The best teachers ever!
These two women have been the best teachers! They even attend events happening in their student’s lives outside the classroom. They have a tenderness and love for their class like no other I have seen. You will be able to hear that in their comments about the vicissitudes of these beautiful children.
The woman on the left was awakened to the idea of becoming a Special Education teacher at age 12 after visiting relatives who had a Down syndrome toddler. She never varied from her decision — to the benefit of every child she has nurtured in her classroom.
On the other hand, the woman on the right never expected to go into this line of work. She volunteered daily at her children’s elementary school just to be on campus and heard of a paid opening in a Special Day Class. Having spent some time there, she knew thet she cared for those children and felt qualified for the job as a result. Again — to the benefit of all the children in the classroom.
This set of teachers have been together in the same classroom for 10 years. They ask a lot of the children, and the children consistently meet up with what’s asked. Both of these teachers encourage, encourage, encourage, and I have also watched them wait and wait for individual students to respond because it routinely takes time for students to pull their best performance out of their brains and bodies.
Love and patience — that’s what they have needed to help their students feel calm and succeed, and that is just what these ladies bring to their classroom.
We talked just at the end of the last day of school. Normally the classroom is fully stocked with books and decorated with the children’s work.