room. The aides reminded her that her mother was waiting for her. Nope, she fell to the floor and refused to go.
She wanted her toys. They weren't in the cabinet, of course, because no one could go in there. We eventually found them, and then she willingly left.
This is what makes these days interesting. There's always at least one kiddo that keeps you on your toes.
Laila had a difficult day.
ReplyDeleteYes, she did. And having a clueless sub didn't help.
DeleteI agree with songbird's comment. Laila had a difficult day. I hope all her school days aren't this difficult.
ReplyDeletebetty
She's a student who needs a lot of patience from the teacher. Good thing you're a good sub.
ReplyDeleteOne of the more challenging days for you, I suspect.
ReplyDeleteOnly because I was on the tail end of a cold. I was a little more irritable because of it.
DeleteLaila I feel sorry for and hopeful she will have someone to help her though life.
ReplyDeleteCoffee is on
Hope it was just one of those days for Laila. It's quite a challenge to handle such children. One needs a lot of patience. I am glad you were able to manage the situation well.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about well. The situation was managed...
DeleteI admire those who have the ability and desire to help the Laila's of the world. It was a challenging day for the both of you.
ReplyDeleteHard enough teaching period but that has to be really hard, stressful and sad. Patience would be needed and I have little of that.
ReplyDeleteIt takes a special kind of teacher to choose to teach these classes every day.
DeleteThat class sounds exhausting.
ReplyDeleteIt was, but mostly because I was getting over a cold.
DeleteI couldn't deal with that sort of thing if I felt like a million dollars. Heh... Be well!
DeleteThanks.
Deletelaila sounds like she is special needs so I am glad, for her, not you, that she did have you for one on one. It takes a special teacher to deal with kids who need more than the average
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I was at my best that day. I have to take a deep breath and let it be. Because my irritation doesn't help anyone.
DeleteLiz,
ReplyDeleteIs the reason these kids are in special ed they are mentally challenged? For a high school aged child, Laila sounds more like a grade school kid. That's why I ask about their mental state. When I was in school, those in special ed, were generally kids who were slow learners, not necessarily retarded. That word is bound to offend some but that's not my intent. As we know it's a word to describe sluggish mental developemnt. It's no fault of the kid, it's just a fact. It seems there were kids in my school who were definitely more challenged and they didn't interact with the general population. I don't know what was with that but I vaguely remember it being that way. I guess it's pretty hard working with childre like that and I admire you for keeping your wits about you.
Sounds like a difficult day. I hope Laila's next day was much better for her.
ReplyDeleteHer teacher would have been there, so likely.
DeleteI hope the best for Laila.
ReplyDeleteI'm grateful everyday for the fact I had two healthy Barbarians.
ReplyDelete