Old Post #2

(From 11/22/2008)

Small Steps Forward

This week seemed a V-E-R-Y long 5 days. In the work environment I am a part of, any myriad of things can, and do, happen. Sometimes they are devastating, sometimes the smallest positive change can feel like a major victory.
In thinking back on this long week, that included both struggles and triumph, I find hope and inspiration in the following...

1) One of the students I work closely with, and have REALLY seen grow, moved to the transitional living program at our school. This is a MAJOR accomplishment for anyone, but especially for this student. I am very proud of the progress he has made.

2) One of the students on my caseload found out that she is moving to the transitional living program in mid-December!!!

3) Another one of my students, who routinely struggles to maintain success, had an extremely rocky week. However, amid all of the "rocky-ness" and inner-struggle when we sat down to talk about what was going on, the very first thing she said to me was "I am disappointed with myself". This is SO HUGE. For this child, to be able to understand what effect her actions have for herself and being ready to deal with them...AWESOME!

4) Last, but not least, another one of my students and I had a conversation that, to be honest, I never thought I'd be able to have with him. He is a student who seems to need, at most times, what I like to kindly refer to as an "external conscious".
He mostly needs this because whenever you are talking with him, he is continually "10 steps ahead" and unable to think about what you're discussing or the matter at hand, because he's trying to jump ahead to what he thinks should be the answer. This can be an EXTREMELY frustrating dynamic to work with, because it is SO hard to break through!!!
However, yesterday, after 16 months of conversation that seemed to get us nowhere, we had a BREAKTHROUGH! In our conversation, he was able to name 4 concrete things that he needed in order to be successful. 4 things!!! I was amazed and so very proud!
Hopefully we can keep this momentum going and he can continue to appropriately speak his needs to not just me, but all of the adults working with him!

Through it all, this continues to be work that I love, that I hope to become better and better at, and that challenges and inspires me each day.