2009-05-30

He Taught My Daughter

I got a message this morning from someone asking me to contribute a chapter to a book they're working on. I said I was in the last week of school and had to get started on finishing my thesis right away, but if it would help others then I was willing to find the time to write it for her book.

The key point would be about approaching these unfortunate and destructive situations from a point of love, and with the intention on helping the abuser to become better than he or she is, as well as the victims to stop having victimization mentality.

For things to really change, we have to really change. I wanted to give her the link to the Breakdown post but couldn't find it because i didn't bulletin it. When i went to the post the song spirit began playing


MusicPlaylist
MySpace Music Playlist at MixPod.com


as the song played, combined with the state FCAT scores we just received, it gave me a very spiritual experience....

the scores were phenomenal - the student who supposedly has a learning disability, the one who isn't supposed to be able to learn.......had MORE learning gains in BOTH reading and math than ANY OTHER STUDENT in the entire 5th grade

100-and-some points equals one year's worth of growth

he had over 800 points in reading and 700 in math

i don't know how, because i know im going to giv this same effort to my new class next year...but after this rare, beautiful, phenomenal success....i want to help him make his dream come true of being the next stan lee comic book writer

which off course i told him he is not the next stan lee....he is THE FIRST him (i gave my word not to mention names or add pics this year and i'll keep it no matter how much it angers me......fear......fear of lawsuits, fear of the smallest possibility of losing your job)

fear is a demon, that's all it is....and it holds us in the current limiting reality of fear, creating more of it.........and less of us

the student i got suspended for earlier in the year by grabbing him to keep him from hurting himself and others is also learning "disabled"......

the county decided not to fire me but he was moved from my classroom

he went down by over 200 points from last year. and the cycle of the poor getting poorer, the dumber getting dumber, the hopeless getting more hopeless, is just getting worse......

but what can u do? he's "disabled" emotionally and mentally. he's not supposed to learn very much if at all. he's not capable.......

i'll tell you what you can do....YOU CAN FIGHT FOR HIM! YOU CAN GET INSIDE HIS HEART AND HEAD and HELP HIM! YOU CAN WORK TOGETHER TO DESTROY HIS LIMITATIONS and MAKE HIM CAPABLE!

we're supposed to be human beings, "being" and evolving towards our highest selves........appreciating each day so much we see it as a new life......a new chance to be more than we were yesterday......more intelligent, more loving, more confident, more capable

The longer limitations are allowed to exist the bigger and the more concrete they become.....and the less we become by having them. Adults are the hardest to change. They have had their limiting beliefs 4 so long that they actually fight you for their continued existence. Victims of abuse are often victims of victimization thinking......the abuser's not the only one who needs to change if real change is going to be made

.....And we abuse ourselves every time we give excuses for our limited thinking

now i want 2 pick up a desk and smash it because this student's difficulties WEREN'T smashed to the ground

yesterday during the teacher-student kickball game, as he made one great play after another, he hugged me and said, "Did u see that Mr. Stuart? Did u see what I did?", i hugged him back and said....."I did! Do YOU see how great YOU ARE? Do YOU see how GREAT you can be in ANYTHING when u BELIEVE U CAN!?!"

.....and then in a very clear whisper, "Because when you have GREAT BELIEF, you will take GREAT ACTION, and YOU WILL BECOME your GREATEST DREAMS".

the student i mentioned in my last post who found herself, who found her belief in herself, scored ON GRADE LEVEL in reading for the first time in her life!

the student whose parent threatened to have me fired because her child wasn't smart enough to learn my way, scored on grade level in reading and ABOVE GRADE LEVEL in math

and the student who was arrested earlier this year, whose parent threatened to have me arrested because i was demanding too much from her son, this kid who had everyone thinking he was going to score a level one in reading, scored a level 3, ON GRADE LEVEL, and only ONE point away from scoring a level 4, or ABOVE grade level

even more, i haven't had to redirect him once in the last month for bad behavior or for giving up on himself

he has BECOME MORE, and instead we've been working on his interpersonal intelligence (not interrupting the student i'm trying to help because he's excited to show me something he's done or learned)

real change......real growth.....i want to pick up another desk and smash it to smithereens.....because we have smashed his limitations to smithereens.....and we need to smash the limitations of our current educational system to smithereens

we've broken down whats been holding him back....me, his former teacher who would tell him she's hearing how well he's doing, everyone else who ever said a kind and encouraging word to him throughout the year........we even had another teacher of other students last year stop by the class to tell them how proud she is of them

did it take going to the point of breakdown myself? yes.......all year long ive been trying to get him to trust me, asking him to put all his doubts and demons in my hands....letting me carry and fight with them while he is free to begin to feel safe, confident and capable again of being worthy and deserving of unlimited growth, happiness, and success

he did learn to trust me, and together we damned his devils and defeated his demons

he even went to my daughter's class to teach them about science and math......HE TAUGHT MY DAUGHTER'S CLASS!!!

i have a picture of him showing Sofia how to use the catapult he built, which im not allowed to show, but it touched me so deeply that i see it in my mind right now

this proves that it's not about one teacher, one person...it's not about me.....it is most truly about WE

because when we give more to another, they have more to give to others....and this year it has come full circle.....he taught my daughter

HE taught MY DAUGHTER

And for 21 students this year, their truest and most concrete reality, really is......

...what their spirit is......THEY CAN BE!

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