No, I haven't met any rich, handsome Englishmen yet. In fact, I've barely met any English people at all and need to do something to remedy that. But I have still managed to fall in love... with the students at the school where I worked yesterday.
Yes! I finally worked! And it was wonderful.
I received a call at 8:30 am asking if I'd be willing to help out in a Severe Learning Disabilities school. Yes! I had 10 minutes to get ready and figure out how to get there (Classroom helped with this, but I'm still in the habit of walking in the wrong direction absolutely every time I try to go anywhere). By the time I arrived, it was 10:10 am and I hadn't eaten breakfast aside from a juice box from the tube station. Oh well!
My class consisted mainly of 18/19 year olds, which I was shocked to learn because judging by their appearance, I would have guessed they were maybe 12. Tops. They all had profound and multiple disabilities (mental age of approximately 2.5 years old) and were among the lowest functioning students in the school. But holy cow were they ever happy and sweet. Same with the teachers. Everyone there was the embodiment of positivity.
Our day was a far cry from what you'd expect to see in a mainstream school. There weren't any lessons, per se. It was all sensory activity. Painting, massage, lots of time playing outside. They have one hour before or after lunch when they break off into various activity groups (visual art, sport, performing arts, and one more I didn't catch). These terms are used quite loosely. I spent time with the performing arts group, where they played Wii and with remote control cars and had a piano they could bang away at, and the sport group, where they did whatever they felt like outside. They had lots of props designed for stimulation. I wound up spending a good deal of my time jamming (singing and playing drums) with a musically talented Portuguese boy.
By the end of the day, I (and my new friend Lucy, the student with whom I spent most of my day) felt ready to pass out. Add in a very long walk to find the spot where I was to join my friends for supper (walked the right way, then doubted myself and walked the wrong way, then had to walk the right way again) and you get all the necessary ingredients for a very tired panda. But also a very happy one.
I am so impressed with the educational resources they have here. It makes Canada seem like a third world country in comparison.
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Sounds like a fun and rewarding day of work!
ReplyDeletethat sounds awesome!! i'm excited to start working and seeing more schools. it's funny you say that this school makes canada seem like a third world, because the school i went to last week made canada look amazing! the staff were great and you could tell the school had an awesome sense of community, but the actual school building wasn't what i was used to at all, just really run down. and the playground just broke my heart: the big attraction for the kids was two saw-horses with a board across for the kids to crawl on and another board slanted off the end for them to use as a slide. so that definitely made canadian schools look good!
ReplyDeleteOh wow. Ya, this school was brand new, state of the art. But even just the soft resources they have here... special needs schools, TAs, emphasis on arts and PE... these things are hard to come by in Canada.
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