Tyquan
Tyquan (which is, of course, an alias) enters my thoughts frequently these days. We've been in school about 6 weeks, and he's already been in ISS 3 times. His mother said he spent all of last year at home or in ISS, and she seems to be at the end of her rope in trying to deal with her son.
I haven't had too many disruptions with Tyquan, but I've noticed that he really seems younger than most of our students, as if he functions on a 5th or 6th grade level behaviorally. The other kids interact with him, but they treat him like a kid brother & basically tease him or shut him out. He's an adorable kid, and I can't look at him without smiling (even when he's squealing or acting out), but I feel like our education system is failing him.
Our AP told us that this week, instead of sitting in ISS, they put Tyquan on a 6th grade team. Apparently he loves it. His teachers love him, he hasn't misbehaved once, he completes his work, and he participates appropriately in class. My thoughts are, so why not leave him there? He obviously is lost in 8th grade, which is probably part of the reason he misbehaves. If he went back to 6th grade, he'd probably be an A student, which would no doubt boost his self esteem and could potentially change his life. Why not allow him to be successful, instead of forcing him into an 8th grade life which seems to overwhelm him?
The saddest thing to me is a comment he wrote at the beginning of the year on his "Tell Me About Yourself" sheet I gave students. In response to the question, "If you could change anything about your life, what would it be?" Tyquan wrote, in his typical kindergarten-block letters, "My hole life." It breaks my heart. The kid was a B & C student in 6th grade, then failed all of his classes in 7th grade, yet somehow was promoted to 8th grade (gotta love those multiple-guess EOGs). It's understandable that he failed all of his classes, considering he was sitting in an ISS trailer doing worksheets all year long. Few people would excel in that situation, unless you're a highly self-motivated learner.
I genuinely like Tyquan, and it's not as if I want him back in 6th grade so that he's out of my classroom. Miss W., on the other hand, makes comments like, "Just get some papers ready so we can send him on over to Lakeview." I think he can be successful in the public school system, but I don't know why we should expect him to conform to age-level expectations if he's not quite there yet. I'm not sure how much voice I have with the administration, considering I'm an ignorant new teacher, but it just seems counterproductive to insist that he come back to 8th grade when he may not be ready. I feel like Tyquan will just get pushed along from one grade to the next, because that's what our system does, and this child will get further behind and miss out on so many opportunities.
Sometimes I think I should have been a guidance counselor or a social worker instead of a teacher, but the funny thing is, as a teacher, you pretty much function as all 3 at some point, in addition to playing to role of parent, office supply store, dress code enforcer, bank teller, cheerleader, custodian, etc. I know that part of the reason I wanted to teach is to be involved in school reform, but it seems like it's an uphill battle, fighting against the current.
I hate sounding so negative, but this kid has made me think a lot about education and rights and options. Even though teaching is hard, and working 12-hour days is draining, at the end of the day, I do love my job. I never really enjoyed student teaching; I was merely trying to survive and decide if this was really what I was meant to do with my life. Having my own classroom is different, just like everyone told me it would be, and I do enjoy interacting with my students. I never understood my cooperating teacher when he would discuss one of our most difficult students. He would describe one of his disruptive antics, and then end the discussion with a comment such as, "You know, despite D.'s behavior, he is actually kind of ... lovable." I totally couldn't relate to this, because I was ready to hurl the kid out the window, but I can understand his reasoning now. Even though many of my kids have attitudes and aren't afraid to display them, there's a part of me that sees past all of their misbehavior & tough exteriors and seeks to discover their talents, strengths, and uniqueness, & wants to focus on celebrating those instead.
I haven't had too many disruptions with Tyquan, but I've noticed that he really seems younger than most of our students, as if he functions on a 5th or 6th grade level behaviorally. The other kids interact with him, but they treat him like a kid brother & basically tease him or shut him out. He's an adorable kid, and I can't look at him without smiling (even when he's squealing or acting out), but I feel like our education system is failing him.
Our AP told us that this week, instead of sitting in ISS, they put Tyquan on a 6th grade team. Apparently he loves it. His teachers love him, he hasn't misbehaved once, he completes his work, and he participates appropriately in class. My thoughts are, so why not leave him there? He obviously is lost in 8th grade, which is probably part of the reason he misbehaves. If he went back to 6th grade, he'd probably be an A student, which would no doubt boost his self esteem and could potentially change his life. Why not allow him to be successful, instead of forcing him into an 8th grade life which seems to overwhelm him?
The saddest thing to me is a comment he wrote at the beginning of the year on his "Tell Me About Yourself" sheet I gave students. In response to the question, "If you could change anything about your life, what would it be?" Tyquan wrote, in his typical kindergarten-block letters, "My hole life." It breaks my heart. The kid was a B & C student in 6th grade, then failed all of his classes in 7th grade, yet somehow was promoted to 8th grade (gotta love those multiple-guess EOGs). It's understandable that he failed all of his classes, considering he was sitting in an ISS trailer doing worksheets all year long. Few people would excel in that situation, unless you're a highly self-motivated learner.
I genuinely like Tyquan, and it's not as if I want him back in 6th grade so that he's out of my classroom. Miss W., on the other hand, makes comments like, "Just get some papers ready so we can send him on over to Lakeview." I think he can be successful in the public school system, but I don't know why we should expect him to conform to age-level expectations if he's not quite there yet. I'm not sure how much voice I have with the administration, considering I'm an ignorant new teacher, but it just seems counterproductive to insist that he come back to 8th grade when he may not be ready. I feel like Tyquan will just get pushed along from one grade to the next, because that's what our system does, and this child will get further behind and miss out on so many opportunities.
Sometimes I think I should have been a guidance counselor or a social worker instead of a teacher, but the funny thing is, as a teacher, you pretty much function as all 3 at some point, in addition to playing to role of parent, office supply store, dress code enforcer, bank teller, cheerleader, custodian, etc. I know that part of the reason I wanted to teach is to be involved in school reform, but it seems like it's an uphill battle, fighting against the current.
I hate sounding so negative, but this kid has made me think a lot about education and rights and options. Even though teaching is hard, and working 12-hour days is draining, at the end of the day, I do love my job. I never really enjoyed student teaching; I was merely trying to survive and decide if this was really what I was meant to do with my life. Having my own classroom is different, just like everyone told me it would be, and I do enjoy interacting with my students. I never understood my cooperating teacher when he would discuss one of our most difficult students. He would describe one of his disruptive antics, and then end the discussion with a comment such as, "You know, despite D.'s behavior, he is actually kind of ... lovable." I totally couldn't relate to this, because I was ready to hurl the kid out the window, but I can understand his reasoning now. Even though many of my kids have attitudes and aren't afraid to display them, there's a part of me that sees past all of their misbehavior & tough exteriors and seeks to discover their talents, strengths, and uniqueness, & wants to focus on celebrating those instead.
posted by Kat at
7:39 AM
1 Comments:
I bet I can guess where you got that pseudonym from...
Glad to hear you like teaching, despite all the difficulties. You're right about all the different roles - teaching is at least 15 professions rolled into one.
Don't sell yourself short as "an ignorant new teacher" - new, yes; ignorant, never. Don't be afraid to put in the time and energy to speak up for Tyquan, if that's what you feel is right. It sounds like this child needs an advocate and you seem willing to care about him. Not that these aren't dangerous waters, when we start to care about our students and try to help them outside our classrooms, but caring about the students is (or should be) one of the most important parts of teaching.
Looking forward to hearing more about your year, Ms. Kat.
By
phd me, at 10:23 PM
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