“Thrifty Thursday” was packed with things to do. I did not even get the chance to see Mrs. Theroux until late in the day! I did morning announcements and preparations, followed by the last day of testing and my snack time groups. Then, I had two one-on-one guidance sessions with students, followed by two recess duties. My afternoon alternated multiple times between one-on-one meetings and teacher conferences. The last student I worked with today is the girl about whom I will write shortly.
Last night, Karl came into my room to check me in and asked me if I were to describe my senior project in a few sentences, what I would say. I was not sure how to answer this question because my project has had so many different parts to it. Then he asked me about the biggest difference that I have made. I told him the story about getting to know and help a young boy who was being adopted and how we instantly connected. Although this boy has one of the most meaningful stories, and I felt like I helped him the most, I would have to say that someone else in the elementary school had an even bigger impact on me.
The last girl I had a one-on-one meeting with today I see everyday, whether she is in our lunch groups, having a one-on-one, just stopping in to say hello, or all of the above. I have watched her for the past three weeks and feel that I have seen every side of her. When I first arrived at Kearsarge Elementary School, she hated me and my presence. She used to be Mrs. Theroux’s little helper, and I was taking her place. She was jealous and acted out because of it. She was mean to her classmates and reprimanded continually for bad behavior. She was a constant annoyance, and I dreaded working with her. Then, all of a sudden this week she showed an angelic side, something most teachers see rarely. She was polite at all times, played nicely with her peers, made some new friends, did favors such as bring her friends’ lunch trays into the cafeteria for them, and did not act out or get reprimanded all week. I found out that she really is a good kid deep at heart. Today, at the end of our lesson she asked me when I was leaving. I told her ‘tomorrow,’ and she asked me to go to the office to ask for an extension. I smiled and said that I could not do this, but promised I would say a private goodbye to her tomorrow. I reminded her of my first week working with her and how hard it was for me. She apologized and said that she was happy to get to know me. She hugged me and told me that she was going to cry tomorrow when I leave, then wished me a good afternoon and left.
This girl made a complete 360 degree turn with her attitude and personality within three weeks, and although I can not say I helped make this change or that she will continue to be this way, I am extremely happy to leave on a good note. I loved getting to know the students and feel like I have definitely had some deep impacts on them. As big of a difference as I made on some of the children’s lives, I believe that they had an even bigger impact on me. I have learned so much through working with these kids and will be sad to leave at the end of the day tomorrow.
I can certainly see why Mrs. Theroux chose guidance counseling as her career path. She works with the most outstanding faculty and gets to form amazing relationships with her students. Mrs. Theroux not only gets to know the student from the guidance office perspective, but she teaches the students too. In addition, she watches them at recess duty to see how they interact with one another. She guides them one-on-one and in group guidance sessions to see if their personalities are affected by others. Mrs. Theroux has had the opportunity to watch the students grow from kindergarten all the way through fifth grade. I feel that within three weeks I have watched a group of students mature and change. I cannot believe the immense changes these students go through within six years, and how hard it must be for Mrs. Theroux to say goodbye after spending so much time with them. Mrs. Theroux works magic on these students everyday and gets to experience helping someone all the time. I felt this same magic for just three weeks and with only a handful of students, so I can only imagine what it must feel like to have this magic for years and with all the students. I would have to say that Mrs. Theroux is very lucky and completely qualified for her job. I have been thoroughly impressed with how much she does each day and am so happy I took this opportunity to shadow her.
No comments:
Post a Comment