Over the past few months a few dates stick out in my mind. August 26, 201o I arrived in Guatemala; October 1, 2010 I arrived at the Finca, and now I have a new one to add to the list, February 1, 2011 the official school years starts! As the new special ed teacher, in a school with very little to no special ed in its past, this was a big day to say the least. All of our kids arrived in their adorable little uniforms (navy slacks/ skirts, white button up short sleeve shirts), nervous and excited for a new year.
While I have 7 students this year which I work with in different ways, and two different study groups of other kids, I spend almost half of my teaching time with my beloved Magdalena, a 10 year old girl with a heart of true gold. During the first week we had mostly assemblies, and procedural things with their mainstream classes, so I didn’t get to actually teach that much. But I did get to help out the younger grades, including Magdalena’s class. She asked me at recess if I was going to help her for the rest of the year as well. I told her yes, and then explained our special schedule of time together. She smiled, gave me a hug and went off to play. Then at the end of the day she went up to her mainstream classroom teacher and said I will see you tomorrow. This just about made my year. Just last October, she regularly complained about school, often even refusing to come and sit in class. And although its only been 6 days, she has come 5 of 6 days with a huge smile ready to learn (one day she was home sick). Just today she actually giggled with joy when she turned in her Spanish homework, confident that it would come back with a smiley face stamp because everything was correct. She was right, and then continued to giggle with happiness when she got the paper back.
Watching her confidence levels grow little by little with each correct answer, and her general increase in zest for school can only be summed up in her amazing smile; a smile that inspires my heart on a daily basis. (Check out my fb profile picture to catch a glñimpse of it) I know their will be many tough days in her and my own near future, but for now, her infectious smile inspires us both to come to work every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment