A Woman’s View ~ Lenore Buth

Think you know all about schools? Maybe not quite

It's that time again. Kids--and moms--across the land are cheering. Or groaning.                                     

Teachers, too.

I talked with a teacher friend last October and got a new view of today's classroom. I'll bet other teachers would share similar stories, maybe worse.

Let me recreate that conversation and we can learn together.

One caring teacher looks at her class

I asked my friend, "How's it going with my favorite third-grade teacher?"

She made a face and said, "All I ever wanted to do was teach and I've loved it for almost twelve years. This year every day I dread walking into my classroom."

"Why?"

"Because I have so many troubled kids and their home situations spill over, big time. Like the boy who lashes out at everyone because his dad was killed in an accident a couple of months ago. I really love that boy, but he just wants his dad and I can't make him stop hurting.

"The mom of one sweet girl is on chemo and not doing well. Her daughter can't think about anything else. I can speak love and hope, but can't make it better for her.

"One youngster constantly falls asleep in class. He and his brother live with their grandparents. They seem dazed at  how their life turned upside-down overnight. Nice people, but I can't make them understand he needs a regular bedtime.

"Several kids have moms or dads who are long-term unemployed and can't find jobs. Some families lost their homes through foreclosure and other kids fear theirs will. These youngsters don't know what comes next."

By now my friend's eyes were shining with tears. "Several parents sometimes drink too much, even do drugs now and then. I hear the stories and see the fallout in their kids."

"Day after day, so many little ones with such big problems. No wonder they can't concentrate in class!"

She swallowed hard, then said, "I feel so helpless when all I can do is smile and hug and love them. I try to get us through the class material, but it's a struggle. By day's end I'm as limp as an old dishrag."

(For the record, my friend teaches in a good school and not in an economically deprived area.)

Sometimes we forget teachers have personal lives

Are all teachers great teachers? No. Are all unselfish and noble? Of course not.

Teachers are imperfect human beings like the rest of us. Most love working with kids. Many are married and rearing familes, dealing with their own stresses and financial challenges at home.

Suppose we stopped pointing out faults and problems and looked for ways to be helpful. For starters:

• Show up for parent-teacher conferences and back-to-school nights and all the rest. (Many moms and dads do not.)
  
  
• Speak well of teachers and school personnel to your children. If you hear something that troubles you, quietly follow up on it with the teacher or principal and get the facts.
  
  
• Attend sports events, band concerts and other performances. Cheer and clap like crazy.
  
  
• Volunteer. Most schools welcome people of any age with willing spirits and a heart for kids. Just sitting and listening to a child read, being a supportive friend, could change a life. 
  
  
• Speak positively about education, teachers and school personnel when you're out and about. (Save gripes for another time.)
  
  
• Attend school board meetings and get informed. Reformulate your complaints into suggestions and bring them up there.
  
  
• Talk to young people in your church as if they were real people and be a friendly presence.

Put kids first

If we only complain about taxes and teachers' unions and everything wrong with education we're not helping. That takes hard work and getting involved.

You and I, in our small ways, can be a force for good, to help teachers teach and children learn. Step one is to become encouragers.

If we don't, who will? As Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16:

 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven."   --verse 5  

I'm learning, too,

Lenore

 

 

Hope for individuals with learning problems

If there's one thing no parent wants to hear it's this: "Your son (or daughter) is very  intelligent, no question about that. But he's just not living up to his potential."

Often the discussion goes on to various kinds of learning problems, such as ADD, some of which go on through life. A teacher or other professional may have announced the word you never wanted to hear: "dyslexia." You may have heard that and thought, "It's hopeless. My child will struggle the rest of his life."

Good news! That ain't necessarily so. Some not-so-well-known methods have been proved effective for dealing with dyslexia that are fairly simple and can transform lives.

I must confess I do not know much about dyslexia. Since September 20th I know a lot more --and you can, too. That's when I read a remarkable blog post on the blog titled, "It be's that way sometime."

The author is Roxanne, a middle-school teacher, who teaches the dyslexia class at her school. She knows her subject very well, yet she makes it easy to understand for the rest of us. I think you'll find it as fascinating as I did. Roxanne not only gives a good rundown of facts, but she also tells how she, the teacher, lately gained new understanding about the visual distortions many dyslexic individuals have. You'll feel her heart when she confesses how she, while doing the best she knew how, made mistakes. (Can we all identify?)

You can read this warm, informative post for yourself. Even if you're well-informed on the subject, I suspect you'll pick up some new bits of information. You can do a Google search on "It be's that way sometimes"  and be aware that there's a song by that name, with names other than "Roxanne" attached

This should take you to Roxanne's blog. Then look for the September 20, 2010, post.

Here's the link: "It be's that way sometimes." 

Later Note: If you have trouble with that link, type in   rwl10802.wordpress.com   and do a Google search. Once again, look for the September 20, 2010, post.    

Once you've read Roxanne's blog post, you may want to find out more about the colored lenses and overlays she mentions on the website of the Irlen Institute. You can Google it, as I did, at "Irlen Institute."

Or use this link:    Irlen Institute, Colored Lenses, Colored Overlays, Diagnnosticians, Screeners

This website is packed with information, even self-tests and examples of the various kinds of distortions dyslexic sufferers may experience. View YouTube videos where people tell their stories of before and after. I learned that dyslexia can go beyond problems with reading. They maintain that ADD and several other conditions can be treated--with great results. In fact, a large number of people have the visual distortions without the dyslexia.

Just to be clear I have no stake in any of this and really had only a hazy understanding of dyslexia. I don't know Roxane or anyone in the Irlen Institute. I pass this information on only because when I read her blog post I couldn't get it out of my mind. So I pass it on to you FYI. I pray it will be useful to you or to someone you know. 

If it is, or if you've had experience with this, would share your story in the Comments? Others may need to know what you have to share.

Meanwhile, in every situation we have hope. Here's a great verse to deposit in your memory bank:

Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.

                                                                                    --Psalm 50:15

God bless you,

Lenore