Jose finally returned from his suspension last week. I am relieved and tense at the same time. It is of course good to have him back in school so we can keep working with him, but I worry that every day provides a fresh opportunity for him to act out and end up suspended yet again. This may be the first time I have felt such a level of tension about a certain student, but I know it’s because Jose holds so much potential. We put in a lot of effort creating a “re-entry” plan for Jose to help him transition back into school. My hope is that he can quickly fall back into step with the rest of the class.
On another note, I don’t want to ignore all the positive developments happening with the rest of my class! At the moment they are diligently completing their applications for NYC’s Summer Youth Employment program. We also did mock job interviews. It’s a huge development for this group to even think about having careers and to take steps towards that goal. One caveat is that the city uses a lottery-based system to place kids in jobs, so there are no guarantees. BUT, despite knowing this the students are still really determined and enthusiastic about landing their first paying jobs!
No comments:
Post a Comment