Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Tired

I don't know why, but I feel so tired today. I wanted to take a nap all day and never had the free time to do so.
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I got the babies off to daycare fine but it felt strange. When I finished all my running around I wanted to go pick them up but I waited. It was 1 pm and I knew they were taking a nap. So, I waited until 2 pm to go get them. They did great for their first day. I was surprised when they told me that if I wanted the kids to have any juice that I had to bring some in. Juice? Really? I kept my mouth shut but I did think that next I'll have to bring a child care provider.
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Joselin and I went to her doctor appointment and then to the the high school. After spending almost 4 hours there we got her a transitional IEP and classes. Joselin and I also had "words" at the school. Joselin feels that the reason she is behind is because of special education. She feels that if she had just been put in regular classes then she wouldn't be behind. Uh, doesn't work that way. She came at the age of 10 with no education and speaking only Spanish. She needed all the help she could get. Her attitude that education wasn't important sure didn't help her cause. We constantly argued over reading and such. Now that she has determined that an education is important and she looks to blame everyone else.
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Let me tell you, the reason that Joselin is literate today is because of some of her special education teachers. Her middle school teacher took her under her wing and tried so hard to help her. Not only in the area of education but about life in general.
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So, when the special education administrator was trying to put together accommodations and Joselin was glaring at her it didn't go over too well with me. I told her that this woman is trying her best to help her and Joselin will show her some respect. When the glare came my way I gave it back and reminded her that I was studying to be a special education teacher and I will not have my child acting that way. She is 17 years old and if she wants to get her education then she needs to step up to the plate. It is time.
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In the end she shaped up and started to cooperate. She got the classes she needs and if she applies herself she can graduate next year. Now the ball is in her court. I hope that she takes advantage of this opportunity. They are offering her some ways to gain back some lost credits.
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In other educational news Sarah passed her HSAP exam. It is an exit exam that high schoolers need to pass here in order to graduate. Sarah took the test last semester and has worried about it ever since. She was so worried that she wouldn't pass it. She walked in the door today grinning from ear to ear. I am so proud of her, she has worked hard to get where she is today.
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I had class myself tonight. Funny, I am enjoying going to school. I enjoy the challenge and the opportunity to interact with other adults. However, in some ways it feels so self centered. I am actually putting myself ahead of the kids, I haven't done that before. I do think that there are some benefits to the kids. They ask me about my class when I get home. Larissa is talking about going to my school when she grows up and is proud to wear her Gamecock shirt. Well, I guess that like many things in life there is a give and take.
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Tomorrow the babies have visitation and I will go to the local middle school for some hands on learning. It should be an interesting day, I am looking forward to it. I wonder what I should wear! I think that at some point I will need to buy some clothing for myself.
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Speaking of clothing, I'd better go and do some laundry. It has been neglected in the last several days.
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Have a great evening.

2 comments:

  1. I don't envy you the problems with Joselin. We are discussing school choices for Adam next year. He wants to go to the big public high school for sports and I told him he needs to show by his grades and actions now that I can trust him back in that school because it would be easier to leave him where he is or have him to FL virtual school at home. Got lots of attitude.

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  2. I cannot stress how important a good education is. I will use myself as an example. I quite high school with two weeks left in my junior year to join the army. The army education center tested me with the GED and I passed. However, I lacked some writing, math, and science skills that caused me to work much harder to be successful. Also, no matter what anyone says, the is bias against non high school grads, GED included. I will attest to that.

    So, tell the kids to stop with the attiude and get on with it. It will only serve to their benefit in the future.

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