We'll See How This Goes

As you may have read in my bio(or not) last semester was my first semester of teaching. I was given my chance in the middle of the semester. The district wanted to do something new with a very difficult student.

I teach in the Special Ed department. My student has baffled everyone that has met him. That basically means he has bested a combination of a couple hundred of years of experience. I’ve been doing this for a total of about four months now.

The last semester was tough. It’s still tough. The typical experience, from what I understand, in Special Ed is “one step forward, two steps back.” Sometimes I feel as though it’s more like a one-to-seven ratio. Whatever the case, this job is teaching me so much.

I have never needed so much patience. I’ve always been a pretty laid back guy, but this job pushes me to the edge, and at the same time reminds me that I can’t get that angry at a 10-year old with mental disabilities. I need to check myself constantly and try to understand that this is difficult for him too.

I’m also learning some patience for the future. I am fairly certain I will be the most relaxed dad in history. “Well, at least all of his clothes are on and he’s not trying to bite us.” That sentence is sure to come out of my mouth more than once when I have kids.

This new semester has been on par with the last. Our first day back wasn’t terrible, which is good. Most people talked about how the break affects the students, because they are thrown off of their routines. My student is unlike any other, and seemed to not be affected. This was further evident when he returned to his usual, near-uncontrollable behavior.

While we are still dealing with a ton of issues, he has made a few of those small steps forward. There is a bit of hope. He is such a sad case, and that makes me want to work even more for him. We will see how this goes.