RES 5535: Race, Class, and Gender in Literacy Research (summer 2010)

I love that you were inspired by your mother's stories.
I agree that counciling might have been a better option for Laurie. Rarely do doctors now place a student on meds without first trying other means to control the behavior. I do not think that the outbursts were the effect of uncontrollable behavior as much as I think they were part of not understanding what is and is not appropriate.

Zandra, I posted about my Laurie from this past school year. I talked several times to her dad about counseling but her dud mother was opposed to it. When I convinced him to let the school counselor talk to her, she was terrified to say much especially about her mom and the boyfriends. I think she struggled mainly because she spent so much of her time thinking about the troubles at home.

Zandra-

After reading yours and Christy's posts I thought about a student that I had this year who had no guidance at home. She has a three-year-old sister who she took care of when she got home from school in the evenings. She never completed her homework, always had too much to say the wrong time and worked hard to keep all attention on her at all times (whether it was positive or negative). I feel like the absence of her mother in her life lead her to this type of behavior. I worked hard to create her a behavior plan, a positive reinforcement incentive, lots of praise when she did well, and so on. AS the week progressed she would straighten up, but let the weekend circle back around and you are back to the child before. It was a constant uphill battle for this child, but in the end she made it, and I barely have hair left! =)

I am glad that teachers in her past had not suggested she be medicated. I felt that she only needed guidance to get her where she needed to be academically. It was tough, but we made it.

Renee Hennings June 25 2010

It is so nice to have the support and love of parents as a child. Laurie sounds like a great deal of kids that we taught through the years at sweetwater. I miss how much they wanted to be at school and make their teachers happy. I also hated hearing that she appeared lost when beginning to take her meds. It reminds me of one of my students (although a boy). It is so hard for the kids to adjust to meds until the doctor get the right fit for them. I agree that Laurie could have benefitted from couseling. To me that should have been the first step taken by the family. I wonder if they went with medicine because couseling might have put another label on Laurie of being troubled or behind to others in the community. In small communities like that word travels fast.

For me it was my dad that played a huge part in my reading interest. My parents build in bookshelves along the back wall of our den and it was filled with books. I remember sitting around with my dad and he would make reading recommendations. This was obviously as I entered middle school and high school, but still as adults we discuss the books we are reading and I still get recommendations from him. Parents and guardians play such a huge role in the interest and paths our students take in school. Our school does a really good job of getting parents in for reading nights and giving them some ideas for how to get their child involved in reading at home.

Her journal entries were powerful, as is most all student's when you give them that out. I gave my kids this year their own special writer's notebook that they had to write in whenever they had free time. I have never seen so many kids turn to their notebook when they had the chance. I would ask them if I could read some of it, and other times they would set it on my desk for me to read when I had time. I was amazed at some of the things I read and discovered about my kids. It took a bit more time but I really got to know some of them better, and build that bond of trust for some that really were feeling lost. I think writing for children let's them express so many emotions that get built up inside. It's a great way to help them develop that desire to want to write.

I felt the same way about Laurie being placed on medicine. I thought it was a way for her mother to get some peace and quiet at home. I felt that counseling would have been the perfect route as well. She had a void that needed to be filled and as a child it is hard to express those types of feelings.