I've been a slacker so this is a little late, Happy New Year! My two weeks Christmas (winter) break from school went by too quickly and Gnu and I walked back into the classroom on January 2nd. The title of the blog post pretty much sums up our week, a roller coaster of emotions, all in a four day span.
Tuesday, January 2nd (the angry day). I arrived in the classroom first which was surprising given we had been away for two weeks. I though for sure Gnu would have arrived early to prepare for the week but I was wrong. She arrived about fifteen minutes after I did and promptly checked her email. When she finished checking her email she mentioned to me that the Indiana Stupid Testing and Evaluation Process (ISTEP) was slowly approaching and that she had a meeting with the BigB2 about the test over our Christmas (winter) break. As Gnu explained it, the BigB2 did a pre-ISTEP evaluation of our scholars and noticed that Knapper was on the bubble. On the bubble, as used in the previous sentence, means that Knapper is close to being able to pass the math portion of the ISTEP test. Knowing this, the BigB2 met with Gnu and requested that she spend extra math time with Knapper to improve his math skills so that his chances of passing ISTEP math increases. When Gnu relayed this information to me my emotions started to change and not for the good. Before I proceed, let me remind you that we are a classroom with three grade levels and with scholars at four or five different academic levels depending on the subject matter. Let me also remind you that just before our Christmas (winter) break, Whale, a scholar from one of our life skills classrooms, with a very low IQ, joined our classroom for a small portion of our reading block in the morning and our entire math block in the afternoon. One last reminder and then I'll proceed. Our math block is sixty minutes long. Because of the grade levels and academic levels we break out into three groups with each group spending twenty minutes at a math station. That means when Knapper rotates to Gnu during our math block she has twenty minutes with him to cover the current math topic and then spend review time with him to prepare for ISTEP. What are the chances that this is a successful strategy so that Knapper came move from the bubble and pass the math portion of ISTEP, none.
As Gnu and I discussed Knapper's situation we both came to the same conclusion, how are we going to find time to spend additional time with Knapper. Ok, get ready for the bomb to be dropped and the anger to rise. As I'm thinking about ways to help Knapper, Gnu informs me that parties outside of our classroom decided to add another scholar to our classroom. There is some good news regarding this additional scholar, he will only be with us for half the day. Unfortunately, the half day with us is in the afternoon during our math block. Brilliant! Pressure is put on Gnu to get our scholars ready to take the ISTEP test. Additional pressure is put on Gnu to get Knapper, in particular, in a position to pass the math portion of ISTEP. And then, to put a little fuel on the fire, let's add another scholar to the mix during our math block. This is bordering on the edge of ridiculous. For the sake of time I'll defer discussing our new scholar until the next blog post which I'm sure will agitate a few of you.
Thursday morning, January 4th (the sadness day). We are in the middle of our reading block and Gnu was reading a Folktale to the scholars when LittleB and a social worker walked into the classroom. Having the social worker in our classroom is not unusual but when the LittleB walks in something is not right. When Gnu sees these two individuals in our classroom she stops reading and looks over to where they are standing. The LittleB then asks Gnu to step outside the classroom so they can have a conversation. Even the scholars know that this is not a good situation as someone in this classroom has probably done something stupid and all eyes shift to MiniJ who is always the first suspect in situations like this one. A little less than ten minutes later Gnu walked back into the classroom and continued reading. With the Folktale read in it's entirety, Gnu passes out the worksheets that go with the story, gives the instructions to the scholars on how to complete the worksheet, and then sits down at her desk in the front of the classroom. I have a copy of the worksheet and, as I'm looking at it, I see Gnu walking towards me. When she reaches my desk, she doesn't say a word, and hands me a fluorescent pink Post It note. When I looked at the note it said, "read this and then tear it up." The note continues, "Tourette's parental unit has died and he is not aware of it." After I read the note, it was destroyed, and I just sat at my desk shaking my head and thinking to myself, "why did this have to happen to a young scholar who has had so many obstacles to overcome and he is only ten years old." Tourette remained in the classroom through our reading block, lunch and then recess. At 1:00pm, his schedule time for departure, he walked out of our classroom, headed to his bus for the trip home with no idea what was waiting for him when he got there.
