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two very happy stories to share....
numero uno: last night i was bitching to my father about work issues. sometimes we don't communicate the best, partially because we're so much alike and also because he's not a very openly emotional man. anyway, he had to get off the phone because we were beginning to butt heads in the conversation. this morning he called me while i was on my way to work. he told me that he just wanted to offer some words of encouragement for the day. he said it's not easy for him to listen to me when i'm upset about those things because all he wants to do is make an appointment with my boss and tell him to stop picking on his kid. he also made a comparison to the scene in christmas vacation when cousin ed kidnaps clark's boss on christmas eve. it brought a tear to my eye and a smile to my face. my dad is my favorite man on earth.
y dos: i have this child that looks like a hispanic version of the kid from mad magazine. freckles galore and perfectly round cheeks. so this child did not finish his work in class today and when i assigned him homework lunch (coming to my room to work) he was pissed. he was even more angry when i called another of his teachers and had them send him down to me right before lunch. mad mag boy pitched a fit and started walking away from me. "naaah miss, i'm not going." despite his anger, he ended up making it into my room. we sat and worked on his assignment together. this child has VERY limited english (e.g. did not know the english word for "slide" or "swing" when describing a park) and struggles in my class because of the one-on-one instruction he really needs. this chance to tutor him was a blessing to me and i really worked to show him that i valued his effort. by the end of lunch, he was smiling and actually asked me if he could come back tomorrow during lunch to work. i told him that anytime - before school, after school, during lunch- i would be more than happy to help him. he said he'd come in tomorrow after school as well.
i know that this baby most likely will not maintain that willingness to forfeit his free time for the sake of tutoring. however, the fact that in that one moment he felt encouraged enough to make that statement makes me feel like i did something worthwhile.
numero uno: last night i was bitching to my father about work issues. sometimes we don't communicate the best, partially because we're so much alike and also because he's not a very openly emotional man. anyway, he had to get off the phone because we were beginning to butt heads in the conversation. this morning he called me while i was on my way to work. he told me that he just wanted to offer some words of encouragement for the day. he said it's not easy for him to listen to me when i'm upset about those things because all he wants to do is make an appointment with my boss and tell him to stop picking on his kid. he also made a comparison to the scene in christmas vacation when cousin ed kidnaps clark's boss on christmas eve. it brought a tear to my eye and a smile to my face. my dad is my favorite man on earth.
y dos: i have this child that looks like a hispanic version of the kid from mad magazine. freckles galore and perfectly round cheeks. so this child did not finish his work in class today and when i assigned him homework lunch (coming to my room to work) he was pissed. he was even more angry when i called another of his teachers and had them send him down to me right before lunch. mad mag boy pitched a fit and started walking away from me. "naaah miss, i'm not going." despite his anger, he ended up making it into my room. we sat and worked on his assignment together. this child has VERY limited english (e.g. did not know the english word for "slide" or "swing" when describing a park) and struggles in my class because of the one-on-one instruction he really needs. this chance to tutor him was a blessing to me and i really worked to show him that i valued his effort. by the end of lunch, he was smiling and actually asked me if he could come back tomorrow during lunch to work. i told him that anytime - before school, after school, during lunch- i would be more than happy to help him. he said he'd come in tomorrow after school as well.
i know that this baby most likely will not maintain that willingness to forfeit his free time for the sake of tutoring. however, the fact that in that one moment he felt encouraged enough to make that statement makes me feel like i did something worthwhile.
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