Grievances

VII Communication/III Personal Development
7:45 am

Episode
Today we had an unplanned meeting right away. One of our fourth grade students had been killed this weekend in a tragic accident. Many teachers were crying and many social workers were brought in to assist in the classrooms. Right away in the morning the general education teachers informed their students of the situation. The fourth grade classes were devastated. My fourth graders came down today and were just bawling; tears streaming down their faces. My cooperating teacher was out today, so we had a substitute. Right away in the morning my aide got called into the office to cover for absent staff. Then the substitute in my classroom just disappeared; she had left my room. I was trying to manage 4 different reading groups, many extremely upset fourth graders, pick up homework, check planners, etc. I finally got the other students set up with their seatwork and spelling work, so they could just work independently. I tried to comfort the fourth graders. Finally my aide and substitute came back in. We barely managed to get a minute amount of spelling done. The fourth graders went back to their class because the social workers were talking to them. In our class, we had a few students absent. Our routine was upset definitely this morning.

My fourth graders ended up coming back in for a bit and we had a little counseling session. Suddenly reading seemed so unimportant. My students were trying to understand why God would do such a thing. They were asking me what I believed and why I thought God would do such a thing - If I only had all the answers. I answered to the best of my ability and tried to calm them down, somehow the accident was all in God's plan. One of my girl's said, "At least **the student*** is in God's hand's now. God is taking care of him." My fourth graders then had to get ready to leave on their field trip, even though by that point none of them even wanted to go.

After the fourth graders left we tried to get some writing and math done. With most of our students gone, we didn't cover a lot of material. It turned out to be a good review day.

Analysis

In retrospect I guess it was good experience to deal with this kind of situation, though I would wish it would never happen again. Another experience was dealing with our substitute. She complained about being bored, but when I would give her responsibilities, she would not do them. I let her take over the afternoon first grade math. I explained that my student struggled quite a bit, and she needed to go slow and help a lot. I ran a couple of errands around the school. I came back in and I found her being a little rougher with one of the first graders. He was one that didn't know his numbers past 5. I intervened and helped the student with his work.

What an overwhelming day. There were not as many students in my classroom as there usually were, so that helped me to manage the ones that were there. I guess I can see more clearly why a consistant prayer life is so important...because God will give us strength when we need it the most. I do not have all the answers, but I can always share God's love with my students. My prayers are with this student's family.