At our end of the year whole school gathering, we were asked to reflect on and share at least one success, one thing we were proud of, or one learning from the past year. After some thought, I began to remember a child, who arrived at our school a couple years ago in kindergarten. I will call him Elliot.
The Initial Concern
Elliot had never been in school before, but that is not uncommon for our school population. The difference with Elliot, as became quickly apparent, was that he had almost none of the skills that one would expect for a child to have before arriving at kindergarten – including language. He was an English Language Learner with no English, so we were not surprised that he did not understand what we were saying. However, what we quickly realized, when we asked people who spoke his home language to translate for him, is that he had hardly any language at all. As the Learning Support Teacher for kindergarten, I was immediately called in to help the team decide what to do. This was about day 8 of kindergarten.
We met with the family to discuss our concerns. They were surprised and worried. It was a very intense meeting to lead, but it was successful. With their support, we began immediate intervention at school from both the English Language Teacher and myself as the Learning Support Teacher. Additionally, he began intensive Speech and Language Therapy from an outside therapist and a private Occupational Therapist worked with the parents to organize a plan of support at home and to work directly with the child.
We did not know what the cause for these significant delays were. We wondered if there were cognitive delays or cognitive impairment? Was it lack of exposure and experience? Would we be able to keep him at our school?
We met with the family to discuss our concerns. They were surprised and worried. It was a very intense meeting to lead, but it was successful. With their support, we began immediate intervention at school from both the English Language Teacher and myself as the Learning Support Teacher. Additionally, he began intensive Speech and Language Therapy from an outside therapist and a private Occupational Therapist worked with the parents to organize a plan of support at home and to work directly with the child.
We did not know what the cause for these significant delays were. We wondered if there were cognitive delays or cognitive impairment? Was it lack of exposure and experience? Would we be able to keep him at our school?
Unexpected results
He made slow steady progress in that year in kindergarten during which we agreed the most important focus of his work should be language development. He was then retained and his second year in kindergarten he began to be ready to access the kindergarten curriculum. He continued with a similar level of intervention through kindergarten and by the end of that second year, the progress was remarkable.
In grade one, the amount of support he received both in and out of school was reduced as his progress exceeded all expectations. In grade 2, this year, we reduced his services to in class support and a monitoring of accommodations. Wow! In four years, he went from having one of the highest levels of support our school has ever coordinated, to almost none. He is meeting grade level expectations in almost all areas and in some cases, he is exceeding them. As his language has developed, it is clear that he is in an incredibly bright child who is curious, asks thoughtful questions, thinks outside of the box, and adds so much to the class community. He is an exceptional child.
When interviewed recently for our Support Services Video for our website, I was asked why I do the job I do. What is it that I love about it. I said, of course, the kids. But more specifically, it is the unique puzzle that each child presents us. As mentors and teachers, we need to puzzle out their strengths and needs to determine the right challenge, the right support, and the right inspiration to present to them so that they can surprise us with unexpected successes. Elliot is an excellent example of a child for whom we questioned our ability to keep and support him at the school and who exceeded all of our initial expectations. He is the poster child for the importance of early intervention and the impact it can have. He is one of our biggest success stories at ISP and shows that when we are not limited by our initial worries, unexpected things can happen. Kids can surprise us.
A friend shared this commencement address from Plano Senior High School Graduation Speaker Sef Scott that inspired the theme of this post. Please take the 6 minutes to watch it. His story and his words challenge us all to do something unexpected. Please watch. He says it so much better than I could.
In grade one, the amount of support he received both in and out of school was reduced as his progress exceeded all expectations. In grade 2, this year, we reduced his services to in class support and a monitoring of accommodations. Wow! In four years, he went from having one of the highest levels of support our school has ever coordinated, to almost none. He is meeting grade level expectations in almost all areas and in some cases, he is exceeding them. As his language has developed, it is clear that he is in an incredibly bright child who is curious, asks thoughtful questions, thinks outside of the box, and adds so much to the class community. He is an exceptional child.
When interviewed recently for our Support Services Video for our website, I was asked why I do the job I do. What is it that I love about it. I said, of course, the kids. But more specifically, it is the unique puzzle that each child presents us. As mentors and teachers, we need to puzzle out their strengths and needs to determine the right challenge, the right support, and the right inspiration to present to them so that they can surprise us with unexpected successes. Elliot is an excellent example of a child for whom we questioned our ability to keep and support him at the school and who exceeded all of our initial expectations. He is the poster child for the importance of early intervention and the impact it can have. He is one of our biggest success stories at ISP and shows that when we are not limited by our initial worries, unexpected things can happen. Kids can surprise us.
A friend shared this commencement address from Plano Senior High School Graduation Speaker Sef Scott that inspired the theme of this post. Please take the 6 minutes to watch it. His story and his words challenge us all to do something unexpected. Please watch. He says it so much better than I could.