When it comes to our former scholars I'm not sure where to begin because information on most of them is scarce. What I know for sure is that two of them are off to a rough start and I'm particularly irritated that this is happening. A descriptive term on how Gnu feels about these two scholars will be left out because of inappropriate language. Here is the abridged version of an update on our former scholars.
EM - 6th grade and I'm not sure if he is even at our old school.
BigHouse - would have been in the 5th grade but is now in another school district.
Uh-Uh-Uh - 5th grade and not off to a very good start.
MiniJ - 5th grade and I've heard nothing about him. That has to be good news.
Knapper - 5th grade and not off to a very good start.
Grr! - 4th grade and I've heard nothing about him. That has to be good news.
S&T - 4th grade and I've heard nothing about him. That has to be good news.
Tourette - 4th grade. I was told via a text message that Tourette is still Tourette but he is going to a GenEd classroom for one hour a day. That is partially good news.
Huey - 3rd grade. Gnu was sent a text video showing Huey at his desk. In the video Huey stated, "I miss you." Gnu was near tears when she watched the video.
I believe it was either the sixth or seventh day of the school year for our old scholars when I heard about Uh-Uh-Uh and Knapper erupting while they were sitting in a GenEd classroom. Uh-Uh-Uh's incident was throwing a book when she got angry. I scanned my brain archives to recall previous book throwing incidents and I think there were only two in the three years that Gnu and I worked with Uh-Uh-Uh. So, I wish I could have been a fly on the wall to see why this eruption occurred so early in the school year.
While Gnu and I would have considered Uh-Uh-Uh's book throwing incident as minor, what Knapper did was major. Again, I wish I could have seen Knapper's eruption from my fly position in the corner of the room because when all was said and done, Knapper was removed from the school and taken to an inpatient behavioral health unit. A second scan of my brain archives recalled either two or three other incidents of Knapper being transported to a behavioral health unit. Here is the part that makes me nervous about Knapper's behavior, something changed. Knapper's normal anger eruption progression was very consistent, head down on his desk and totally non-communicative, then slowly tearing up pieces of paper that were either on his desk or in his desk, then randomly taking pencils and markers from his desk and tossing them around the classroom, then standing up and moving around the classroom rearranging the furniture. Knapper's anger eruption happened in this progression every time until this school year. So what caused him to change his progression and get so volatile so quickly? I have no idea and it troubles me because I know that Knapper is like a bull when he is angry.
When I first found out about Uh-Uh-Uh and Knapper I was sitting in my favorite indoor reading chair. As I was reading the message about these two scholars my part time editor, part time consultant, and full time spouse was sitting near me and recognized that something was wrong. "What's wrong," she said to me and I told her what I just read in a somewhat irritated voice. "You need to let it go, you are not at that school now, you are not their instructional assistant, and there is nothing you can do about it." I knew she was right but I also know this. Something caused these two scholars to erupt and I believe that it was caused by the incompetence of adults who failed to properly support these two scholars as they transitioned from an emotional handicapped classroom to a general education classroom.
Although the blog is titled My View From the Back Of the Room, this school year I'm actually sitting on the side of the room. There is a reason for this and I'll explain it. The classroom Gnu and I occupy has a connecting door that leads directly into the classroom that is right next to us. During the first week of school a scholar in the adjoining classroom would elope (a hoity toity word for run) from classroom with a fair amount of regularity. The teacher, instructional assistant, and behavior specialist, who occupy this room quickly adjusted to stop the eloping from the classroom. Unfortunately, the eloping scholar found an alternate route to elope and that was by running through our classroom. The first time the eloper ran through our classroom I didn't even realize what just happened. Now that I'm aware of the Plan B escape route I have a view from the side of the room to block the eloper.
Here is another comparison of this year versus last year. Last year our school police drove a pretty plain mid-sized car when responding to calls for assistance. This year our school police are driving big ass SUV's when called for assistance. Last year I never saw a K-9 police unit. This year I believe I've seen to K-9 police units. Last year you could see boarded up houses across from the school. This year you look across the street from the school and see houses valued at nearly $750k. So why the K-9 unit this year? Apparently there is a drug use problem.
