As part of the requirement for what we accomplish throughout the year for the Minnesota Reading Corps, we have to attend what they call, "Professional Learning Group" meetings. In my opinion, they're pretty pointless and I have yet to get much learning or development out of them. But this week, we were reflecting on the year and discussing whether or not we've gotten out of it what we wanted/expected.
Thinking back, the two things I was hoping this year would bring to me, were to figure out whether or not I want to be a teacher (mission notaccomplished - shucks), and to make a difference. Real vague, I know. I do believe that programs like MRC, Teach for America, etc. have good intentions in solving that major educational issue our country faces. Aka the 'achievement gap.' They place individuals in schools who do care and want to make a change. In theory, that's great. In the scheme of things however, I've somewhat decided we're band-aids to the system and lasting change rests on a much greater level.
With that said...my job does allow me to build positive and consistent relationships with the handful of students that I work with; something many of them desperately need. One student I don't think I'll ever forget is Alex. I started working with him back in October. Unlike many of my other students, his progress hasn't been the greatest and he's nowhere near close to exiting the program. He moved to the United States a little over a year ago from Belize. I don't even know how to categorize his accent. One example being his "ths" turn into "ds;" father turns into fader. It really does create a roadblock for his progress in learning English and learning to read, in particular. To put it in perspective, he was reading about 15 words per minute. He's progressed to around 40; where the goal for third graders is 109 by the end of the year. Yikes, right?
Anyway, in the beginning, his attitude was one of the worst I'd seen when it came to school work. There's an intervention we do that's based on "passing" a page in a given amount of time. Long story short, he'd shut down and get so angry with himself if he made mistakes and didn't pass. I've done my best to create more of a positive attitude towards learning; encouraging him to work his hardest, and make sure he knows that mistakes are ok. After months of staying on him about this, focusing on his progress rather than mistakes, and not allowing his negative attitude while working with me, he's transformed into a new kid. Of course, I can still sense his frustration now and then but his determination to do his best is soaring. His teacher has also made clear that she's seeing a new kid, too. This is all really exciting for me!
What's more, the other day he passed a page that he had been working on for over a week. Obviously I was over the moon...yelling in excitement for him and was so proud of his hard work. Then he turned his head and said, "I couldn't have done it without you!" If you know me, you know I'm a sap so this combined with his genuine smile really set me over the edge. Trying to suppress some happy tears, I thanked him and we kept working. Although I didn't set out for these stories, it helps me feel proud about this year and confirm that I have done something worth while. I doubt Alex will ever really understand that he's been just as big of an inspiration to me.
So have I ensured that Alex is reading proficiently at grade level? Nope. Have I helped him recognize how much he can accomplish when he works his butt off? Yep. And while reading at grade level is important of course, giving a student this boost of confidence has been just as crucial in my eyes. In this light, I'll never look back on this year as a waste of time and know that in the moment, I did some good. Which is cool? I guess at this point I can only hope that he remembers how far he's come this year, just as much as I'll remember him.
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