Response to "Thank you, Mr. Falker"

07/10/07

Response:

Student 1
Last year was my first year teaching 4th Grade it was a big challenge for me as a new teacher but also as everyone told me I had a low class. Out of 16 students only 3 were reading on grade level at the beginning of the year. The rest were reading between one t0 3 levels behind. I rigorously started to focus on Guided Reading Fluency and Read Alouds.

All the children show some kind of progress except for one. He had been previously retained in 3rd grade and was the oldest in my class and had dyslexia but was not receiving services because of a parent denial. If you’d take a look at him you’d never had guess because his physical appearance said other wise. He was the shortest, thinnest and had a very small voice almost like a whisper.

Besides his academic challenge his behavior was an issue he acted as the older child he was so he’ll always get in trouble because of his enhanced sexual awareness. I was able to get him into the counseling and mentoring programs that we have at school and started to change his behavior. By the end of the year not only was he reading on grade level but he became a very responsible and positive example to many others in our classroom. His ultimate achievement was that in spite of a non-existent parental support he was able to pass the Math. Reading and Writing 4th Grade regular TAKS test!!!

Student 2
He was a special case he was as cute as a button, he thought that with his smile and his sparkling green eyes he could have the whole world as his feet. From the beginning he tried my patience he would do anything to get my attention. So I came up with different things to help him stay focus, which he couldn’t do for very long. I gave him a mini notepad in which he could write to me instead of just bursting out mindlessly in the middle of class. By the end of the day the pages were full of all sorts of nonsensical questions and doodles that had nothing to do with the purpose of why I had gave him the notebook in the first place. I tried sitting him next to my desk but then things started to disappear so I sat him back with the others. I spoke to the counselor and enrolled him in mentoring and he’ll go see her every Monday for their group meetings. His behavior just got worse and worse with no apparent cause. At this point I had conferred with his dad at least.

Student 3
Andrea was the sweetest little girl you can ever imagine. She had beautiful dark brown wavy hair, which she hated because it wasn’t stick straight. Her smile was perfect and her teeth were pearly white but she heated her smile because her teeth were not completely straight.

There she was she was 9-years old and in the 2nd grade. How sad how miserable, nobody understood her. It was so unfair that all the kids her age were either in 3rd grade and some in 4th grade. –“Why me, why me? “ She’d ask me. I didn’t know what to say I never knew a child could be so unhappy. She’d come every morning and I greeted her. She would smile and quickly cover her mouth so nobody would look at her teeth. This was just like her, very insecure to the point that she’d cry if she thought someone may have been laughing at her.

She was repeating 2nd grade (she had also repeated kindergarten).