Thursday evening, January 4th. It's around 7:30pm when I hear my cellphone ring. It's Gnu, "FBG will meet with the scholars in the morning and tell them about Tourette's parental unit. And don't forget, I have a doctor's appointment at 9:00am in the morning and I hope to be back in school by 10:00am."
Friday, January 5th (the big smile day, eventually). For some reason I decided to arrive at school earlier than normal. This may sound strange but I wanted the room to look right before the scholars arrived and before FBG gave his little talk. As I was sitting there in silence the BigB2 walked into the classroom. She asked it Gnu arrived and I said, "no, she has a doctor's appointment and will arrive around 10:00am." I then told BigB2 about the plan to inform the scholars about Tourette's parental unit's passing. The BigB2 was comfortable with the plan and said to me, "if you need my to help in any way let me know," and then left the room. It's now 9:10am, the scholars are in the room eating their breakfast, FBG is sitting on Gnu's desk at the front of the room, and MJ, our behavior specialist, is sitting with me where I have a view from the back of the room. FBG was moments from getting started when Tourette walked into the classroom carrying his breakfast and promptly sat down at his desk. I looked at MJ first and then towards the front of the classroom at FBG and think to myself, "now what." After a slight delay, I stood up, looked at FBG and said, "give me a minute, I'll be right back." When I reached the front office I saw the LittleB and let her know that FBG was about to inform our scholars that Tourette's parental unit passed away when Tourette walked into the classroom. I then asked the LittleB if Tourette knew about his parental unit. The LittleB informed me that Tourette knew about his parental unit but he decided that he wanted to come to school today rather than stay home.
LittleB and I walked back to the classroom and she got Tourette's attention and asked him to join her outside the classroom. Before FBG began his talk, he looked over at MJ and says to her, "you can jump into this conversation at any time." Just so you know, FBG has never done anything like this before. Once FBG has everyone seated and silent he started talking and told the scholars that Tourette's mother had died. The room was dead silent, no one even moved, they just sat there. Uh-Uh-Uh was the first one to break the silence by saying, "does Tourette know his parental unit died?" FBG responded, "yes, and it is important to think of something to say to Tourette if he tells you his parental unit died." FBG then asked the classroom in general what they would say to Tourette if he told any one of them about his parental unit dying. BigHouse had his hand up first, "I'd say to him, I'm sorry about your loss." Better words could not have been said.
The entire conversation with our scholars lasted about fifteen minutes. During that time they acted in the best possible way as they realized the seriousness of the conversation that took place. As I sat there I though to myself, this is a group of scholars that can act in the most angry and aggressive manner but when the time came to act appropriately they did and I couldn't be any prouder of them.
It was close to 11:00am when Gnu finally arrived in the classroom. As she was sitting at her front table getting her thoughts organized Tourette, who returned to the classroom a few minutes earlier, walked up to me with a 8 1/2" by 14" sheet of copier paper, handed it to me and said, "would you like to write something to my parental unit?" "I sure would," I said and I started drawing. First I drew the clouds. Second was a cross. Third was lines placed in such a way that it looked like the cross was sitting on the top of a hill. Finally, I wrote the following at the bottom of the hill, "rest in peace and may God hold you in the hollow of his hands." I handed the paper back to Tourette and he started to read what I wrote. He was fine until he reached the word hollow. "What does that mean Mr. Schultz?" I cupped my two hands together, focused on the bowl that my hands formed and told Tourette that the bowl is also known as a hollow and it was in this hollow in God's hands that his mother was going to be held. When I finished my explanation, Tourette looked up at me and said, "thank you Mr. Schultz, that's real nice."
Friday, January 5th at around 1:00pm (here comes the smile part). We just returned from our lunch and recess time period and Gnu was at the front of the room preparing for our math block. I'm sitting at my desk at the back of the room and I decided that I've waiting long enough. I raised my hand high into the air to get Gnu's attention. When I knew that I had her attention I asked, "how much longer am I going to have to wait before you tell me?" My question brought an instant smile to her face and she said to me, with a huge grin, "it's a boy." Then, grabbing her purse, she pulled out the ultrasound pictures that were taken earlier in the day and, I got to see first hand, the son that she will deliver sometime around the first of June.
Ta da! Check off the first blog post of the new year. As I have so many times in the past, I wonder if I'll ever run out of things to write about. I seriously doubt it so I guess I'll see you all next week.
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