This has been one of the craziest, weirdest weeks for me so far. Monday I suffered a migraine again all day (day 8 in a row) and finally got into the doctor. I think I'll be fine now thanks to some good meds!
Tuesday, one of my best students, out of the blue, started screaming and yelling at another student clear across the room. Thankfully, she knew herself well enough to leave before she became physically violent. This student has a horrible homelife and her outburst wasn't entirely surprising to me, yet it has me very bothered. After she left, I called the office to let them know she was somewhere between me and them and to watch for her. She went to call her grandma (guardian) to come get her. I continued on with class as normal and we used that to talk about "job place etiquette" a little. As soon as class was over, I went to the office (had my next door neighbor watch my class) and talked to the principal who requested I talk to grandma. We had a chat, along with the student, and things seemed fine as they left. I came back to my classroom and was chatting with my neighbor about the situation because this student is also my student aide and the neighbor teacher is the instructor for that class. She became concerned when I told her that the student had gone home because earlier this week the student had written her a letter seeking help to get out of the home. We both went to the counselor after school, but she was not there. The student was absent from school today, so naturally, I became a little alarmed. I found the counselor today and told her what happened yesterday and she, too, was very concerned. She tried to call the student's home after that and everytime she has called, the line has been busy. I doubt I'll get much sleep tonight wondering what is going on.
Today the students started their presentations for the collaborative project. I've been very impressed so far. Even those who are struggling are doing an excellent job and this assignment has really boosted grades.
Have a great rest of your week! By the way, I love the fall colors on here! I'm ready for some snow though (Sorry folks, I'm a Northerner!
Could the counselor or another administrator get a school social worker to go to this student's home to check on her?
ReplyDeleteI hope she is ok. I will pray for her safey. She sounds like a student who keeps things bottled inside until the top blows off. You have done all the right things in trying to get her help. You never know what someone's home life is like until you go into the home. Being from the public health background, most of our visits to clients were in their homes. You gain so much of an understanding about someone when you know where they came from. (I hope that makes sense). It would be nice to visit each of our students in their home once or twice during a school year but I know with everything else we do that is impossible.
ReplyDeleteJamie