really?

as we are getting deeper into the school year, a few things are becoming apparent.

first, hopefully every month does not feel as long as september. holy crap, september was a long month.

the next thing that is beginning to reveal itself is how dumb one of my kids is. it's quite sad. this student, we will call this student "pat", tries very hard. works to impress me and my para. pat sets a pretty good example behavior wise and hasn't been a problem thus far. it's just that pat is about as smart as an empty soda can. very stupid.

working with this type of student, i have to do many things. first and foremost, i must remember not to laugh at pat. this is probably the most difficult one to follow. some of the things pat says are so unexpected and off topic i want to throw my book at pat. we can be in the middle of reading a story and i will ask a comprehension based question. pat's hand will go up and a typical response will be "what?" or "what page are we on?". occasionally an answer is on pat's lips and this is usually tragic as well. no matter the question, the first thing that comes to pat's mind is an answer, any answer at all. if i ask what the moral to "the tortoise and the hare" is, pat might come up with, "I don't think fireballs are real." not laughing is difficult.

also, i certainly can't use sarcasm with pat. this doesn't affect pat in anyway, other than pat takes my words as serious, no matter the context and can't wrap pat mind around it.

pat also likes to complete work very quickly, because to pat, a good grade is dependant on finishing first. i am pretty sure pat thinks pat can read 200 words a minute because pat will often look at a page and then turn it. when asked if the entire page was read, pat will nod. when presented with a comprehension question, a puzzled look finds its way to pat's face and the response usually sounds something like, "For halloween i want to get christmas."

i really like pat, however, so teaching pat is not a bad experience, just a rather frustrating and patience-testing adventure.

another student in my class is psychotic. no joke. no funny comparison. actually a psycho.
i noticed it a few weeks ago. let's call this person apple. apple will be sitting in apple's seat, mumbling and talking to nobody else, just apple. normally i encourage this, when reading or solving problems. vocalize and try and sort things out not only in your head, but outloud. one thing that was different about apple's behavior was that apple was not aware that it was outloud. also, a very weird look comes over apple's face during these "conversations." after meeting with the school's therapist and since talking with other doctors that have met with apple, it brought back some scary news. hallucinations, both visual and audio have not been ruled out. apple is displaying schizophrenic tendencies and talks about a knife collection. a few other things have gone on that may lead to some of these symptoms and reactions, but either way, crazy.

i really feel bad for apple because this is something that is not easily controlled, especially in a school environment.