My Second Career - Teacher!

I specialized in early childhood education. I really think part of that decision was because I was so short! The first semester of teaching was not in a classroom. There was a new program to help identify children with visual and perceptual problems. It’s implementation wasn’t well thought out and the “training” I received was insufficient. I had a list from the classroom teachers of students who they wanted tested. A table with two chairs was set up and the end of a hallway and that was my “classroom.” I would “pull out” students during the day to work with them. Most of the kids liked to come and “play” with me, but two in particular would not participate. I had no way to handle them and no experience in what to do. One child thought he was Batman, and his parents fed into it by dressing him in Batman costumes. He was cute and bright, but very hard to reason with. At least he participated. The other was a girl who wouldn’t talk. She just glared at me and never once uttered a word. She wouldn’t do anything I asked. I brought in a bag of potato chips one day and opened it and placed it right before her. I told her she could eat as many as she wanted. She sat there not saying a word. I turned around to a display I had on the wall just making idle chatter. I saw her place her hand on one chip and slowly pull it towards her. If I turned my attention back to her, she stopped moving and just glared at me. I turned around again and she resumed bringing the chip toward herself. Slowly she crushed the chip with her hand and started to pick up the bits and eat them.

She froze again when I turned back to her. I took a chip from the bag and said, “I’ve never have seen anyone eat a chip like that?” I crushed the chip with my hand and started to eat the little pieces. The more I ate, the more she ate. We finished eating our chip and I asked if she wanted another, She shook her head yes. I told her to choose the chip she wanted. She was hesitant, but took one. Then I took one. I told her I wasn’t going to smash my chip this time. She could do whatever she wanted. I took a bite of my chip. She picked up her portion, ate the chip in one bite. She was finished. She got up from the chair and returned to the classroom.

The next day, I brought m&ms. She couldn’t smash those. I opened the bag, took one for myself but said nothing. I turned the open bag to her. As she started to reach for it I told her she could take two, but she would have to count the two out loud.

She reached for the bag, said “one, two,” in a whisper. Day three she came to my area and looked around for a bag of goodies.

“No bag today” I announced. “Today is a lollipop. You can choose the flavor you like but you can’t have it till after you play a game with me.”

She nodded yes and finally did one of the activities I had. After she told me what flavor she wanted and I rewarded her with her chosen lollipop. That was it! She cooperated after and did what I asked. A few weeks later, I did not offer her a reward after the exercise. She didn’t seem particularly upset.

I was glad when that semester was over. I didn’t particularly enjoy what I was doing and it wasn’t what I became a teacher for in the first place. A position, actually several opened up in another school in that district, and I was assigned a first grade.

It was the year I was married. A new life, a new job, a new outlook. I even had a svelte new body, thanks to Weight Watchers!