frustration....

Frustration...you get that in any job you have. Sometimes, it's from technology glitches - the computer, the infocus machine, the copier...sometimes, it's curricular - one more assessment or a lesson that didn't go well....sometimes it's colleages. Today frustration came from a nameless source...I just don't know who exactly to blame or if everything is to blame.

I have a student...she's one that comes from a family where there is no relevance or emphasis put on education. For the last month I have seen her sporadically. Most of the time she doesn't even get here until my class starts...which is at 10:45am. The last few weeks she's been here at noon. From what I understand, she was showing up for lunch and then going to wheel classes. The school has sent home at least 3 letters talking about her truancy from school and how it will be moving to truancy court soon.

My frustration here is that, while I think that she may be a little low skill wise...I really don't know. I don't know what her level is. Today she came in with her motor going on full throttle. I'd seen her in the hallway running to hug everyone...talking to everyone....hanging on everyone. She came into my room full of life and spunk. She began working with the journal question and got through the vocabulary lesson we did. Then she hit a wall and pretty much passed out, drooling on a desk. You can't wake her...I've tried. It's like a diabetic that hits a sugar coma...she's out and there's nothing you can do about it.

What do you do for a student like this? It's not their fault that the value of education is lost. She has numerous family members that have dropped out....and some that are on the verge of doing so again. She seemingly has no support at home...mom couldn't be found, her grandparents stepped up and now it seems they've stepped out. What are we doing for her? In the hallway, we talk about her - what can be done, what have we done, what can we do to support her? What is she on? Is she on something?

The circle is continuous and pervasive....I'm not sure that even this year, I will be able to answer this one. But I'm hoping we can do something...