The Lesson @ my new school
It's been my second day at my new job and I can't believe how much I've changed my outlook on things. I've recently accepted an assistant teaching position, at an early intervention/elementary school here in park slope, brooklyn.
The student's in my classroom, are the most "involved" from that of the entire school which means that they are the most severely developmentally delayed. These kids are between 3-5 years old and have anything from down syndrome - autism, or severe speech delay (one of my kids even has cerebral palsy).
After my first day I was so depressed and upset that this happened. I wondered why it occured & what perhaps the parents may have done differently. I could not bear to see them the way they were and had lost my appetite the entire day. I thought to myself I'm not cut out for work like this... It's just not for me.
But something inexplicable happened to me when I got home on Monday night.
I went for my usual run with ruminations about the aforementioned position I had just accepted and for some reason the kids faces kept popping up in my head. I rememered all their names after just one day, their character and even their individual conditions. I laughed to myself at how cute David looked when he smiles at you, or how charming Nikos could be. I wondered if Alissa would be feeling well enough to come to school on Tuesday. I started becoming more and more intrigued by their "illnesses" and "abnormalities" and by the end of my four miles I was in love! I can't get these kids out of my mind...I'm crazy about them!
After just one day they completely lured me in. I walked in this morning feeling more confident & prepared that the day ahead, albeit filled with surprises, would be a rewarding one. And that it was. Now it's as if I can't picture what my life will be like without them, when the summer program is over and I am gone.
They will be in Kindergarten, and I in grad school, but the lessons these tots are teaching me, I certainly could not find in any textbook.
The student's in my classroom, are the most "involved" from that of the entire school which means that they are the most severely developmentally delayed. These kids are between 3-5 years old and have anything from down syndrome - autism, or severe speech delay (one of my kids even has cerebral palsy).
After my first day I was so depressed and upset that this happened. I wondered why it occured & what perhaps the parents may have done differently. I could not bear to see them the way they were and had lost my appetite the entire day. I thought to myself I'm not cut out for work like this... It's just not for me.
But something inexplicable happened to me when I got home on Monday night.
I went for my usual run with ruminations about the aforementioned position I had just accepted and for some reason the kids faces kept popping up in my head. I rememered all their names after just one day, their character and even their individual conditions. I laughed to myself at how cute David looked when he smiles at you, or how charming Nikos could be. I wondered if Alissa would be feeling well enough to come to school on Tuesday. I started becoming more and more intrigued by their "illnesses" and "abnormalities" and by the end of my four miles I was in love! I can't get these kids out of my mind...I'm crazy about them!
After just one day they completely lured me in. I walked in this morning feeling more confident & prepared that the day ahead, albeit filled with surprises, would be a rewarding one. And that it was. Now it's as if I can't picture what my life will be like without them, when the summer program is over and I am gone.
They will be in Kindergarten, and I in grad school, but the lessons these tots are teaching me, I certainly could not find in any textbook.
posted by Maya at 10:57 PM
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