Reflective Journal #5

     As the children entered their sixth grade classroom on Tuesday, I could see that they were becoming used to be being there, sitting on the side. Canyon noticed me, but didn’t really acknowledge me. He was more focused than I had ever seen him. Not only did he read what he was supposed to do, but he reached into his backpack to retrieve homework. He walked over to turn it in without any prompting. That is a big deal! I was very happy to see that.

    Not too long after arriving to class, Canyon and another boy were pulled out for speech. The class had been working on a vocabulary assignment at that time. I waited about twenty minutes while he was gone. Mrs. C told me that, although everyone knows it is helpful for these kids to receive these types of services, it also hurts them in the classroom. Because Canyon was gone, he will either have to make up the assignment at home, or just not complete it at all. That can’t be a good feeling for him. I can definitely see that this is a difficult situation because Canyon gets pulled out of class on other occasions when I am not there.

    When he returned from speech, Canyon had to try to figure out where everyone went, because the class had started centers. They were all outside running around the track. I waited for him and the other student to let them know where they should be. When he got outside, he was told to run to a certain point and back again, so he also lost out on exercise that day, which I think he really likes.

    While the students practiced singing, Canyon seemed to have difficulty standing like they were supposed to do. He repeatedly sat down in his seat. His teacher and I were having to tell him to stand up. It made me wonder if he got tired, or if he didn’t realize what he should be doing. I don’t know.

     When the student worked on their computer assignment, I wondered how far behind Canyon was from the other kids. I asked my daughter, who is a student in another sixth grade class at that school. She is working on the same assignment. She described being finished and having nothing to do while other students caught up. Canyon had been at the beginning of his power point. I tried to help as much as I could while I was there, but I don’t want to do it for him, either. That is a struggle. I don’t want him to stop trying because an adult will do it. I know he can if he is reminded to focus. He just needs more time to accomplish assignments.

    Once again, when I left, I said goodbye to Canyon. He did not respond to me.