The Latin Student Who Shines

I love all my Latin students but there is one in particular who has captured my heart. He says Latin is his favorite subject.
Latin?! Who could possibly pick Latin to be a favorite subject? The answer is "just about no one"! I teach Latin in a private setting with 3rd - 8th grade students. One of them is a darling 4th grade boy. He is very quiet and mostly sits drawing or doodling with his head down. He always is tracking with the class, however. If I call on him he may take a minute to respond but he knows the answer and gives it after a very short pause. He always comes to school wearing a neatly pressed long-sleeved shirt and tie looking very professional and grown up. Technically drawing and doodling is verboten. But this particular student needs to draw or doodle to help him learn. You see, he has Tourette's Syndrome. Tourette's exacerbates with stress. I'm willing to bend "the rules" in his case for the greater good of allowing him to shine as he finds peace and comfort in my Latin class.
Last year he was also in my Latin class. At the beginning of school I noticed that he had several tics. And then, a few weeks after school started I realized one day that the tics were gone in my class. Now the only time he tics - and only a bit - is when I push him a little outside his comfort zone. Yesterday I asked him to go to the board and fill in part of a chart conjugating a verb in Latin. I was thrilled when he jumped right up and strode confidently to the board!
He has Tourette's Syndrome which causes tics and other symptoms. He also has a great mom and dad who are very special special needs parents. They know and understand his disease and also know their child and want him to be all he can be. It is obvious they work with him at home on his assignments and on processing vocabulary and grammar concepts we study in class.
One week last year our vocabulary list was words having to do with the house: window, door, wall, etc. His mom let him make labels on sticky notes and put them all over the house. She laughingly told me that they were all learning the Latin vocabulary.
When we do a class activity with teams of two to drill on vocabulary, he gets "run over" by a more aggressive student. It's not that he's less smart; it's just that he marches to his own drummer.
This year there is a very shy girl in the class - probably just as smart as he is but very tentative. She too could be very intimidated by a more aggressive student if they are paired together. One day I paired these two. Both of them smiled and quickly moved to work together. It was a beautiful thing to watch! They both "bloomed" as they worked together - each in his and her quiet way - to drill vocabulary words.
It's not that I'm such a great Latin teacher but I do love the kids and I love helping them learn! I have been so blessed to watch this particular student grow and stretch and find a measure of peace and comfort inside the walls of my classroom! What an awesome privilege to be able to participate in this young man's life and learning! It is exciting and very rewarding to my teacher heart to watch him shine!

That Good Ole' Comfort Zone!

Comfort Zone? It's that place where most of us like to hang out. It's also that place it's very easy to get "creeped out" when we have to leave.

While I drank my coffee this AM, I turned on a brief glimpse of the news. There was no "news" except for the storm named Fay, but a guy (who shall remain nameless or you'd figure out which news outlet I watch) was interviewing Howard Wolfson.

Howard Wolfson was Communications Director for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. Mr. Wolfson was asked about a certain presidential candidate. It was interesting. O, not what he said. That was pretty much the same old, same old. What was interesting was the clear tension on his face and around his jaw. He was in a tight spot and being asked tough questions and he didn't like it.

All of a sudden the interviewer - quite unexpectedly - asked Mr. Wolfson, "Before you go, tell us your favorite video game of all time." It was amazing! After a startled second or two, all those tense muscles relaxed. Mr. Wolfson broke into a genuine smile, reached far into his sixth grade past and answered, "Galactica."

It was an interesting, totally disarming moment. But it was more, it was a classic illustration of comfort zones. We all have them. We all like to be in them. It is where we are most comfortable.

Comfort zones are great places to kick back and relax, but they are not places to get stuck. Pushing myself out of that good ole' comfort zone is something I practice regularly. It's a good thing to do.

At A Restoration Church we are pushing ourselves well out of our comfort zones with our focus to reach out to persons and families affected by disability with the love and hope of the Gospel. If you are willing to push into pioneer territory, come along. We'd love to "hang out with you"!