Con Sangre, Las Letras Entran

Where do I even start?  Saber (a saying here that means 'Who knows')

I haven't blogged in so long because life has kept me busy.  One of the things I've been wanting to talk about is Special Education here in my escuela.  There are no services here for special ed kiddos, which wasn't too surprising because it requires extra resources and people.  But it did surprise me that there doesn't seem to be much acknowledgement of kids functioning at different levels.  Kids get held back for years - right now there's a 14 year old in 3rd grade - because they don't meet the standard.  Instead of changing the standard to be an approachable reality for this kids, they just continue to fail, in hopes that 3 years of dictation in the same grade will eventually etch into their brains how to write the letter M.

One of my roof mates, Diego, told me a saying in Mexico.  "Con sangre las letras entran."  With blood, the letters enter.  Through painful experiences, you will learn.  I heard Diego's words loud in my head during a conference with a parent.  One of my special ed buddies has been having a super tough time.  We've been working 2 months on the same thing, and he's still not retaining it.  His mom told me that the reason he isn't learning is because Brenda (my teaching partner and I) are too nice.  She said when she hits him in the head, he knows it.  So, me dijo, you just have to hit him when you teach him something and he'll do it right.  Con sangre las letras entran.

With all my experience working with people with special needs, and my always being inspired and awed by my dad, these kiddos have been pulling at my heart strings.  I finally was able to teach my partner about changing the evaluations we use for our 5 kids, and I am modeling a pull-out program every morning.  I've been talking to our new director about the possibility of doing something like this with every grade, to remove kids from so much stimulation and give them access to information at their level.

My 2 hours of Special Ed pull out has been the worst part of my day for a whole month.  All of my worst behaviors are wrapped up in the 5 kids I pull out. I have been punched and kicked and called a bitch.  My students have stabbed and strangled each other, eaten our crayons, stolen my carefully prepared prizes, and run screaming through the school. But this week, when I thought I should probably give up. . . .we finally found success!! With the help of my dad and all my friends and resources I reached out to for ideas - muchisimas gracias!  We've finally found our rhythm and routine, without hitting anyone's head or shedding any blood!

I'm super excited to expose the teachers here to knowledge and practices that can hopefully give the kiddos here a leg up.    

These pics aren't related to SPED, just pictures of my kids that make me smile.  Here's my buddy Mario, with his self-portrait.  He is the best part of my day.

Can you guess which kid is my Narcoleptic?  

These cousins are in my class, and they love stealing my phone for selfies.