Somebody noticed. Finally. One of our teachers finally
emailed the “team” last night…
“We
had a long night with (student). Hopefully, some good came out of it. He was
angry about doing homework--as usual. He also spends a lot of time telling us
that our information about his homework is wrong—another words, he is backed in
a corner and he tries to lie his way out of it. Long story short: he tore up
the Civil War letter he was writing; blamed me for driving him to it; I got in
his face, like you told me to (teacher) :) and said that I am fed up. I began
looking up information online about military schools. He broke down and cried
so hard that he could not catch his breath. He agreed to talk but only wanted
to talk to me.
I
had a LONG discussion about what is bothering him--it is all personal problems
between Alex and some people from (excelerated) Program. Something happened
over the summer that he has been upset about all year. He said that it is on
his mind constantly and he cannot focus on anything else. He was very
vulnerable and honest during this conversation. He even told me that by the end
of the day, he has so much pent-up frustration that he ends up taking it out on
me.
After
all of the drama died down, he willingly worked on the Civil War letter and
finished it. Glad it is done but once again it will be turned in late. He
really did study for the science test that he failed. I do not know what went
wrong there. I thought things were improving in English but now he has a D.
Tomorrow,
(his dad) is calling (student)’s doctor to get (student) back on ADHD medicine.
We took him off it because his Tourette’s seems to flare up when he is on it.
Also, he was not showing any signs of being more focused. The ticks are noisy
sometimes and drives other people crazy. Yet, maybe it will help pull him
through the rest of the year. He does not think it will but said that he is
willing to try--even with the tick issue.
We'll
see...Thanks for all your support. I would be completely lost without you.”
So it was – and never has been –
just me but I was getting the blame. For all of it. I am going to save this
email because it verifies my own case. I WANT to help this young man. He and
his dad have talked several times in the past about his son. The mom and I have
been friends for years and my wife has known her for years. I am not trying to crucify
him; I just want to get him to work and on to high school.
But it seems EVERYONE has had problems.
As I have talked to other teachers, his work as suffered big time and in most
of them he currently has a “U” – mine too.
I really like this young man and he
makes my day everyday. He jokes, laughs, and tells some great stories. I hope
he gets the help he needs.