School Jobs: Showing Off ABILITIES!

This is one of the first SUPER important things that I did during my first year teaching at Thomas Edison Charter Academy! After speaking with the mother of a boy named Mr. Christian (formerly known as Christian), I realized that there was a problem. When I described Mr. Christian, who later became my favorite (sue me!), and used the word "smart", his mother was absolutely confused. He was barely reading and barely writing in the 3rd grade, and mom wondered why I would ever use that word while talking about someone like him! Not only was mom surprised, but Mr. Christian was convinced that he was "dumb". 

I decided that day that I needed to create a special plan for him; one that was not purely academic, but more skill based. Christian and I sat down and I presented him with a list of school jobs that I could possibly offer him. He looked over the list, which included jobs such as "Mail Delivery Person", "Breakfast Helper", and "Office Assistant". He said, "Mr. Stephen, I want to be a teacher like you!" And this is where it all began!

I went home and thought up ways to go about making this happen. The next day I explained to him that when you want a job, you need to understand what the requirements are and you need to go on a series of interviews. I contacted one of the Kindergarten teachers and asked her if Christian could come in once a week on Fridays to give a mini-lesson. As soon as she agreed to it I drafted this contract along with the evaluation form and self-evaluation form. 

Mr. Christian interviewed with the Kindergarten teacher as well as his 3rd grade teacher (who I LOVE). Once everything was settled, I explained to him that a contract is binding and he should not sign unless he agreed to the terms. He agreed and signed after spending a day practicing and perfecting his signature. 

The Results:

Mr. Christian really took his position seriously and became so very well respected by his peers and, of course, his students! News spread very fast and within days I had kids coming up to me asking, "Is Christian really teaching?" He and I wrote lesson plans together that allowed him to go into the classroom and teach what he knew. Initially, he was nervous that his reading and writing would hinder him, but we were very strategic about utilizing his strengths. Mr. Christian read picture books (without words) that he wrote and rehearsed, he practiced writing, created fun projects and took goodie bags during holidays! 

For the rest of the year, not a single person looked at Mr. Christian as "dumb" or "the boy who couldn't read". He was tremendously popular, well liked and perfectly ABLE, despite an otherwise "obvious" disability. 

This is the kind of thing that I will continue to spend prep times and lunch times facilitating!