The Light Switch...

This afternoon I received confirmation that I have been accepted into the 3 year Child and Youth Worker program starting next year. That means that I am one step closer to my goal of becoming an Educational Assistant. Most people ask me why I don't want to become a teacher...Well, the answer to that is simple...There's nothing like the feeling of working one on one with a struggling child, and watching them finally get it. Somehow, I have been able to switch on a light for them that has been shut off for years because of frustration, anxiety, and fear. Having the opportunity to do this for the next 3 years in some capacity has triggered some memories of the last time I filled this role:

When I was 18, I was working this job in a Learning Skills classroom. There were about 12 kids from grades 3-6 in the mornings on their math and language. In the afternoon, the teacher would pull other children from any of the grades (K-8) that required additional resource with any subject. How I ended up there was a bit of a fluke really...I was part of an apprenticeship program for Early Childhood Education in my final year of high school, and rather than put me in a daycare or a kindergarten class, my teacher felt that since this Learning Skills class had fewer kids, it would be easier for "someone like me" to handle. NOT. It was the most challenging experience of my entire life, given that most of the students I worked with had pretty severe behavioral problems on top of their learning difficulties.

Though there are many things about my time with these kids I'll never forget, one student in particular had the greatest impact on me because of the time we spent working together. When this student (whose name I will not mention for privacy reasons) transferred to our school at the start of his 3rd grade year, he could not spell or do any kind of math at all. If I remember correctly, he even struggled to count past 50 and recite the alphabet. When I asked about why this student had been moved ahead academically, I was told it was more for social reasons than anything. They wanted to keep him with kids his own age. I remember, he would come in first thing in the morning and sit at the back table with me, where we would work on his reading spelling and math. It would take weeks sometimes just to get him to read a book intended for a first grader. There were days where we would literally get nothing done because he refused to work (on those days, he would end up with me most of the day, even when he was supposed to be with the rest of his class, because his behavior was so out of hand). These were the days that I felt like all I was doing was handing out detentions, and making no real positive impact on their lives. But then there were days where he would come in ready to work, and he would surprise me, the teacher (and even sometimes himself), with the progress he made.

I did the best I could on the bad days (and the good ones too) to make sure that I stayed as positive as possible with them, while at the same time not tolerating any kind of disrespect. I was strict, even by the other teachers' standards, but I had to be. They needed to see that I deserved the same respect as the teacher even though I was in a wheelchair. I remember getting on them quite a bit for negative self talk. I wanted to show them that just because they were struggling, that didn't mean they were "stupid".

They're all in their mid-teens now...high school. I've wondered recently if they remember me as fondly as I remember them. I hope that, in some small way, I was able to have an impact on their lives.

After all, I was just the person who spent time with them, trying to get that light switch in their brain to turn on.

Since I won't "officially" get a chance to be this person again until January of 2008, I have asked a teacher friend of mine from church if she wouldn't mind asking her principle about any possible volunteer positions at her school between May and June. I'm doing this for 2 reasons: 1) Because I miss it terribly!! 2) Because I want to have some possibe carry-over hours for next year, in case there is another situation like the one I'm facing now, and no placement can be found for me. I'd just like to have a Plan B next time. Makes sense right?