Sunday, September 16, 2007

What we have here, is a failure to communicate!

I wake up in the middle of the night worrying about this kid. He is a twelve year old American of Mexican ancestry. He has been in this country since his birth, gone to my district's schools, and currently reads at a first grade level. He is proud, proud, proud, a leader, and cannot admit to himself that he has a reading problem. It is not cognitive ability either, he makes a concious choice to fail. What am I going to do with this boy? He is angry, (a bit of me says he has a right to be!)unresponsive and at a turning point. The adults on campus all know this boy and if something goes missing, his is the backpack they search first...
Every fiber of my being wants to reach out and help this kid, but HOW? Am I wasting my energy? Do I just stand by and allow him to fail, or do I keep banging my head against this wall of pride? I have no answers today.

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