Ok, remember, I don't make this stuff up. It's spelling test Friday and DQ walks over to where I have a view from the side of the room. "Mr. Schultz, can you help me study for my spelling test?" "Sure," I respond, "give me your list of spelling words." As DQ slides her list of spelling words in my direction, she starts pointing out the words that she knows she can spell correctly. As she is pointing to the words, I recognized that she is only pointing to the words with the most letters. When she finishes pointing out the words she knows I start the pre-test with the word wrench. DQ starts to spell the word, r-e-n-c and then stops. "Mr. Schultz, that is one of the words I already know how to spell, weren't you listening when I told you that?" "Oh, I'm sorry DQ, let's move on to the next word." Immediately after pronouncing the next word, DQ says to me, "I need to stretch." As DQ starts her stretching routine she eventually works her body in such a way that most of her upper body is now lying across my table. Without saying a word, I take the spelling list that is in my hands and move back from my desk about two inches. As DQ continues to stretch she says to me, "Mr. Schultz, sometimes when I'm at your desk I stretch in funny ways." At this point, her feet are off the floor and she is lying on my desk and amazingly she spells the word correctly now that she can see the spelling list that is in my hands.
For those of you with weak stomachs, BEWARE! It's lunch time. All the scholars from the first through sixth grade are in the cafeteria. This is not the best of situations because the cafeteria is too small for the number of scholars eating lunch. As I'm sitting in the middle of the scholars from my classroom I look over at the adjoining table. A scholar at this table has turned sideways in her chair and has her foot up on the chair next to her. Initially I thought this scholar was just scratching an itch on her leg. After observing a little longer I realized what she was doing. She was picking at the scabs on some old bugs bites on her leg. With the scab on the tip of her finger, she raised her finger to her mouth, and ate the scab. When this scholar looked back down at her leg, she saw a trail of blood running down her leg and promptly wiped it up with her finger and then put her finger in her mouth. Not satisfied that some blood reminded on her finger and hand, she wiped her hand across the edge of the table that she was sitting at. Seeing what just happened, I pick up my walkie-talkie and make the following announcement, "I need assistance in the cafeteria." Three people promptly arrive. I explained what just happened and the scholar was removed to a restroom to get cleaned up. At the same time the custodian began the sanitizing process to properly remove blood from the table in our cafeteria.
Two more short scholar stories and I'll call it a day. Gnu and I are joined by a behavior specialist, I'll call this person Merlot, who spends a good portion of the day in our classroom. Merlot, when reviewing our scholars IEPs, noticed that Cube was new to our school. When reviewing his IEP, Merlot also noticed that the school Cube came from wrote the following on Cube's IEP, requires one on one attention all day. Gnu is in the classroom. I'm in the classroom. Five scholars are in the classroom so what are the chances that Cube will get that one on one attention all day? None!
It's Friday afternoon. The scholars are gone and Gnu and I are in the classroom alone. "Schultz, just so you know, adults in an elementary school are in the beginning stages of evaluating a scholar for placement in our classroom." "What grade is this scholar in," I asked. "Kindergarten."
We are now two weeks and three days into the school year. Crying continues to occur multiple times a day. Oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) events continue to occur multiple times a day. The number of pencils that Grab has snapped into pieces is at seven or eight. The number of reading books, Gnu's personal property, that have been destroyed is one. The number of times a work sheet has been swiped off a table or desk is numerous. The number of times a work sheet has been crumpled up and tossed across the room is numerous. The amount of academics that is being completed is small and, as you are aware, Gnu puts a huge emphasis on academics, so there a days when she is pretty frustrated.
Despite all of the doom and gloom, here is what I know for sure. Gnu will be persistent with academics and the amount that will be accomplished will increase. Merlot has already came up with an excellent plan for Cube and if I remember, I'll discuss the plan next week. And most important of all, I will continue to do anything I can do to make sure that Gnu will be successful in this classroom. Why? Because Gnu busts her butt everyday and I'll will not let her be defeated.
Thanks for continuing to follow the musings of an old guy who has a view from the side of the room. See you next week.
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