I am finding it really hard teaching full time and having dd in nursery - but at present it is a necessary evil... been feeling particularly down as I have not seen much of her this week - meetings, parents' evening etc...
But today I had two good lessons..... this is what happened.
I have to teach year 7 drama and english - to three classes of generally nice kids who can be cheeky and naughty but able to be reined in if needed. We are to do a unit exploring disabilities next half term...
Boy how do I address this: I took the photo I have of dd from my filing cabinet - they see it all the time - I asked them to describe what they saw in a sentence.... got usual things - little girl, purple shirt, hair etc.....
and then I told them the story of her heart condition - open heart surgeries - almost dying etc...... they sat in absolute silence..... I asked why they had not described it - they told me they could not see it .. I told them the only way anyone can see it is when her shirt is off and you can see her zipper( scar.)
I then told them about her having Down's syndrome and in very simple language explained what that meant - basically she will achieve things but in her time and a little slower than ' normal' children.... told them a little about what she can do.....
I again asked them why they did not say that she had Down's syndrome - they said they did not see it. I asked them did telling them that she had this make a difference... they said no - then lots of kids shared various stories about friends, relatives etc with special needs.
We then talked about how easy it was with some people to see that they had special needs ( boy in year 7 in wheel chair and kids are brilliant around him) not so easy when they look 'normal'.
I then said to them to remember sometimes when someone may not be acting 'right' as they see it that perhaps they should stop and think before they tease them or call them names or say anything - to which they told me to do that would be 'so out of order'
So I expanded the lesson and asked why they called each other horrible names( my english class) .... and what was the difference.
Boy they sat stunned and had to think about it....
I finished by telling them the thing that worries me most about dd is that people will tease her and treat her badly..... so we decided ( as a class) that next time we see something different happening we will not point, stare, tease etc - we will be respectful and helpful.
So hopefully these kids go away and think about their behaviour.
Sorry for the ramble - just wanted to share.