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Lesson Plans


lost student

From: Aaron and Jennifer (THEGREEN99)
Date: Fri Jun 02 2000 - 15:23:36 PDT

  • Next message: Peg Blechman: "RE: lost student"

        Last night I was grading one of my class's journals when I nearly broke
    down in tears. Earlier that day, I had a run-in with a student, let's just
    say his name was Bob. Bob came to class and laid his head down. I told him
    he could not sleep today. We went back and forth for a little while and I
    basically said, "Believe what you will, but no sleeping." So he sat up, but
    he looked horrible. I went over to him after class started and tried to get
    him motivated. He felt he couldn't do the work; he was stupid. Of course, I
    don't believe this and tried to convince him otherwise.
        Then the beans spilled. He had been up all night because his cousin was
    shot in a gang-related shooting. The cousin was visiting family in another
    town. I guess the two were very close. I tried to give some support. I
    suggested things he could do in class to relax and take his mind off things.
    (He had family problems and was going to be locked up in a couple of days
    for several months.) Eventually, we concluded he needed to go home.
        But this kid is so smart. He makes connections faster than a pentium
    processor. I am just in awe of his thoughts and intrigued by the way he
    approaches projects. On his way out the door, he said it was the last time
    he would ever set foot into school again. And it's probably true.
        While I was reading his critiques on other artists, I was floored.
    Granted the vocabulary was not there and there were some
    spelling/grammatical errors, but the content was excellent. How could this
    kid fall through the cracks?
        I try to remind myself he was gone before I got him. It would have taken
    a miracle to have kept him in school. But I can't help but feel remorse
    knowing that one of the smartest kids I ever met walked out the door without
    an education - pretty much on my "shift".
        I needed to tell someone. I know you all would understand. Thanks for
    reading....

    Jennifer in Michigan 

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