Thursday, January 19, 2006
Down Memory Lane.....
Monday, August 22, 2005
Like Koshy I too have finished the 'basic minimum requirement' for the discussion board. While I wait for others to finish their posts (Ahem! Haven't you seen my halo?!) I thought I'd just describe a few experiences that came to mind as I was writing my timeline.
Well... there was this boy... Around 13 years old, hyperactive, intelligent , quarrelsome(he was credited with flattening his father's entire plantain crop -with an axe in a temper)- he would run away from home at the drop of a hat. And return a few days later none the worse for wear. This had become almost routine and the parents were at their wits' end when they brought the child in for assessment. On assessment it was felt that the child would fare well with medication and remedial classes. Guidelines were given to the parents .(the father was very result-oriented and had taken to thrashing the boy for his poor grades). But,the running away continued, the mother was in despair. We, the teachers were in despair. The child was called in... spoken to .. but he still ran.. Each call for an appointment was met with tense expressions"Oh, God! What's he done now?". Then a lull..... Six months later- progress report. Mother claims gleefully,"Madam, he ran away again, but this time, he took the medicines with him!" Success??? Well sort of.... because we heard later that the temper tantrums had reduced and that he had stopped running away.
This one- a girl , same age group as our runner. Family consisting of dad, stepmom, elder sister and baby stepbrother. Reason for referral- poor grades, emotional isues.Parents- mom with tears in her eyes , talks about the child's atttitude towards her or rather the change in attitude towards her. Initially, the child was accepting of her and responded with affection, but this gradually changed. Reason- comments by some insensitive teachers.... the unsaid more than the said.. the expression, or a roll of the eyes when the child did not bring in some work or did something wrong- comments suggesting that this happened because her "real" mother was not around to take care of her !This led to the change in attitude and the falling grades.
Both examples are from my earlier place of work. But, they could be true of any kid anywhere. The first instance was one where both the home environment and emotional difficulties formed the context of learning and the second were the school context led to changes in perception and interfered with learning.
# posted by Raji Nair @ 4:34 PM 1 comments
Post a Comment On: ppseraji "Down Memory Lane....."
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ppsemohua said...
Amazing!! The state of the mother's
Like Koshy I too have finished the 'basic minimum requirement' for the discussion board. While I wait for others to finish their posts (Ahem! Haven't you seen my halo?!) I thought I'd just describe a few experiences that came to mind as I was writing my timeline.
Well... there was this boy... Around 13 years old, hyperactive, intelligent , quarrelsome(he was credited with flattening his father's entire plantain crop -with an axe in a temper)- he would run away from home at the drop of a hat. And return a few days later none the worse for wear. This had become almost routine and the parents were at their wits' end when they brought the child in for assessment. On assessment it was felt that the child would fare well with medication and remedial classes. Guidelines were given to the parents .(the father was very result-oriented and had taken to thrashing the boy for his poor grades). But,the running away continued, the mother was in despair. We, the teachers were in despair. The child was called in... spoken to .. but he still ran.. Each call for an appointment was met with tense expressions"Oh, God! What's he done now?". Then a lull..... Six months later- progress report. Mother claims gleefully,"Madam, he ran away again, but this time, he took the medicines with him!" Success??? Well sort of.... because we heard later that the temper tantrums had reduced and that he had stopped running away.
This one- a girl , same age group as our runner. Family consisting of dad, stepmom, elder sister and baby stepbrother. Reason for referral- poor grades, emotional isues.Parents- mom with tears in her eyes , talks about the child's atttitude towards her or rather the change in attitude towards her. Initially, the child was accepting of her and responded with affection, but this gradually changed. Reason- comments by some insensitive teachers.... the unsaid more than the said.. the expression, or a roll of the eyes when the child did not bring in some work or did something wrong- comments suggesting that this happened because her "real" mother was not around to take care of her !This led to the change in attitude and the falling grades.
Both examples are from my earlier place of work. But, they could be true of any kid anywhere. The first instance was one where both the home environment and emotional difficulties formed the context of learning and the second were the school context led to changes in perception and interfered with learning.
# posted by Raji Nair @ 4:34 PM 1 comments
Post a Comment On: ppseraji "Down Memory Lane....."
1 Comment -Show Original Post
ppsemohua said...
Amazing!! The state of the mother's
# posted by Raji Nair @ 10:11 PM 
