[This stressed girl] in high school was part of a legendary group a few years ago where I earned my reputation as a crier because I [am so easily moved] by student kindness and vulnerability. This very girl was the one who, one day when we were doing our check-in and someone said “Estoy triste” said in English “Ohhh, do you need a hug?” and the sad girl nodded and so this girl jumped up to hug her and I lost it and the kids were all “OMG Schongalla is crying!” Someone brought that up just 3 days ago! IT’S ABOUT THE GROUP!
I’m so excited for my former student and I’m encouraged by the reality that, to say it in one way, this work we do is all about the group. I had this girl for one semester, 80 minutes a day from September to January a few years ago. That is all. The group she was in was my “magic group” that totally clicked with stories from day 2. I remember it distinctly because it was day 2 and there was a very lazy girl who worked at KFC..and there were 2 actors up and one very shy girl who jumped up to be the KFC employee at the drive thru. Yeah. That group is really the reason my student was able to relax and laugh and just hang out with us! IT’S ABOUT THE GROUP!
OMG…I just remembered! This was a level 2 class. There were also 3 level 1 kids I moved into the class from another group. My student was a level 4 student who was going to do an independent study that block. I had no plan on how to do this. I started her off saying, come to class to interact for the first half, and then in second half you can go to the library to read (FVR). She did this for awhile. Soon she asked if she could just read in the back of the room instead of going to the library. Then she was full-on in the class. No separation, no special assignments or “extra work.” IT’S ABOUT THE GROUP!